Well, good evening again. Let's get started with our message now. We're going to be in Revelation chapter 6, verses 9 through 17. We're going to pick up where we left off last time. And the title of the message this evening is The Last Shake-Up. The title is The Last Shake-Up. I had to laugh when we pulled up out here. Charla asked me if I was going to tell this story, but I set my laptop bag, you know, in the seat behind the driver's seat and set my Bible on top of it. I always do that, and it's always fine. Well, I pulled up this evening and I got out and I opened up the door and my Bible fell out. And it's the first time it's ever done that. And I told Charla that's what I get for naming my stuff. message the last shakeup that just shook everything up. Anyway, so let's go ahead and read it and get into it. Actually, we're opening the seven seals. The lamb has taken the scroll out of the hand of the father and he's opening the seven seals. And we've already opened four and now we're picking up with the fifth seal, and it's in verse nine of chapter six. When the lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and because of the testimony which they had maintained. And they cried out with a loud voice, saying, how long, O Lord, holy and true, will you refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth? And there was given to each of them a white robe, and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also. I looked when he broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. And the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood. And the stars in the sky fell to the earth as a fig tree cast its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Then the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the commanders, and the rich, and the strong, and every slave and free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the presence of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb. For the great day of the wrath has come and who is able to stand? Father, we thank you for your word and we just thank you for this vision that you have given us through your servant John that you have have allowed us to have a glimpse of what you're doing and how you're doing it and what it means to us and what is coming, what is coming ahead and what we are to be prepared for and to look forward to. Lord, we just ask that you be with us as we open this up this evening and that you help us to learn and grow and help us to be inspired by your word and be inspired to confidence by your promises your truth and your sovereignty that you show us through your word. Lord, we thank you for these things. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. So beginning in chapter four, John has been showing us a new vision. So we've been in a new vision for three chapters now, and this is a vision of the throne room of heaven. He's still in the throne room. This vision emphasizes the sovereign majesty of God and His rule over creation. The vision is very Trinitarian. The Father is pictured as the one seated on the throne. The Son is pictured as the Lamb standing even though He has been slain. The Holy Spirit is described as seven lamps of fire representing all knowledge and wisdom. or illumination, seven horns representing omnipotent power, seven eyes representing omniscience. The Spirit sees everything, everywhere, every when, all the time, forever, backwards and forwards, all of time and space. There's no place that's ever been or ever will be that the Spirit of God isn't there. And so all three persons of the Godhead are represented in this vision. In the vision, we also see the court of heaven around the throne of God. And it's perpetually engaged in worship and praise to God for who he is and what he's done. And then we see a vision that it either, well, it illustrates or it gives us an image, a visual image of God exercising his sovereign control over history. And the way that that's illustrated for us is it begins with an image of a scroll or a book in the right hand of the Father seated on the throne. And in this book, this book is a metaphor, it's metaphorical, it's an image that's meant to represent us, God's complete purpose for the history of the world, for the history of His creation. for all of his creation. And the book is completely sealed with seven seals. So you can imagine a scroll. This is what John would have had in mind. And this is what the recipients of the letter would have had in mind when they read Revelation is that when he said a book, or it's translated as a book in the New American Standard, In their understanding, they would see a scroll because that's what they had. That's what a book was written on. It was just written out on a big piece of paper and then rolled up. And so they would see this scroll that was rolled up and then it was sealed with seven seals to keep it from unrolling. And so that's the picture that they would have in mind. So then there's this question posed, and the question is, who is worthy to open the scroll and to break its seals? Who's worthy to execute God's purpose for his creation? Of course, no created being is worthy. And this is not just about sin. Not even the purest, mightiest, most holy angel in heaven is found worthy. to open the scroll, to open the book. But the Lamb is worthy. The uncreated one who took humanity upon himself was the only one who could rescue and redeem God's creation by taking the sin of his people upon himself and making atonement for it. Literally paying the debt that the sin of mankind incurred. and he did it through the sacrifice of himself. So he takes the book of history from the right hand of the father and he begins to break the seals in order to open the book. Well, because