1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,000 I'm not entirely sure how far we're going to get this evening, but we will see. 2 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:20,760 Okay, so we were talking about the seven seals that are being opened currently at this point 3 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:22,760 in the book of Revelation. 4 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:29,160 Last week we got through the fifth seal, which was where we saw these people who were at 5 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:31,280 the foot of the altar of God. 6 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:32,280 You all remember that? 7 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:37,000 They're at the foot of the altar, right at the bottom of the altar, kind of beneath it. 8 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:38,000 And they're martyrs. 9 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:41,480 They're witnesses for Jesus who have died. 10 00:00:41,480 --> 00:00:43,360 Many were killed because of their faith. 11 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:48,600 Many were killed or died a natural death, but were heavily persecuted throughout their 12 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:49,600 lives. 13 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:52,800 And they were persecuted because of their faith. 14 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:57,080 And what was interesting, you'll remember, is if we look back, they actually are crying 15 00:00:57,080 --> 00:00:58,080 out. 16 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:02,720 They're a mix of people crying out and begging and longing for something in heaven, but here 17 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:05,200 they are in heaven. 18 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:12,520 And they are crying out and they say, Oh sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will 19 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:17,320 judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? 20 00:01:17,320 --> 00:01:21,400 Now that sounds exactly like the Psalm that we read earlier, right, for our Psalm of the 21 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:22,400 day. 22 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:24,640 David was crying out and what was he saying? 23 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:26,600 How long, oh Lord? 24 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:28,400 So this is the cry of the martyrs. 25 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:32,560 They're saying, God, how long until you come and vindicate us? 26 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:34,720 How long until you avenge our blood? 27 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:39,600 How long until you pour out your wrath upon the people of earth? 28 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:44,720 And you remember how God answered them, not the way they wanted him to? 29 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:45,720 But what does he do? 30 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:50,800 He gives them a white robe and he tells them to rest just a little longer. 31 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:53,480 A little longer, right? 32 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:54,560 That's an interesting phrase. 33 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:55,560 Is it not? 34 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:57,480 God says, rest a little longer. 35 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:02,280 Why is that interesting? 36 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:05,320 Because what's a little to God? 37 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:09,160 If you're infinite, what's a little? 38 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:12,760 Could be a day, could be a thousand years. 39 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:18,080 As we know, it's been 2000 plus years since John wrote the book of Revelation under the 40 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:20,060 inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 41 00:02:20,060 --> 00:02:23,960 Are the martyrs still crying out how long, oh Lord? 42 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:25,840 Yeah, they are. 43 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:28,240 Is God still saying just a little longer? 44 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:29,600 Yes, he is. 45 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:36,800 So it really shows us that we have to have a Godward perspective on this, that what might 46 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:41,280 seem like a little bit of time to God is not always a little bit of time. 47 00:02:41,280 --> 00:02:46,640 So if God tells you, hey, so and so, wait just a little longer before you get all excited 48 00:02:46,640 --> 00:02:48,800 and think, all right, it's going to happen next week. 49 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:51,080 Just hold on a second. 50 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:54,160 Let's teach impatience and perseverance. 51 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:58,560 And so when we come to the sixth girl, we remember that or the sixth seal, rather, we 52 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:00,960 remember that these follow a pattern, right? 53 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:06,360 You remember this from last week, the first five, they always occur within the course 54 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:08,080 of human history. 55 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:14,520 But with the sixth seal or the sixth trumpet or the sixth ball, it always marks the end 56 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:15,520 of human history. 57 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:18,760 That's when things are finally coming to an end. 58 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:21,360 And it's the precursor to the final judgment. 59 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:28,880 And so now right after the fifth seal is open, we come to verse 12 and we see that the sixth 60 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:31,200 seal is going to be opened here. 61 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:35,120 Look at verse 12, if you will. 62 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:40,360 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked and behold, there was a great earthquake and the 63 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:47,360 sun became black as sackcloth and the full moon became like blood and the stars of the 64 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:55,360 sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when it is shaken by a gale. 65 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:56,680 The sky vanished like a scroll. 66 00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:57,680 Actually, we're going to stop. 67 00:03:57,680 --> 00:03:59,600 Well, let's read verse 14. 68 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:03,320 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up and every mountain and island was 69 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:05,880 removed from its place. 