There’s Shelter in the Savior
Sermon Notes
“There’s Shelter In The Savior”
Before we get into today’s message I want to let you know both our Real Marriages Study and our Parenting Conference was a great success. Our Real Marriages Study had 22 people, 11 married couples, and we ended that study last week with 16 of us getting to have a dinner date night together... ...Several people said this study helped them learn the importance of seeking biblical wisdom in all areas of marriage, especially when it comes to overcoming marital challenges. But it also helped them establish a solid foundation for having a face to face friendship with their spouse. Our Parenting Conference was also a great success with 48 people in attendance, and there were several takeaways to help establish healthy longevity in parenting. All of this is a part of 2024 yearly focus on peace, on how can we bring much peace into our lives, relationships, and city? So far we’ve focused on bringing peace in our marriages, our parenting, and other areas of our lives. I actually just finished planning a teaching series on bringing peace into our daily schedules. It’s a 5 wk series that’ll focus on the ruthless elimination of hurry, so we can bring much peace into our daily lives and schedules. We’ll start that series in July as a part of our 2024 yearly focus on peace.
But as for today we’re continuing our teaching series on a book of the bible called Revelation, and it’s a series about finding peace in a world of chaos. The text we’re studying today can help us find peace when it comes to finding salvation and shelter in Jesus. The truth is everyone needs salvation and shelter at some point in life. Everyone experiences a diagnosis, a loss, a struggle, a situation at some point in life, that we can’t save ourselves from no matter how hard we try. It’s possible some of you are facing something like that in your life right now! You’re facing a struggle, a situation in life you can’t save yourself from. Well today’s text teaches you can always find salvation and shelter in Jesus. When our lives start falling apart, when the entire world starts falling apart, we can find salvation and shelter in Jesus, and that’s what we’re talking about today. So let’s turn to Revelation 7 and get into it. You’ll find Revelation in the back of the bible, it’s the very last book of the bible, and we’ll be in Revelation 7:1-17. Title of the message is There’s Shelter In The Savior. The big idea is that there’s salvation and shelter in the Savior...When the entire world starts falling apart, we need to remember there’s salvation and shelter in the Savior…
Here’s your context. The book of revelation is about the 2nd coming of Jesus, and what will happen at the end of history when Jesus finally returns. We divided the entire book into four major sections based on four major visions Jesus gives to John the author, and right now we’re in the 2nd vision, which is about Jesus and the Cosmos. It’s about Jesus ruling over the entire cosmos, and his wrath being poured out against sin and evil. In ch 6 Jesus gives John a glimpse of some of the future tribulations that are coming at the end of history. We’ve already discussed six tribulations, and there’s a seventh we’ll learn about in ch 8, which is far worse than the other six. But before that happens a multitude of people, will find salvation and shelter in Jesus. Let’s check it out.
Revelation 7:1-17 states, “After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, restraining the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree.” What John’s seeing here is four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, similar to the four points on a compass. They’re standing on the North, South, East, and West side of the earth, overseeing every inch of the earth. John says their job isn’t to unleash God’s wrath, it’s to restrain God’s wrath. Jesus is allowing them to temporarily restrain God’s wrath, to temporarily hold off on fully unleashing God’s wrath over the entire earth. This is a great reminder that Jesus offers mercy, even when there’s wrath. He offers mercy, even when there’s tribulations.
Vs. 2, “Then I saw another angel rising up from the east, who had the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were allowed to harm the earth and the sea, 3 ‘Don’t harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we seal the servants of our God on their foreheads.’” Okay so this next angel’s job isn’t to bring wrath and destruction, it’s to bring grace and mercy. His job is to mark people with the seal of the living God, which is Jesus. He’s to mark people with the seal of Jesus, which will separate them from people who receive the mark of Satan which we’ll learn about in ch 13. But for now just know this marking, this seal is similar to a King taking his signet ring, and pressing it into wax on a document. That signet ring, that wax seal on that document, is an affirmation that the King will fulfill his promises in that document. When this angel comes with the seal of the living God, it’s an affirmation that Jesus will fulfill his promises. He’ll fulfill his promises to protect and save us from God’s final eternal wrath that’s coming at the end of history. Last week we learned ch 6 ends with people running for their lives. It ends with people hiding in fear asking, “Who can stand? Who can stand during these tribulations?” The answer is, only those with the seal of the living God. It’s only those with the seal of Jesus.
