Please turn to Revelation chapter 7. And the brief context is last week we finished chapter 6. You have the four seals, which is the four judgments, if you will, over the whole earth during the age of the church. This age between the two advents. The fifth seal, which then shows us those who've been martyred, those believers who had died during this time. And they're crying out, how long? You have the sixth seal, which represents the time before the final judgment of the dissolving of the earth, the dismay of mankind, and the day of wrath. And the question then is, who can stand? Who is able to stand before this? In chapter seven, answer that question. Who can stand? And what about the church that's alive during the time of chapter six? And what we see in the first eight verses, is the church militant on earth, sealed and secured in the midst of God's judgment. And then the last half, we see the church triumphant in heaven, standing and secured from God's judgment. Please hear the word of God as I read the entirety of chapter seven. After these things, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God, and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, Do not harm the earth, the sea, the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. And I heard the number of those who were sealed. 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed. Of the tribe of Judah, 12,000 were sealed. And of the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 were sealed. And of the tribe of Gad, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Asher, 12,000 were sealed. And of the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 were sealed. And of the tribe of Manasseh, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Levi, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Issachar, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Benjamin, 12,000 were sealed. And after these things, I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes with palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice saying, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb. All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God saying, amen, blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen. Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, who are these arrayed in white robes and where did they come from? And I said to him, sir, you know. And so he said to me, these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple. And he who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger, anymore nor thirst anymore the sun shall not strike them nor any heat for the lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters and God will wipe every tear away from their eyes this is the word of God and may God by his spirit teach us and convict us according to his will you may be seated We said last week that we see in Revelation seven visions, and many of these visions are characterized by the number seven. And the last six of the seven cycles in the book of Revelation end with final judgment. We've already seen the first cycle in chapters one through three, the glorious, resurrected, ascended, reigning Christ who's walking among the lampstands. And then letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor, representing all churches of all time, were written, churches on the earth. And then chapters four through seven, which we're in the middle of now, is the second cycle. And now from the letters to the churches on earth, now we are taken to the throne of heaven and the seven seals of the Lamb. And we will see that these seven seals end with silence, with the final judgment in verse 1 of chapter 8. But in chapters 4 through 7, with the seven seals, an outline could be made. There's a characterization here of questions. Questions are being asked and then answered. In chapter 5, verse 2, the strong angel said, Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals? Remember, John was weeping. Nobody was worthy. But yet, only the Lamb, who was slain, but now is standing. When it speaks of Him standing, it's representing He's been resurrected and ascended. And He's worthy, the Lamb is, to take the scroll from the right hand of the Father and to open it and to enact God's eternal decrees of judgment, redemption, and consummation. The Lamb opens the first four seals and sends out the four horsemen of judgment upon the whole earth. We think this is during the time between the two Advents. It's a time where sinners are punished because of a sin. The church though is persecuted and purified. And then he opens the fifth seal to show the scene of the slain under the altar of God in heaven during the same time. And it helps the persecuted Christian of the time to thank What's happening to those who've already gone before me while they're being held safe in white robes and protected? But that produces another question, because in chapter 6, verse 10, those saints who are slain, they're crying out, how long, O Lord, holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? And they're given white robes, and they're told to rest and to wait a little while longer until the number of their fellow servants their brethren are killed, that number would be complete, which leads to another question. What