70 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:09,120 Now this signals the end of human history. 71 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:12,960 This is a cataclysmic event, as you can tell here. 72 00:04:12,960 --> 00:04:19,600 It's an apocalyptic event, but I want you to notice how it serves as an answer to the martyr's 73 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:20,760 prayer. 74 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:26,880 The martyrs pray, how long, oh Lord, until you vindicate us and avenge our blood. 75 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:30,120 And then what's the very next thing we read right after God gives them the white robe, 76 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:31,720 tells them to wait a little longer. 77 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:34,600 You read, okay, now's the time. 78 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:39,920 The whole of creation is going to dissolve and here comes the wrath of God and the judgment 79 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:43,520 of God upon the earth. 80 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:47,200 Now we need to remember that the book of Revelation, what genre is it? 81 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:53,960 Everybody remember from our first initial studies of this? 82 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:57,280 Apocalyptic, there we go. 83 00:04:57,280 --> 00:04:58,280 We all got there. 84 00:04:58,280 --> 00:04:59,280 We got there. 85 00:04:59,280 --> 00:05:00,280 Okay, I'm going to give that one to you. 86 00:05:00,280 --> 00:05:01,280 Tip of the tongue. 87 00:05:01,280 --> 00:05:08,160 So it's apocalyptic and if you remember apocalyptic genre, it often uses these wild scenes and 88 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:14,600 very descriptive language that isn't always meant to be taken literally, but often symbolically, 89 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:18,040 metaphorically, in a representative type way. 90 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:23,400 And this is the type of language that's used all throughout the Bible to describe what 91 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:26,400 it's going to look like in the end, right? 92 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:30,720 Or what the results of the final of God's judgment and wrath upon the earth is going 93 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:31,720 to be. 94 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:33,160 This is the language that's used throughout. 95 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:37,400 So Joel chapter 2, verse 31, you don't have to turn there, but if you want to write it 96 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:44,640 down, the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and 97 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:47,320 awesome day of the Lord comes. 98 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:51,160 Now again, that's exactly what Revelation just said. 99 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:53,160 Let's just pause and think about this for a second. 100 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:56,760 I don't know if you know this scientifically. 101 00:05:56,760 --> 00:05:58,120 Maybe you do. 102 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:01,720 What happens to us, spoiler, it's not good. 103 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:05,720 What happens to the people on earth if the sun goes dark? 104 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:10,840 Yeah, we all die and it's pretty instantaneous too, right? 105 00:06:10,840 --> 00:06:14,960 I think it'll take like something like eight minutes for us to realize there's no light. 106 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:16,440 So here's a fun fact for you. 107 00:06:16,440 --> 00:06:19,480 You can look up at the sun at any point in the day and you actually have no idea if the 108 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:23,040 sun's still shining because that's how long it takes light to get to the earth. 109 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:25,080 It could have dissolved eight minutes ago. 110 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:26,080 You don't know. 111 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:28,600 So that's just a scary thought for you to keep in your mind. 112 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:32,960 But if the sun goes black, all people on earth die. 113 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:34,720 That's what happens. 114 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:37,720 So this might not be meaning that the sun is actually going to lose all its heat and 115 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:42,440 go black because we would die immediately, but rather that darkness is going to fall 116 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:44,280 upon the face of the earth. 117 00:06:44,280 --> 00:06:46,840 That light will be taken in some way. 118 00:06:46,840 --> 00:06:52,560 Isaiah 13.10 says, for the stars of the heaven in their constellations will not give their 119 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:56,760 light, the sun will be dark at its rising and the moon will not shed its light. 120 00:06:56,760 --> 00:07:00,680 So again, it's this picture of darkness coming upon the face of the earth. 121 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:02,760 Ezekiel 32.7. 122 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:06,720 When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens and make their stars dark. 123 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:11,800 I will cover the sun with a cloud and the moon shall not give its light. 124 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:19,880 And then Isaiah 34.4, all the hosts of heaven shall rot away and the skies roll up like 125 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:26,400 a scroll and their hosts shall fall as the leaves fall from the vine, like leaves falling 126 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:27,400 from the fig tree. 127 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:30,880 Now that sounds almost exactly like what we read here in Revelation, right? 128 00:07:30,880 --> 00:07:37,280 So the Holy Spirit is giving John these remembrances of Scripture and he's trying to pull these 129 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:41,080 scenes together and try to make sense of what the end is going to look like. 130 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:46,520 And again, you don't have to necessarily understand this language as literal, but apocalyptic. 131 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:47,960 It's just painting a picture. 132 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:54,680 Remember Revelation is not a puzzle book for us to try to solve and it's not a clear 133 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:59,600 map of here's how we're getting from point A to point B. It's a picture book and it's 134 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:00,600 drawing pictures. 135 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:01,600 It's just making you feel something. 