this is a vision, it's an image, it's meant to illustrate something and it's not a photograph, this is not a literal physical book. Like I said, it's a visual metaphor. And because of that, the breaking of each seal represents the unfolding of what is in the book. I explained before last week that if it was a normal book, if it was a normal scroll, you'd have to break all seven seals and unroll it before we could see what was in it, before we could read it. But that's not what this is. It's not a scroll. It's visualized to us as a scroll. But in reality, it is just God's purpose And the only one that is worthy of executing that purpose is the Lamb. And so he receives his commission from the Father. And you can see that through the picture of the scroll being taken. And then he begins to execute it. And the breaking of each seal is just the Lamb beginning to execute God's purpose. And so that's what we have this image of. And we don't have to wait till all the seals are broken for history to begin. The contents of the first four seals were illustrated by four different colored horses and their riders. The riders were all representative of limited Temporal, which just means temporary, physical judgments from God. And they're all sent forth. They're actually sent forth by Christ, by the Lamb. So when people say, well, how could a good God allow bad things to happen? He didn't just allow them to happen. He sent them forth to happen. And all of these temporal judgments are sent forth by Christ onto the earth. These four horsemen of the apocalypse have been imagined by many to be a future manifestation of God's judgment that will be sent sometime in the future as a precursor to the last judgment. That is partly correct. They are a precursor to the last judgment, but they've already been sent out. We're not waiting on them to be sent out. This scroll, this book, represents God's purpose for history, and these limited temporal judgments are sent out upon the earth at the beginning of human history, not at the end of it. They're already in action. Think about the nature of these four forces. Conquest is first, followed by conflict, war between people, the second, And then comes famine, scarcity, the struggle for survival. That's third. And then finally, pestilence, disease, death, accompanied by Hades, accompanied by the grave. And that's the four horses. They're already here. They've been here since the fall of man. We're not waiting on them to get here. We don't notice them as much in our comfortable environment in the place that we live. But if you look around the world, you see them everywhere. And you're seeing them more and more here. But let me ask you a question. What do these horsemen describe, if not the human condition, and if not the nature of the world that we live in, and the nature of the world as it's been? I'm a history major. That's what my undergraduate degree was in, history. The history of mankind is the history of the four horsemen. That's what it is. So, in other words, the four horsemen are representative of the curse of God against sin that is on the world right now and will continue as long as sin remains. God is not going to allow his people to be comfortable and content living in a sinful state of separation from him. That's why the world is cursed. The world is under a curse. Why did he put Adam and Eve out of the garden? Because they're separated from him now. They're in a condition of sin. And it even says it there in the text. He's getting them away from the tree of life, lest they put out their hand and eat from the tree of life and live forever in that fallen, sinful condition, separated from God's, separated from everything good. So the whole point is, the reason why the curse is on this world is because God is not going to let his people be comfortable in a condition of sin. And that brings us to our text for this evening. So let's look at verse nine. When the lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and because of the testimony which they had maintained. So I'm gonna tell y'all something funny. When I started this, I actually entertained for about five minutes getting all the way through chapter seven. And then, I very quickly, as I was just looking at verse nine, I very quickly thought, I'm gonna spend half the evening in verse nine. So I just let that go. So we're gonna, we're just gonna look at the rest of chapter six. So anyway, as the first four seals were being broken, our attention has been on earth because the lamb is sending forth these horsemen, these judgments of God upon the earth, and that's where our attention has been focused. But when the lamb breaks the fist seal, our attention is redirected to heaven. And John sees an altar. Now, in the tabernacle and temple, there were two altars. There was one in the outer court for the animal sacrifices, and then there was another one, the altar of incense, in front of the veil that separated the holy place from the most holy place. So when you went into the inner court, then you would go into the holy place, and in the holy place, there's this altar of incense, and behind it is that veil, the veil that was torn in two whenever Christ died on the cross. That veil that separated, it represented, that veil was a picture. That veil was a picture of the fact that our sin separates us from God. And so in front of that veil was the altar of incense. And there were two in the earthly temple, which was a shadow. It was a picture. The author of Hebrews tells us that was just a shadow. It was just a picture of the true in heaven. Well, the true in heaven only has one altar. And actually, there's only one sacrifice. The shadow had a lot of sacrifices. But on the true altar, there's