about the church who's alive during the midst of this time? Well, that's what chapter seven is getting at as well. But the answer to the prayer, how long, O Lord, is basically answered with the sixth seal that's open then, which then commences the final judgment on the earth, the dissolution of creation, the dismay of mankind, and the day of wrath that no one can stand. And that produces another question by the sinners on earth, which they say, follow us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb. For the great day of wrath has come and who is able to stand. And that brings us to chapter seven, which we've just read. One of the most misunderstood passages perhaps of revelation, but one of the more important in the chapter. Seven of Revelation answers two questions. Who indeed, first, who indeed is able to stand before the throne of the Lamb and then the day of the Lamb's wrath? Who is able to stand? But then number two, the question of what about the saints or the church during a time of this tribulation era? Not a seven-year great tribulation, but a time between the advents of Christ when there will be tribulation before the final judgment. What about the church during this time? So who is able to stand and what about the church alive during this time? And the answer then is given in chapter 7 as we see two visions of the church enabled to stand, but from different perspectives. In verses 1 through 8, which is what we'll look at today, we see the church militant on earth, sealed and secure in the midst of God's judgment. The church militant on earth, sealed and secure in the midst of God's judgment. And then next week, Lord willing, we'll look at verses 9 through 17 and see the church triumphant in heaven, standing and secure from God's judgment. We'll also find a final question in this section, which we did read just moments ago. Who are these who are arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from? That question will be answered next week in more thoroughness. But this week I want us to look at verses 1 through 8. And who can stand? Well, the sealed of the Lamb can stand, the church militant on earth, sealed and secure in the midst of God's judgment. And in your bulletin, you will see an outline And because I lost all creativity, the outline is just simply this. We're looking at those who are sealed, so we'll look at when are they sealed? When is this taking place? Why are they sealed? Who is being sealed? And what is the seal? What does it represent? And I apologize for not being more creative with that outline, but hopefully it will help us as we walk through these eight verses. So if you look at verse one, and the question of when is this? Verse one says, after these things, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Before we actually try to interpret what is this talking about, I think it's good to look at the idea of an interlude. There's an interlude now between the sixth and the seventh seals. There's an interlude. It really seems like a welcome and encouraging pause before the seal of final judgment, which the seventh seal would represent. If you remember what happened last week in chapter six, it's a little bit dismaying, the totality of judgment that would come. And so there's an interlude here that invites us to stop and to ponder, an interlude that has a sense of delay, indicating that though the end will come, it's not here yet. And it's still true today. And the idea of an interlude also will be repeated in the book of Revelation when we get to the seven trumpets, the next cycle. And we'll see between the sixth and the seventh trumpets, just like between the sixth and the seventh seals, there's an interlude there as well. It's interesting when we get to the cycle of the seven bowls, there's no interlude. And the seven bowls represent a greater intensity. The trumpets are more intense than the Then the seals, the bowls are even more intense. The cycle of the bowls seem to emphasize the end throughout with the bowls being poured out speedily. And then between the sixth and the seventh bowls, what we hear is, behold, I'm coming as a thief. There's no more delay. But we'll get to that when we get to that. With the seven seals, this interlude allows the Christian to be encouraged by stopping to see who can stand and what happens to the church during the tribulation on the earth that we're in right now. This is a parentheses explaining how God will keep believers spiritually during the tribulations and trials of the church age. And so back then to when they are sealed, what would be the interpretation of that when they are sealed? Remember, Revelation is not written to be read in chronological order. There's some hopping back and forth, if you will. There's some recycling through the same things, but from different perspectives. And now what's going on with chapter 7 is John's by a vision is being taken back to the beginning of chapter 6. Remember in chapter 6, we had the first four seals open and the four horsemen were sent out to have judgment upon the earth. So we're being taken back to the beginning of that. It is interesting that no matter what your view of Revelation, you probably have that idea that we're being taken back to the beginning. Our dispensational