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Well again, good morning. Please open your Bibles to Revelation chapter 7. Revelation chapter 7. I'll be looking at verses. Let me just read 9 through 17 today. We'll probably make it through about half of them. Revelation chapter 7, beginning in verse 9. After these things, I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white garments, and palm branches were in their hands.

And they cry out with a loud voice, saying, Salvation 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 answered, saying to me, These who are clothed in white robes, who are they? And where have they come from? I said to him, My Lord, you know.

And he said to me, These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason, they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple.

And he who sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them. They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore, nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.

Well, is the joy of the Lord your strength? Is the joy of the Lord your strength? Well, I hope it will be by the time we get through this passage. There is a force stronger than anything imaginable that we can conceive of on this earth, and it is the joy of the Lord.

You know, as we step into these verses or this section of Scripture, we're looking at the great tribulation and those who come out of it. The great tribulation and those who come out of it. Just to refresh your memory of where we've been, chapter 6 of Revelation is about.

The six seals. We've looked at those. They are quite ominous. We see horses of different colors representing different events coming upon the earth that even a quarter of the population has died in some way, shape, or form. Heavy events. You see the souls before the altar. This too depicts another heavy event, Christian martyrdom on a grand scale.

And you see the changes in the cosmos indicating that the day of the Lord has arrived. All these are heavy events. If you're reading through them, these are heavy, heavy. And then it's about to even get heavier as the trumpets start blowing and the judgments of God start coming down upon the earth.

Heavy. But then, right between, right between the sixth seal and the seventh seal, we step into this moment of great joy. The leading question at the end of verse 17 in chapter 6: for the great day of their wrath has come, who is able to stand? Who is able to stand before a God like this?

That's the question coming into chapter 7. And chapter 7 answers it. Well, first of all, there's an answer, number one, those who are sealed by God, the slaves of God are sealed by him. They have a purpose for being here. God has a good purpose for them being here.

It's a sealing of the tribes of Israel because God has a purpose for the nation of Israel among all the nations. He has purposes for all the nations, and Israel being one of them. And so he secures, he seals those who are his before the trumpets blow and the judgments come.

They're protected through such a great tribulation. They're protected through the day of the Lord. And they will stand. But then there's a second answer that comes in chapter 7. And it is those who respond to God. Not only those who are sealed by God, who are going to be his witnesses, but those who respond to God.

They too are going to stand. As the elder is going to explain to John, who are all these standing before the throne? Who are they? And the elder is like, I can't wait to tell you, John. Let me explain. But they're standing. And so the answer: those who respond to God, they too will stand before this God.

So we're looking this morning at this great tribulation and those who come out of it. Somebody left some water up here. I think I'm going to indulge. But what I love about this passage of scripture that's about to step into is that it speaks of the God who takes life's darkest moments and can transform them into occasions for the greatest joy.

The song in the Philippian jail, the oasis in the desert, the celebration in the darkest corner, in the darkest night. This passage is about the God who brings joy, exuberant joy, out of something we call the great tribulation, the greatest distress. And yet, Out of this, you're going to see the greatest joy.

Praise God that some of life's darkest moments can become times of the greatest blessing. Well, that's what our text is all about this morning: the joy of the Lord, the great tribulation, those who come out of it, and those who experience the joy of the Lord. Let's just step right into it.

Verse 9. After these things, after which things, after the sealing, after John witnessed the sealing of the 144,000, after these things, next vision, I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands.

Who can stand? Let me tell you about these. Who can stand? The great day of the Lord is coming and who can stand? These who will come out of the great tribulation. It's a joyful multitude. It's a joyful multitude. Look at, look at, they are numerous. Great multitude, a crowd, a numerous one, a great multitude.

And John says, which no one could count. In fact, it's like he's saying, which no one is beginning to be able to count. You wouldn't even know where to start to count. That's what John is saying. A great multitude, which you couldn't even begin to count. You wouldn't even know where to start.

Numerous crowd. Look at their composition. From every nation, all tribes and peoples, tongues, standing before the throne of God. The nation speaks of those who shared the same political ties or the same habits, the same customs, from all tribes, those of the same descent, the same clans, the same families of the earth.

All peoples. Those are the ones who share the same background, the same stock, same interests, tongue speaks of languages. All of them, every single one, Jew and Gentile, every single one. I'm seeing them all. John says, I looked, and there before my eyes was this great multitude. Which you couldn't even begin to count from every single tribe and tongue and family on planet Earth, and there they are.

Standing. Literally, they have taken their stand, having taken their stand right in front of the throne. The one sitting upon the standing before the throne. John has talked a lot about that. The one sitting on the throne, the Creator God, and before the Lamb, the one who is slain, standing before Him.

