Seeing Today in View of What’s Coming

Transcript

GR 2012
07/23/2017
Seeing Today in View of What's Coming
Revelation 7:13-17
Gil Rugh

We're going to Revelation 7 in your Bibles. It is interesting that the revelation God gives to the churches is the book of Revelation. It is a book focusing on a time after the church will no longer be on earth, and for many people that has made them think that the book of Revelation is not probably that relevant. We have the jokes that go around, I'm a pan-millenialist, I believe it will all pan out in the end. So we don't have to get caught up in the details. Yet for some reason God is saying it is very important that you know this.

Come back to Revelation 22 and you'll note verse 16 as Jesus concludes this revelation given to John, “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches.” And yet as we have seen, the church is removed from the earth in the flow of the book of Revelation after chapter 3. So I think in some minds, even among some theologians, the idea is the book of Revelation, it is not going to make a lot of difference. Or else they spiritualize it and allegorize it to try to make everything as applicable as though it were happening today. But it is about future events, and it's not just to give us information about the future. Remember the blessing that began the book of Revelation and also is at the close of the book of Revelation—“blessed are those who read, those who hear and those who heed what is written in this book.” You might say, “how am I supposed to heed what is written in this book when as a member of the church and a believer in Christ I won't even be here?” Well, the Bible is clear throughout that the future is to control our lives in the present.

Come back to Luke 12. Jesus during His earthly ministry is addressing large numbers of people. In fact verse 1 says “many thousands of people have gathered and there is such a crowd here they are stepping on one another.” Then you come down in verse 4 and He says, “I say to you my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear, fear the one who after he has killed has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you fear him.” You see how He puts in the present their attitude toward God is in light of what is going to happen in the future. I don't have to be afraid about death and about those who might kill us, which is where we are in Revelation 7, believers in Christ who have been killed for their faith. That's not what is important. We don't fear men, we fear the God who has authority not only over life and death, but life after death. He is a God to be feared, to be revered, to be honored and obeyed.

He goes on through this chapter, Luke 12:15, “Beware and be on your guard against every form of greed. Not even when one has abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” Then He tells the story of a man who stored up great treasure and thought now he could relax, take it easy, I have my retirement taken care of. Just good days ahead. And God says tonight you die. Now what? Again, living in light of the future, prepared to meet the God who will judge me after death. So verse 22, that applies to the disciples. “For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life as to what you will eat, nor your body what you will put on.” You trust God. The whole point, knowing something about the future shapes your life today. And then He warns them and tells them in verse 32, “Don't be afraid little flock, your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.” That's our future. So verse 34, “For where your treasure is there your heart will be also.”

In Luke 16, we don't have time to look at the details, just draw your attention to verses 19-31. There is the rich man and Lazarus and the two destinies. Two men die, one lifts up his eyes being in torment, the other is resting, at peace, security in the presence of Abraham the believer, who would be in the presence of God. The failure to grasp the future, this is why so much of the Bible is prophecy, is to shape the way we live today. And the more the church turns its eyes away from what God says about the future, the more we drop our eyes down to here and now. And the more we begin to struggle like the world that knows nothing of the blessings that God has promised to believers in their future, we begin to be overwhelmed by the same thing. We begin to look like the world, we begin to worry like the world, we begin to fear like the world. But I have a God who has laid out the future.

So come back to Revelation 7 and he'll put it into context. Put that chart up, Steve. Now we are in that 70th week. So after the church age, that shaded area, the church is removed. The book of Revelation basically from chapter 6-22 is about the rest of that period, primarily chapters 6-19 will be about what we call the 70th week. Then chapter 20 and following will carry us into the kingdom. Now what has happened is we have had six seal judgments. Every time a seal was broken on the scroll, a judgment poured out. There is a seventh seal to be opened but there is a pause. We noted some of your Bibles have it titled An Interlude. The seventh seal will be opened in Revelation 8:1, but he is telling us something of great importance in chapter 7. He is revealing something that is going to be taking place in the coming days. We had 144,000 Jews sealed to protect them through the rest of this tribulation because things are going to take a turn, and it is going to get much worse. Then we saw not only are Jews going to be saved during this time, but in verse 9 there is a great multitude which no one could number who are saved. We'll talk more about that in a moment.