brethren, our futurists, who look at what we're talking about as a seven-year tribulation, they would say this is taking it back to the beginning of that seven-year tribulation. For those who are preterists, who see Revelation being focused on A.D. 70, they would say this is the last few years before A.D. 70. But our view, at least mine, would be that this is representing this time that we're talking about in the book of Revelation as speaking of the inter-advental period between the first and second advent of Christ. And these are judgments during the last days, which is the church age, this age that we're living in right now. So this is taking us back to what we saw in chapter six. And I think the key here is the use of the word for. You have four angels standing at Four corners holding back the four winds of the earth. Do you see a repetition there? I hope you do. And the four winds represent the four horsemen of the four seals that were sent out in chapter six. Representing the winds of harm or the winds of judgment. Earlier when we spoke of the four horsemen, we looked at Zechariah chapter one and chapter six. And in Zechariah chapter six, you have the chariots being sent out The horse is being sent out. And in the New King James, they're referred to as the four spirits. But in other versions, they're referred to as the four winds. I think your ESV says that as well. That's because in Hebrew, the word for spirit and wind, it's the same word. So there's a play on words here. I think that's what John is pulling from here, that the four winds represent the four spirits that are sent out in judgment representing the four horsemen that have already been sent out in chapter six. And the idea of the four corners is it's the totality of the earth. Remember the four seals were opened up so there'd be judgment over the whole earth. And the four corners is representing that. You have now angels being sent out to hold those things back that have already been decreed and sent out. And even the reference of the earth and the sea and the tree that represents the whole earth. That's a sort of synecdoche where the part represents the whole. So it's saying don't harm or don't blow on the earth. The C in the tree, it means the earth and everything that's in it. Hold back, restrain from doing this. So the four angels of verse one of chapter seven are sent to restrain the ministers of judgment that were sent via the four seals at the beginning of and during the current age as we await the second coming of Christ. Before we move on to the why, I think there's an encouraging application here. Who decreed that the four horses could be sent out? I think it was God, and the Lamb is opening the seal. Who's now decreeing that we hold these things back to some level? Well, God is doing that, and so God permits the winds to do the work. In fact, He decrees them, but He also restrains them by His grace and mercy. That's going on today. Even the difficulty of life that we have now, that we get discouraged about, it's being restrained by the mercy and grace of God even now. And we do get discouraged about our world and our society. Sometimes we think, can things get any worse? Even as our society, which has been blessed by the influence of the gospel, the influence of scripture, it seems like every day something worse is happening that we wouldn't expect. But in fact, when we understand that the majority of the world is not redeemed, and they are left to their depravity, and that includes our country, things should be worse. Do you understand this? It's like the total depravity of the individual. When we speak of someone who's totally depraved, which is all who are born through Adam, you're totally depraved, but you're not as bad as you could be. because God restrains with his grace and does not allow it. But when God removes his grace and his restraint, that's when wickedness increases individually, but then in a nation and in the world as well. So God in his common grace restrains evil for all, even for the non-believer who hates him. We serve a gracious, wonderful God. But God in his special love for his people, he restrains evil in particular for their sake. That's one reason why when the church exists in a nation, it's a blessing to that nation. There's a restraint that comes along with the church with the Christians in a certain area. And God uses his church in the world as a conduit to bring grace and restraint of evil in the world in which they live as well. So it's an encouragement to us, but also it should be an encouragement and an exhortation to us that we of the redemptive kingdom, we should be striving to be an agent of restraint and blessing to the common kingdom in which sin reigns. So there's restraint, even of the four horsemen and the judgments that are mentioned in chapter six. But then the question might be, well, why? Why is there restraint? So we look at verses two through three. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God, and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. So it was seen was another angel from the east. You think, why the east? We don't have a lot of details, and there's lots of speculation about what this angel could represent. But when something comes from the east, that's from the rising of the sun. It's where light comes from. It's the direction from which good news comes. It means light is coming to help, like a sunrise. And it does remind us of the son of righteousness who comes with healing in his wings, as Malachi says in chapter four of Malachi. So help is on the way. This angel comes having the seal of the living God, which is really the theme of the rest of what we'll look at this morning. But then what it said is, do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. So what's going on here is there's a restraining of the tribulation and the finality of judgment until the saints on the earth can be sealed by God. making sure the saints are sealed in the midst of tribulation and before the final judgment on the earth, sealing the saints to set them apart and protect them as servants in the midst of the tribulation of this life. And it should remind you of Ezekiel chapter 9. In Ezekiel chapter 9, I'm sure this is on the mind of John, and there you had before the judgment was sent out on Jerusalem, that first a man who is in linen was charged to place a mark on the forehead of all those who hated sin, that they would be spared from the great judgment that was going to come. So with this sealing and this mark on the forehead, we see this often in the book of Revelation. In Revelation 9, we'll see during the fifth trumpet that those who are protected are those who have the seal of God on their foreheads. Those are his people. In Revelation 14, we'll see that the 144,000 appear again, and they have the name of the Father and the name of the Lamb written on their foreheads to set them apart and to protect them. And then in the end, in Revelation 22, we'll see the name is on the foreheads of those who are Christ's, who are with Him forever. And of course, we'll also see that the beast parodies these things, and there's a mark of the beast that marks out those who are not His, And so why are they sealed? Are they sealed to be protected, to be set apart in the midst of judgment? Let's look at verses four through eight. Maybe this is the big question in the big area of discussion and maybe argument. Who are these people in verses four through eight? What I want us to do is look at the number. There's 144,000. Look at the tribes, but also look at the New Testament teaching of the church. The number of the tribes in the New Testament. First of all, you have the number of, I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 of all the tribes of the children or the sons of Israel were sealed. And the question is, is this a literal or a symbolic number? 144,000. One commentator said, well, if it was literal, it might be the only number in all of Revelation that is literal. The book of Revelation is a visionary book. And numbers are naturally symbolic. They mean something, but they're not meant to be taken woodenly literal. And so the numbers that are used, and the multiples, and the multiplication of numbers, those sorts of things are significant, and understanding was being put forth here. And so our dispensationalist brothers, or futurists, would hold that this is a literal, I believe, 144,000 Jews, ethnic Jews who were saved out of a great tribulation period. Cults have taken this through the ages to their own evil benefit. The Jehovah's Witnesses would claim that this 144,000 was literally 144,000 special, really good people who would reign in heaven. That's where they got their name, Jehovah's Witnesses, from 144,000. The problem they had is eventually there were more than 144,000 Jehovah's Witnesses who had to change their theology a little bit and say, The 144,000 are the really good ones who will be in heaven, but the rest of you, you'll be okay, but you'll be on earth. I think neither of those ideas fit the text. I think it's helpful to look at the numbers. Obviously, we have the number 12, we have the number 1,000. The number 12 represents God's people. 12 represent God's people. You have the 12 tribes of Israel in the Old Testament. You have the 12 apostles in the New Testament. And don't we see this repeated at the end when describing the New Jerusalem and we have 12 is all abounding. It's representing God's people. And so a combination of 12 and 12, 12 times 12 is 144. I used to be a math teacher, so you can trust me on this. The 12 combination of 12 and 12 represents the redeemed of the old and the new covenants, the redeemed of all of those old and new. And so 12 times 12, or 144, represents the fullness or the totality of the people of God. And then you add to that 1,000. 12 times 12 times 1,000 does equal 144,000. 