136 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:03,280 You know, that's what a good book does. 137 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:04,680 It makes you feel something. 138 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:08,520 You don't always try to work out the deep things as when I read a book or I enjoy a 139 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:13,080 movie and you just get engrossed in the story and then someone comes and they point out 140 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:16,320 a flaw in the story and you're like, why would you do that? 141 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:21,400 You know, like someone said Indiana Jones is completely not essential to the plot of 142 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:22,400 Indiana Jones at all. 143 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:27,320 Like if you remove him from the movie, the whole movie and the events therein would have 144 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:28,320 still taken place. 145 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:31,240 The Nazis would have still found the Holy Grail that opened it, they'd all die even 146 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:32,560 if Indiana Jones isn't there. 147 00:08:32,560 --> 00:08:33,560 I heard that. 148 00:08:33,560 --> 00:08:34,560 I'm like, why would you say that to me? 149 00:08:34,560 --> 00:08:35,960 I used to really enjoy that movie. 150 00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:37,760 Now you've ruined it for me, right? 151 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:42,880 So when a movie, a story, a book, when a story is making you feel something, you get engrossed 152 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:45,760 in it, you're not supposed to just pick out all these little details. 153 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:48,720 You're just supposed to be immersed in what's happening. 154 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:50,720 That's what God is doing here in Revelation. 155 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:52,360 He wants you to understand. 156 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:53,800 He's painting the picture. 157 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:56,960 All the natural order of things, what's happening to them? 158 00:08:56,960 --> 00:08:58,880 They're falling apart. 159 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:03,240 This good creation that God had made in the beginning, what's it doing? 160 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:05,200 It's dissolving. 161 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:07,240 Everything is coming undone. 162 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:08,240 Why? 163 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:13,880 Because God has arrived and he is laying out his judgments upon the earth. 164 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:16,160 He is pouring out his wrath upon the earth. 165 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:20,000 And when that happens, nothing is safe. 166 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:22,800 Everything is going to fall apart. 167 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:29,600 And notice the reaction in verse 15, it says, then the kings of the earth and the great ones 168 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:37,320 and the generals and the rich and the powerful and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves 169 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:43,480 in the caves among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, fall on 170 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:47,920 us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of 171 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:54,840 the Lamb for the great day of their wrath has come and here's the all important question, 172 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:57,400 who can stand? 173 00:09:57,400 --> 00:09:59,480 So what's happening here? 174 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:02,600 The first people listed on the list, they would have been especially meaningful to the 175 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:04,440 original audience, right? 176 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:05,920 Because what's happening to the original audience? 177 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:06,920 Do you remember? 178 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:09,320 They're being persecuted heavily. 179 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:11,920 I mean, they are being hunted down like dogs. 180 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:13,220 They're being imprisoned. 181 00:10:13,220 --> 00:10:15,160 Many of them are being killed for their faith. 182 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:18,040 And who is responsible for all this? 183 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:22,040 Rome, the kings, the emperors, the rulers, the people in authority. 184 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:28,320 And so it's no surprise that when God starts listing those upon whom his wrath is falling, 185 00:10:28,320 --> 00:10:29,840 who's listed first? 186 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:34,400 The kings of the earth, the people in the high places, the generals, all those who have 187 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:39,240 authority, this would have been incredibly meaningful to this original audience who 188 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:43,600 were completely harassed and persecuted nonstop. 189 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:44,840 But here's what's interesting. 190 00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:52,640 Look at this list and depending on how you break it up, it's a seven-fold depiction of 191 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:53,640 humanity. 192 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:55,480 Did you notice that? 193 00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:56,480 There's seven. 194 00:10:56,480 --> 00:10:59,400 I don't have room to write there, but it's okay. 195 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:02,680 So first, you have the kings of the earth, right? 196 00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:04,160 Second, you have the great ones. 197 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:05,920 Third, you have the generals. 198 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:07,120 Fourth, you have the rich. 199 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:08,760 Fifth, you have the powerful. 200 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:10,480 Six, everyone. 201 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:15,080 And then seven, the last two are included together, slave and free. 202 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:20,160 So you have this seven-fold depiction of humanity. 203 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:21,160 Why would you do that? 204 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:31,560 What's the significance there? 205 00:11:31,560 --> 00:11:33,960 Are numbers significant in Revelation? 