Come back to Matthew 24, I touched on this. I just want to make sure you have it in perspective. It fits into where we are in Revelation and what this chart lays out. Matthew 24, this is called the Olivet Discourse because it was given on the Mount of Olives to Jesus' disciples. He tells them in verses 1-2 that the temple is going to be destroyed, because they were impressed. The temple that was built under Herod and enlarged was a magnificent structure. But Jesus said it is going to be destroyed, and it was in 70 A.D. Then He is “sitting on the Mount of Olives,” verse 3, and they ask Him, “Tell us, when will these things happen? What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”

Now for them they know nothing about what we call the church age. So they are back here, talking to Christ, in this period here just before His crucifixion. Here they are. So what will be the sign of Your coming and the end of the age? They don't know anything about this shaded area, so they are asking about down here. When are we going to get to the end of events? The destruction of the temple? They know from Old Testament prophecy there are going to be events, and the destruction of Jerusalem and so on happening here. So what will be . . . These things happen. They don't understand about the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. They thought we know something about Jerusalem being surrounded by its enemies and all this that takes place, and then the Messiah returns. So that's where their attention is.

So what Christ does for them, beginning with verse 4 down through verse 14, He overviews this period we call the 70 weeks. Verses 4, we've seen some of this already. “Many will come in My name saying, I am Christ.” We saw the rider on the white horse, noted his significance. Verse 6, “wars, rumors of wars.” These were in Revelation 6, “Nation fighting against nation, famines, earthquakes.” Verse 8, “All these are merely the beginning of birth pangs.”

Really what He has said here carries us to the middle. Verse 9 says, “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, will kill you, you will be hated.” He's talking to them particularly as Jews, because remember they know nothing about the church age and the focus God is going to have on Gentiles at this point. So this is when the break will come, we'll talk in detail about this in Revelation 12-13. Jesus tells them then greater persecution is going to come, it is going to be so intense here that many will turn away from identification with Christ. False prophets will arise, lawlessness will increase. Verse 13, “The one who endures to the end will be saved.” Reminder, telling about the future so that those will know it is important to endure.

Then you have that verse that is often quoted and I referred to last week, “This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, then the end will come.” When I was a younger person I heard this verse often mentioned in church and why we had to get the Gospel out to the world, why radio was so important because we could blanket the world with the Gospel and then Christ could come. And it is important to get the Gospel out, we want to reach as many in the world as we can, but that's not what verse 14 is talking about. Verse 14 will be fulfilled as we get through this period here because when it has been fulfilled and the whole world has been covered with the Gospel during this period of time, then Christ will come. And we'll see this in the book of Revelation when there is reference to proclaiming the Gospel to the whole world.

Then you come to Matthew 24:15 and you see what Christ does here. The most important thing here for these Jews is what He said in verse 9. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation.” During this first 3½ years as we are going to see, Israel is doing fine. The temple will be rebuilt, the sacrifices will be reinstituted. All that will be going on. So it looks like the Jews have prospered here, but there is going to be a sudden dramatic change right here in the middle. And so verse 15 He picks up to elaborate on that. How will they know when verse 9 is going to happen? He tells in verse 15, “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, now let the reader understand.” This is something that should be understood. “Those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains,” don't even go down to pack a suitcase, just start running. Get out of the city, go hide. So that is what is happening right here. And then you have the 3½ year tribulation.

Verse 21 says, “Then there will be great tribulation such as has never occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will be. Unless those days had been cut short no life would have been saved, but for the sake of the elect they will be cut short.” Christ will come back at the end of the seven years, bring that destruction and death to an end. Otherwise if He allowed it to continue the world would indeed destroy itself. There would be no one left. But He will intervene. Then verse 29, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened.” Verse 30, “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky and the Son of Man will come on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.” We'll talk about more of this as we move further in Revelation.

