Revelation chapter 7, beginning in verse 9. After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. All the angels were standing around to the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, amen. Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever, amen. Then one of the elders asked me, these in white robes, who are they and where did they come from? I answered, sir, you know. And he said, these are they who have come out of the great tribulation. They have 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 shelter them with his presence. Never again will they hunger. Never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat. There are times when our hearts are so full and rich with the love and mercy and grace of God that we can't help but shout out in praise for what he's done for us. And there are times that our hearts are so heavy that we simply want to melt into the protective and loving arms of Jesus Christ. And maybe this morning you are experiencing one of those two feelings. I think this is what we see in this passage of scripture this morning, exuberant worship. and the great and deep comfort of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Let's back up for a moment as we're in this book of Revelation. It seems that at the end of the first century, Jesus felt it necessary to describe to one of his disciples, John, what it would take for his return, what would lead up to his second coming, what it would take to be able to wrestle the spiritual control of this world away from sinful hands and back into the loving arms of Christ to be our king and ruler. And to describe that, he revealed to John the series of revelations, and we find it here in the book of Revelation, beginning with, in many ways, a scene of the throne room of God where, in the best way John could describe it, there's a throne on which God dwells. God radiates as if rubies and diamonds are radiating all about Him, and around that throne are 24 elders, representatives of humankind down through the ages, and around that throne hovering four unusual angelic beings who are constantly praising God, and around that throne an emerald rainbow and a pool of water, of glassy-like water, and just amazing scene and angels all about worshiping God. And when John sees this, he's struck with the glory of the presence and the power of God. And then he sees a lamb who comes forth, Jesus Christ, who receives from God on that throne a scroll with seven wax seals. And Jesus is the one who has the authority to open this scroll, to break those seals open. And that projects us into what we see as the future for the world. That Jesus Christ, before he returns, will break open, seal by seal by seal, the judgments that have to come on this world in order to wrestle the control of this world back into his hands. And so as we go along, we find that actually the book of Revelation quite simply follows a pattern of 21 judgments, seven seal judgments followed by seven trumpet judgments, followed by seven bowl judgments. And along the way in that sequence of events, we see from time to time interspersings of what we call interludes, where John finds out more about what's going to take place in that period of time leading up to the return of Christ, things that are happening throughout that period of judgment. And so in the sixth seal judgment that we saw back in chapter 6, we found that as God is bringing his judgment on the earth, as the rocks and the hills are falling, people are hiding from God and shouting out, who can stand the face of God? They're not turning to God. They're rebelling against him still, and they're trying to hide from him, which is like one of the most foolish things we could ever do, right? Have you ever tried to hide from God? But we do, don't we? We try to think that he won't see what we're doing, what we're thinking. We try to hide, and they try to hide from God, and they say, who can withstand the wrath of the Lamb? And then in chapter seven, we get an interlude. It's as if Jesus says to John, oh, let me tell you who can stand. because I'm still working my salvation into the hearts of people, even in that time of traumatic judgment. There's going to be 144,000 ethnic Jews who are going to come to faith in Jesus Christ, and they are going to be so empowered by the gospel that they're going to be able to touch lives all around the world. They're going to be sealed by God. So if they're protected through this time of judgment, it can make the message of Jesus known. And apparently, through their ministry and other means, there are going to be countless millions who are going to put their faith in Jesus Christ. And this is what we come to when we come to chapter 7, verse 9. This great multitude, the salvation of the great multitude. God isn't finished with this world, and the judgment he's bringing on this world, or will bring on this world, will certainly be a way for people to stand up and take attention and realize that God has a claim on their lives and Jesus Christ is their Savior. And so who can stand in this? Those who turn to Jesus Christ. Who can stand in our world today? Those who believe in Jesus Christ. So our faith isn't in vain, is it? And it prompts us, our faith in Christ prompts us then to be people filled with gratitude for God that wants to burst out and worship. But it also reminds us that we are so loved by Jesus Christ that he cares for us and he puts his shepherd arms around us and he loves us. And this is what we see in this message of the salvation of this great multitude, that even today we can worship God wholeheartedly and we can