There they are. Who can stand? Here's the answer: These, they are standing. First, the 144,000 will be able to stand the day of the Lord. Second, this great multitude. And what are they doing there? Well, it's clear they're not there standing for judgment. They're not standing there ready to receive orders and go.

They are standing there because they're postured and poised to celebrate. That's why they're standing there. And that's evident in what they're wearing, evident in what they're holding. Notice they are clothed. Clothed in white robes. The same thing, the martyrs in seal number five. Clothed in white, like the elders, like the angelic beings.

Clothed in white, white symbolizes victory for sure. Righteousness, an imputed righteousness, as we will read further down. Whitened, the righteousness of Christ. Victory, victory over all that hell threw at them to deceive them. These come forth victorious in righteousness. Why? Because God saved them. They are dressed, ready to celebrate in the joy of their salvation.

That's this scene, this joyful multitude. And they got palm branches in their hands. Now, what's that about? Well, palm branches were used for, really, they were appropriate for any season of joy, whether Roman or Jewish. Palm branches just were a staple item in any kind of joy or triumph or celebration.

They were also used in the Feast of Tabernacles, Feast of Tabernacles. To construct the shelters that would commemorate the time when Israel dwelled with God in the wilderness. And in fact, if you look a little bit further, there is reference here in verse 15. For this reason, they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple, and he who sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them.

The idea of this great celebratory occasion. They've got palm branches, they are postured for great celebration. In fact, if you remember when Jesus came into Jerusalem a week before his crucifixion, on that day of his entry, in John 12:12, on the next day, the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet him and began to shout, Hosanna, Hosanna, save now, save now, Hosanna.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel. They were celebrating because they Saw Jesus coming in. And they went out celebrating. In fact, when he gets into the temple, the Pharisees, the scribes, and the chief priests are shocked, saying, Jesus, do you hear what they're saying?

They're saying, Hosanna to you. Do you hear what they're saying? And Jesus says, Oh, yes, I hear. And did you not know that God ordained praise out of their mouths? Hosanna, save now. When Jesus was welcomed into Jerusalem, the crowds, the joyful celebration was they were looking forward to God's salvation.

They were looking forward to Christ saving. Saved now, they were celebrating because they believed that he was going to come in and deliver, which he did, not in the way they had thought. But these were looking forward to the salvation. But in this multitude that is coming out of the great tribulation, they are looking back on the salvation.

They are saying, We are saved. We are coming out. We have experienced his salvation. We're not just looking forward to it. We have experienced it. We have come out. And we are now standing before the throne, postured and poised to salvation. Celebrate this great salvation. And it is here they form what I believe is the greatest celebration of God's salvation in human history up to this point.

It's the greatest ingathering to Christ, and it is yet to come. I am very optimistic for the future. The greatest days of the ingathering of people to Christ are still ahead. The greatest moments in the life of Christians are ahead. The greatest days of salvation, the greatest days of preaching, the greatest days of it all.

It's happening. It's going to happen. The future. Keep in mind, the 144,000 could easily be counted. In contrast to the 144,000, here's a multitude that nobody can even begin to count. The greatest days. Oh, the darkest days. Sure. But the greatest days of victory, the greatest days of triumph.

And let me tell you why. Because there is a bride that belongs to Christ that is loyal to him. And no matter what is thrown out against them. The greatest days of trial may be ahead, but the greatest days of preaching, the greatest days of deception, but the greatest days of truth.

All of these are ahead, and it results in the greatest in-gathering in Christ that the world has ever seen. That's the great tribulation and the joyful multitude that is coming out of it. Second, I want you to, part of this scene of great joy is this salvation chorus that I caught, look back at verse 10.

And they cry out with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. Their cause of their celebration is in the joy that they found in being saved, the joy of salvation. You ever heard of the Alleluia chorus? Hallelujah, hallelujah.

Something like that. I used my right hand, I'd pull my shoulder out, so hallelujah. Well, this is the salvation chorus, and it's far greater than even the alleluia chorus. Look at what they're saying. And they are crying out. It's like John is saying, I looked, and behold, there they were, this great crowd.

And they are crying out. You can't even count them, but they're crying out with one voice. Unison. And it's ongoing. It's the present tense. They are crying out. I looked and behold, there they were, and this is what they are doing. They're crying out, salvation to our God, who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.

Notice to whom they attribute their salvation. First to a singular individual, to our God. And then, notice the persons, to the ones sitting on the throne and unto the Lamb. They are crying out, salvation to our God, who is sitting on the throne and to the Lamb. You see, salvation began in the mind and heart of our Heavenly Father, the one sitting on the throne.

That is where grace intrinsically flows from. It is from the One who is sitting upon the throne. Salvation belongs to him. And it also belongs to the Lamb, who bears the marks of his sacrificial death. In redemption, the Creator, the Redeemer, salvation belongs to our God. Yes, that's so good.

