Lord you know you care and you desire us to come to you and see how good you are see how much power you have to save how much peace you have to offer so Lord let us not think that life is to be lived alone or Father you’re somewhere else but the cross is proof that you’re here and you deeply care about everything in our lives and you mean by the power of Jesus to overcome everything in our lives Lord so we just ask for just a renewal of faith in how great you are and how you can fill and how you can change and how you can redeem what we think is broken and beyond repair

we offer our tithe and our offering to you God we pray you would take our finances and we would joyfully give them to you you would bless and multiply them and do great things here in our midst as a church Lord that through us your kingdom can come Lord in that the name of Jesus would be made great here and among the nations and we pray that in Jesus name Amen

Good evening we are going to be in Revelation chapter 6 Revelation chapter 6 verses 9

to 17 if you weren’t here last week I decided to go back and re-preach chapter 6 because I realized I squeezed way too much into one sermon by preaching the entire chapter so last week I did the first part of the seals again and then this week we’ll do the second half of the sermon I think my head was on fire and everyone else’s was too by the end of that sermon so I’m going to go back and re-do it and go deeper there and help us process it because you know it’s Revelation it’s not like it’s that easy to grasp in the first place so it’s helpful to go slower last week was the inescapable Christ part 1 this is the inescapable Christ part 2 so let me recap for us what we’ve seen in chapter 6 up to this point we’ve looked at the first four seals now again what are the seals in the book of Revelation again it can only help to repeat and repeat what we learn here so that it sticks the seals are the beginning of the end so remember there’s in heaven there’s a father on his throne he’s got a scroll in his hand the scroll contains the very end of human history it contains the end of the universe as we know it it doesn’t seem anyone can bring a good end because no one’s worthy to open the scroll and bring about the end of human history the end of the world the end of this broken universe because of sin and bring in a new heaven and a new earth so John weeps but then Jesus as the lamb slain steps forward and Jesus is the only one worthy to bring about the end of human history defeat Satan evil evil once and for all and redeem God’s people so that’s what’s happening now Jesus the one who’s worthy he’s breaking all the seals to bring the very end that’s what he’s doing and each time he breaks a seal it’s another happening on planet earth that indicates this is the very end so the first seal just to remind us the first seal was the rider on the white horse and we said the rider on the white horse he represented a deception so someone will come at the end of time who will appear to be a messiah figure he’ll seem to have both military and spiritual power he’ll kind of fuse the two and he’ll deceive the nations and as we talked about that’s been happening all throughout human history people who seem to have true spiritual wisdom and insight even especially when you have governments that enforce false religions at the same time that’s always happened in human history it’s happening today around the world so there’s great deception that’s the first seal the second was the seal of the red horse and that rider was death through war and military might so great unrest globally and in societies there’s no peace on earth the third seal when Jesus breaks the third seal it’s the black rider and that’s scarcity of food remember that’ll be a time the bible says when a man will have to have to work a whole day just to have barely enough food for himself or his family so it’s a time of great poverty and then we said the fourth seal was the pale horse which is a horse that looks like death and it’s coloring it’s kind of a greenish yellow and a fourth of the earth will be wiped out by war famine pests and wild animals so we ended we ended with this nightmarish scene that Jesus Jesus kind of says these things should keep you focused these things should keep you looking for my return because when they happen it will be beyond mistake great deception great destruction those are the seals up till now so that brings us to where we are in verse 9 with the fifth seal so I’ll pick up reading here in verse 9 it says when he opened the fifth seal I saw under the altar those of the souls who had been killed by the devil and slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne so this fifth seal is different from the first four so the first four what did we see we got a picture of planet earth and all this stuff happening everything playing out on earth so we’re getting a picture back up into heaven we’re shifting our visions and what we see in heaven is an altar this is what John is seeing Jesus is showing John now this altar and this is the first time in the book of Revelation that we see an altar at all what does this altar mean if John’s Jewish readers were reading this they would have immediately thought oh burnt offerings in the Old Testament they would have thought about the Levitical system where it was required of Jews to bring certain sacrifices for their sins to the world to the tabernacle the temple that’s what they would have gone to immediately and Leviticus spells out that very complicated system of what sacrifices you’re to bring for what sins so there were required sacrifices under the Levitical system for certain things but there were also sacrifices you can make in the Old Testament not because you had to but because you wanted to these were called voluntary or free will offerings you could make so you’ve got sin and guilt offerings which are a must alright you have to make those but then there’s free will offerings just the same those are peace offerings burnt offerings and grain offerings now why would you make an offering on the altar in the Old Testament at the temple if you didn’t have to that sounds kind of selfish why do I have to give I don’t have to give right well that’s just a point God talked about if his people so loved him they could bring these offerings to say God I give you this grain I give you this sacrifice of a lamb or a goat or whatever it is because I just love you and God I just want you to know I am devoted to you so here is my peace offering here is my burnt offering here is my grain offering any Jewish person who thought living in strict adherence to that system produced salvation would have been greatly mistaken Moses never communicated no one ever communicated if you can make all these sacrifices just right and you can obey the law just so that will save you so go and do all these things that was never the case it was always the case with the Levitical system that was never the case you did the outward expression of making the sacrifices because already on the inside in your heart you trusted that God was your salvation even if you didn’t and they didn’t in the Old Testament like know the name Jesus right so we know that they didn’t know that they just knew God’s Messiah was coming so God’s promise of salvation was given long before the Levitical system so Jews aren’t supposed to be thinking well if I can keep God’s rules good enough you know and it would be hard and I won’t be able to do it if I don’t like it maybe I’ll be saved it was never the case the case was always God is your salvation God loves you love him back for what he’s promised to do be your salvation so you should obey the law and make these sacrifices just as much friends you and I cannot add to or help our salvation