take comfort in his abiding presence. Those in the future will experience that in that time of traumatic judgment. We today can experience that too, worship God wholeheartedly and taking comfort in his abiding presence. Let's look at the text together and see those two thoughts unfold. First, this idea of the future holding ceaseless opportunity for praise and worship around the throne of God. The future holds ceaseless opportunity for praise and worship around the throne of God. In verse 9, Revelation chapter 7, John says, after this, after the previous revelation about the work of the 144,000 ethnic Jews who deliver the message of salvation, he says, after this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count. Just an immense number of people. In that day of judgment, in that day of God's wrath, there are going to be many who turn to faith. See, this is what God's judgment can bring. It can be their awareness and the reminder that we need Jesus Christ in our lives. Sometimes the difficult things in our lives are there to remind us that we are dependent on Him every day. And so in that time of judgment, it says there's this great multitude that no one could count. And look where they come from. From every nation, tribe, people, and language. What a glorious thing to realize that the gospel of Jesus Christ crosses every barrier and every border. So many ideologies of the world are selective to certain people groups or certain times or certain regions. The gospel of Jesus Christ transcends it all. People from every nation, every tribe, every people, every language. And we see that today as well. People from around the globe turning to faith in Jesus Christ and finding that he is their redeemer. And in that future day, a countless multitude will come to that realization. And it says here that John and his vision sees them standing, not on earth, but standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. So this is a picture of heaven. He's gone back from a scene of earth to the scene of heaven. Why are they in heaven? We'll find out in a moment. But he sees them standing there before the throne of God. So now we imagine the surroundings around the throne of God with the 24 elders and the four living beings hovering around and the angelic beings and now a multitude that can't be counted standing around the throne of God. And it says this great multitude was wearing white robes, always an image and revelation of righteousness and forgiveness and purity in God's presence. Wearing white robes and they were holding palm branches in their hands. What would be with the palm branches? Of course, we back to the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ, don't we? When the people stood by as Jesus came into Jerusalem and they they laid their palm branches and waved them before him as celebration, celebration, because the Savior has arrived. And in heaven these stand in their white robes with palm branches in their hands celebrating. the salvation that they have in Jesus Christ. And they're crying out in a loud voice, salvation belongs to our God. Look at the theme of their worship. Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. It's a theme of salvation. It's a shout of gratitude for what God has done in their lives. It's a wonderful shout. This gospel is good news. It's for everyone. It's not limited by borders, not limited by languages. This gospel is so focal in their mind that this is what they first burst forth with when they arrive in heaven, salvation. We think about the word salvation very simply. It means to be rescued from a place of dire danger to a place of safety and security. We talk about that in the spiritual way. We talk about the salvation of our souls. Our souls are in a place of dire danger because of our sinfulness. And we need rescuing. And it's something we can't do ourselves. It can only be done for us. And it's been done for us through Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. And so these are shouting out, we have been rescued from dire danger, from eternal separation from God. And we're now in this place of eternal presence with God. place of safety, a place of security. Salvation belongs to our God. It's from God that we receive our salvation, not of our own works, not of anything we can do. The one who sits on the throne has granted it, and it's come through the way of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. The Lamb is Lord, and he rules in our life, and he's the one who's secured our salvation through his death on the cross. He died for our sins so that we wouldn't have to die forever. He rose from the dead so that we could have life forever. This is Jesus Christ, the Lamb on the throne, the Lamb who is Lord. And then we look in verse 11 and we see what takes place as this great multitude of those who have been saved stand before God shouting out their praises and shouting out their worship to the Father and to the Lamb. It says that all the angels, now imagine this, all the angels standing around the throne and all the elders and the four living creatures that are hovering around the throne, they fall down on their faces before the throne of worship. God, it's as if once the multitude strikes up the course, they can't help but get in on the praise. and they begin to worship God and they begin to say in their own words, amen, this bookend of amen. True, it's true, it's true. Amen. Praise and glory belong to God. Our praise and our glorifying of Him, He deserves our praise and so much more. He deserves all the glory of the universe. Wisdom are His, thanks and honor, gratitude and