His Perfect Love

Guest (Male): An overview of the seven seal judgments of Revelation right around the corner on His perfect love. You're listening to His perfect love and we're so glad you're here. Pastor Matt Vandervinn is in Revelation chapter 5 today where the seven seal judgments are about to be unleashed on a Christ rejecting world. Now in the minutes ahead, we'll give you a brief overview of the seven seal judgments. It will be the most devastating time on earth when the tribulation takes place. But Pastor Matt is quick to point out the progression of these judgments is another sign of God's grace and willingness to save.

Matt VanderVen: We begin in verse chapter 5 verse 1 here and he says, and I saw on the right hand of Him. We spent a lot of time, almost 40 minutes last week going through this right hand. We looked at the Greek word. We saw uniquely used sat on the throne. We looked at that. We talked about a scroll and the uniqueness of it being written inside and out, very different, unconventional because again scrolls open left to right that way and they certainly didn't have writing on the front and back. This is God of an extensive message on it, which is why there's writing front and back.

It's being open that way. We spent a bunch of time looking at that. And then we saw that it was sealed with seven seals and we talked about the significance of this that this isn't like many of us would take an envelope and we just kind of open it. No, these seals are progressive and Jesus, as we're going to read here, he is the only one worthy to open these seals, but he does it one at a time and that's significant and it makes sense as we go because when you really understand God's heart as many of you do, you know that God's heart is that everyone would be saved.

Everyone would come to the knowledge of salvation to trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and because of that he's not going to just go and then destroy the whole earth. That's not his desire. Judgment is coming to a Christ rejecting world that needs be. It's part of God's eternal plan, but by going progressive, when the first person that that that first seal, excuse me, that gets cracked open and the judgments come forth, what's that give an opportunity for? For others to turn around and humble, receive Christ. Yes, they still may be martyred on this earth, but it's really not about this earth, is it?

This is all temporal. It's about the eternal. And so once again, we just see mercy even in the way something so simple, you and I opening a letter, opening a scroll, the way we would do it. Even Jesus is so meticulous and detail orientated, you know, God decency in order that he just goes one seal. Let there be time. Let there be time still for salvation. I mean that's just the beauty of His heart. So what are these seven seals? Before we continue on, let's talk about this because we're going to spend a whole lot of time in chapter 6 and onward going through even chapter 8.

There's a portion we're going to go through that are going to look at these seals, but I'd like to just sort of give an overview if I can with you this morning on the seven seals. If you're taking some notes, um maybe just helpful to kind of orientate you here. The first seal, okay? The first seal that you're going to read about, you're going to see in Revelation chapter 6 and it's it's really verses 1 and 2. This first seal introduces the Antichrist, okay? Now from a biblical description, we gather several details about this this Antichrist.

He you rides a white horse, okay? Which speaks of peace at the beginning of the tribulation. Then then the Antichrist is going to come under the pretense of bringing peace to the world. And we know that because of Daniel chapter 9 verse 27. We're going to take this in harmony as we study the scriptures. He's given a crown which indicates that the Antichrist is going to exercise some type of great authority. Now I really believe he may be here fine. I don't believe we will we will be here when he actually goes in and and begins to declare himself as God in the new rebuilt temple.

I believe we will be raptured out as a church body well before then. But Daniel speaks of the fact that he is going to be given authority for a period of time, right? And Daniel chapter 7 verses 24 and 25 describes that crown and authority if you want to read that. He holds a bow, okay? Which shows his true intentions. Right? He might be riding a white horse. He might be coming and speaking words where he thinks he's speaking peace, peace, peace. But really what he wants to do is conquer and he's bent on that conquest, right?

And Revelation chapter 6 verse 2 is going to make that very clear for us. Things are not always as they appear. The second seal. Now as we continue on in verses 3 and 4 of chapter 6, when the lamb opens the second seal, there's going to be great warfare that's going to break out on the earth. This is symbolized by a rider, okay? With a large sword and a fiery red horse. That's what that's communicating to us. We'll study that in more detail. The third seal, okay? When Jesus breaks and opens that third seal, it's going to cause a tremendous famine on the earth and that's verses 5 and 6.

The rider that John sees is is riding this black horse, okay? And he's holding a pair of scales in his hand. You might remember that if you've studied this with us before, if not, when we get there, it'll make more sense. But John hears a declaration that the people will have to work all day just to earn a little morsel of food. So a severe famine like like something we haven't seen in our lifetimes. The fourth seal. The fourth seal is open and and John, he now sees something different. He sees a horse, but this horse is kind of pale.

Many of us so it's not white, it's not kind of beige. It's kind of almost it gives us idea of translucent, but it's pale. Its rider, and this should give us a real warning here, is named Death. And And Hades was following close behind him. That's verses 7 and 8 in chapter 6. And the result of this fourth seal is that 1/4 of the entire earth's population are going to be killed by a sword, famine and plague and by the wild beasts of the earth. So just to make that relative and again we are going to go in way more detail when we go through each one of these seals individually.