only one altar, there's only one sacrifice. The altar, of course, is a visual metaphor. Both altars find their fulfillment in Jesus. Jesus is the altar, and he's the sacrifice. and he's the only sacrifice. And then the prayers of the saints, which if you remember from what we talked about a couple of weeks ago, the prayers of the saints are that incense that's coming up to God. Well, that's what the incense was a picture of. The table of incense, and you would burn that incense, and the smoke would go up. That is a picture of the prayers of the saints. Well, how do the prayers go up to God? They go through Christ. See, He's both altars. He's the altar, He's the sacrifice, and He's also the conduit through which our prayers go up to God. Because the prayers of the saints, it's important that it's the prayers of the saints. It's the prayers of those who are in Him, and those who have been reconciled to God by His sacrifice. and they ascend to God through him. So this is, so John sees the altar. But what I'm wanting you to understand is the altar that he sees, the altar that he sees is Christ. And under, or at the base of the altar, he sees the souls of those who have been slain because of the word of God. Now, the word that is translated soul in the New Testament is psuche. P-S-U-C-H-E. There are several different words that are related right there, and that's where we get the word psyche, and psychological, and things to do with the mind and understanding. But the word is psuche, and it literally means breath. That's what the word means. And that's the word that is translated soul there. It means breath, and the idea is that Breath constitutes life. Living creatures breathe. Dead creatures do not. A body without a soul, a body without the breath of life in it, is just a dead, inanimate thing that will soon rot away and disappear. So why am I belaboring that? Well, because John doesn't say that he sees people underneath the altar, does he? He says that he sees the souls of people underneath the altar. And he doesn't say that by accident. There's nothing accidental in Scripture. In the Jewish sacrificial system, some of the blood from the sacrificial animals was sprinkled on the altar and on various things, but the majority of the blood was poured out at the base of the altar. I'm gonna go to Exodus chapter 29. Exodus chapter 29 verse 12 says, you shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger. And you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar. So what does that have to do with John seeing the souls of those who were killed because they were faithful to the gospel? Well, I'm glad you asked. Now we're gonna go to Leviticus. in Leviticus chapter 17, verses 11 through 14, and I'm sure you've heard this scripture before. I've actually had people try to preach to me that I couldn't eat my steak medium rare because of this passage, which, that's nonsense, but because I can take them to the passage in Mark where Jesus declared all foods clean. But anyway, Leviticus 17, 11 through 14. says, for the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I've given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement. Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, no person among you may eat blood, nor may any alien who sojourns among you eat blood. So when any man from the sons of Israel or from the aliens who sojourn among them in hunting catches a beast or a bird which may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. For as for the life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its life. Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, you're not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off. Now, the point is this. In the earthly tabernacle or temple, what you would see, what would you see? Let me ask you that. What would you see underneath or at the base of the altar in the tabernacle? Blood. And they did sacrifices all the time. That ground was soaked up. That's what you would see. And What is blood? It's the life of all of those sacrifices. The life of the creatures that were sacrificed there is what you see when you look and you see that blood. And of course, we know that the scripture says that we are purchased by the blood of Christ. It's not the physical blood that purchased us. It's his life. His unbreakable life, that's what has purchased us. He gave his life for us. When it says he shed his blood for me, that means he gave his life for mine. He died in my place. So, that's the connection. When John sees the heavenly altar, he doesn't see the blood of bulls and goats under it. It's not what he sees, but he sees the lives of those who have died to this world for the sake of the gospel. Now, let me read you a few passages about dying for the sake of the gospel. I'm gonna start in Luke chapter nine. In Luke chapter nine, verses 23 through 25, the Lord says, or it says, and he was saying to them all, if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? And I think in Mark, the same passage says, for what is a man profit if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? And then Romans 12, one, what does that say? Romans 12, one says, therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. So as Christians, what are we called to do? We're called to give our lives to God. Our lives are given to God in Christ. They're devoted to him now. Paul says, you don't belong to yourself, so glorify God in your body. glorify God with your life. And then in Galatians 6, 14, Paul says, may it never be that I would boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. So all Christians are called to die. We're all called to die to self. Now people have different ideas about what that looks like, but nobody can