the only thing you can do is rejoice that God has saved you and then bring the offering of your life to God and say God I’m here not because I think I could give something to contribute to my salvation but I bring myself to you to say thank you for who you are for what you’ve done for me and I give you my whole self

David says this in the Psalms he says I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams I will make an offering of bulls and goats he says elsewhere for you will not delight in sacrifice or I would give it so on one hand he says I do it because I love you but then he also admits you know what I have a sin problem and I would give you these sacrifices but you would not be pleased with the burnt offerings here’s what David says the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit a broken and contrite heart oh God you will not despise so David is telling us friends whatever we could do outwardly is nothing if we haven’t seen first of all who Jesus is and what Jesus has done for us outside of ourselves totally and completely and friends if we’ve got a vision of who Jesus is then what we do is say God I can’t add to that I can’t make you love me more I can’t make you love me less but I know what I can do is say I’m giving everything I have back to you because you deserve it take my all Jesus has already given everything I have to you and what did Jesus his life do it was a perfect covering for your sin when Jesus died on the cross it was a perfect covering for your shame what did Jesus do on the cross he brought perfect peace and fellowship to God what did Jesus do that you and I can never do he showed devotion to God perfectly for you Christ offered up his life on an altar for salvation and he did it you and I cannot offer up our lives for our salvation here’s what you and I do we offer up our lives to God for identification identification Jesus says this in Luke chapter 9 he said to all if anyone would come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me so Jesus says die daily just like I got up today up on a cross and died Jesus says if you really love me and you really follow me and you really want my salvation you too need to die to yourself daily but it’s not to save me it’s because I too have said this passing world is not my home and whatever thing it is in me that says Chad live for your own greatness Chad live for your own pleasure Chad live for your own security I’ve got to die to that and say no identify with this Jesus who died on a cross he died to this world he died to himself and he did something to me so to overcome death and overcome sin so I in the same way I’m dying to me so I can be identified with Jesus’ death so that I also can be identified with Jesus’ life Jesus you’re Lord of my mind now you’re Lord of my heart now you’re Lord of my choices you’re Lord of my desires you’re Lord of my future you’re the Lord of my soul in every action so Jesus my life can only be an offering to you to simply say I love you and I identify with you not with me anymore not with this world not with as we talked about it last week antichrist or antichrist remember there’s the antichrist but until we come to Jesus and we’re filled with his spirit there is in that small way we’re all antichrist and that we hate Jesus until we love him there’s only two pathways