I just want you to be clear, here is what is happening. We are moving through the seven years here, we are moving from the seals to the trumpets and then after the sixth seal we have this break. Then we are going to have six of the seven trumpets and then we'll have a break. And we'll get a lot of the information that pertains to the last 3½ years.

Come back to Revelation but stop at the book of Hebrews, come to Hebrews 10. Part of the problem going on, what is going on in the letter to the Hebrews, is the Hebrews are losing some of their spiritual energy. They are getting worn out and he is concerned, he encourages them. Some had even stopped meeting together with believers so he encouraged them, verse 23, “Hold fast the confession of our hope.” Our hope. See when they lost their hold and their grip on what God has said about their future, they begin to lose strength, they begin to just grow weary, want to give up. “Without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” This is what He has promised to do.

You know sometimes we get worn down when trouble goes on and on. We need to be reminded there is something beyond the trouble for the believer. That's true where we are in Revelation 7, that's why we are doing this. These martyrs have experienced the worst of trouble and the most horrible kinds of death, but now they have entered into what was promised and it will never be anything but wonderful. So he is encouraging them, “Consider how stimulate one another to love and good deeds.” God puts us together as a family so we can encourage one another, so we can build up one another. “Not forsaking our own assembly together as is the habit of some.” Some just got tired of it, sort of dropped out.

No. He comes on, we don't have time to do a lot of this, verse 36 he tells them they have gone through a lot of trouble. Verse 34, we have looked at this passage before. Verses 32-34 talk about they had endured a lot of suffering a lot of persecution, even lost a lot of their possessions in prior time. But do you know what? It's like, I don't know if I can keep going through this, I don't know that I can face another round of this. Look at what he says, “You show sympathy to the prisoners, joyful seizure of your property.” Why did they do it then? “Knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one.” Because they went through it with endurance before because they kept their eyes, I have something better. They can take my possessions, they can make my earthly life miserable, they can ultimately kill me but I have something better. In good times are often even a greater danger than bad times because we get comfortable, we get soft. We have to force ourselves to exercise here. There was a day when you didn't have to get a treadmill to work because work was so hard and when you got home, you just dragged yourself in and got a bite to eat and were ready for bed. Now I have to go down to get on the treadmill.

Here we are, verse 35, “Do not throw away your confidence which has great reward.” The problem is my eyes drop from what he says about the future, now I'm absorbed in the now and I'm about to give up. Don't throw away your confidence in the future, it's your reward. “You have need of endurance so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what was promised. For yet a very little while He who is coming will come and will not delay.”

What did Jesus say? We start out the book of Revelation, we end the book of Revelation, “Behold I am coming quickly, My reward is with Me.” Do you think the book of Revelation is just telling us about future things and they won't really directly impact us? They won't directly impact us in one way, they do directly impact us. Knowing what God has said about the future, what He has promised in the future is what gives us stamina. We don't fall off because we just lost interest, we have other things . . . get our eyes down here. “But My righteous one shall live by faith.” That's a characteristic of our life, I live trusting God that what He promised is true. I believe that ultimately I will end up in Revelation 20, 21, 22, enjoying all He has promised.

And you'll note here a warning, “If he shrinks back My soul has no pleasure in him.” For a true believer there is no going back. You see the fire there and you say I don't know that I can go through this, but I know I can't avoid going through it. I can't turn back, the Lord has put me here, I accept it. “We are not of those who shrink back to destruction but those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”

Come back now to Revelation 7, this is where we are. We have looked at verses 9-13 in our previous study. Verse 9, we have a multitude of people who have been saved, people of every language, tongue, nationality. They are in the presence of God, enjoying peace, joy, happiness, giving Him honor for their salvation. One of the elders asks John a question in verse 13, a two-part question or two questions really. “One of the elders answered saying to me, “ John being the me, “these who are clothed in white robes, who are they? Where they have they come from? I said to him, my lord, you know.”

