Revelation 6 verses 12 through 17. These are God's words. I looked when he opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake. And the sun became black as sackcloth of air, and the moon became like blood, and the stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place, and the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on 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 his wrath has come. and who is able to stand. himself the authority of God, because although he has added to himself a human nature, he is just the one divine person. He took to himself his humanity in order to redeem us, because this is God's plan for all of history. This was why there was a creation, so that there could be a redemption. This is why there has ever been any providence. This is why there is ever any providence now. It dovetails well with what we had in Psalm 136 this week, remembering that the reason for everything in all of creation and all of providence, even down to food for the beasts and for all flesh, is because of steadfast love. endures forever, and so he is worthy to take the scroll and to open the seals. Because he, the second person of the Godhead, God the Son, redeeming us by his blood is the point of all of history, and he is the Lord of all of history. And so it is under his sovereign authority Between his two comings, that in the first seal with the one on the white horse who goes forth conquering to conquer, that the church and the gospel spread throughout this age. Unstoppably so. It is under his authority that all those things that he calls in Matthew 24 the beginnings of the birth pangs. Not only is that part behind seals 2, 3, and 4, but further in the passage is behind the 6th seal, which we have today. But behind seals 2, 3, and 4, you remember, Matthew 24, beginning in verse 4, Jesus answered and said to them, Take heed that no one deceives you, for many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and will deceive many, and you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. So, second seal, see that you are not troubled, for these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. for nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom, second seal. There will be famines, third seal, pestilences, earthquakes in various places, fourth seal. All these are the beginning of Soros. And so those are things that are just the common state repeatedly between the two comings of Christ. They're under the authority of the Lord Jesus. Christians should not fear them. They remind us that he is the one who sits on the throne and that He told us in advance that that's what it would be like. But then in verse 29, immediately after the tribulation of those days, and so when the time of tribulation comes, and it's referring to the tribulation as the entire time between Jesus's two comings. So when the time of the tribulation comes to an end, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, which is the sign who is the Son of Man, will appear in heaven. And all the tribes of the earth shall mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And that is exactly what we have. The heavens shaken, this great earthquake, the sun becoming black as sackcloth, the moon becoming like blood, so the sun becoming darkened and the moon failing to give its light, the stars of heaven falling to earth, like a fig tree dropping late figs, so overripe fruit that's just ready to come off. and a mighty wind comes, and so a storm comes, and shh, all to the ground. And this is not necessarily talking about a physical occurrence. I mean, it could be, physically so, but much more than that, it is the removal of all the other powers in the world. This is the significance of the sun, moon, and stars. From Genesis chapter one, those are the first things that are introduced into the creation as rulers. the sun to rule the day and the moon and stars to rule the night. And this is what is figured in Joseph's second dream in Genesis 37. And he says, sun, moon, and stars bow down to me. In the family structure, the sun was dad, the moon was mom, the lesser stars were his older brothers. And there was no question in the family when he told everyone the dream what he was saying was going to happen. All the other powers would fall down before him. And this is what happens at the end of the age. So throughout this age, there are all of the rulers that God has put into his creation and permitted in his providence. Sun, moon, and stars down to every king and every lesser magistrate. So all of these rulers and all of these movements and all of these nations that seem to be so powerful in their time, but their time is coming to an end. If people had really grasped this, they would have prepared for the day of the wrath of the Lamb, because he's a Lamb. He is slain for the redemption of those who have sinned against him. And that makes it all the more frightful when he appears. For not only then does it appear that the lamb that was slain is the lion of the tribe of Judah, to whom the scepter of rule forever belongs, so that he is the mighty king, and to have rejected him is to have signed your own death warrant, to have signed your own condemnation for eternal wrath. But he is the lamb. And so, if you do not prepare for the coming of the Lamb by receiving the redemption that is offered in Him, then not only have you sinned against His right ruling of all things, but you have spurned the offer of His salvation. He has died for sinners. And He has offered to every sinner His redemption, and those who reject Him will realize their error too late. They've spent too much time pushing down on the knowledge of God, too much time pushing down on the knowledge of Christ and the goodness of the gospel. There's coming a day when the sun, moon, and stars cease to reign in their respective places, and all of the kings, and the commanders, and the rich men, and the great men, and the mighty men, you know, this list at the beginning of verse 15, they lose their place. because all authority in heaven and earth belongs to the Lamb. But it's not just they who are dismayed and hide themselves and cry out to the mountains and the rocks, fall on us and hide us. Every slave and every free man, says verse 15. So, no one by their position, no one at all in any condition is exempt from the reckoning that comes at the return of the Lord Jesus when even the rakia, even the beaten out thing of day two in creation that had windows opened in it for the flood, and you think windows open in it for the flood when water comes down, but then the whole thing is peeled back for Jesus when he comes down. And what will it be like then? People will not want to see the face of God. They would rather all of creation crush them. than to see the face of God. They will not want to see the Lamb who was slain. On the other hand, God giving us to trust in the Lord Jesus, to love Him, and especially to be dressed in that white robe you remember from the fifth seal last week. If you are dressed in the white robe of the righteousness of Jesus on the day that He appears, His face will be your blessing. It will be the final and fullest experience of the blessing in Numbers 6. Yahweh bless you and keep you. May He preserve you through all of the troubles that are between the two comings of Christ. May His face shine upon you. Yahweh make His face to shine upon you. Yahweh lift up His face upon you. and give you peace. And that's the difference that the white robe of the righteousness of Jesus makes. Either the face of God will be to you the ultimate terror, in which you would wish that there was a nuclear bomb so big that it could level a mountain onto the top of you. to hide you from Him, or His face will be your ultimate blessing, will be your shalom, your peace. The face of Jesus is lovely to us. The return of the Lamb is our desire, the day of His wrath. When His righteousness and holiness, justice and truth are vindicated, like we learned last week in verses 9 through 11, should be the desire of the believer. Well, that which is the desire of the believer is the dread of the unbeliever. And so, the end of their cry, verse 17, it reminds us, doesn't it, of Psalm 130. For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand? If you, O Yahweh, mark iniquities, O Yahweh, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness That's the answer the who can stand is those who have been forgiven Those who have Christ those who have his righteousness those who have his sacrifice Those who not only have been forgiven and have the white robe of their justification but those who because they are his and they have been forgiven and that they have also after that subsequent to that been made like him and And they appear like stars. They shine like stars in the kingdom of their father. Because there are no longer these stars from the original creation to rule the night. There is no night to be ruled. But who is able to stand. Not only will those who are His, those who belong to Christ, stand in the last day. They will shine. Because the question is, you know, are you prepared for the return of the Lord Jesus? Because we do not know when it is. And if we did, it would be carnal folly to think that you could prepare for it later. Fleshly folly to think that you could prepare for it later. But are you prepared for the day, for the return of the Lord Jesus? Are you dressed in his white robe in your justification? And are you pursuing that holiness without which you will not see the Lord with joy and welcome? but with this terrible dread the Lord give us to be prepared for him. Amen. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for your redemption. If you did mark our sins, then indeed it would be every last individual. And we would be with that majority. For him, the return of your son will be their dread. But for us, O Lord, give us to rest in you, give us to trust in Christ, belong to you, to know that we are right with you through him, give us to love, holiness, and that which pleases you, and that which prepares us for and fits us for beholding your face in your Son, so that the prospect of the day that comes under the authority of your Son, our Lord Jesus the Lamb, so that the prospect of that day would be a delight to us. We pray for me and for my family, that there wouldn't be a single one of us that would be unprepared for that day. Granted, we ask by your Spirit who gives life and faith in Christ, in whom and through whom we ask it.