but friends here’s the thing all the glory that is promised for those who are in Christ Jesus to come in that resurrection that’s not now what’s now now you and I are stuck in this moment of carrying our cross Jesus says daily Jesus says that we’re to die daily now before the coming glory I can’t get to glory if I don’t suffer now Paul says it best in Romans 12 he says I appeal to you therefore brothers by the mercies of God presents your bodies as what living sacrifices holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship who are these souls under the altar who are these souls under the altar well simply they’re Christians who in their lifetime on earth they gave their all to Christ they gave their all to Christ they held nothing back they proclaimed Christ as holy and they lived for the kingdom of God with no exceptions and for doing so they were martyred they were slain they offered themselves fully faithfully sacrificially in all devotion to Jesus this is an apocalyptic vision of disciples who carry their cross daily in the midst of the tyranny of Satan and sin in the world and said Jesus will get my all whatever the cost and friends it will be intense I know we could people you know be suspicious of the person that says I’m a sign watcher I used to know a guy that says all the time I’m a sign watcher I read the book of revelations and I can read the signs I’m like you can’t read nothing Jesus said nobody knows when I’m coming back so when people say that that’s not true but here’s what you and I can do whether you and I are really living at the end of times and let’s say in our lifetime you know these seals are reading about they’re happening in our midst and the antichrist comes and we are going to live through the tribulation or if we’re just living in a time where it’s difficult to live for Christ whatever it is the response is always the same the response is always the same Jesus you deserve my all Jesus you said carry your cross daily Jesus I’m dead to myself and I’m alive to you it’s always the same response it doesn’t matter when we look at the ancient church from Claudius to Nero to Domitian, Trajan, Marcus Aurelius Severus, Severian, Diocletian the ancient church suffered horribly under the Roman Empire read about the horrible ways in which the Romans creatively killed and massacred Christians it’s beyond barbaric but friends we know that our brothers and sisters in the east today suffer in just such a way and we know that as we live in the west more and more of our brothers and sisters certainly in like Great Britain and Canada they’re starting to face similar things of persecution and marginalization it’s not new is the point it’s not new it’s not taking Jesus by surprise and our response is the same in whatever era we live I’m going to follow Jesus because he is worthy and he deserves it he deserves my all and here’s the thing I think we read that and we go I don’t know I might mess up let me tell you you’re going to mess up and you say I don’t know I struggle let me tell you you’re going to struggle and you’re going to say I don’t know I feel like a failure sometimes let me tell you you’re a failure Jesus isn’t calling you to perfection there’s grace here he’s calling you to pursue him but here’s the second thing and I want to read you these verses it’s just like God to say to us in the worst possible situation you could find yourself you can actually have the greatest elation possible which is joy look at these verses Acts 5 41 then they left the presence of the council rejoicing they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor you see that the apostles for the first time in the history of the church what are they they’re being beaten because of the name of Jesus and how do they leave that was awful oh that didn’t happen again I didn’t want to sign up for that I didn’t want to sign up for that they were rejoicing Hebrews 10 34 for you had compassion on those in prison and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property 1 Peter 4 13 but rejoice in so far as you share in Christ’s sufferings that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed so the witness of scripture is not you better hope you’re not born in one of those really bad things in human history because that’s going to be terrible you know sometimes it happens to you the witness of scripture is it doesn’t matter how bad it gets because Jesus is worthy of everything that you have what’s coming is infinitely better than what you’re going to experience and whatever happens to you in your life God’s joy is ever present and God’s joy is a strength and a precious treasure beyond whatever hard things you could endure for the cause of Christ it’s a paradox it’s a biblical paradox if you want to say this if you want to save your life you’ll lose it if you want to lose your life you’d save it it’s a flip-flop upside-down way of thinking I was in Dallas a few weekends ago as you know at the conference and I have a friend named Teron and he’s the director for fatherhood stuff at the pregnancy center in Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery, Alabama and so I said to him I said hey man how you doing it’s good to see you I’d love to get with you and talk about how you guys are doing things at your center or whatever and he said man my time’s almost done there he said I’m leaving in like two months I was like what are you talking about he’s like I’m moving man me and my wife and my little I think he’s got a little girl or a little boy he said we are moving we’re moving to North India to that state and we are going to plant churches among the Punjabi people in India and I thought oh that’s so cool man I thought oh that’s so cool man I thought oh how long are you going to be there he said we’re not coming back he said we’re going