Vs. 4, “And I heard the number of the sealed: 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the Israelites: 5 12,000 sealed from the tribe of Judah, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, 7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, 8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 sealed from the tribe of Benjamin.” John says the entire total is 144,000 sealed, and there’s a lot of debate over who these 144,000 are. Most scholars agree the 144,000 is a symbolic number not a literal number, but they disagree on who it’s symbolic of. Some scholars believe it’s symbolic of the entire church, which consists of both Jewish and Gentile Christians, both Jewish and non-Jewish Christians. John the author views the church as the new Israel, so when he says the 144,000 are from every tribe of Israel, he’s referring to every Christian. But other scholars believe the 144,000 is symbolic of a select group of Jewish people who will come to faith in Jesus during these tribulations, and they’ll start sharing the gospel to other Jews and Gentiles during these tribulations. But the truth is we don’t know who they’re specifically symbolic of, so we need to ask what’s the main thing John’s teaching us? Whenever we study scripture we need to ask what’s the main thing this scripture’s teaching us, especially when dealing with symbolic texts like this.
In this case I think John’s teaching us two things, and the 1st thing is that God isn’t done with the Jews. I mean clearly God isn’t done with the Jews, because John says they’re a part of the 144,000. He says there will be people form every tribe of Israel that’ll come to faith in Jesus. The 2nd thing John’s wanting to teach us is that only those who are sealed by Jesus, will be able to stand during these tribulations. That doesn’t mean we won’t experience any persecutions and tribulations during this time, it just means we’ll be able to stand or withstand those persecutions and tribulations. That should give those of us who are believers a lot of hope, because I know some of us worry if we’ll be able to withstand having to go through these tribulations. But we’re being taught that Jesus will make sure we’re able to withstand these tribulations. We’re being taught that our King’s signet ring, our King’s promise, is that he’ll make sure we’re still standing in the end.
Vs. 9, “After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” John’s now seeing a vast multitude of people being saved, from every nation, tribe, people group, and language. If you notice he doesn’t see them hiding like the people were hiding from God’s wrath at the end of ch 6, instead he sees them standing before the throne of Jesus. It’s because they’re finally getting to enjoy their salvationin heaven with Jesus. In vs 1-8 King Jesus promised to seal their salvation, and vs 9-17 is a fulfillment of that promise. Many scholars believe vs 9-17 is a glimpse of the future joyful victory Christians will get to experience when these tribulations are finally over at the end of history. We’ll still be standing at the end of history, and we’ll be praising Jesus for our salvation. The white robes that are mentioned is symbolic of the eternal purity we’ll get to enjoy in heaven with Jesus, and the palm branches are symbolic of the joyful celebration we’ll have over Jesus proving victorious at the end of history. In John ch 12 people used palm branches to celebrate the triumphant entry of Jesus when he first arrived in Jerusalem, but here the vast multitude are using palm branches to celebrate the triumphant victory of Jesus at the end of history. They’re celebrating and praising Jesus for their salvation being fulfilled, and their suffering being over.
Vs. 11, “All the angels stood around the throne, and along with the elders and the four living creatures they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, ‘Amen! Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen.’ 13 Then one of the elders asked me, ‘Who are these people in white robes, and where did they come from?’ 14 I said to him, ‘Sir, you know.’ Then he told me: ‘These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple.” Notice the elder in heaven tells us who the vast multitude are. He says it’s those from the great tribulation, meaning it’s all the Christians who will have to go through this terrible time when the great tribulation happens. As we continue studying the rest of Revelation we’ll see an increase in the persecution of Christians and an increase in the brutality of those persecutions. Many Christians will face suffering, persecution, and death at the hands of the Antichrist for refusing to wear the mark of Satan. Remember the angel here in ch 7 seals people with the mark of Jesus, but in ch 13 people will be killed if they don’t wear the mark of Satan. Many Christians will face suffering, persecution, and death for refusing to wear the mark of Satan during this great tribulation. So even though Christians will be sealed with the mark of Jesus, even though Christians are promised eternal salvation, it doesn’t mean we won’t ever face suffering, persecution, death, or the great tribulation at the end of history. We’re promised salvation from having to face God’s eternal wrath in hell, but we aren’t promised we’ll never face suffering while living here on earth. Jesus gives John this vision so we don’t have false expectations that life will be easy, but also so we can have hopeful expectations that in the end we’ll be standing with Jesus in joyful victory.