1,000 in the Scriptures represents a really, really large amount, or even a really large amount of time. I think both of those things fit here. And so 12 times 12 times 1,000, which is 144,000, represents the true fullness of God's people together, and possibly over the long time of this time that we're in right now before Christ returns. It represents the fullness of God's elect Jew and Gentile redeemed between the two Advents, or even possibly for all time, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, however. And again, when we get to Revelation 21 in about 10 years, it will describe The New Jerusalem with its uses of 12s and 1000s again to represent the fullness of God's people, the church in its fullness at the end. So this number seems best to represent that. What about the tribes? These are Jewish tribes. Doesn't this have to be ethnic Jews, physical Jews in some sort? Of course, the futurists would hold it. Yes, these are ethnic Jews saved out of the Great Tribulation. after their rapture and before Christ comes and there's a millennial kingdom. We don't hold to that, but there are some brethren who do. The Preterists would say these are ethnic Jews who are Christians who heeded Jesus' warning in the Olivet Discourse to flee before A.D. 70. But I think it's much more than that. I think the key to these tribes would be the uniqueness in the way that these tribes are listed in verses 5 through 8. The list of tribes here, their order and who is actually mentioned is unlike any other list of the tribes of Israel and all of scripture. And that shows a uniqueness of what it's trying to represent. And I believe even the tribes listed are representing the church of Christ in its fullness. If you compare it to say Genesis 35, where it speaks about Jacob's 12 sons, Genesis 35 verses 23 through 26. The order there is you have the sons of Leah first, Reuben being the firstborn, but then Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. Then the sons of Rachel, with Joseph and Benjamin. And they were the favorites, Joseph and Benjamin. But then you have the sons of the concubines, Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant. She had Dan and Naphtali. And then Zilpah, Leah's maidservant had Gad and Asher. So the concubine's sons are listed last, and that's almost always the way this is. The unnatural sons, if you will, the outsiders, are listed at the end. But you look at what we have here in verses five through eight. Who is the first one? Is the firstborn the one who's listed first? Well, sort of, but not like you're thinking. Reuben's the firstborn, but here, unlike any other listing, you have the tribe of Judah listed first. Reuben is not listed first. If I submit to you from the tribe of Judah, the firstborn does come, the firstborn from the dead, the firstborn of creation, the Lord Jesus Christ, who even in Revelation 5.5 is described as the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David. And so Judah is listed first to represent the tribe of Judah from which Christ the head would come. This is unlike any other list. So the head of the church is listed first. Then you have things like Dan and Ephraim are not listed at all. Dan and Ephraim are not listed at all. And why would that be? I think it's because these were two tribes that were known for idolatry. When Jeroboam set up his golden calves, they had one in Dan and one in the area of Ephraim. And so known for the idolatry, Dan and Ephraim's left out of this list, meaning there's no idolaters in this listing of people. And then notice that Gad and Asher and Naphtali, those are sons of concubines. Those are near the top after Judah and then the real firstborn, if you will. Then you have sons of the concubines listed at the top rather than at the end. I think it's an idea of pointing forth that outsiders are allowed in this and even given a place. Some would even say this represents Gentiles within the church as well as the Jews. It also knows that Joseph and Benjamin, the favorite, their last. There are no favorites within the church. There are no favorites within the people. There's no partiality. Ethnicity doesn't matter. There are no favorites. Even you have things like Levi is actually listed in this listing. Oftentimes Levi is not because they didn't have a land. They were there to serve and to be spread about the other tribes. Here Levi is actually listed. So I think what you see here is a unique way of describing these 12 tribes in such a way that it's the totality of God's people, the church, not literal Israel, not ethnic Israel, yes, including Jews and Gentiles, but led by Christ, the lion of the tribe of Judah. I think also the idea of the tribes and numbers, it reminds us in the Old Testament that they would do this, they'd number the armies per tribe as they would go to battle. And 12,000 per speaks of a numbering of the armies, numbering of the tribes, readying the church for battle, sealing the church and readying it for her battle as the church militant on earth in the midst of God's judgment on the earth, but yet protected from it. So the number and the tribes, I think, point to the church. But also when you look at the language of the New Testament and all of scripture, The church is described in the language of the New Testament with the use of the language of Israel. The language of Israel describes the church. And even the Old Testament, the prophecies speaking about Jews and Gentiles speaks of the same thing. This shouldn't be a surprise. And notice these are children or sons of Israel, meaning that they're sons of Abraham, spiritual sons of Abraham with the faith of Abraham. The New Testament again clarifies the church is made up of Jew and Gentile. The wall of separation is broken down forever, Ephesians chapter 2. There is no difference. The Jews were broken off due to their unbelief. The Gentiles were grafted in by faith, and then the Jews were