The Seals, Part 2

Revelation chapter 6. That's where we are. Revelation chapter 6. I was hoping that we would finish Revelation 6 this evening, but it's not going to happen. If you were with us last week, We talked about the first four seals, as you recall in Revelation chapter 5.

The Lamb of God took the scroll from the right hand of God the Father. In Revelation chapter 6, he begins to unseal that scroll. And there are seven seals, and those seven seals encompass the entire tribulational period. And we covered the first four last week.

The first one was deceptive peace. We moved from there to talk about destructive war, then devastating famine, and then fourthly, definite de. It's an awful time. It's a horrible time. And the prophet Zephaniah, over in Zephaniah chapter 1, described it this way: Zephaniah chapter 1, verse number 14. Near is the great day of the Lord, near and coming very quickly. Listen, the day of the Lord, in it. The warrior cries out bitterly. A day of wrath is that day, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation.

a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and battle cry, against the fortified cities and the high quarter towers. And I will bring distress on men, so that they will walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the Lord, and their blood will be poured out like dust, and their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the day of the Lord's wrath. And all the earth will be devoured in the fire of his jealousy.

For he will make a complete end, indeed a terrifying one, of all the inhabitants of the earth. That's the day of the Lord. That's the end of the world. That's what God is going to do. The theme that runs through the scripture that describes the horrible time of God's vengeance is called the day of the Lord. The Bible calls God a God of vengeance. There's not too many churches you can go to today that will preach on that kind of God because they don't like to talk about those kinds of things, yet, the Bible is very clear.

On this. In the Psalms, there are some that are entitled in pre psalms, and they are titled that way because they call for God to destroy the wicked and unleash his vengeance. Psalm 35 is that way, Psalm 69, Psalm 109, and then over in Psalm 94 it says this, verse number 1, O Lord God of vengeance, God of vengeance, shine forth. Rise up, O judge of the earth. Render recompense to the proud. God says, If you don't obey me, if you don't follow me, you will feel my vengeance.

I will repay you. You will suffer the consequences. The Bible tells us that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Paul said, Knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. That's 2 Corinthians chapter 5. He would go on to say that we beg you, we implore you, be reconciled to God, because there is a day coming. A day of great terror. And we want you to be right with God so you don't face that terror. Peter always said in 2 Peter 3:9 that God is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

And then, of course. Over in Acts 17, verse number 30, it says this, Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, because he has fixed the day. In which he will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom he has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising him from the dead. We have studied the first four seals.

Now we come to the fifth seal. And the fifth seal is the day of God's vengeance. We will see that this evening as we unlock for you what the scriptures have. And we will see that as the first four horsemen depict a force.

The force being ushered in by peace. The man who leads the peace, of course, is the Antichrist. He comes in on the white horse, he has no arrows. He has a bow, but no arrows. He is given a crown. He is the one who ushers in peace. Then comes the red horse that is war. And from that comes the black horse, which is famine, and then of course the pale green horse, which is death. But that is not the end, the Bible says.

That is just the beginning of the birth pangs. The end is not yet here, the worst has not yet happened. Even though one-fourth of the population is killed in those first four seals, that is not the end, nor is it the worst.

Revelation 6, verse number 9 gives us the fifth seal. And when he broke the fifth seal. I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain, because of the word of God and because of the testimony which they had maintained. And they cried out with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth? And there was given to each of them a white robe and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants, and their brethren, who were to be killed, even as they had been, should be completed.

Also, seal number five are the desperate cries of the martyred saints. And we will see where these cries usher in the vengeance of God. We want to look at three things this evening.

First of all, the identity of these people. Who are they? How do they get there? What are they doing there? And where are they at? Number two, we want to be able to look at the intensity of their prayer.

And then the implication of God's promise. Those are the three points this evening. That's what we want to cover for you. First of all, the identity of these people.

Who are they? And what are they doing under this altar? What altar are they under? These people are the martyrs killed during the time of the pre judgments. While war and famine and disease dominate the first half of the tribulation, there will be widespread persecution that is led by Satan.

Turn back with me, if you would, to Matthew 24. As you recall, the disciples had asked the question of the Lord: when is the end of the age? When is all this sin going to end? When are you finally going to usher in your kingdom?

And so, what God does is explain to them the consummation of the end. What is all going to take place? And he says, see to it in verse number four that no one misleads you. For many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and will mislead many. That's the false piece. That parallels what happens with the first seal.

And then it says, And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place. But that is not yet the end. That is the red horse, the second seal in Revelation chapter 6.

For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. People will die because of famines and because of pestilence. That is the third and the fourth seal.

And then Christ says in verse number eight, but all these things are merely the beginning of birth pains.