deny that it's in the scripture. That's what the scripture calls us to do, is to die to ourselves and to take up our cross and follow Christ, follow the Lord. Our Lord gave his life for us as the one and only all sufficient sacrifice. And we're called to give our lives to him as our reasonable service of worship. For most Christians in our part of the world, that doesn't mean physical death. But for all of us, it means dying to our own selfishness. It means putting others ahead of ourselves. It means surrendering control of our lives to the word of God. That's what it means. But even in our time, and even as as good as we have it in this country that we live in, and even as much as the gospel has advanced and changed the world over the last 2,000 years, there are still people in this world who gladly lose their lives, their physical lives, for the sake of Christ. I knew it happened at a mass scale in China once when I was a young man, I think I was in college, and there were a bunch of college students in China that protested. They were Christians, and they were protesting the treatment of Christians I think the name of the place was Tiananmen Square or something like that. And they were killed for the sake of Christ, for the sake of the gospel. It happens in Islamic countries and it happens in other places. So even as much as the gospel has advanced in our world and changed our world, there are still people who overcome through the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony and they do not love their lives even to death. It's still happening today. This is always a possibility in the Christian life. And according to the text that we're looking at today, this possibility will always be until the Lord returns and brings in the new heaven and the new earth. In the letter to Revelation was sent to churches where this was an everyday reality. For churches like Smyrna, Polycarp was the Bishop of Smyrna. There's a great movie about the life of Polycarp, but if you ever get a chance to watch it, you should. Most of the information in it is taken from Fox's Book of Martyrs. I would watch it if you get an opportunity. But anyway, Polycarp was killed. He was the Bishop of Smyrna. He was killed because he wouldn't deny Christ. He wouldn't deny the gospel. And that's one of the churches that Revelation was sent to. Polycarp was a disciple of John who wrote Revelation. Antipas was killed in Pergamum, which is another one of the churches that Revelation was sent to, probably for evangelism, the way it's written in the letter. And if you understand what was going on in Pergamum and the situation, it's very likely that he was killed for evangelism, for witnessing publicly to the gospel. Both of them were martyred for the word of God and for maintaining their testimony to the gospel of Christ. And for those churches where they were at, the possibility of being killed because they were Christians was a daily reality. It was an everyday reality for those folks that this letter was sent to. So we're gonna move on to verse 10. And they cried out, the martyrs cried out with a loud voice saying, how long, oh Lord, holy and true. Actually, it's still talking about the souls of the martyrs. The souls of the martyrs cried out with a loud voice saying, how long, oh Lord, holy and true, Will you refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth? Do you remember last week we talked about that most frequently asked question when it comes to eschatology? When? Well, it seems like the martyrs are asking the same question. When? Here it is again. How long, O Lord, holy and true, will you refrain from judging and avenging. How long will you refrain from balancing the scales of justice and eradicating evil and setting all things right? Well, remember from Genesis 4.10, the Lord told Cain, the voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. Think about that in relation to what we're talking about here. What John sees in this vision is that exact same thing. The voice of the souls of the lives of God's people who've been killed because of their faithfulness to Christ calls out to the Lord and asks this question, when? Lord, when are you gonna make things right? When are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel? That's what the disciples asked Jesus after the resurrection. When are you going to judge evil, purge out all the sin, and remove the curse? When? Verse 11. Here's their answer. And there was given to each of them a white robe, and they were told that they should rest for a while longer, a little while longer. 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 this is the answer everybody wants to know. First, they're given a white robe. That's the answer. Well, the white robe represents purity. But the key word in this part of the text, this part of the verse, is not white robe, it's given. The white robe represents purity and it's given to them. It's not their robe. That's very important. It's very important to not get the wrong idea about what's being said here and to understand this text. This robe that's given to them is not something they deserve. They don't deserve this robe because of their faithfulness to the gospel. And it's not even something that they've earned through their martyrdom. They don't deserve this white robe because they died. You know, there are people who believe if you suffer enough, or if you give enough, that you can earn righteousness. You can earn salvation, but that's not what's in play here. This robe is given to them. They're located underneath the altar. The only blood that was sufficient for that altar was the blood of Christ. The white robes that they're given have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. Instead