regrafted in, Romans 9 through 11, where Paul says, not all of Israel is of Israel. The true Jew is the one who's redeemed, who's the spiritual Jew, the spiritual Israelite. And in Jeremiah 31, the only prophecy of the new covenant that mentions the new covenant by name in the Old Testament, the new covenant prophecy is given to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It's interesting in Acts chapter 2, when the gospel is proclaimed, it's spoken to the house of Israel. I believe it is because the church is referred to as the house of Israel and the house of Judah. And that new covenant that was prophesied to the house of Israel in the house of Judah is established by the blood of Christ in the church. We've been reading that in Hebrews 10 and other places in our study of the book of Hebrews. Even in Revelation, in chapter 2 and chapter 3, in the letter to Smyrna and to Philadelphia, unbelieving ethnic Jews were called not Jews. That's not being anti-Semitic. It's mentioning the spiritual Israel is what we're looking for, the true circumcision of the heart, not a physical circumcision. In fact, in Romans chapter 2, Paul says the Jew is the one who's been circumcised in the heart. He's the Jew inward, and he tells the Philippians in Philippians 3 that we who are Christians are the true circumcision. And in Galatians 6, the church itself is called the Israel of God, which matches the Old Testament prophecy of the Messiah's people, including the Gentiles as well. Even in 1 Peter, we see the church being described as pilgrims, kings and priests, a holy nation, a chosen people, a special people set apart. Those are words of Israel in the Old Testament. It's applied to the church. And all of this puts together then points to the 144,000 here and later in the book of Revelation as being the totality of the church, redeemed from all peoples of all times, sealed in this case, by the Spirit of God and set apart, protected from ultimate judgment, not from all dangers, but protected spiritually from the judgment in which they live and the final judgment certainly. So it leads us then to ask the question, what is the seal? What's the point of the seal? And you already probably have some clues. I'd like to think anyway. What is the seal? Well, obviously the sealing is for the marking out of God's people for protection in the midst of tribulation of this age. But there are applications that we can make from this that are an encouragement to us, I hope. I have four things that the seals represent and the sealing represent. Number one, it represents our identity in Christ. It represents Christ's ownership over us. Ownership and identity. Ownership and identity. This is a blessing. It should be. I am His and He is mine. Christ says that to us, we can say it to Him as well. In the context, we had the seven seals already. Remember the seven seals represented the authority and the ownership of God. Only the one who is worthy could undo the seals. Only the one who's worthy could take the scroll from the hand of the Father and open them. And that was the Lamb. Only He was worthy. He had ownership over it. And so only Lamb's people who are redeemed by him can bear his name, and only they have been sealed with the seal on the forehead, symbolically represented here. In the ancient world, signet rings were used with hot wax to make seals to authenticate something as that person's by his authority. So you'd have the hot wax, you'd have the signet ring, you put it in there, there'd be a seal on a letter or scroll, and you'd see the mark of the signet ring. That's King So-and-Sos. That's what's going on here. The seals marked ownership and identity. This one is truly mine. And so in Revelation 14.1, we have the 144,000 standing with the lamb, with the name of the father and of the lamb written on their foreheads. It means these are owned by Christ, bearing the name of Christ, identifying with Christ. And it says, by the way, a little bit later that they sang a new song and they're the ones who follow the lamb wherever he goes. They were redeemed from among men being the first fruits to God and to the Lamb. That's us. It's a blessing. In 2 Timothy 2, verse 19, we read, the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal, the Lord knows who are his. Take comfort in that, brother and sister. So the context, we have this with the ancient world and the signet ring, but I think also the idea of slaves In this world, at this time, slaves at the time would be marked out by their owners, oftentimes by a mark on their forehead. And so we have now servants being sealed by God with marks on their forehead. Bond servants, we have nothing, we owe everything to our Savior to serve Him, but we do it gladly. Identified as God's people, as the Lamb's people, as His servants set apart to Him. So there's identity and ownership, which is a great encouragement for us, even as Conrad spoke earlier in speaking of our covenant, being redeemed from such sin and being identified with this Christ. How could we live on in our sin? The second thing is this represents election, the idea of election. These were marked out from all eternity to be sealed as servants They were not sealed because of their merit, anything they have done, but they're sealed because