friends friends Christ calls for our all he calls for our all are you giving your all to Christ you can’t say no you can’t say no you can’t say to Jesus I’ll be a Christian in this way not that way I’d suffer for you here but not there I don’t know that God would call you to be a missionary to a northern India and we talk about India a lot India obviously is under a lot of persecution Christians there are that’s courage on his part that’s conviction on his part so don’t seek to be a martyr and as we read about martyrs here or what it means to be martyred in the New Testament the Bible never encourages us to seek martyrdom that would be a really weird version of works righteousness like if I could just get myself shot for Jesus yes like what are you doing what are you doing no that’s not what God calls you to do he doesn’t call you to extreme persecution like you’re a real Christian if that happens to you here’s what Jesus calls you to and me too every one of us in our own life in our own context he calls us to be faithful he calls us to be faithful and now if it leads to martyrdom by his will then that’s God’s will and for his glory but Jesus wants you to live faithfully faithfully according to your identification as one who bears a cross upon which Jesus died

you be faithful to preach the gospel you be faithful to be a witness despite what great martyrdom may come your way you should desire that deeply in your own life you should desire that deeply for providence fellowship and again I think with all these points we make in this text the power of community goes so far I want to live through this on my own God doesn’t want me to either there’s power in doing this together but for instance does Jesus get your all are you giving Jesus your all

second thing so one great martyrdom the second great vengeance Jesus when the inescapable comes to you when Christ comes he’ll bring great vengeance verse 10