of wearing the filthy rags of their own righteousness, they have been given the spotless white robe of Christ's righteousness. That's the white robe that they're given. And then they're told to rest. Not only are they given the righteousness of Christ, but they're also given rest in Him, in His presence. Their struggle is over. Their good shepherd is going to be their sole source of provision for everything they need forever. How do I know this? Well, I'm gonna flip over to chapter seven, and I'm gonna read verses 16 and 17 to you, and this is talking about these same folks, and this is what it says. They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore, Nor will the sun beat down on them nor any heat for the lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd and will guide them to the springs of the water of life and God will wipe every tear from their eyes. That is what is promised to them and that's what's given to them, rest. And they're told to rest for a little while longer until, what? until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been would be completed also. Well, this is the Lord's answer to everybody who wants to set a date. This is the answer to everybody who wants to know when. Peter gives the same answer. The Holy Spirit gives the same answer through Peter in 2 Peter 3. which is taken completely out of context and used to say something it's not saying. But in 2 Peter chapter three, verses three and four, and verse nine, in verse three and four of 2 Peter chapter three, This is what he's, Peter's talking to Christians, he's talking to believers, to a church, to actually the Christians that are scattered all over the place in the Middle East. And he says, know this first of all, that in the last days, mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lust, and saying, where is the promise of his coming? What's the date? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, All continues just as it was from the beginning of creation. So there's the premise. This is what Peter's answering in this text. He's saying, listen, people are gonna mock. In the last days, people are gonna come along and they're gonna say, where's the promise that you keep saying Christ is gonna come back, he's gonna make all things new, there's gonna be a new heavens and a new earth, but everything just continues just like it always has. When's he coming? Where's the promise? Well, in 2 Peter 3, 9, he gets on down to the answer of that. He says, the Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but he's patient toward you. Now, he's talking to the church. He's talking to Christians. He's not talking to everybody in the world. Now, he's not saying that everybody in the world is gonna be saved, but he's saying the Lord is Not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, believers, Christians, the church, because he doesn't wish for any of his sheep to perish. Not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. Which is the exact same thing. It's the exact same thing that the martyrs were answered over here in verse 11. Rest for a little while longer until the number of your fellow servants and your brethren who are going to be killed, even as you have been, until that number has been completed. That's the answer. It's the same answer in both places. You can count up numbers. You can speculate. You can try to figure out everything in the world. to try to figure out when the last day's gonna be and when Christ is gonna return, but unless the Lord just whispers in your ear and tells you the number of the elect and how many's left to come into the fold, you're not gonna get it. It's not gonna happen. It could be tomorrow, or it could be 2,000 years from now. We don't know. I know that it says that there, I know that we're fixing to read about a multitude of people that no man can number. Well, I know we can number pretty high. We can count how many stars there are in the Milky Way Galaxy. We can count up some pretty high numbers. And it says that there's gonna be a number of people, but that doesn't mean that I, that doesn't mean it's gonna be a long time. I'm just telling you that it's not good speculating. It's not good to speculate because the Lord says, I'll tell you when I'm coming back and I'll tell you when the last day is gonna be and it's when all of my sheep are brought into the fold, period. That's when it's gonna happen. Because the Lord is not willing that any of his people should perish. That doesn't mean physical death also. I mean, that should be clear. It means eternal spiritual death. The Lord's purpose in history is that every single one of his sheep be brought into the fold and receive eternal life with him. And when that happens, though, at that point, he will wrap up history, destroy his enemies, and he'll bring about a new curse-free creation, but until that purpose is fulfilled, that's that purpose, that scroll, that's what the scroll is. It's God's purpose to redeem his people. Another point of this verse, and it's kind of a side note, is the text indicates that the last day won't come until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed, even as they have been, would be completed also. So see, there's two different groups there that are mentioned. Fellow servants and then also your brethren who are gonna be martyred. Also your brethren who are gonna be killed as you've been. This kind of seems to rule out the idea of a golden age, you know, before the second coming where that's free of persecution and struggle for the body of Christ. That doesn't seem to work with that because according to that text, it seems that Christian martyrdom, people dying for the cause of Christ, is gonna exist and continue in this world