But you know, if you look at this, this is the themes that those early reformers were trying to articulate or re-articulate. They've been articulated throughout the church history. But salvation is by grace alone. It comes from the throne of God. It is in Christ alone, the Lamb who is slain.

And it is to the glory of God, salvation to our God and Him alone. And of course, implicit in all this is the faith alone. There is no human merit. It is all of God. They're not attributing salvation to themselves. They're not attributing salvation to the martyrs or even the slaves.

They attribute it all to God. And so, though he uses human agency, that is not the ultimate cause. Salvation, your salvation, my salvation began in the mind of God. And it is effected in the person of Jesus Christ. It is his work and his Work alone. And yet we are to believe, take it in by faith, and anchor our world upon that.

Listen, heaven and earth are going to pass away. That's really what we're going to read a lot about in the book of Revelation. But guess what? His people are not. He cares more about you than he does all the trees on the whole planet. You will emerge. Everything else will not.

And even though we may go through some tribulation and some dark times, God is doing something that we can't even get our minds around. But if you'll step into the text, you will see that in the time of the greatest tribulation ever on planet Earth becomes the greatest time of salvation and joy and celebration.

He does that then, he does that now in us. You don't have to explain it all. You just have to know the one who is sitting upon the throne and his Lamb. And the joy of the Lord. Look, our joy is in him and in the future that he has secured.

He's doing something. Well, this jubilant crowd before the Throne solicits a joyful response among the angels. They too are going to join in this scene of great joy. Look at verse 11. Look at this angelic worship. And all the angels. Now, we remember back in chapter five. Do you remember how many that was?

Myriads and myriads. One myriad of myriad was a thousand Kyle Fields filled up. This is myriads of myriads. Ten thousands of ten thousands. Ten thousands of units of ten thousands. Myriad of myriads. 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. You see, if you look, remember chapters 4, chapter 5. You remember in chapter 4, the angelic orders fell down and worshiped the one who is sitting upon the throne, the living God.

And that worship was led by the living beasts. And the elders and all of heaven took their cue from them. And you remember in chapter 5, the same thing, you have the angelic orders falling down and worshiping the Redeemer God, the Lamb who is upon the throne, ascribing Him the same glory and the same worthy, but also at the cue of the living beings and the elders.

But here, all of the angelic order take their cue from this crowd that has come out of the great tribulation and joy. And the angelic orders take their cue. The living beings take their cue from redeemed humanity. Joy in the presence of the angels. Can't help. Jesus tried to articulate this.

He did articulate it well. Luke chapter 15. I remember. In fact, I'm going to spend a little time there. You can turn there if you want, or you can just listen. But this, you remember, Jesus was telling us about the angelic joy that is experienced when a sinner truly turns and repents.

Luke 15, 1. Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming to him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, This man receives sinners and he eats with them. In fact, this man receives sinners and he's glad to meet with them. And so, verse 3, Jesus told them this parable.

What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and lost one of them, does not leave the 99 in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.

I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. So there he tells the story of the joy of a man finding his lost sheep. And what does he do?

He goes and he tells his friends and his neighbors, I found him. You can imagine. I've been in Texas. I'd be, yeah, my cow got out again. Can find him. Could you help me? Could you look around? And then you get that phone call. We found your cow.

Great rejoicing, and then the story. Yeah, you know where that cow went, it went, and now, but he's back, he's safe. And well, this is what Jesus is communicating: found the sheep. And he doesn't keep that joy to himself, he wants to celebrate, so he tells his friends.

And then he goes on, tells another parable. Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? Like, I can't, I lost my coin, I lost it, I don't know where it is.

Last I remember, I can't, but I don't know what happened to it. And so she looks, she goes, she's searching frantically. When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost. In other words, it's like, let me go get my neighbors.

I lost that coin, and I went around, but okay, here's the good. Let me get to the punchline. I found it. It had fallen under the crack. There it is. And so it becomes a topic of conversation, a light-hearted, a joyful conversation. Friends and neighbors. And then Jesus says this: in the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God, over one sinner who repents.

Think about that. Jesus said, Let me tell you what heaven's about. Heaven loves to see the sinner turn and embrace the true God. That's what heaven loves to see. And just like this woman who goes and gets her friends, God goes and gets his friends, the whole angelic orders.

Let me tell you what has happened. Remember Tom Baber? Let me tell you what happened. He's turned. Let me tell you about it. You fill in your blank. You fill in your name in the blank. And you can think about if such joy exists over one sheep or one coin, what kind of joy is there going to be about this innumerable multitude?

This is the whole purpose of creation. The trees, the natural order, all of that's going away. But his people are going to remain. God is more excited about doing things in us than you imagine. But if you are married to your sin and your own ways, You will miss everything that God has.

He has eternities of blessings in store for his people. But you have got to see your need for him. You've got to understand that the paradigm of life, the paradigm of sin, leads to complete destruction. You ought to have lived long enough to know that your sin doesn't bring about anything good.