There are two questions there, who are they and where do they come from. The elder answers then in reverse, he answers the second question first—where do they come from? “He said to me, these are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation.” Now that was Matthew 24 and Jesus referred to that last 3½ -year period of the seven years as the great tribulation in Matthew 24. So really we are looking forward and the prime focus when the most intense persecution will be is yet future. Now some have already been martyred. Back in Revelation 6:9-11, verse 9 tells us that “you see in the presence of God before His throne those who had been slain because of the Word of God and because of the testimony they maintained.”

So there already have been martyrs. They ask “when will God avenge their blood?” And what does God tell them? They each were given a white robe, they are told to rest a little while longer, be patient. Why? “Until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been would be completed also.” So on earth it's going to look like believers are suffering great defeat, but it's the sovereign will of God that those who have come to trust in Him during that seven-year period give their lives as a testimony of their faith in Christ. They endure to the end, the end of their lives. And you'll note God has appointed the number. What he says is, there are more that have to be martyred like you were. When we get to Revelation 7:9 we see the future when there will be many more who will trust Christ before this seven years is over and be martyred for their faith.

So these are those that come out of the great tribulation and have given their lives. So there are more. This is anticipating the future. Chapter 7 is an interlude to prepare for what is yet to come. The 144,000 Jews who were sealed in the beginning of chapter 7, anticipating preservation through the rest of the tribulation. These martyrs now are additional that are going to be coming out of the rest of the tribulation in addition to the ones we saw back under the fifth seal in chapter 6 who had to wait until the rest of the martyrs' number was fulfilled. We noted our sufferings are part of God's plan.

Now the second question. Where do they come from was the second question. Now he is going to answer the first question, “who are they?” We have already answered it in our discussion, the last part of verse 14, “these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

Where do they come from? Out of the great tribulation. Who are they? They are the ones who washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. The picture, cleansed in the blood. At first it seems like a contrast, it's like we read the book of Revelation, the wrath of the Lamb. We don't think of lambs as having wrath but Christ is the Lamb of God and His wrath is displayed. So we don't think of washing something clean in blood. I had a blood test two weeks and they put a little wrap around your arm when you are done. When I walked out I took it off my arm, but then I noticed when I got home it hadn't stopped bleeding and it bled through my shirt. Marilyn didn't say, I'll go get some blood and wash it. Obviously it is a spiritual picture. “They wash their robes white in the blood of the Lamb.”

The defiled robes from Zechariah 3, we've been back there on other occasions, Zechariah is seen standing before the throne of God, he is the High Priest, clothed in filthy robes and Satan is there accusing him and God replaces his filthy robes with clean, white robes. The picture, they have been washed from the defilement and pollution of sin. The blood of Christ is His death, He had to come and die. He Himself bore our sins on the cross so that we, when we believe in Him, might die to sin and be raised to righteousness. The wages of sin is death.

So we still use the analogy of blood, we'll talk about “there was a lot of bloodshed,” perhaps in a battle for a city in the Middle East or something. We know they are not measuring how much blood poured out on the ground, there may not have been a lot of physical blood around, just depends. But we are saying a lot of people died. So the blood of Christ refers to His death. He stepped in and paid the penalty.

Back up to Revelation 1:5, the grace and peace comes from here in verse 5, “Jesus Christ the faithful witness.” He is a witness and martyr. We think of the word martyr in a technical sense of one who died as a witness for his faith. It is the basic word witness. “The firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth, to Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood.” And the different things accomplished by Christ, in chapter 7, “they washed themselves,” they were cleansed from the defilement and pollution of sin. Here in Revelation 1:5, “released us from our sin, set us free from slavery and bondage to sin.” All the different facets when Christ dealt with sin, provided for us to be set free from slavery to sin, provided for us to be cleansed from the defilement of sin, provided for us to be brought into right relationship, and fellowship with the Father because we were at enmity, we were God's enemies. Now we are His children. The death of Christ accomplishes it all.

Come over to Revelation 5:9, remember the celebration in heaven, we are seeing part of that in the martyrs in chapter 7. Revelation 5:9, “And they sang a new song saying, worthy are You to take the book, to break its seals. For You were slain and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” A little different emphasis, but it is by His blood. We were purchased, the price was paid to set us free so we could now be God's children. We were purchased for God with the blood of Christ. So it takes His death.