they cried out with a loud voice oh sovereign Lord holy and true how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete who were to be killed as they themselves had to be killed had been so we get the picture of this altar which is unique but then even strange we see these martyred souls under the altar and then strangers still they cry out they cry out now usually you don’t associate heaven with crying out you can think about heaven it’s like all my cares are gone and so they have a cry they have a prayer to God for which they’re burdened and the thing for which they cry out seems out of place because I think initially when we read that it seems like these these martyred slain souls are kind of almost like vindictive or hateful they’re crying out to God as judge to avenge their blood and you think well vengeance doesn’t seem like a Christian thing does it? vengeance is a very Christian thing and if we go back to the Psalms you’ll see it in Psalms 58 it says the righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked in Deuteronomy chapter 32 when they came out of slavery from Egypt Moses’ song says this rejoice with him oh heavens bow down to him all gods for he avenges the blood of his children and takes vengeance on his adversaries he repays those who hate him and cleanses his people’s land what we have to do is make a distinction between revenge and vengeance revenge and vengeance revenge is very selfish revenge is about my name being made great especially among the people who hurt me I want my name to be seen as good I want my name to be seen as great and if anybody’s wronged me I want my name I’m going to wrong them and I’m going to come out on top and it’s going to be my version of justice because my hurts will be made right and I will conquer my enemies it’s very much so a pride it comes out of human pride revenge right that’s revenge vengeance God’s vengeance is something very different vengeance is about God making good on his word to protect the righteous and judge the wicked vengeance is about God’s reputation being kept up because God has told us if we are righteous if we are his people he will keep us and in the end we will be vindicated with them one commentator says God will vindicate himself by vindicating his people so catch what they’re not doing they’re not saying God we were on earth and we were doing this stuff and these people were terrible and they cut our heads off go get them that’s not what that’s not the cry the cry is God we desire for your holy righteous name to be made great and for that to happen you cannot let this injustice stand in which we as your servants were slaying for standing up for your name and living a righteous life God make your name great and slaying the wicked that’s the heart cry that’s the heart cry and that’s not a wrong thing for you and I to desire in an eternal sense doesn’t mean we don’t love our enemies but it does mean at the end of time God will be seen as great and the wicked will be destroyed now notice the titles that they use and this only proves the point further they cry out with a loud voice oh sovereign Lord holy and true how long before that phrase is interesting sovereign Lord it’s the same phrase that the church uses in the book of Acts in the very beginning of Acts when the church is persecuted for the first time they don’t freak out they say let’s get together and they pray and what do they say oh sovereign Lord and then they say God you predestined Jesus to die and you are the one who raised up Pilate to do all this they reassure themselves of who God is and of their coming salvation by praying to God and reminding themselves through prayer that God is sovereign and God is in control that’s the desire here that’s the heart is God will have vengeance because He’s sovereign God will have will have the last say because evil is always operating under the influence of God underneath the power of His sovereignty and His will evil is not this loose force and God’s chasing it down man He’s got His best hounds on it He’s trying to snip it out God is in control even over evil and so these martyrs are given these white garments and these white garments of purity and righteousness they’re signs that they have conquered and they have trusted in the Lord and they need to rest until He says their number is complete more people are killed more people are killed and I think that’s significant that God closed them God tells them to rest God knows who they are because it draws out this truth for you and I as we suffer for the cause of Christ we are not nameless, faceless foot soldiers I used to work at UPS I was I don’t know what I was 1890 UPS is the biggest hub in the world UPS hubs in Louisville, Kentucky so there’s a terrible deal I mean I guess it’s not terrible but I hated it if you work at night in the AM they pay for you to go to school so it’s like you’re living the life of a zombie you know you’re there all night but there’s just thousands of people and you just get in that big long line and you just feel like a number you just feel like a nameless, faceless drone like you know doing your job in this massive complex you know no one really knows who you are and I think maybe you could you could even feel that way you know if you were you know in the army I’m just somebody here doing my little deal to make the whole thing work that’s not at all God’s army I remember my favorite history teacher Mr. Cobb he’s hilarious talking about the Vietnam War he said you know one of the big problems with the Vietnam War in communism they don’t care about individuals they didn’t care to keep throwing more and more of their soldiers out that’s why the difference between casualties we had versus casualties of the communist army and government at the time it’s so disproportionate because we value life they don’t value life friends in the same way when you and I suffer for God He takes account of it He knows your exact name He sees your exact efforts and suffering for His kingdom He knows every hair on your head and when someone hurts a hair on your head you can give your all to Christ then knowing that the enemy loses and Jesus will with His perfect justice avenge you so you can suffer well because you can know Jesus is going to avenge you well I think the best picture in all the scriptures of this is with the very first martyr Stephen if you look in Acts chapter 7 I think this is very powerful and I want you to see it Acts chapter 7 verse 54 it says now when they heard these things they were enraged so what had happened Stephen preached the gospel and the religious leaders hated it and they ground their teeth at him but he full of the Holy Spirit gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus catch this standing at the right hand of God and he said behold I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God now everywhere else in scripture you read about Jesus as sitting at the right hand of God he’s sitting there because that’s what kings do they sit on their throne and it shows I’m in control of this whole place I have sovereignty over this domain when Jesus ascended to heaven after he died and was resurrected it was proof I am God’s Messiah I am God’s King I did defeat all of hell’s armies I did break the serpent’s teeth I did conquer death I am in charge of heaven I am in charge of earth I’m in charge of everything Jesus sat on the throne of God on his throne a victorious king what in the world could cause such a king to stand up what could bother him so much that he would get up off of his throne and look down on earth one of his dearly loved ones is suffering for him and Stephen sees it he sees Jesus concerned for his soul he sees one of his sheep being hurt for his cause and Jesus takes note of it it bothers him because he loves Stephen and friends he loves you