But look at this joy in the presence of the angels and this whole angelic order. Let me tell you, it seems to be very popular these days that the gospel doesn't involve repentance. A repentantless gospel is the good news. I can just say, if that's you, if you see that, if you don't understand that God has a purpose for your repentance and your salvation, I would encourage you to rethink that because it doesn't bring any kind of joy in heaven.

It's the repentance, it's the change. That's where the joy is. Comes in heaven. And it is associated. You have to turn away from in order to turn to. And that's what has happened with this great multitude. Even after the horrors that no doubt they participated in, in the first six seals, now they've come and they've changed and they've turned and they've embraced.

And all of joy erupts in heaven. I'm reminded by Peter, the words of Peter in 1 Peter 1. It says this. 1 Peter 1:10, as to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.

It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you in these things which have now been announced to you through those who preach the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Things into which angels long to look. The angels are very much engaged and preoccupied and desiring to see.

The salvation of God in the lives of man. It reveals something about God that they are eager to see and delight to see and rejoice to see. Look at what they say. Notice, Amen, verse 12. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever.

Amen. Hearty agreement. Amen. Listen to what salvation to our God. Amen. Word for blessing to speak well of, to eulogize. Praise Him for salvation. That's what they're doing. Salvation. All this is in the context of salvation. Praise for the salvation. Glory. Glory for salvation. Give credit to the one who sits on the throne and to his Lamb.

He is to be the one showcased in salvation. It is right that the Lamb who bears the marks of man's salvation be showcased forever and ever. He is the one to be magnified. He deserves the glory. Wisdom, salvation is due to his insight, his knowledge, and his skill.

Why in the world you think about as you're reading through Revelation, going, Why is God bringing all of this upon the earth? Because he's bringing people out of this earth to himself and in his wisdom. It is sometimes through the difficult circumstances that we come to Christ more intimately, that a true relationship with Christ is really formed.

Sometimes we go through life bamboozling ourselves, thinking that, yeah, we're pretty good, we're Christian. Then the rough roads hit. But it's in those times that God brings us to Himself, and sometimes we don't even belong to Him, and then through that time, He brings us to Him. It's in His wisdom how He could turn the greatest tribulation that humanity has ever seen and turn it into the time of the greatest salvation.

That's our God. And though He is going to do that in the future on a great scale, He does it now. He's the same. We hardly ever come to God in smooth waters. The tones, the changes, He has a purpose for trials and even tribulation. Wisdom. He knows what.

He's doing. And that's what this whole angelic order, as they see this. Thanksgiving. Gratitude to Him. That which flows from Him, that He would even be interested in saving. Thanks, honor to Him, the reverence to receive tribute from all the peoples, to be the one showcase, to have this multitude throng there before exalting Him.

He is worthy of all that honor, power. He is doing something good in all the earth and through all this, and might, His strength put into effect. He's exercising strength. He knows what He's doing. He's using force, even in, we can see it in the seals and in the judgments and the trumpets, the seals, the trumpets, and the bowls, and all this.

God's might is being displayed and being exercised, but there is a good purpose in all of it. It's like, God, why don't you just blow them all out and move on? Well, because He's doing something good. He's bringing a great multitude out of great tribulation into great celebration.

And they're going to be before the throne forever. As we'll see next time, because what happens in the very next verse, look at verse 13. Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, These who are clothed in white robes, who are they? And where have they come from?

And Selder says, John, I'm anxious to talk to you about this great, big, joyful multitude. Who are they? Where do they come from? We'll have to answer that next time and fully get into that. The joy, salvation. Is the joy of the Lord your strength? Well, I hope that by the time we're through with this study, that you will recognize that the joy of the Lord will be your strength.

There is joy in salvation, there's joy in being saved from what you might have been. Listen, without God's grace, we can become monsters. And yet, praise and glory be to the one who saves us from what we might have become or would have become. But he is the God who can take life's darkest moments and turn them into times of the greatest joys.

Learn from this multitude. He turned. To page in these people's lives from deepest distress to greatest joy, and he'll do the same for any of us who will truly call upon him. Let's do so. Heavenly Father, we do call upon your name. And I know there are many people here today who have gone through all kinds of things.

There are those who have hungry hearts, there are those who thirst. There are those here who want to be close to you, to want to walk in your blessing and to experience the joy of your salvation. Father, and I pray this morning that you would speak deeply and truly to their lives.

Father, that know that they can today enter into the joy that you have set before your people to walk in. Father, and it starts with knowing that our sins are forgiven, but it doesn't end there. It understands that you have a great, great future beyond anything that we can possibly imagine.

And Father, help us to see that. Help us to walk in the joy that you have set before us to walk in. Lord, it's in Christ's name. Amen.