Come back to Romans, we don't have time to look at all the verses, but come back to Romans 3. This is the heart of everything, the death of Christ. It is the death of Christ that gives us hope for the future and without that we have nothing. In Romans 3:25, he has shown that we are defiled by sin, we are guilty, we are condemned, but when you come to Romans 3:24, “We are justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith.” Propitiation remember, is that action done that turned God's wrath away from us, so now we are no longer the object of His wrath but of His blessing. And it is through faith, that is how it is applied to us. It's the blood of Christ, His death has made provision but it is of no benefit to a person who does not place their faith in Him. And when they do it gives hope.

While you are in Romans, we'll pick this up. Come to Romans 8:18, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” You see the connection, present sufferings …..future glory. These who have been martyred that we are reading about in Revelation 7 have entered future glory. Paul is going to go through sufferings, he is going to give his life and be a martyr. He said what I am going through here, the difficulties, I don't think they are comparable to the glory. You see the consistency of Scripture. I am concerned we lose our focus on what God has promised.

We become absorbed in this life, we begin to live like the unbeliever. This is everything he has, I'm not getting it today. I planned for a better future for myself. That doesn't do anything to take away from what God has promised. My future really is future. Doesn't mean I can't enjoy what God has given me now, but I want to be careful my life doesn't get absorbed here. We have to be careful because if I make this the focus of my life, that's what will consume my heart. That's what Jesus was warning about when we were reading in Luke 12. Even when you have a lot of possessions, that's not life, that can all be gone. It's hard to live for the Lord consistently in prosperity; that is just a fact of life. We get used to being comfortable, we begin to think we deserve to be comfortable and we forget the promises. We belong to God.

Look at Romans 8:35, “Who will separate us from the Love of Christ? Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword?” We expect this, quoting then from the Psalm. Then verse 37, “In all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels, principalities, things present, things to come, powers, height, depth nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” So back to verse 25, “If we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” That's where we are.

Come back to Revelation 7. They have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, they have been cleansed, they are holy ones, saints. Because of God's grace they have been credited with the righteousness of God provided in Christ. They are now His holy ones and are to live holy because He is holy. Verse 15, “For this reason,” what reason? Because they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, been faithful to the end. “For this reason they are before the throne of God, they serve Him day and night in His temple.” We won't be just sitting around doing nothing, boring, boring, boring. We'll be serving the Lord, that's what they are doing in His temple, in His very presence. We'll see something of this when we get to Revelation 21 and into 22. “He who sits on His throne will spread His tabernacle over them.” That is His tent, they come under His protection, they belong to Him and they are protected from anything that would harm them, discourage them, hurt them. They will “hunger no longer nor thirst anymore, nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat.” It's only blessing in the presence of God.

We’re not going to take the time to go back but these things are promised. Isaiah 4, Isaiah 49, we'll see these when we get to Revelation 21 and into 22, the blessings. These martyrs have entered into it. I encourage you from time to time to read the accounts of the martyrs, different books that have been written. Not because we are morbid and like to read about people dying, but it is good for us to be reminded the testimony people have borne in the worst of situations, the most painful. I read that and say Lord, I don't know that I could do that. But the Lord gives me grace to do what I have to do today. That's what I have to be concerned.

So while we may not be in the situation of the martyrs of Revelation 7, we are reminded of the outcome of life. And really, does it matter how they died when we get to Revelation 7 here, or how they are going to die? Man can come up with some terribly cruel ways. Some of those accounts I read stick in my mind—a man, cut out his tongue so he can't testify. Then they are taking him to be burned at the stake and they have heated hot pinchers, red hot, and every five steps or so they come up and grab a portion of his flesh and pull it off. This goes on and on and on. You wonder, is this more than I can bear? He is faithful. Do you think today it matters? All man can do is kill the body. He can make it a painful death, life can be made difficult, but he can't take away the reward because the moment a believer breathes his last it is glory. That will never end. Now we have that as our perspective, the things that press in upon us …. be faithful. In light of what Revelation 6-19 says and then the culmination in Revelation 20-22, the church ought to be encouraged. We ought to be ready to live for the Lord whatever may come, whatever situation.