Then in verse number nine, Then they will deliver you to tribulation and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of my name. Now listen very carefully. What I want to try to do for you is to give you a chronology of the tribulation and all that happens. And hopefully, I'll be able to do that with you this evening so you understand the flow of thought. When the fifth seal breaks, it breaks in the first three and a half years of the tribulation.

And it leads into the second three and a half years of the tribulation. But it begins at the very beginning. There are a few people who will die, who will be persecuted. But we know that it happens the first three and a half years because the abomination of desolation, which is recorded in verse number 15, doesn't happen until the exact midpoint of the tribulation.

How do we know that? Daniel 9:2 tells us that. It's in the middle of the tribulation that the Antichrist goes into the holy temple in the holy city and desecrates the temple, sets him up as God. Go back with me to Matthew 24 for a moment. It says this in verse number 10. And at that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. And because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved.

It talks about a sifting process. Persecution always purges the truth. Always purges those who don't obey the truth. So you need to understand that during the tribulational period, there are going to be some people who attach themselves to the church. That happens even today, right? There are the tares among the wheat. During the tribulation, it'll still happen. There will be some tares that are among the wheat. But when the persecution becomes More ferocious, then those tares will raise their ugly head and they will defect.

They won't stand to lose their life for the truth because they don't obey the truth. You see, persecution is always that which purges. And Christ says, those who endure to the end, those are the ones who shall be saved.

Why? Because the true believer always perseveres to the end. Always. If you read through the New Testament, you'll see that the mark of a true believer is that he always perseveres to the end. You see these people who get on the Jesus bandwagon and they say a prayer and they walk an aisle, they come to church for a while, and all of a sudden they're gone. Where are they? You say, well, we know they're Christians because we were there when they prayed, really. Where are they today? What has happened to them?

I would say they never made a true profession of faith. If they fell away from the faith, they were never true to the faith to begin with. They were tares among the wheat. That happens so much today. During the tribulational period, it will happen. But when persecution arises, those who are the terrors will defect. They will say, I don't believe in that God. I won't die for that God. I believe in the Antichrist. I believe in what He has established. And I will follow Him because they are fearful for their life.

But the true believer, not fearful for His life. Because he loves God. He doesn't fear those who kill body. He only fears that one who can kill body and soul. And he knows that. So they stand strong to the end. And then it says in verse number 14: and the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world. For a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come. Well, that's good news. Because amidst all this widespread persecution, amidst all the slaughtering of hundreds of thousands of people, literally millions of people, there are those who are sharing their faith.

And there are three avenues by which the gospel will be presented during the tribulational period. One is the avenue of the 1,000 Jews that are branded by God. We'll see them in Revelation chapter 7. 1,000 Jewish believers, 12,000 from every tribe. And they will become tremendous evangelists during the tribulational period. Revelation chapter 11 tells us that there are two great witnesses. Ones like Moses and Elijah, where fire comes out of their mouth as they speak, and those who come after them and try to shut them up are incin.

What a great scene. I wish I was going to be there to see it. But finally, they will die because the Antichrist will kill them.

And in Revelation chapter 11, you read about the great worldwide party that the whole world celebrates the death of these two witnesses. But on the third day, as they lay in the streets, they are raised from the dead.

Oh, CNN will have a heyday with that. As they go back and review time and time again how these two witnesses who were slain in the streets now get up. And they are glorified. And then there is an angel. Revelation chapter 14. Verses 6 and 7, who preaches the gospel. Revelation 14: And I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth. And to every nation and tribe and tongue and people. And he said with a loud voice, Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come.

and worship Him who made the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and the springs of waters. There's going to be an angel. Those are the three avenues by which the word of the Lord will go forth during the tribulational period, and souls will be saved. And those who are saved will have given their life because they count the cost of following God. Everyone will worship the beast, except those whose names have been written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Everyone will. And those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life?

Will be slain. They will be killed. Except for the 1,000 Jewish evangelists. Satan can't get to them. Oh, he 'll try. But he can't touch him. Because God will brand them. God will mark them. God will protect them. Those who dwell upon the earth will murder anybody who does not have the mark of the beast. They will murder whomever they wish to murder. It will be an acceptable time to kill in the tribulation. And the only response as a believer you have is to flee, to run, because you will die. And these people stand up and say, Look, don't you read Revelation chapter 6?

Don't you know Matthew 24? Don't you know Luke 21? Don't you know Mark 13? God said it's all going to happen this way. And it's happening exactly as he said. And the world's going to say, get out of here. You've got to be kidding me. Say, no, man, look at the Bible.

Read the Bible. This is what God says. This is the great day of God's wrath. God's judgment is being poured out. And because a quarter of the population has already been slaughtered, people don't like to hear the fact that God kills their loved ones. They don't like to hear that. They're going to lose their loved ones because of pestilence, because of famine, and because of war. And they don't want to hear that a God of love is killing their people because he's now a God enacting his vengeance. And these Christians are going to stand up and say, This is a judgment of God, and they will be killed because of it.