206 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:36,160 Yeah, highly significant, right? 207 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:40,560 We're going to especially talk about that next week, we're going to talk about the 144,000 208 00:11:40,560 --> 00:11:41,560 feet here next week. 209 00:11:41,560 --> 00:11:42,560 You don't want to miss that one. 210 00:11:42,560 --> 00:11:43,560 That's going to be a fun one. 211 00:11:43,560 --> 00:11:48,880 Numbers throughout Revelation are highly significant, often symbolic and representative. 212 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:52,680 So what does seven usually depict or represent? 213 00:11:52,680 --> 00:11:55,280 Completion, right? 214 00:11:55,280 --> 00:12:03,200 And so what would it mean or signify to us that God specifically lists a seven-fold 215 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:09,240 description of humanity here? 216 00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:18,440 Yeah, it's talking about the comprehensiveness of God's judgment upon the world. 217 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:20,440 It is a complete judgment. 218 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:23,120 No one will escape it. 219 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:26,040 No one can escape it. 220 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:33,080 His judgment is going to fall upon the entire earth, from people who are great to people 221 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:36,840 who are not great to the rich, to the poor. 222 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:41,960 Everyone in between, this is a comprehensive pouring out of God's judgment upon the earth 223 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:44,720 and notice how it terrifies people. 224 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:47,200 What is their first response? 225 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:50,560 Yeah, run and hide. 226 00:12:50,560 --> 00:12:56,760 They go and run and hide as soon as they realize, oh no, God actually is real. 227 00:12:56,760 --> 00:12:59,000 Those Christians were telling the truth the whole time. 228 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:01,640 I should have listened to them too late now. 229 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:04,360 God's coming, the sun has been darkened in some way. 230 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:06,240 Darkness has fallen on the face of the earth. 231 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:08,960 Stars and all this calamity, creation is coming undone. 232 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:09,960 What would you do? 233 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:12,760 You'd run and hide too, right? 234 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:14,920 It kind of reminds me of another scene in the Bible. 235 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:17,240 Anybody pick up on what's going on here? 236 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:19,840 Another scene where I don't want to get too much away. 237 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:24,760 You have people who realize they mess up and their first response is to run and hide. 238 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:28,840 Yeah, Tommy, theologian of the night, my man. 239 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:30,440 All right. 240 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:31,920 He said Garden of Eden. 241 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:33,240 Yeah, so it's interesting, right? 242 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:38,040 You've got parallels at the very beginning of the Bible and the very end of the Bible. 243 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:42,040 What happens as soon as Adam and Eve sin against God, what do they do? 244 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:43,880 They say, God, I'm sorry. 245 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:45,080 We messed up. 246 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:48,400 We knew we should come to you immediately because that's what we're supposed to do. 247 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:49,400 We knew you're loving. 248 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:50,680 You'd forgive us, but we did mess up. 249 00:13:50,680 --> 00:13:51,680 Is that what they did? 250 00:13:51,680 --> 00:13:53,680 What do they do? 251 00:13:53,680 --> 00:13:56,320 Yeah, they run and hide, right? 252 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:58,040 They go and find some fig leaves. 253 00:13:58,040 --> 00:13:59,040 What was the tree mentioned here? 254 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:00,040 Did you catch that? 255 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:01,040 That was a fig, right? 256 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:03,960 The Bible doesn't make mistakes like that. 257 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:05,880 There's some very cool interesting things in the Bible. 258 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:09,920 So they go and run and they hide and they cover themselves with fig leaves. 259 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:17,040 And what's the great irony of this is they're trying to hide from an omnipresent God. 260 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:21,000 They're trying to hide from the Almighty in a bush covered by a fig leaf and God's like, 261 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:22,000 what are you doing in there? 262 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:25,240 I mean, it's like when the tower of Babel, they're like, oh, we're going to build a 263 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:27,840 tower in heaven and we're going to meet God there. 264 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:29,040 We're going to kick him off at some point. 265 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:30,200 We're going to be God. 266 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:32,720 And God's like, I'm going to come out of heaven to see what's going on down there. 267 00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:35,640 They're doing something, but it's just hard to see. 268 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:40,320 You're trying to hide from an Almighty omnipresent God. 269 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:42,960 You're not going to get anywhere with that. 270 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:46,840 And so they start running to the mountains and they call out to the mountains and the 271 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:49,680 rocks, fall on us. 272 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:51,720 Do you see what's happening here? 273 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:59,920 They are more terrified than the wrath of God than they are of death. 274 00:14:59,920 --> 00:15:03,120 If only that had happened sooner, right? 275 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:07,560 I mean, one of the greatest things that Christians tell other people about, non-believers about, 276 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:10,360 we say, the wrath of God is coming. 