right up until the day that Jesus returns to make all things new. Another thing that I wanna point out before we move on, we have to be careful about how we read and understand this text. We need to make sure that we understand it in the overarching context of scripture. The reason why I say that is because we read words like judging and avenging our blood. And it sounds like the martyrs are good people calling down the wrath of God upon evil people the evil people of the world. Can you see a problem with that? Well, the problem with that understanding is that no true Christian wants to see or is looking forward to seeing another human being perish. I don't care what they've done to me. I'd much rather them be redeemed than perish. I'd rather them be changed. and renewed and have eternal life than perish. I haven't always felt that way, and sometimes I have to look to the Lord, you know, but the truth is, if you really understand what it means to perish and what it means to have eternal life, no true Christian wants to see another human being perish. And anybody that disagrees with that just doesn't understand the gospel. Because, you see, these martyrs that are here underneath the altar, they were once enemies of God themselves. And as Paul put it in Ephesians 2, they were children of wrath, even as the rest. Paul also wrote to some people in Corinthians who were feeling spiritually superior to others. And you know what he asked him? He said, for who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? See, it's not the martyrs themselves who are calling for judgment. It's their unjustly taken lives that call out for justice, just like Abel's blood. called out to the Lord from the ground. And just like all of the sin of humanity calls out to God for justice, all the sin of humanity, including yours and mine, and including the sin of those martyrs whose souls John saw underneath the altar, they had to be given a white robe. They didn't earn it. It wasn't something that they earned by their good works or their righteousness or even their martyrdom. They were given it freely by the sovereign grace of God. So, what's the point of the fifth seal? Well, the first four were pretty self-explanatory. This world is obviously sinful, corrupt, and under the judgment of God. The fallen creation is under a curse, and it's represented by these four horsemen that bringing this curse out onto all the world and all of the different parts of the curse are kind of covered under these horses. All the things that we would think of as bad in the world today are covered under those horses. Well, what does this seal mean? Well, this seal means that even though creation has fallen and corrupt and all human beings are helplessly depraved and destined to perish, God is saving a people for himself out of this cursed world, and he's setting them apart for himself in Christ. And he will not bring full and complete and final judgment and destruction upon this fallen world until all of his people are redeemed. That's the promise of the fifth seal. That should bring us encouragement. That should encourage us. So let's look at verses 12 through 14 now. We'll move on. To the sixth seal. I looked when he broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. And the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood. And the stars of the sky fell to the earth as a fig tree cast its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it's rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places." So don't get overwhelmed by the apocalyptic language. That's the first thing we need to understand about this. All of this language is taken straight out of the Old Testament. It's used by prophets. It's used in different places. And it's a vision that we're seeing. It's meant to represent spiritual reality. It's meant to represent what happens. And it's very colorful language. But it's not the, so let me just pick out a couple of things. Whether the sun is literally black or if it, the sun is not maybe literally black or literally made out of sackcloth, made of hair of some kind of animal. You know, we have blood moons when it looks kind of red because it's a lunar eclipse, it's not. The moon is not literally made out of blood, but people see these signs in the heavens, and they attribute that to different things changing. And when the stars fell to the earth, it's described as a fig tree, which is dropping its unripe figs. And the reason why it's described that way is so that you can understand that this is not normal. It's not natural. It's something different. It's meant not for you to see it as a photograph, as we've been saying. It's just meant for you to see it as this is an image meant to describe to you what is really happening. What is really happening. It's not a photograph, it's an image. It's a vision, meant to illustrate something to you. So, I hope that's clear as mud. Well, the sixth seal does something a little bit different. It jumps forward and it gives us a look at the last day. We're not in chronological order here. The sixth and seventh seal are actually, things are switched around. This sixth seal, it takes us straight to the last day. So we're not even there yet as far as in the order of seals. But there's a reason for that. This symbolic portrayal of the end of the world, as they know it, would have really resonated with the churches of Asia Minor, because they had personally experienced the destructive power of two massive earthquakes. We talked about them when we were going through the seven churches, and we talked about how self-sufficient Laodicea was. They didn't even take money from Rome to rebuild the city, and it was gonna be given to them. But they were so independent, they