Jesus intimately knows you and he notes what you endure for his name that should be all I think the encouragement we need to suffer well for Christ don’t you friends when we go to evangelism in the park next week in our own way willing to share the gospel

and you have a less than favorable conversation and someone were to yell at you or to tell you they don’t want to hear what you have to say or even to cuss you out I believe that Jesus is not in heaven partying not knowing what’s going on he’s watching you I don’t know if he’s leaning forward or if he stands up but he’s not unaware I hate the thought don’t you of engaging for the cause of Christ and knowing it’s going to potentially be bad and causing Jesus to do one of these and I’m sure I’ve done it to him before friends you can cause heaven’s darling heaven’s king to stand with compassion and love because he honors what you’re doing for him and you’re doing for him and he will avenge it and make it right and in the end you and I will be standing with him in victory so you can suffer because you will be avenged

here’s the third and final thing so let me see if I can do it off memory great deception great destruction

great martyrdom great vengeance and then lastly when Christ comes great victory great victory

when he opened the sixth seal I looked and behold there was a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth the full moon became like blood and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale the sky became black like a scroll that’s being rolled up and every mountain and island was removed from its place then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful 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 the sixth seal gives us a picture of the very end it’s the very end and what do we see in the very end we see chaos we see the world the universe literally coming unglued it’s coming undone and it says that there’s not a rich person or a poor person or a great person who can escape when Jesus comes back if they don’t know him so much so they would prefer to be crushed under the weight of rocks rather than face the wrath of the lamb

there’s a song that came out several years ago called Warrior it’s about Jesus returning and I’ve always loved the bridge it reads simply earth and sea will give up their dead the nations gathered before him a day of glory a day of dread no one dares now ignore him you know you can go your whole life ignoring Jesus and thinking you got the answers and thinking you got the answers and thinking because you made some decision in your heart when you were a kid that somehow you’re you know safe when Jesus returns you can partially believe the gospel you can try to give up on the gospel you can convince yourself it’s not true and it’s all a big sham but friends there comes this great day when the lamb is not as a lamb you would imagine soft and gentle and fragile but this wrath this lamb comes to you comes in wrath to make war and to judge those who have not surrendered to him it is a day that is inescapable it’s a day in which you and I will be laid bare and this is the most appropriate question that can be asked in verse 17 who can stand who can stand when that lamb comes because the truth is we all deserve to fall everyone is wicked and unrighteous in his own way all have run from God none are righteous no not one

Ezra says our sins are so odious to God it is as if they’ve welled up to the heavens

friends who can be saved from the lamb who can be saved from the lamb friends it’s those who have surrendered to the lamb those who in saving simple faith say Jesus

you win you conquer my soul take my soul take my heart take my life I turn from me I’m a sinner I deserve death I deserve hell I deserve punishment but you’re telling me if I come to you you’ll call me your own and you’ll wash me clean and you’ll dress me in white garments you’ll prepare me for battle you’ll count me as one of your own and you’ll send me out to do good to you I’ll do your work Jesus I don’t deserve it but you’re giving it so in simple faith I take it that’s who can stand friends and it’s as simple as it is almost too good to be true I love to say that about the gospel it’s too good to be true but it is it’s too good to be true but it is have you received Christ Jesus as Lord truly have you surrendered to this warrior lamb for he would rather come to be your savior than your salvation than your destruction and friends if you have not please don’t play games with time it is fleeting you’re here today and you’re gone tomorrow but if you do know that you know the lamb and he is your king and he is your Lord let us be about kingdom business with joy because you and I have a hope and we have a future of glory and vindication and victory with and in this lamb and the rest of this book is going to just show us that beautiful picture and tell us that wonderful story that we’re a part of by God’s grace let’s pray

, Father I pray that every heart here would be arrested by the power of the gospel the power of your love to save sinners to show mercy and kindness to sinners

to keep us from your own judgments Lord you have loved us perfectly in the life, death and resurrection of your son Jesus Lord open our eyes to behold Christ as a precious gift and treasure open our eyes to see life in Jesus and in Jesus alone open our eyes to see that every person everything else in life can’t compare to the greatness of knowing you God and knowing your son Jesus

Lord we pray that as we look upon your son and as we’re empowered by your son we would with all joy and sacrifice live for the glory of your son and the glory of your name Lord

Lord fill our hearts with your love but I pray you prepare our hands for battle just as well Lord that we can go and not live dejected defeated Christian lives we’re just waiting for you to come back Jesus but rather when you come back you can find us faithfully working faithfully plowing faithfully fighting the good fight for your name Lord and it all be according to your grace

so in Jesus name we pray these things Amen