277 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:12,280 You are in sin. 278 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:13,920 You are condemned because of your sin. 279 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:18,560 And unless you repent of your sin and turn to Christ, you will endure the wrath of God 280 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:19,640 forever in hell. 281 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:21,560 And they laugh at us. 282 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:24,160 Who's laughing on that last day? 283 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:25,440 No one. 284 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:28,840 Because they realize it's too late and that the Christians were right. 285 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:33,040 And so they see all this happening and they literally fear the wrath of God more than they 286 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:34,040 are. 287 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:35,760 They're so terrified they can't even look at His face. 288 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:36,840 That's what they're hiding from. 289 00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:39,400 They want to hide matters for us today. 290 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:43,520 One of the first things we need to realize is that since the world and the things of 291 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:48,120 this world are coming out of the things of this world, we will waste our lives because 292 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:51,520 this world and everything in it is ultimately... 293 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:55,080 We're going to find ourselves being like those people on that last day who were running 294 00:15:55,080 --> 00:15:56,640 and hiding because we don't... 295 00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:59,520 Are you telling unbeliever Jesus is coming? 296 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:03,840 And they will do anything they can to have some parents. 297 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:07,080 Think about Christian parents today. 298 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:11,880 I mean when I grew up, go to church, you know, and mom would be like, okay, that's fine. 299 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:12,880 Sure. 300 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:13,880 Too sick to go to church. 301 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:14,880 That's fine. 302 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:15,880 No, no. 303 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:21,480 If there's any sort of anything that comes up, baseball game, football game, any sort 304 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:25,600 of sporting event, anytime the kids just like, I'd rather go to the lake or anything. 305 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:26,600 What do parents do? 306 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:28,680 They just let the kids go. 307 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:29,680 And then what happens here? 308 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:30,680 We're going to get me on a rant. 309 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:34,240 I told you all not to do that, but you're going to get me there, okay? 310 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:36,840 But this is what amazes me is we have adults. 311 00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:42,120 We have literal adults today who are absolutely shocked that we can't get young people in 312 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:43,120 the church. 313 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:44,520 Why don't we have any children in the church? 314 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:45,520 Where are the young people? 315 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:49,960 And I'm like, what about the generations that have allowed children not to be in church 316 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:52,160 and haven't prioritized going to church? 317 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:56,120 They haven't demonstrated what it looks like to be a Christian household at their own house. 318 00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:57,760 They've never read their kids the Bible. 319 00:16:57,760 --> 00:16:59,200 They've never prayed with their kids. 320 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:01,600 They've never talked to their kids about what Jesus would do. 321 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:06,280 And then we're going to act like we're shocked that they're not in the church. 322 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:07,280 That's laughable. 323 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:08,280 Is it not? 324 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:20,600 That's exactly right. 325 00:17:20,600 --> 00:17:25,560 That's exactly right. 326 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:26,560 It's a spiritual life. 327 00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:29,040 We're not investing in their child's walk with Christ. 328 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:31,840 You have parents who are not reading the Bible to their kids. 329 00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:32,840 They're not praying with their kids. 330 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:34,800 They're not talking to their kids about Jesus. 331 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:36,760 They're not prioritizing the church. 332 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:40,960 They never have their kids in church except when nothing else, literally nothing else 333 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:43,680 is going on and they can fit it into their schedule. 334 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:45,440 And then their kids go off to college. 335 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:48,840 They renounce the faith and they never darken the doors of a church again. 336 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:52,880 And the parents go, I don't know what happened. 337 00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:53,880 I do. 338 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:59,760 I know exactly that this world and your child's worldly ambitions and pursuits were worth 339 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:01,040 more than Jesus. 340 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:02,600 That's exactly what happened. 341 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:03,920 You want to blame society. 342 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:05,880 You want to blame the education system. 343 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:08,960 What we don't want to do is point the finger back at ourselves and say, maybe I should 344 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:11,720 have been a better parent. 