of sovereign grace. And that seal then is applied at the time that they repent and believe, and they have new birth. And the 144,000, the number of 144,000 implies a definite number. It's not a literal number that there's only going to be 144,000, but the fact there is a specific number implies a definite number of some sort, which has the idea of the elect. God has chosen those who would be redeemed, who would repent and believe. Even as we began, we talked about the restraint of God, the restraint of evil in our world, and how total depravity isn't as bad as it could be because of God's And also total poverty means that we're dead in our sins and our trespasses. And outside of the grace of God, we can't do anything to move towards Him because we love our sin too much. But praise God for His saving grace that raises us from the dead, and we repent and believe, and we're then sealed as His forever. We've seen the same idea of the elect in Revelation 6.11. Remember when the prayer comes from below the altar? They were given a white robe. as they were told to rest a little while longer until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, were complete. A number has to be completed. And in Matthew 24, in the Olivet Discourse, Christ will send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. So it speaks of identity and ownership. It speaks of the sovereign grace of election The obvious thing that the seal speaks of is protection and preservation. Protection and preservation. This is obvious, but it's wonderful. It's even better when we reflect on the protection and the preservation of our God that he has upon us when he seals us. It's like Ezekiel chapter nine, as we mentioned earlier, that those who are marked out to not face judgment when judgment was coming to Israel, with a mark on their forehead. It's also like the blood of the lamb on the doorpost of the Jews during Passover. Those who had the blood of the lamb that marked out who they were, they were secured from the harm of death that was coming. These are those who are sealed with the name of lamb and they're protected and they're preserved. and they will persevere. Maybe you get another P in there, protected, preserved, and they will persevere. Does this mean they'll be saved from physical harm? Well, possibly to a degree. There's grace given there. At least we know that none of those who will be sealed will be killed until they come to faith. But we do know as Christians, we know from the scriptures, there will be physical suffering for the Christian in this life. Don't be surprised by it. Expect it. In fact, there will be persecution. There will be suffering because you are Christ and you're identified with him. So it's not saying there's no physical harm. That's up to God and his sovereignty and his goodness and his glory. But what's clearly being said here is that the believer is protected spiritually. He's protected spiritually, especially in this time during the time of tribulation before Christ comes. Between his advents, the one who is Christ's, he will not renounce Christ. He will not deny Christ. He will not recant. He will not worship the beast. He will be protected from the false lure of Satan and his deception. He will stand in the midst of persecution. It doesn't mean he'll do it perfectly. but ultimately he will not recant. He will go through tribulations, but he will not be overcome, but he will overcome. And so ultimately, fourth and last, this is identity and ownership. This is election. This is protection, preservation. It's also perseverance. It's also salvation. Ultimately, The sealing means that we're preserved by the power of the Holy Spirit when we're saved by Christ, the Holy Spirit who is the Christian's seal. Baptism may be a sign of the new covenant, but it's not the seal. The Holy Spirit is the seal of the new covenant. Ephesians chapter one, verses 13 through 14. You should probably memorize verses one through 14 of Ephesians chapter one. But Ephesians chapter one, Praising God for His electing love which will never fail. And praising Christ for His redeeming blood which can never fail. Then in verses 13 and 14 in Ephesians 1 we read, In Him you also trusted. After you heard the word of truth, there still needs to be repentance and belief. The gospel of your salvation in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Who is the guarantee of our inheritance, the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of His glory. And the idea of the redemption of the purchased possession means, yes, you are redeemed now, but your redemption is not complete until Christ returns and you're made perfect in body and soul. and all creation is redeemed. In fact, in Ephesians 4.30, it speaks about being guaranteed until the day of redemption, looking forward to that great day. But it's guaranteed if you place your faith in Christ. If you've been born again, you are sealed by the Spirit of God. It's a guarantee. He is a guarantee of your inheritance, of your full redemption to come. Some versions would say He's the down payment And so you are fully protected in your salvation by the love of the Father, the blood of the Son, and the sealing of the Spirit of God. In 2 Corinthians 1, Paul says, now he who establishes us