just rebuilt their own city after this earthquake. But they had terrible, massive earthquakes in this region that had two of them. And also, Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, and it wiped out the whole city of Pompeii. I mean, it buried it in lava and volcanic ash. killed lots of people instantly. I mean, it's really a great archeological site because they find people in exactly the position they were in when that thing erupted. It's preserved, the meal sitting on the table has been preserved in a lot of these places that they've excavated. But this was the disaster that happened that would have been fresh on these folks' mind when they're reading these things. It's very powerful visual imagery for the first recipients of Revelation. But like I said, it's actually rooted in the Old Testament. When the Lord descended upon Mount Sinai to give the law to Moses, there was an earthquake. Actually, I'm just gonna go to Exodus 19, and I'm gonna read to you from Exodus chapter 19. And I want you to listen to the language. I want you to listen to the description of what's going on. I'm gonna read 18 and 19. Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace. That's another thing I just caught, in fire. The Lord descended upon it in fire and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace. and the whole mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder. Now, I challenge you, don't do it now, but later, go home and read the passage from Thessalonians where Paul talks about the Lord coming and the second coming. Because it pretty much comes right out of that. Paul sees the Lord coming in the second coming exactly like he came down when he came down to give Moses the law. But here's what's going on. The Lord descends from heaven with a voice that sounds like thunder, and there's a sound of a loud trumpet blowing, and the earth shakes. The point is the creation shakes when it comes in contact with its creator. There's many Old Testament scriptures that speak of the Lord coming down to shake things up. I didn't put together an exhaustive list, so y'all don't have to worry about that, but I do have a couple of examples. And the first one I'm gonna read to you is from Judges chapter five. in Judges chapter five, verses four and five. And this is the song of Deborah and Barak. And it's after, what has happened is the Lord has given the armies of Israel a massive, mighty victory in battle. And so this is what, how Deborah in her song describes that. In verses four and five, she says, Lord, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the field of Edom, the earth quaked. The heavens also dripped, even the clouds dripped water. The mountains quaked at the presence of the Lord. This Sinai, at the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel. Psalm 97, five says, the mountains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. Isaiah 13, 13 says, therefore I will make the heavens tremble and the earth will be shaken from its place at the fury of the Lord of hosts in the day of his burning anger. The author of Hebrews, when he's looking forward to the last day, he quotes from Haggai chapter two, verse six. And so I'm just gonna go to Hebrews and It's in Hebrews chapter 12. I'm gonna read to you. The quote is, yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven. But I'm gonna read you the whole passage in which the author of Hebrews quotes it. And it's in verse 25 through 29. And he says, see to it that you do not refuse him who is speaking. He's talking about the Lord, he's talking about Christ. He's saying today, if you hear his voice, see to it that you don't refuse it. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from him who warns from heaven. And his voice shook the earth thin, but now he is promising, yet once more I will shake Not only the earth, but also the heaven. This expression yet once more denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. And those references to the earth shaking are all through the scriptures. But the author of Hebrews is specifically talking about what we're looking at right here in this text. He's looking forward to the last day. And he's quoting from Haggai 2.6 as a reference to God once more coming down, the Lord once more coming down to shake not only the earth, But heaven as well, to the extent that everything that belongs to this fallen creation is shaken out. And all that remains is what belongs to the unshakable kingdom of God that he gives to his people. What a promise that is. So I'm gonna take a little bit of a side trip here for a minute and talk about a theological term. And the term is recapitulation. Recapitulation, say it six times fast. Recapitulation, that's just a fancy way of saying that something is repeated over and over again. Revelation is filled with recapitulation. John shows us the same picture, tells us the same story over and over again from different perspectives. So this great earthquake that's described here is gonna be revisited. It's gonna be revisited in other places, like the vision of the two witnesses in chapter 11. In chapter 11, verse 13 and 19, I'm gonna read both of them. And in that hour, there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. 