A GREAT REVIVAL IN THE GREAT TRIBULATION Revelation 7:9-17 October 12, 2014 Dr. Danny Forshee

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1 1 A GREAT REVIVAL IN THE GREAT TRIBULATION Revelation 7:9-17 October 12, 2014 Dr. Danny Forshee - On March 4, 1857, President James Buchanan said that America s unprecedented financial success brought with it corruption and a love for money over public benevolence. But this country s financially secure economy came to an abrupt halt in the fall of 1857 when overextended railroad construction, unchecked speculation and optimism, and a faulty currency system led to the bank crash of The financial crash sent shockwaves throughout the country. (Firefall, p.252) Many saw afresh their need for God and turned back to Him. God moved mightily upon the United States in what is known as the Prayer Revival, the Laymen s Revival, or the Revival of The primary cause for this revival or spiritual awakening, more than any other factor including the bank crash, was the Spirit of God moving upon our land. Jeremiah Lamphier began prayer meetings in New York City in 1857 and they quickly grew to involve over 50,000 people. Within a few months these prayer meetings were held throughout the eastern seaboard of America. Multitudes were converted to Christ and churches grew rapidly. For example, in Newark 3,000 people were converted in two months. Over a four-month period 10,000 were converted in a tent revival in Philadelphia. There was unprecedented cooperation among believers during this revival. It greatly affected a man who would become a great champion for the cause of Christ, D.L. Moody. Out of an estimated population of 30 million people in the US at this time, nearly one million were converted to Jesus Christ! (See Basic Evangelism notes, p ) - There is coming a day in the future where the world will experience a similar revival except on a much larger scale, but during this future revival, unlike all the preceding revivals or awakenings, this one will include much persecution. - After Jesus comes and raptures His church, the world will undergo the Great Tribulation. Jesus created this phrase in Matthew 24: For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. - The antichrist will rule the world and those who do not receive his mark will be persecuted and many will die. Yet during this most horrific time God will once again extend His awesome hand of mercy and forgiveness. He will seal the 144,000 Jewish evangelists and they will go forward preaching salvation in Christ alone and multitudes will be saved. - Let us read Revelation 7:9-17 about the great revival that will occur during the Great Tribulation. 9 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, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb! 11 All the angels

2 2 stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying: Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honor and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen. 13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from? 14 And I said to him, Sir, you know. 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. 15 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. 16 They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; 17 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 away every tear from their eyes. - Chapter 7 is such a word of blessing. God remembers His mercy in the midst of His wrath and He holds back the violent winds of judgment and allows the gentle breeze of revival to blow across the world. I. PRAISE (VS. 9-12) - Vs. 9 after these thing refers to vs After the sealing of the 144,000 Jewish witnesses John looks and sees in heaven a great multitude of people, so many they were without number, meaning there was a vast throng of people. He says there are people from all nations (ethnous), get words like ethnic, ethnicity; tribes (phylon); peoples (laon) laity; and tongues (glosson). This is a large gathering in heaven of peoples from all over the world. It does not say as the Universalist would like, that everyone is there. But it does say some from every people group is there. - Notice that these people are standing before the throne of God and the Lamb; they are dressed in white robes and they have palm branches in their hands. Here we have a joyous scene in heaven of a redeemed people full of praise for the God who has saved them. - Three times in our text (vs. 9, 13, and 14) we read where these people are wearing robes. These robes signify virtue and victory. Jesus Christ has cleansed this redeemed throng of people from their sins and they stand before God purified and forgiven. And they are victorious people. They no longer suffer under the harsh conditions from which they came. (See Thomas, p. 488.) The palm branches are significant because this portrays victory and celebration. In John 12:13 the people waved palm branches in honor of Jesus and His triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Read John 12: The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD! The King of Israel! - Palm branches were also employed in one of the major Jewish Feasts the Feast of Tabernacles that commemorated their coming out of Egyptian bondage. (Thomas, p. 489)