345 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:16,240 Maybe I should have actually invested in my children more and invested in their eternity 346 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:20,480 more and in their souls more because now I'm never going to have them in my house again 347 00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:25,320 and I don't know that they're ever going to be in God's house again. 348 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:28,200 It's exactly what we're seeing here. 349 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:34,000 This world and the things of this world are passing away and yet we've got entire generations 350 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:38,000 of people who are telling their children, pursue your dreams at all costs. 351 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:39,840 Pursue your ambitions at all costs. 352 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:43,960 Even if it takes you out of the church, even if it takes you away from Jesus, you follow 353 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:44,960 your heart. 354 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:49,440 And then one day they're going to stand before Jesus and Jesus is going to say, I never knew 355 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:52,440 you. 356 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:58,240 And the fact that that doesn't terrify parents, the fact that they would rather not hurt their 357 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:03,120 kids feelings than have that happen, I can't imagine that. 358 00:19:03,120 --> 00:19:07,760 I cannot imagine Judah or Ezra standing before Jesus and Jesus saying to either one of them, 359 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:10,160 I never knew you. 360 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:14,240 Because if that's the case, that's on me as a parent. 361 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:17,680 So there goes, that's my, you know, got me worked up. 362 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:24,720 But okay, the whole point of that is that this world is passing away and the things that 363 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:29,160 we're teaching people to pursue and invest in and care about, they are not going to matter 364 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:31,600 one Iota and eternity. 365 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:35,640 We think God is ever going to check someone's batting average in eternity. 366 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:37,840 How many touchdowns he scored. 367 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:39,680 How many places he visited on earth. 368 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:41,680 None of that's going to matter. 369 00:19:41,680 --> 00:19:44,360 The only thing that's going to matter is did you know Jesus? 370 00:19:44,360 --> 00:19:48,920 Did you repent of your sins and trust in Christ? 371 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:53,400 Another thing that I do want you to take away from this passage is that there's a call to 372 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:56,160 perseverance here. 373 00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:57,920 A big call to perseverance. 374 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:01,800 I mean again, think about the people to whom this letter was originally written. 375 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:02,800 They're suffering. 376 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:08,320 I mean they're being persecuted night and day, day after day. 377 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:13,400 And they were persecuted at the hands of corrupt leaders, government people and authority. 378 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:15,600 We still experience that today, don't we? 379 00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:23,320 I mean we still have all sorts of corrupt government, corrupt leaders, people and authority. 380 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:26,360 And they're often the reason for our persecution. 381 00:20:26,360 --> 00:20:29,880 And really a lot of that time is because they're just changing the rules constantly, calling 382 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:32,920 someone by the wrong pronouns. 383 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:34,640 That's where our world is at today. 384 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:38,000 You can look at someone and go, hey, I know how to tell the difference between a boy and 385 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:39,000 a girl. 386 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:40,000 That's a boy. 387 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:41,480 You say, sir, can I help you today? 388 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:43,760 And that person says, I'm not a sir. 389 00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:45,240 You've misgendered me. 390 00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:46,680 And now I'm going to call the cops. 391 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:50,440 And because you called me by the wrong pronouns and whatever else, I'm going to have you arrested. 392 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:53,480 And that actually happens in our world today. 393 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:56,760 And it's a denial of truth for all of human existence. 394 00:20:56,760 --> 00:20:58,760 People have said, all right, there are boys and there are girls. 395 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:00,000 And we know the difference between them. 396 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:03,400 And then we call people what is appropriate for their gender. 397 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:06,040 And now the world has said, don't you dare do that? 398 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:07,520 Don't you act in accordance with the truth? 399 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:09,000 Don't you speak in accordance with the truth? 400 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:11,320 Because if you do, we're going to put you in jail. 401 00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:14,240 Because now truth is subjective. 402 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:16,880 And we get to determine what is true and what's not true. 403 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:20,920 And we get to determine who is going to abide by our truth and not our truth. 404 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:23,720 And if you don't follow our rules, well, guess what? 405 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:24,720 You're going to be put in jail. 406 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:27,560 I can't even keep up with the rules anymore. 407 00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:30,320 They're calling, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. 408 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:33,440 I'm not sure what I'm supposed to call this group and that group and anything. 409 00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:35,840 I mean, all the rules are always changing. 410 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:37,640 It's like playing a game with a toddler. 