And the Antichrist will take his place, and he will begin to reign, and they will speak against him. And when they speak against him, all those on the earth, Revelation 13, will have already been worship him. They see him as God. They really believe he is God. I mean, after all, he kills the two witnesses that speak against him. They think he is God. And those who oppose him blaspheme their God, and therefore they kill them. And they are the martyrs. That are underneath the altar. They are slain for the Word of God and for their testimony, their conviction, and their confession.

What a tremendous testimony. I mean, these people stood firm on the faith. They didn't back away. They knew they'd lose their lives. They knew they would be beheaded. They knew they could be murdered. They knew they could be killed by even their own family members. But they stood strong on the truth. And pray be to God that we have people like that today. Am. We can't even speak a word for God in the marketplace because somebody might give us a cold shoulder for crying out loud. And I want to say, you know what?

Are you really truly a believer? That's the way you think? Do you really know the Lord? Are you that afraid of what somebody's going to say about you? Stand strong for Christ. Stand strong for the Lord Jesus Christ. These people do. May they be our example to never back away from the truth, but to live it as God designed it for us. They'll lose their heads. Because they keep the commandment of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. That's who these people are. That's their identity. The second thing I want you to see is the intensity of their prayers.

The intensity of their prayers. And they cried out with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth? They cry with a loud voice. The word used is kr, which is a strong word emphasizing urgency and emotion. They loudly petition their God and their prayers play a ke role in God enacting his vengeance on the earth. These people are not seeking vengeance upon those who killed them. Why is that? They're in heaven.

They're perfect. Their prayers are perfect. There's no sinful motive behind their prayers. Just because they ask how long, they're not telling God what to do, nor are they on some mission of a personal vendetta, their question is pure because they now are absolutely pure. They're in heaven. Their request is holy because they themselves are holy. They have a holy desire to see injustice handled. Satan and the Antichrist and sin defeated, so that their king will rule and reign in glory upon the earth.

The third thing I want you to see this evening is the implication of God's promise. And there was given to each of them a white robe. And they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren. Wh were to be killed, even as they had been, should be completed also. Remember, this is just the beginning of the birth pangs. If you go over to Revel 10, verse number 6, you see where that short delay is now over. And in Revelation chapter 10, we'll discuss that in great detail.

But God's judgment in ultimate vengeance is still around three and a half years a. They need to wait until a number of their fellow servants, their brethren, have been killed. God has predetermined the exact number of those who will be martyred. That is seal number five. The cry of the martyred souls in heaven. It will be their prayers. They're loud crying that enacts the vengeance of God upon the earth. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I wonder tonight, as you are here, where are you staying with the Lord Jesus Christ?

I wonder where your testimony is with God. How's your conviction and confession about God? Where would you be if someone came up to you and said, Do you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord? Do you believe that God reigns supreme? If so, I will kill you. What would you say? Would you be afraid? Would you stand strong by the testimony of Jesus Christ, never wavering on your faith? I trust that you would be strong as these souls. Are going to be strong. In a few moments, we're going to have a baptismal service.

Eleven people are following the Lord in obedience. People who make a confession. That they believe that Jesus is Lord. They have a conviction of following Him in obedience, to make it a public testimony. In the days of Jesus, when people were baptized, they turned their back on their families, on their jobs, because there was an outward demonstration of what they believed inwardly. And they realized that they would lose a lot once they made that public testimony. Not so much today do we suffer that, but just think of the tribulation martyrs.

Those who give their life to Christ because of the 144,000 and their witness, the two witnesses in Revelation 11, and the angel that flies around in mid, they give their lives to Christ. And then they follow him in obedience and are baptized. Can you imagine being baptized, coming up out of the water, and then being beheaded because of your conviction? That's real Christianity. That's where it's at. That's what Jesus wants from you. I trust you'll stand for him. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for the word this evening.

What a tremendous testimony. Of your greatness. We pray, Lord, that tonight, if anyone here among us does not know you as Lord and Savior, they would not leave, realizing that the day of the Lord Is right around the corner. It could happen. It could be ushered in even this evening with the rapture of the church. We pray, Father, that no soul would leave here tonight without knowing for certain their eternal destiny. And we thank you, Father, that you are true to your word, that you are holy. And because you are, you won't even behold evil.

And you will enact your vengeance and retribution upon those in due time who have rebelled against you. We don't want the wicked to die. We don't want them to go to a crisis eternity. We pray for them. As you pray for them on the cross, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. As Stephen prayed, as he was being stoned, Father, Father, forgive them. May we have a heart that longs for the salvation of the lost. And that we have a heart that longs for the revelation of our God. We pray in Jesus' name.