Verse 17, none of these things will happen “for the Lamb in the center of the throne,” that connection of the Son of God who became the Lamb of God who shed His blood to take away sin. As John the Baptist introduced Him to the nation, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. “His death sufficient,” verse 9, “for people of every language, tongue,” etc. The connecting point is I hear and believe the truth concerning Him. “The Lamb in the center of the throne will be their Shepherd.” Here I find great encouragement. We quote Psalm 23 and often we do it at funerals, but it is an encouragement for us. “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” And “even though I walk through the shadow of death” I do it fearlessly. “I fear no evil because You are with me.” You are the One who comforts me. And do you know what? That continues after this life. “The Lamb in the center of the throne will be their Shepherd.” It's amazing. “And will guide them to the springs of the water of life.” That's personal care.

Come over to Revelation 22. We are in eternity, we don't have any other time markers for us. Verse 1, “Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” Then you have the tree of life and it is all for our blessing. And He will shepherd us, here is what I have for you. Remember Jesus said I have come that you might have life and you might have it more abundantly. We have just had a taste of it in the salvation we enjoy. But the fullness of that, it's like our physical body. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15 it's like comparing that kernel of a seed to the beauty of the flower that will come out of it. So we just have so much yet, seems like I'm just plodding along, it's like my spiritual feeder in the mud and it just takes everything I can to pick up and take the next step. Why does this happen to me?

And I come to the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation is about what is going to happen in the future, but what about today? The book of Revelation, what happened to these martyrs? Compared to what martyrs have gone through, I haven't suffered anything. Look at you, I'm looking at you, you look at me. We've suffered, some of you are going through more difficulty than others, some have physical difficulty, I'm not making light of that, many of you are facing severe trials. But really think of the glory that we have before us, think of what the Lord has promised. This is an opportunity for me to be faithful to Him. These martyrs, they didn't lose out on anything. Their life was cut short, things they had planned, they didn't get to go on vacation. Do you think any of them were up there before the throne saying Lord, I missed out on so much? We don't find the martyrs there in that state.

And I love the last statement in verse 17, “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” I'm ready for Him to wipe away the tears now, but He doesn't say He'll do that now. I'd like to have a tearless life, that's not what He says, but He will. That's what happens when we begin to lose sight of the hope, the promise, the future. Our eyes come down here and we are like the world, we are mired down with the world's thinking, we have allowed ourselves to become ensnared in what the world thinks is important.

Again, I'm not saying we want to be martyrs, we look for ways to suffer. I can enjoy the good things God has provided, the Scripture says that, but I have to be careful that they don't take hold of my heart. And you know what? Then it can weaken me and I become spiritually comfortable and then pressure comes and I don't know how to cope with it. So we adopt the world's approach—I must need a psychiatrist or psychologist. The world has no hope. We grieve, 1 Thessalonians 4, loved ones die and we grieve, but we don't grieve as those who have no hope. I don't go through my trials as a hopeless person, just thank the Lord for trials He has not brought into my life. But I know whatever, I don't know my future. Like we have in the song, I don't know what the future holds but I know who holds the future. And today is the day I live. Jesus said don't worry about tomorrow, each day has enough trouble of its own. So the pattern.

Let me summarize some of these things with you as we wrap it up, these verses. Just made some points and they overlap, they repeat and I did that on purpose. Just want you to know that at my age, that some of my repetition is purposeful.