411 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:38,640 It's frustrating. 412 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:39,640 All right? 413 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:42,280 I mean, the other day, the boys and I, we were outside. 414 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:43,480 We were hitting some golf balls. 415 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:45,680 And I found a PVC pipe. 416 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:47,000 I staked it in the ground. 417 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:49,080 And I said, all right, boys, we're going to play a game. 418 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:50,680 Call closest to the pin. 419 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:54,560 Now Ezra, he had to steal every club that I had, the adult clubs, even though they have 420 00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:55,560 kid clubs. 421 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:56,560 So he's holding an adult club. 422 00:21:56,560 --> 00:21:57,560 I've got one. 423 00:21:57,560 --> 00:21:59,120 Judah's got kid clubs, right? 424 00:21:59,120 --> 00:22:00,440 And I was like, all right, closest to the pin. 425 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:01,440 Here's how the game works. 426 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:02,440 We're going to hit a chip shot. 427 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:03,960 And it's real simple. 428 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:06,520 Whoever gets it closest to the pin wins. 429 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:07,520 Judah's all excited, right? 430 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:10,000 So I hit one, get pretty close. 431 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:13,520 Judah hits one and it goes 20 feet past the pin. 432 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:15,720 I'm like, all right, I win. 433 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:20,000 He goes, no, no, no, daddy, wait, we're playing whoever hits it farthest wins. 434 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:24,480 I'm like, hold on, that's not the game that we agreed to. 435 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:25,480 And he's like, well, that's what we're playing. 436 00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:26,560 So I was like, OK, fine. 437 00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:29,880 So I hit my ball again and it goes further than Judah's ball. 438 00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:30,880 Well, what does he do? 439 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:34,000 He takes off running to his ball and he goes, I got to my ball first. 440 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:35,000 I win. 441 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:36,000 That's what we were playing. 442 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,200 I'm like, hold on. 443 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:41,200 I realized I was like, I'm never going to win because the rules are just going to keep 444 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:43,000 changing to where he wins. 445 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:46,080 And that's exactly what it feels like in our world sometimes, is it not? 446 00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:49,800 I'm never going to win because the government and the leaders and the rulers, they keep 447 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:52,880 changing the rules so that they're always winning and we're not. 448 00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:58,840 And I mean, I know that we're living in America where we're not suffering too much, but people 449 00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:02,640 are trying to determine what we can and cannot say. 450 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:06,920 I mean, I've had sermons getting taken off YouTube and Facebook because it doesn't abide 451 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:08,420 by community standards. 452 00:23:08,420 --> 00:23:10,240 Yeah, Michael, thumbs up for that. 453 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:11,240 Praise the Lord. 454 00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:15,440 I was a badge of honor if I don't abide by community standards. 455 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:19,320 But you've got publishers now who aren't publishing Christian books. 456 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:21,880 You've got Amazon taking Christian books off their website. 457 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:24,600 You've got California who was trying to ban Christian books. 458 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:29,280 I mean, they are literally trying to change the rules constantly about what we can and 459 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:30,280 cannot do. 460 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:35,440 And meanwhile, we've got brothers and sisters all across this world who are actually suffering, 461 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:40,720 real suffering, who are still being persecuted and hunted down, who are being imprisoned 462 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:44,200 for their faith, who are being killed for their faith. 463 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:48,240 And it's easy when that happens, how many times does that happen and we get frustrated, 464 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:49,240 right? 465 00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:50,840 Do you think you ever been frustrated by the government? 466 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:53,240 No, not this group, right? 467 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:54,240 Never. 468 00:23:54,240 --> 00:24:00,080 You ever been frustrated at how the country is going, what the leaders are saying, what 469 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:02,280 people are doing and allowing? 470 00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:06,640 I mean, you've got government officials now who are participating in pornography and 471 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:09,640 making sex tapes and they're just trying to play it off now like, that's fine. 472 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:11,480 You know, you're just getting a buck. 473 00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:13,480 I mean, it's easy to get frustrated, right? 474 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:16,640 And especially if you're in those countries where you're being persecuted and killed for 475 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:21,120 your faith, it's easy to want to give up and say, well, this isn't worth it. 476 00:24:21,120 --> 00:24:23,320 I mean, that's what David was saying in that Psalm. 477 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:27,120 How long, oh Lord, are you going to allow this to continue? 478 00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:30,440 So the martyrs were saying, it's what the people in the first century were thinking 479 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:35,960 and what we see here is that one day God is going to make all things right. 