2014년 1월 12일 주일 영어예배 설교
요한계시록 7:1-17

(Revelation 7:1-17)

    The Book of Revelation, the very last book of the Scripture, clearly shows that evil, violence, and misery will end in this world. It especially shows the dismantling judgment on all the evil influences controlled by Satan that have been continuously rebellious against God and opposed the truth of God. The Satan that has caused all kinds of evil in the world and the men who have followed this Satan with the mark of the beast and not believing in Jesus Christ, will be completely defeated and annihilated. They will be severely punished for their rebellions by suffering eternally. In fact, the victory of the Lamb, Jesus Christ our Lord, over the Satan was already declared a long time ago, and to be accurate, in the beginning of the world. Revelation reveals the events that will take place in the last days of the world, including the wrecking destruction of the earth and heaven and punishment upon the Satan followers, or the influences that have not believed in Jesus Christ. The last judgment will be severe and perfect. So Revelation reveals the nature of the judgment, and at the same time questions this in the last part of the chapter 6, “Who can stand?” Who can stand against the wrath of God in the last days? But the book shows that there will be some multitudes that will be spared from the wrath of God. Today, through the visions that the Apostle John received from God, we will be appreciating those who will be protected from God’s judgment and be triumphant, and why, if the victory against the Satan declared, the final judgment have been delayed.

     In response to the terrifying preview of the final judgment and the desperate question, “Who can stand?” today’s texts assure the Lamb’s flock that nothing in the present and the future will be able to separate them from the love of God in Christ. First, in verse 1-4, “After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel.” In this scene, we find that the angels, who were sent by God, were the ones who suddenly stopped the process of this terrifying judgment. The four angels are about to harm the earth and the sea with the power given from God. All of a sudden, another angel commanded the four angels to delay the exercising completion of the final judgment. Delay until when? The text says, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” Here, what does it mean to be sealed? Who are the servants of God who are to be sealed? The symbolic character of this vision in Revelation shows that we should not expect this seal to appear as a visible mark on believer’s physical foreheads. Rather, just as true circumcision is more than skin deep, reaching to the heart as Romans says, so also the seal of ownership that marks us, as “God’s own possession” is the Holy Spirit as Ephesians directs. Therefore, ‘the servants of God who are to be sealed’ are the believers who God in person chose as His people. And the seal is the Holy Spirit who makes them believe in Jesus Christ and the blood of the Lamb, and is abiding in their hearts. The number of the sealed, 144,000, is a symbolic expression. As today’s text shows, they are composed of twelve thousand from each of twelve Israel tribes. But that doesn’t mean a single ethnic group, but actually means an international spiritual group as the verse 9 expresses, “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages…” And also, the number means that the number of the saved is perfectly settled by the perfect God, not arbitrarily dependent on human beings’ decision or by a stream of history. This is the main reason why the complete judgment of God on evil influences is being delayed, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God.” That is to say, there are still people that remain in the present and the future of the world who will be called to the saving gospel of God and be saved, and join the glorious number of the sealed.

     When Jesus addressed to the disciples about events and things to come, the disciples were almost only interested in ‘When.’ But Jesus was more interested in answering ‘Why?’ and ‘What for?’ saying this, “But concerning that day and hour (the end of the world) no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son,but the Father only” (Matt 24:36). The purpose of Jesus’ mentioning the things and the events to come in the future, and by not saying the specific time in Matthew 24 is to fortify us to endure, to embolden us to evangelize, and to awaken us for faithful vigilance. Even after Jesus’ Resurrection, the disciples asked the same question again, and Jesus gave them the same answer this, “So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority”” (Acts 1:6-7). And Jesus immediately gave the great commission, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). And we must sharply pay attention to the Jesus’ declaration in Matthew 24:14, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Therefore, we should clearly know that the exercising of sealing is still going on in history, and will be going on until the number of the sealed will be fulfilled as the text says, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God.” Now, it is obvious that we should stop sinful grumbling at incompletion of judgment on evils at present, or rampant evils in this world, and stop sinful questioning and wondering about the specific time of the end of the world. Rather, we should live our Christian lives still and faithfully as Jesus directed expecting the final perfect judgment of our God as He promised.

     So then who will be saved from the final judgment of God? Today’s text says that the believers, or those marked as God’s treasure by the seal of his name will be secured and sheltered from his burning wrath to come. They are, the very protected and triumphant followers of Christ. In verses 9-14, “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”” Here, the international multitudes gather to celebrate a triumphant king. In Revelation, the Lamb is their shepherd, or Jesus Chris our Lord. In this scene, we see the church, that is, the assembly of the purchased and purified people that are singing to its Sovereign, and praising the divine excellences that saved them from the curse of sin and the judgment of God on it: Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!.

The conversation between the elder and John shows who are safely protected and spared like this: “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” They are those who endured, boldly evangelized, and were in faithful vigilance as Jesus directed until Jesus come again for the final judgment. And they are those who washed out their sins in the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ as the prophet Isaiah prophesied, “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” And the prophecy in the Book of Daniel and 1 John also describes it like this, “Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand” (Dan 12:10), “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). In verses 15-17, the elder shows John the safety of these multitudes in imagery drawn from Isaiah 49:10, “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. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

These visions reassure the church of God that the woes inflicted by the wrath of the Lamb on rebellious humanity cannot sever us from his protective care. They are the people of his covenant, portrayed as twelve complete tribes. But now that the Lamb has conquered through his death, God’s covenant embraces all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues. The Israel secured by God’s seal is a multiethnic multitude, dressed in robes washed white in the Lamb’s blood and praise Him for His salvation.

Everyone, the visions in today’s text reveal the reason why, if the Lamb has conquered, the world still does continue to be a place of evil, violence, and misery. And this status will continue until the finished sealing of all the servants of God, or the chosen people. Again let me quote Jesus’ declaration, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come”, which means the delay of the final complete judgment. Then on the final judgment day, no one among Satan and all the rebellious humanity will be able to avoid the burning wrath of the angry God. They are described in Revelation 6:15-17 this, “… and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” But the only followers of the Christ who washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb will be protected and comforted. Persecution that they experienced due to being Christian, the tears they shed when living Christian lives, the tribulation that they went through as Christians, and death of the great Martyrs will be completely rewarded on the day. I really hope that all of you are the members of the victorious and gracious multitudes who are sealed by our God as His possession.