the honor we can give to Him. And power and strength emanate from Him and anything we think is power to us, we give it to Him because it's all His. Be to our God forever and ever. Ceaseless worship. I love this scene. It's an amazing scene as those who have been saved by Jesus Christ shout out their worship. Others joining in in this ceaseless praise and worship. See, worship is contagious. It's something we pick up along the way. Worship is contagious. When one shouts out praise, others begin to. It has a ripple effect. is why it's so important that we value corporate worship. This is why it's so important we gather together as God's people to worship. I've heard people say, and as you have as well, well I can...I can worship just as well by myself. And I would respectfully say, no, you cannot. You can't. Oh, can you have private times of worship? Of course we can, we do. I trust throughout the week we have private times of worship and prayer and giving of our praises to God and sometimes singing in the car and showers and wherever else your voice can resonate. But that simply cannot be enough because when we gather together with God's people, we hear the voices of others and we're caught up in that. And it has a ripple effect in our hearts and our minds and it reminds us of the greatness of God who saves people from every nation, tribe, tongue, It's amazing. So we need to be together, and we need to worship Him together. So I make this point that the future holds ceaseless opportunity for praise and worship around the throne of God. Now, when I say that, quite honestly, ceaseless worship may seem to some people like, oh, you mean heaven is gonna be like sitting in a church service forever? Okay, now, I understand that fear, okay? I've sat through some pretty long church services in my time, not here at Pittsburgh Community Church, but other places. I just want to be clear about that. And it's not always easy to get through, is it? And so if that's our idea of heaven, it's going to be a little rough. Among my theological books and collection in my library, I have one that I stumbled on a few years ago called 101 Things to Do During a Dull Sermon. So that's one of my top-shelf kind of things. Here's a couple suggestions. from the book. One suggestion is see how many state birds you can list. If your mind's drifting, then match the state birds you've listed with church members who look like one of those birds. Sure. Or here's the Methuselah game. See how many words you can make out of the word Methuselah, okay? Yeah, sure, why not do that? Or, you know, here's another suggestion. It's called breath control. Time yourself holding your breath. you may wish to keep records from week to week to note your improvement. So there are ways to get through, right? Some of you start to turn blue, I'll know that you're taking this literally. Monica and I, when we were in seminary, we got one of those weekends to get away and so we were driving through Texas and what we often do on our vacations when we just happen to be out driving without a real plan in mind, we'll say, we're going to stop at the first church that's open about 11 o'clock on Sunday. And so we decided we'd do that and so we're driving through and we came across, we were just in this little little tiny town, and there's a little Baptist church there. Sure enough, it's just about 11 o'clock, and people are going in. We said, this is it. We'll go on in, and we'll enjoy. Wonderful people, small church, wonderful people. They were delighted to have us there. I don't think they'd had a visitor in years. And, you know, they were all very eager for us, and, you know, greeting us. And it was just wonderful. And so the service went on, and the sermon was fine, as I recall. And at the end, they had an invitation song, because it's what you do in the South in the churches, right? And you're waiting for someone to come forward. Well, there were probably about 25 people in the congregation, and all of them know each other but us. So we know, we're the unsaved in the congregation. And the invitation is going to go on until one of us makes a decision for Christ. So I lead her to Monica. I said, you go forward. One of us has to go forward or this service will never end. But we gripped the pew. Our knuckles were white. We gripped the pew. We held in there because we already knew the Lord. Eventually they closed it off and they came back and they greeted us and were very kind. They said, oh, are you new to town? I said, no, we're just driving through. Oh, thank you very much. Out they went. We almost had to lock the doors on the way out. It was just that fast. But wonderful people, had a great time. Although sometimes if our vision of heaven is a church service that just doesn't end, we may have the wrong impression. See, worship is a whole life commitment to God. Yes, it includes our corporate times of worship, so essential to our faith and growing. It includes our songs as we lift our voices in praise to God. It includes our prayers as we voice to Him our needs. It includes our submission to His word, listening to the word preached, reading it for ourselves, growing in His word. It involves our work. Do you realize when you go to work that you're actually going to do something for God? This is the calling God's given to you. And so your work can and should be a worship to God. So as you're teaching students, as you're helping in the medical community, as you're building things, as you're selling things, as you're doing whatever it is that your line of work involves, this can be a praise to God. God, thank you for giving