with you in Christ has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. So it's not merely an external seal that, yeah, you're saved and you're going to be okay, but you're not changed. It's also an internal seal that changes your hearts and guarantees it will be a day where you'll be made like Christ without sin. You'll grow to be more like him. These are wonderful promises and truths, brother and sister. So ultimately the sealing of God is that of the Holy Spirit and only by salvation in Christ The Spirit of God applies the work of Christ to the dead sinner to bring him to life. The sinner repents of his sin and sets his faith on Christ and Christ alone for salvation. And he is then justified by faith. He exchanges his sin and his totality for the righteousness of Christ. And he will not then, and he cannot then face eternal judgment for his sin because Christ has paid it all as the complete propitiation of the wrath that we deserve. And so the one who is sealed can stand before the throne without fear. And if you peek ahead to verse nine of chapter seven, you'll see them standing before the throne without fear. And that person who's sealed by the spirit is then covered in the white robe of righteousness of Christ, verse nine. And he can worship in spirit and truth with a new song and a new heart, verse 11. And he is washed by the blood of the lamb in verse 14. We'll see those things next week. And he's sealed by the spirit of God, a seal that can never be broken, so that he will be preserved by the power of God, and a seal that includes the interchange and new heart that will persevere by the power of God. And so Christian, as I abruptly close, don't be surprised by tribulation in this life. It's promised. We're in the midst of it. But remember, you're part of the church militant, sealed by God, by the Spirit of God. Remember, God is in charge to restrain this world, even in its grace. But when evil happens, it's used for your good and by His glory. And learn to walk by the Spirit with the means of grace, of prayer, of the Word, of worship, of all the means of grace to the church, including the fellowship and the accountability and the iron sharpening iron, and the concerning how to stir one another up to good works and love as we'll look at in our study hour. You need this knowing that God will preserve you by his spirit and he's given his spirit so you can persevere. And look for the day of verses 9 through 17 where the church militant is in standing As the church triumphant, which will occur, it's guaranteed before the lamb and before the throne in glory. So all the more as you see the day approaching. If you're outside of Christ, if you're left unmarked, unsealed, you desperately need the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, or you will not and you cannot stand before him. without the seal of the Spirit, without being marked out by God's grace, washed in the blood of Christ, wearing the white robe of righteousness of Christ, you have no hope and you are left in the eternal despair that we saw in verses 12 through 17 of chapter 6. So we urge you, out of love, out of being faithful to the truth, to come to the one in repentance and faith who came for sinners like you. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we do pray that you'd help us to make sense of difficult passages like Revelation 7. But we can see the great blessing in it. The blood of the Lamb, the sealing of the Spirit, the love of the Father bestowed on us. We're sealed in you. It doesn't get any better than this. And we can stand before you without fear, with great joy, singing a new song, even now, but especially in the day when Christ returns. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we pray then that as your people, that we'd be emboldened in spite of difficulties in this life, in spite of promises of difficulties in this life, we'd be emboldened with all of the resources, the infinite and eternal resources you've given us and what you've made us and who you are, that we'd walk forward as a church militant, shining forth the light of Christ in our words, in our actions, in our lives, in our families, in our neighborhoods, in making the gospel of Christ known, and help us to live a life, Lord, by your spirit and according to your word, not because of our great strength and merit, but living a life that would adorn the gospel of Christ. Being mindful of the majority of those around us in this world, even in America, the majority around us who do not know Christ, and they're left to be one of those who would say, may the rocks and and mountains fall on me, I don't want to face the presence of holy God on that day. Lord, we pray for those who are outside of Christ even today. Why tarry? Why linger? The truth is laid before them and by your sovereign grace, the gospel is made clear to them. They're here today. Tomorrow may not come. We pray, Lord, knowing that Jesus will come. that those who are outside of Christ, you move upon their hearts, Lord, by the power of the Spirit, lead them to repentance and faith, seal them that they might know the same wonderful blessings that we know in this life and that we look forward to with great anticipation in the next. It's in Jesus' name we pray these things, amen.