480 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:41,320 That He will vindicate the righteous. 481 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:46,800 And His judgment is coming and there will be no more evil doers. 482 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:48,440 There will be no more injustice. 483 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:51,320 There will be no more sin. 484 00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:54,240 The judge of all the earth will do right. 485 00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:57,800 And so it's a call to perseverance. 486 00:24:57,800 --> 00:24:59,600 Keep pressing forward. 487 00:24:59,600 --> 00:25:01,560 Keep trusting Christ. 488 00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:08,640 Keep praying and praying and praying and saying, come Lord Jesus, come quickly. 489 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:11,760 Make the righteous now. 490 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:14,120 So it's called perseverance. 491 00:25:14,120 --> 00:25:19,200 The last thing very quickly that I want to just tell us to take away is this passage 492 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:23,400 reminds us that the end could happen at any time. 493 00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:24,400 At any time. 494 00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:28,760 And we've talked about the fact that the first five seals, they've already been open. 495 00:25:28,760 --> 00:25:30,800 They're going on in our world now. 496 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:33,080 You know what comes after five? 497 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:34,840 Six. 498 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:35,840 It could happen at any time. 499 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:40,840 And for those who have not trusted in Christ, it's a reminder not to waste the time. 500 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:44,160 To turn from your sins now and turn to Jesus today. 501 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:47,800 For those who have trusted in Christ, listen to me church, for most of you here, if not 502 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:52,880 everybody here, it's a call to be mission. 503 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:59,400 Because one day Jesus is returning and at that point, that's the end. 504 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:01,600 There is no second chance. 505 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:04,280 There is no other opportunity. 506 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:09,480 And he is given the responsibility to share the gospel message to the church. 507 00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:13,280 We are to go and tell others this is actually going to happen. 508 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:16,080 That God says that you have sinned against him. 509 00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:18,120 You stand condemned before him. 510 00:26:18,120 --> 00:26:19,760 And he is returning one day. 511 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:25,200 He's going to pour out his judgment upon all the earth and not a single soul will escape 512 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:26,200 it. 513 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:27,200 You will run. 514 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:28,200 You will hide. 515 00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:32,760 But you will still face the wrath of God unless you turn from your sins now in trust in Jesus 516 00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:34,400 for salvation. 517 00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:38,400 When you see him coming, it's too late. 518 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:40,640 You can't make a decision then. 519 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:44,680 And like the rich man who said, well if I had known this, if I had known that, well maybe 520 00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:46,000 I could have done something better. 521 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:47,800 Let me go and tell my family members. 522 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:51,240 And if they listen to me, then maybe they'll change their mind now. 523 00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:55,200 And Jesus said, listen, they've got the Word of God. 524 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:58,360 They wouldn't even believe it if a dead man came back and told them. 525 00:26:58,360 --> 00:27:03,680 And so it's a call for the church to take seriously the fact that we've got billions 526 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:07,880 of people in our world who are dying without knowing Jesus. 527 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:12,280 And this passage says that one day when he returns, he is going to pour out his wrath. 528 00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:17,600 And that's not a time of rejoicing for the church because we're going to see people that 529 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:25,920 we talk to, see people that we worked with, see family members, people that we refuse 530 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:31,040 to say anything to because we didn't want an awkward conversation, because we didn't 531 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:33,920 want to hurt someone's feelings. 532 00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:37,880 I would rather offend everybody on this earth than be responsible for not telling someone 533 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:43,320 about Jesus and then having to watch them suffer the wrath of God. 534 00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:48,720 I would hate to find out that I was supposed to be the one to witness to someone and I 535 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:49,720 didn't do it. 536 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:53,040 And so they never heard about Jesus. 537 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:54,520 It's a call to be mission. 538 00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:59,360 You have unbelieving friends and family members and neighbors. 539 00:27:59,360 --> 00:28:03,040 God has put you in their lives for a reason. 540 00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:07,400 So go and tell them about the great grace of God so that they don't suffer the great 541 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:08,400 wrath of God. 542 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:12,440 All right, we'll get to the seventh. 543 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:18,520 Actually the rest of the sixth seal next week and talk about the hundred and forty-four 544 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:21,280 thousand and it's a fun week. 545 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:25,160 I encourage you not to miss next week because next week can be real fun. 546 00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:55,120 So how about Gene McKinney, give us a word of wisdom as we close.