me the giftedness to do this and I give it to you. Our worship involves our meals. Taking time to prepare and enjoy a meal together can be a worshipful experience as we begin that meal by saying, thank you God for these gifts. And I'm enjoying them because you want me to enjoy them. What a worshipful experience that can be. It involves our creativity, the artistic aspect of life. See, all of this, we get to bring all of this to God, and in heaven we get to bring this to him forever. And it's not going to be dull, it's not going to be like that, it's going to be an experience that is, it's kind of like, you know, when you go to a beautiful scenery and you say, okay, I'm here at the Grand Canyon, or I'm here along Great Sur as you're driving along, You know, for us in Nova Scotia over a seascape, you think, I just, you know, watching the sunset, it's like, I just hope it takes its time. Because I really don't want this moment to go away. And that's what it's going to be like, I think. I just don't want this moment to go away. This is what I think this great multitude, because of their salvation, experiences. See, worship is an expression of our gratitude for God's grace. And when we fully recognize what our salvation entails, We will not want to stop giving praise to God for it. See, now we have limits because we don't really understand how great our salvation is. But we've been delivered from dire danger to a place of security and safety through the blood of Jesus Christ. And that gift is ours through faith in Christ. Now, maybe you haven't come to faith in Christ. And I'd invite you this morning, as you're listening to this message, to receive Christ into your life. to take yourself out of that place of danger, to the place of his security and his love. He offers it to all. And you can have Christ today and grow in that grace. The future holds ceaseless opportunity for praise and worship around the throne of God. We see in the rest of this chapter that the future also holds constant comfort and care in the presence of God. Constant comfort and care. Remember I said sometimes we want to just shout our praise to God, but sometimes we just want to melt into the arms of Jesus. feel his comforting care. And this is what this multitude in heaven experiences, this great multitude of the future who come to faith in Christ during that time of judgment. Verse 13, we read, then one of the elders, those elders around the throne, remember, one of the elders asked John, these in white robes, this great multitude, who are they? Where did they come from? It's a loaded question. He knows the answer. He's asking John if he knows. And John looks at this elder and says, sir, you know, I don't know, you know. And he said, these are they who have come out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Suddenly we realize that these are people before the throne of God who have gone through great persecution in a specific time in the future. And they have given their lives for Christ, martyrs for the cause of Christ. Countless, countless martyrs. He says, these are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. Now that phrase sparks our thoughts a little bit, the idea of great tribulation. It's a phrase that's not unique to the book of Revelation. Actually, Jesus Christ himself uses this in Matthew chapter 24. I'd encourage you to turn with me to Matthew chapter 24. In Matthew 24, Jesus had been asked by his disciples, what's the end times going to look like? What's it going to look like for your return? He hasn't gone to the cross yet, but they're already thinking ahead. appropriately asking because he's made these indications. And so they say, what's it going to look like? And so in chapter 24 of Matthew's gospel, verse 15, Jesus says to them, so when you see standing in the holy place, the abomination that causes desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel, let the reader understand, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the roof of his house go down and take anything out of the house. Let no one on the fields go back and get their cloak, how dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers. Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath, for then there will be great tribulation," some translation, great distress, great tribulation, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened. In other words, Christ will come back and intervene. but he says there will be great tribulation. So any trouble that we have experienced in our lives, any trouble this world has experienced through war and calamity is nothing compared to what will happen in the future as Jesus wrestles control away from humanity. And so Jesus talks about this time of great tribulation, unparalleled he said. It's going to coincide with what something the prophet Daniel described as the abomination of desolation, something so abominable that it desecrates God's holiness. And if we were to go back in our Old Testament to Daniel chapter 9, verse 27, we find that reference to this abomination of desolation, that abominable thing that so desecrates God's holiness that it needs to be judged in Daniel 9, 27. puts it this way, it says, he will confirm, that is, this world ruler who comes on the scene will confirm a covenant with many for one seven, we would say, just in simple terms, one seven year period is the best way to take that. And in the middle of that seven-year period, he will put an end to sacrifice and offering, and on a wing of the temple, he will set up an abomination that causes desolation until the end that is decreed is poured out on