3 3 - In verse 10 they cry out (present tense in the Greek) to God with a megas phone, a loud voice. The first word on their lips for which they give praise is salvation. God has delivered them from the temporal suffering on earth and He has also provided for their eternal salvation, and they express their gratitude with shouts of praise. - In verse 11 they are joined by another group that we have seen before the angels of heaven, the 24 elders representing the church, and the four living beings. Notice what they do they fall on their faces and worship God. In heaven there will be a lot of worship. Our worship here on earth is only a warmup, a prelude, to what we will do for eternity and that is praise God! - In verse 12 the first word they say is Amen! This is in response to the multitude s statement of praise in verse 10. Did you know that it is biblical to say amen in worship? The remainder of verse 12 is a doxology of praise to God from the heavenly occupants. Their praise is very similar to the praise given to God in 5: Heaven will be a jubilant blast. It will be awesome. Are you going there? You ask what is the other option? It is hell. People think that is most limited and they reject the notion because it is most unpalatable. But you know what? God made the rules and His is not accountable to us; we are accountable to Him. During these many meetings with various groups of people here at GHBC, Andy Spencer has shared with each one that there is a way to grow GHBC fast and that is to quit preaching the Bible, give people what they want to hear, and not preach on hell. He said we are not going to do that. Amen, I agree, we will continue to preach the whole counsel of God. - If you know Christ and you are heaven bound you have much for which to praise God. If you are lost and hell bound I implore you, to repent and give your life to Jesus Christ. II. PERSECUTION (VS a) - In verse 13 one of the elders asked John a question not because he did not know the answer but because he was prepared to give John the answer because John did not know. - In verse 14 John uses a Greek idiom. He affirms that he does not know, but the one to whom he is speaking does indeed know (Greek work is oida, not come to know, but know completely) who these people are. This vast multitude of people must have puzzled John. He did not know who they were. But in verse 14 he finds out. This is such a revealing and theologically powerful verse. This elder tells John the identity of the people. They are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. They join those mentioned in 6:9-11 the tribulation saints. They were spared the wrath of God poured out on the earth dwellers, those who rejected God, but they endured the wrath of the antichrist and his followers. - If you are unfamiliar with the Old and New Testaments, the concept of one washing their robes white in blood will not make sense to you. The priests in the Old Testament would offer blood sacrifice that would forever atone for sin. And

4 4 the blood mentioned here in verse 14 is the blood of Jesus that He shed at the cross for the sins of the world. - Jesus died on the cross and paid the price for yours and my sins. When you believe this fact and repent you are saved forever. The vast multitude of people in our text have done just that. As the hymn so aptly puts it, And sinners plunged beneath that flood loses all their guilty stains. Read Titus 3: But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. - Verse 15 begins with therefore. You can also translate the beginning of the verse because or for this reason. They are in heaven praising God because the blood of the Lamb has washed them; Jesus Christ has saved them. Not everyone during the tribulation will be saved. In fact, most will not, but God will save a host of people all those who believe in Jesus and repent of their sins. - Notice that in verse 15 that those who are saved will also serve God day and night, a way of stating all the time. Heaven will be an awesome time of praise, celebration, and service. If this does not sound very inviting to you it is because you do not do so now here on earth. I will make a bold, religiously incorrect statement by the standards of this world If you never serve or worship God here on earth and have no desire to worship and serve God with the redeemed people of God, the church, why do you think you will enjoy it in heaven? III. PROMISE (VS. 15b-17) - There are some marvelous promises for those who are saved. God will richly bless us as we serve and worship him. - Let us notice these rich and precious promises 1. God will dwell among us. This heavenly scene reminds me of the lyrics to this song I have sung many times-- all is peace for evermore on that happy golden shore. What a day, glorious day that will be. The word for dwell is skenoo, and it means to tabernacle with. This is a rich word only used by John in the New Testament. An example is John 1:14. The word has the meaning of settling down or tent camping. This word always relates to God or heavenly beings. The idea in the Old Testament is the Shekinah glory or presence of God above the mercy seat in the holy of holies (Exodus 40:34-38), the Tabernacle in the wilderness wanderings (Leviticus 26:11-12), and the cloud of God s presence by day and the pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21-22). Can you imagine the God of the Old Testament who led His people Israel to the Promised Land is the same God in the New Testament who raised His Son the Lord Jesus, from the dead? It is He who will dwell with us forever. God will dwell with and protect the redeemed! - 2. Vs. 16 says that God s people will not suffer any hunger or thirst. Keep the context in mind. These who have cone out of the great tribulation have suffered