7,000 people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. And then verse 19, and the temple of God, which is in heaven, was opened, and the ark of his covenant appeared in his temple, and there were flashes of lightning, and sounds and peals of thunder, and an earthquake, and a great hailstorm. And then in chapter 16, in verse 18, in the seventh bowl of wrath, and you're gonna see some interesting things, we have seven seals. We're gonna have seven trumpets. We're gonna have seven bowls of wrath. That's recapitulation. The Lord is telling us the same story, showing us the same picture over and over again. He's doing it from different perspectives with different word pictures, different visions. So in chapter 16, verse 18, It says, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth. So great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. And what you see is the same thing. It's not a series of earthquakes. It's all pointing to the last day. Basically what recapitulation means is that Revelation is a story book that tells us the same story over and over again from different angles and using different visual metaphors, but it's always the same story. And it's always pointing to the glory of God in Christ and the redemption and salvation of His people for His glory. And it's always full of encouragement and hope for the people of God. Now let's look at the last part of this, verses 15 through 17. Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the presence of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb. For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand? Well, first thing to notice is that unlike the previous judgments that went out for the first four seals, this is a universal event. They were all limited. They all had limitations. Normal temporal judgment is always limited. This judgment is universal, and it encompasses all of humanity. This is subtly indicated to us by the fact that there are seven different people groups listed in verse 15. So that seven is a big number in Revelation. It means completion. It means fullness. It means all. Let me just point out to you the seven people groups that are listed in verse 15. The kings of the earth, the great men, the commanders, the rich, the strong, the slaves, and the free men. And that's taken in all of society, from the top echelon right down to the common man. The reason for that and the point is, it's a complete judgment, it's a universal judgment, and everybody's included. Without distinction, not just everybody's included, but all the different classes are named so that we'll understand it's a complete judgment without distinction. Then the second thing to notice is the reaction of all of humanity that is outside of Christ when this day comes. What's something that's just glaring that they don't do? Nobody tries to repent. Nobody has any kind of repentance or any thought of turning to God. Like Adam and Eve, they can only think of hiding from Him. See what it says in the text? It says they hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks. And they said to the mountains and to the rocks, follow us and hide us from the presence of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. And that is what lost humanity has been doing ever since Genesis three. In Genesis three, verses eight through 10, it's chronicled. They've eaten the fruit, their eyes have been opened, and it says, then they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to the man and said to him, where are you? He said, I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself. It's the same fear and the same response from the people separated from God at the beginning of time and the people separated from God at the end of time. So this that we're looking at in this seal is the last judgment. And if you remember when John first saw the throne and the one seated on it, What he saw was pure, multicolored light. Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 6.16 that God dwells in unapproachable light. In 1 John 1.5, it says that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. Listen to what John wrote in John chapter three. Remember it as soon as I read it in John chapter 3 Verses 19 and 20 it says this is the judgment We're talking about the last judgment and in John chapter 3 verses 19 and 20 it says this is the judgment that the light has come into the world and And men love the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed." See, on the last day, when the heavens are rolled up like a scroll, When all humanity sees a great white throne and him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away and no place is found for them, at that point there's no place to hide. The darkness is all driven out by the power of his all-encompassing light. And the masses of humanity that are there are terrified because they are completely exposed. They're terrified, but they still don't repent and turn to God. They don't even ask to. So as terrified as they are, they demonstrate their enmity toward God by the fact that they still prefer judgment to asking God for mercy and reconciliation. They just ask one final desperate question, who is able to stand? Well, next week, Lord willing, we're gonna look at the answer to that question. But before we do that, I do wanna point out one other thing. I wanna ask a question. Where are those martyrs we were talking about? Under the altar. Right. They're in Christ. When all this is going on, those martyrs and all this massive humanity is out here exposed, where are God's people? They're in Christ. They're hidden. They have that hiding place. God's people are all hidden in Christ and they're protected and they're covered by him and by his righteousness. They're not exposed to the judgment of God. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this word. We thank you so much for this glorious picture of your salvation of your people and you're working out of your purpose and in this world and history. And Lord, we just ask that you use this message to encourage us and to strengthen us and to help us to be witnesses for you. To help us to hold fast to our testimony and to your word. Lord, we thank you for all of these things in Jesus name, amen.