him. So Jesus links us back to Daniel, links us to Revelation. What we discover is this great tribulation is describing a period of judgment that we're seeing through the sequence of judgments. It's going to be a seven-year period of judgment. So the future holds a seven-year intensive period of judgment. And that intensive period, even Jesus in Matthew describes it in two parts. He says there's the beginning of birth pains. We could talk about that in the first half, the first three and a half years. Beginning of birth pains. Things are just getting started. Those first sealed judgments, they're just getting started. They seem horrible, but there's more to come. And then we come to what Jesus and John refer to as Great Tribulation. It seems like that's the second half. A way of describing it is these judgments keep ramping up and ramping up because there's more and more need for God's judgment to fall because people haven't repented, though many have, and millions will come to faith in Christ. But when they do, they're going to be so in opposition to the establishment of humanity, of humanism, of idolatry. they're going to be persecuted, martyred for their faith. Countless. And so when we come back to Revelation chapter 7 we see this description, the world ruler that will establish this so-called peace will then turn on it and bring something abominable into the world, a worship of himself, something like that, idolatry, something so opposed to God as if to say, you will not take control of the world from us. And so many will give their lives. These, he says, are they who have come out of the great tribulation. They've washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. And therefore, verse 15, Revelation 7, says, they are before the throne of God. They've gone through all this, and now they stand before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple. To serve, the word that's used there speaks of priestly services as if they're rendering prayers to God constantly, saying, bring justice to the world. Bring your kingdom come. And he who sits on the throne will spread, look at this, he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. It's a way of saying that God who cares for these martyred saints, cares so deeply for them, is going to put his tent over them. I'm gonna protect you. I've got you covered. I'm on your side. God himself will protect them. And never again, it says in verse 16, will they hunger. Never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. These are the things they went through in their persecution. Because they put their faith in Christ in that time, they couldn't buy food, so they went hungry, they couldn't secure water, they were thirsty, the sun was beating down, they had no shelter. These are people who said, Christ is so valuable to me, I'll give up everything in life, and they give up their lives for Jesus Christ. And God says, never again, never again. Whatever you're going through, never again. When we reach heaven, it's all behind us. And God spreads his tent over them. And then look at verse 17, and the lamb, Jesus Christ, the lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, will be their shepherd. What a great phrase. He will lead them to springs of living water. What does that remind you of? Psalm 23, right? Lord is my shepherd. Brings me beside still waters. He says in that time, in that future time, these martyrs who have gone to heaven are so grateful for their salvation, they can't stop praising God, and yet at the same time, they are so hurting that God just brings his tent over them, and Jesus Christ brings his shepherding loving arms around them and says, I've got you covered. I'm with you, I'm present with you, and no more will you ever have to go through anything like that. Those days are behind you. He'll lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Now I take that to mean that this is a select group of people in the future who come to faith in Christ who die as martyrs and have that experience. But it's so reflective of other passages of Scripture that I think that this too will be very much our experience. That the things of this earth that trouble us are temporary, we need to understand that. And because they're temporary, we can survive them because God is at our side. And even if we don't survive them, we have heaven ahead of us, the loving arms of Christ, the protective care of the Father, no more tears, no more sorrow. In other words, God loves you. And Jesus loves you. And when you hurt, he hurts. But he comforts us with the promise of heaven. But you might say, but what about now? What about now? Well, he comforts us now, too, doesn't he? And so how do we respond now? Pray for God's strength and help. Trust that he's doing that which is right. There's another word, time doesn't allow, but there's another word that comes to the forefront in the New Testament, endure. Endure. Paul, in 1 Corinthians chapter four, talks about him enduring hardships for Christ. And In Hebrews chapter 12, we read that Jesus endured hardships for us. You know, sometimes we just have to get through it. We have to put up with it, we have to endure it for Jesus Christ. It's not easy. But he blesses, he strengthens, and he gives us hope. Pray, trust, endure, hope. Because there's always hope for the believer in Jesus Christ, the hope of heaven, yes, and even in this life, the hope of better things that God brings to us. And so we trust him and we thank him for the great salvation that he gives to us, that even today we can worship God wholeheartedly and take comfort in his abiding presence.