(1) The blood of Christ is the only cleansing from defilement of sin. That ought to be fixed in our minds, rooted there. We look at the world, we don't want to clean up the world. You can't. There is only one cleansing from the defilement, the filth, the guilt of sin. Believers start to slide—no, we have to get this legislation. I'm not against voting for things, we have that right. But I don't hold out any hope, I don't want to talk to the unbeliever about cleaning up his life. Only God can clean up a life. The blood of Christ is the only cleansing from the defilement of sin. Faith in what Christ has done and His finished work on the cross is the only way you can be clean in the sight of a holy God. That means come and take communion, get baptized, be religious…..doesn't help. The blood of Christ is the only cleansing from the defilement of sin. Whatever your nationality, wherever you are in the world, it's the same message.

(2) Those who are forgiven in Christ will enjoy God's present for eternity. “For this reason,” verse 15 says, what reason? “They have washed their robes, made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason they are before the throne of God, they serve Him day and night in His temple,” His very presence. That's our future. Whatever is happening today, remember as a believer your future. If you have been washed in the blood of the Lamb.

(3) The sufferings of this life are temporary for the believer. “God will spread His tabernacle over them, they will hunger no longer, thirst no more, the sun won't beat down on them, nor any heat” and many other things. So I face the difficulty but I remember it is temporary. You don't know how long I've been dealing with this. No, I don't, but I know something, if you are a believer there is no measure of how long you won't have to deal with it because whatever it is, it is temporary.

(4) The Lamb will shepherd us even in heaven. And I love the way that is put, He's my Shepherd. And do you know what? I'll meet Him face to face in glory and He'll still be my Shepherd and I won't be wandering around in heaven, anybody here help me? I'm sort of at a loss up here. He's my Shepherd. He's going to lead me.

(5) The fullness of eternal life will be ours in God's presence. He's going to lead us to the waters of life and we'll have the fullness and the abundance of life that with these finite minds we cannot even grasp. Just have a taste. We have tasted but the fullness of it can only come at a future time. These who have died are enjoying it.

(6) The sorrows of this life are temporary for the believer. Now I realize that ties what I said in point 3, the sufferings of this life are temporary. But I realize God came back to that at the end of verse 17 because it is a necessary reminder. These martyrs and those who will be martyred, and I take it some of those in this seven-year period, they will be studying the book of Revelation, they will be encouraging one another. We can face this, they will torture us, we will die and it's going to be painful. Only God will be able to give us the grace to stand, but He will. But then think of it, God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. We'll get to this in Revelation 21. The sorrows of this life are temporary. When I get my eyes dropped down, I just can hardly put up with ….. this is no fun, this is breaking my heart, this is unpleasant. Lord, you put me here. Count it all joy when you fall into various testing, for this is part of your storing up rewards for the future, James 1 in my paraphrase.

So we are studying the future, we have this interlude here that is preparing for worse times in the immediate future, but a reminder telling these who will be martyrs what it is going to be like. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. It is worth enduring, it is worth doing. Fix your eyes on not just the immediate future but what lies ahead. I take it, it is for us.

This is His letter to the churches. I don't know what you are going through, I don't know what you face or where you are in your walk with the Lord. But it is clear there is a future, every one of us has an eternal future, it is either heaven or hell. We all are on the road to hell until we recognize our wretched condition, recognize Christ died for us and we place our faith in Him. Then a miraculous change takes place that only God can accomplish. He brings us His salvation and now our destiny is glory in the heaven of His presence. That is to sustain me, whatever I am going through now.

He doesn't promise us an easy road, a smooth road, a trouble-free road. Lord, all I can do is be faithful to you today, whatever you bring into my life I accept this from you. And Your grace will be sufficient. It is good for us to be tested beyond our abilities because then we have to trust the Lord. When we come to the point, I can't handle this, I can't do this, are we saying God is not able? He is able to strengthen so that we can be faithful.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for Your Word. Lord, even as we study a book that focuses on the future, we are reminded these are things we are to take to heart. You have told us about the future to strengthen us, to encourage us, to remind us. Lord, any who are here who have yet to trust Christ, may this be a day when they turn to the only One who can cleanse them. For those of us who have, Lord, you know the diversity that is here, the different situations, the different circumstances, the different pressures, the different trials. But, Lord, as Your children You shepherd us, You care for us, You strengthen us. May our lives be the testimony of that grace. In Christ's name, amen.