5 5 unimaginable horrors. They have experience great hunger and thirst, but not any more. God who dwells with them will provide for them Vs. 16 also says they are protected from the sun and heat. One of the results of living the life of a fugitive, someone running for his life is lack of shelter, and this will be the plight of those who embrace Christ during the tribulation Vs. 17 says the Lamb, the Lord Jesus, will lead the citizens of that heavenly place to living fountains of waters. Their physical and spiritual thirst will forever be slated and satisfied Vs. 17 also says God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. As the song says, No more tears to dim the eye, all is peace forevermore on that happy golden shore. What a day, glorious day that will be. - I love this promise. In my life and ministry I see a lot of tears. People cry at the death of a loved one, at the news that their son or daughter has been killed, at the news that their spouse is leaving and wants a divorce, at the news that they have been terminated. People shed tears when their dreams are shattered or when depression and pain seem as if they will never leave. But there is coming a day and indeed it is glorious when God wipes away those tears and there will be no more death, nor sorry, or crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. (Revelation 21:4) Praise God. Amen CONCLUSION AND INVITATION - When you read about such wonderful promises in God s Word surely it excites you and fills your heart with much comfort and hope. But I hope it elicits another emotion and concern. May we be filled with compassion for those who do not know Christ. May we be motivated like never before to witness for the Lord and serve Him while there is still time. - A few years ago Troy Aikman retired as the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. He was very successful as an NFL quarterback leading his team to three Super Bowl Championships. During his last year as a pro quarterback he and some of his teammates visited a children s hospital. They met a young boy named J. P. who was dying of cancer. Aikman gave him a ball cap and J. P. asked if he would throw a pass for him during a game. Aikman said he would do better than that he would throw a touchdown pass for him. J. P. s mother told Aikman that her son only had a few weeks to live and Aikman assured her he would do it. The next week the Cowboys played an exhibition game in Mexico and Aikman did not play. The next week they played another preseason game, and the first team was only going to play the first quarter. Near the end of the first quarter Aikman dropped back for a pass against the Oakland Raiders and then tucked the ball under this arm and headed for the goal line 15 yards out. Two Raiders hit him, but he scored the touchdown. The next day the press gave Aikman a hard time. Why would the star quarterback risk an injury during a meaningless preseason game? J. P. s mom said, Troy knew that it was not a meaningless game. He was helping a dying child that night. (From Charles Lowery, The Coach, SBC Life, October 2003, p. 16)

6 - Our study in Revelation motivates me to take risks as I seek to rescue the perishing. I want to be more like Tory Aikman than the Dallas Press. - May God send revival and awakening to us here at this church. We need it. I desire for our church a renewed passion for Christ and those for whom He died. May our hearts be burdened to see as many as we can around the throne praising God for eternity. If you are saved and complacent and find your self more occupied with church matters instead of missions I implore you to repent and ask God to forgive you. Ask God to give you and our church a burden for souls, an unprecedented passion to reach people with the Gospel of Jesus. - If you do not know Christ as your Savior, please know that heaven is not your final resting place, but hell is. Repent of your sins; ask God to forgive you. Be washed in the blood of the Lamb as we discussed earlier. 6