Vs. 15, “The one seated on the throne will shelter them.” This is where we’re getting our big idea from, which is that there’s salvation and shelter in the Savior. There’s salvation and shelter in Jesus. The previous verses talked about how there’s salvation in Jesus, but this verse is talking about how there’s shelter in Jesus. In the original Greek manuscripts the word shelter can also be translated as dwelling, meaning God will shelter them by dwelling with them. The ESV bible does a great job translating this verse. The ESV says, “He who sits on the throne will shelter them, with his presence.” The implication is that there’s salvation and shelter in God’s presence.
Again vs. 15, “The one seated on the throne will shelter them. 16 They will no longer hunger; they will no longer thirst; the sun will no longer strike them, nor will any scorching heat.” In ch 6 we learned that one of the tribulations humanity will face is a severe famine, but here we’re learning in God’s presence we’ll no longer hunger and no longer thirst. In God’s presence we’ll no longer worry about famine, inflation, having enough money to pay for groceries. In God’s presence we’ll no longer worry about working endless hours, working overtime, living a paycheck to paycheck life. It’s because in God’s presence, we’ll be eternally provided for and eternally satisfied by the eternal riches of Christ. We’ll enjoy eternal provision and satisfaction in Jesus.
Vs. 17, “For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne will shepherd them; he will guide them to springs of the waters of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” What we’re learning here is our good shepherd Jesus will guide us to the springs, to the calming waters of life, which is a fulfillment of Psalm 23. Psalm 23 states, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul... 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me...6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Jesus is our good shepherd who’s guiding us to a better life and a better place in heaven with him, where every godly desire we have will be fully satisfied by him.
But it’s also a better life and a better place where every joy void in our hearts will be filled by him. As the text states he’ll wipe away every tear from our eyes, because he will fill every joy void in our hearts. Tears from sin, wiped away...Tears from sickness, wiped away...Tears from suffering, wiped away...Tears from sadness, wiped away...Tears from tribulations, wiped away... Some of you have been shedding tears lately, and the Lord wants you to know he sees your tears. Psalm 56:8 says, “You’ve recorded my wanderings Lord. You’ve put my tears in your bottle.” Jesus sees your tears, he’s keeping a recorded of your tears, he’s putting your tears in a bottle, and one day he’ll fill the joy void in your heart that’s come from those tears. Jesus wants you to know he sees your years, and a time is coming when he’ll wipe away all your tears. Some of you cry externally, some of you cry internally, but a time is coming when Jesus will wipe away all your tears eternally. There’s no tears in the presence of the savior. There’s no tears in the presence of Jesus.
The Big Idea:
The big idea of the message is there’s salvation and shelter in the Savior...When the entire world starts falling apart, we need to remember there’s salvation and shelter in Jesus...What Revelation ch 7 teaches us is that we can still have hope during these tribulations. We can still have hope even when the great tribulation, when the worse tribulation comes at the end of history. When that day comes, we need to remember to find hope and peace in the promised salvation and shelter of our Savior. We need to remember, there’s salvation and shelter in the Savior.
Communion is a reminder of this. It’s a reminder of the gospel, which is that Jesus died for our sins on the cross. He did this so we can have salvation and shelter from the wrath of God we deserve for our sins. If you don’t believe that Jesus died for your sins, please refrain from taking communion so you don’t go through the motions of this. Instead use this time to reflect on the message, and consider asking Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of your life. For those of you who put your faith in Jesus we have three stations set up, and in a few minutes I’ll invite you to come forward to whatever station is closest to you. If you have a gluten allergy, the table in the back is serving gluten free bread. When you come forward we’ll give you a piece of bread as a symbol of the body of Christ broken for your sins. You’ll take the bread and dip it in the cup of juice as a symbol of the blood of Christ shed for your sins. After that you can eat, drink, and head back to your seat to pray before we close in worship. Let’s have those who are serving Communion start heading to your stations, as we prepare to remember the good news of Jesus...
On the night Jesus was betrayed he took some bread, gave thanks for it, and broke it saying “This is my body which is to be broken for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. As often as you eat it, do so in remembrance of me, in remembrance of who I am and what I’ve done for you.” When supper ended he took the cup, blessed it, gave thanks for it, and said “This is a symbol of my blood which is to be shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. As often as you drink it, do so in remembrance of me, in remembrance of who I am and what I’ve done.” Respond to this good news by coming forward to receive and remember. Receive his grace for your life, and remember to rest in the salvation and shelter of your Savior. Come as you feel led.