But let just say there's 7.4 to 8 billion people on the earth today. If you know 1/4 of that, that's simple math, if I just say round 8 billion, that means 2 billion people are going to die when in a short short span of time. You could add up all the people that died from COVID, from other diseases year after year, and it's not going to have the traumatic effect that 2 billion people at one time dying is going to affect this entire earth. I mean where do you put the bodies? What do you do?

And the famine and the you know the grocery markets and the stores and the things that we're accustomed to are are not operational because you don't have the truck drivers. You can't ship the things like you're used to shipping. The cars, the the gas, the petro that you're used to you're not going to get the petro because the petro deliveries aren't going to happen. All the things, you know, the the the grid is going to crash because who's going to keep the grid operational? There are so many things around us that we take for granted every day.

You know, you've heard to say if we got hit with an an electrical pulse, it would take us 100 years back. Losing 2 billion people. You think 100 years? This is going to take us well beyond the dark ages in in in history as we understand it. You don't want to be here. None of us need to be for the Lord Jesus promised that wrath will not come unto the bride of Christ to the church. And that's again 1 Thessalonians 5. The fifth seal. The scrolls of the fifth seal reveals those who are martyred for their faith in Christ during the tribulation.

Well, that means what? If we know the church is getting raptured, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 right around 16 through 18, 16 through 20 that that means the church isn't here, but yet there's those that are getting martyred for their faith in Christ. What does that tell you? It tells you and I that even after 2 billion people, right? Are destroyed because of of judgment that's going to come to this earth. There are going to be people that are going to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. They're going to believe, praise Him. They're going to believe, but then what's going to face them very quickly after their confession of faith?

Martyrdom. Martyrdom. This is what awaits them. So it's not all by the way, well I still have time, I can get saved in the great tribulation. Oh yes, you can, but you don't want to get saved in the great tribulation. You want to get saved before the great tribulation so that you don't have to go through any of this. And you see these souls of these martyrs are pictured as dwelling under an altar in heaven. God hears their cries for justice. They're crying out and he gives each of them a white robe and they ask how long, oh Lord, right?

The martyrs are told wait until the full number of the fellow of their servants, their brothers and sisters were killed just as they have been. He says there's more. There's more that are going to get saved. Jesus is long suffering even in the midst of his judgment. You see God promises to avenge them, but the time was not yet. The sixth seal. When the lamb of God opens, so picture this again, seven seals on that scroll that only he he's not only gotten to the sixth, now he's going to crack the sixth seal. When the lamb of God opens the sixth seal, a devastating earthquake is going to occur causing massive upheaval, terrible devastation unlike anything we have ever seen.

Again astronomical phenomena. The sun's going to turn black. The moon's going to turn blood red. Uh the the heavens are going to recede like a scroll being rolled up. I've never seen the earth with that means the sky is going to look like it's rolling up. I I can't even imagine what that's going to look like. But he says that's what's going to happen. Every mountain island is going to be removed from its place. Do you understand the the devastation we're talking about here? We need to tell people this is what's coming. This is what awaits a Christ rejecting world.

This is what's coming. We need to we need to have a a passion and an intensity and a a certain um you know hastiness to us to bring this to a lost and dying world because Jesus doesn't want anybody to go through these things and they don't need to again. But it's it's real and it's going to happen. I mean every single mountain is going to be moved from its place. Do you know what that's going to do? Think about all the fault lines. Think about everything in Terra Firma. Think about what that's going to do just in every aspect of how we understand our geological.

I mean sink holes, everything, what's going to happen, tremendous. Right? And then we're going to see here anybody who survives that sixth seal, right? Uh regardless of their social position is going to take refuge in caves. They're going to cry out to the mountains and rocks. They're actually going to talk to the stones falling us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne from the wrath of the lamb. They know. Did you catch that with me? I mean that's verses 16 and 17 in chapter 6. You can see it yourself.

They know it's the judgment of the lamb. This is not something that's hidden. The whole world's going to know. This is judgment for rejecting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and making themselves their own God. For the great day of their wrath has come and as he says, who can stand? Who can stand it? After the opening of the sixth and seventh seals, we're going to see an interlude, right? In the book of Revelation. John's going to describe and this is in Revelation 7 through 1 is sort of this interlude. He kind of breaks the seals of the judgment at this point.

Stops that before he does the seventh seal. And then in Revelation 7 1 through 8 he's going to introduce to 144,000 men. These are Jewish men who are going to be protected during the tribulation in some supernatural way. Then in heaven, he sees a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people, language standing before the throne and before the lamb. That's in verse 9 and the people are wearing white robes. What are they holding? Palm branches. What do palm branches mean, right? It's victory. Isn't that what they hold when Jesus Christ Messiah was coming in?

They were waving palm branches and it was a signal that Messiah is here. What did they believe that Messiah was then at that time going to overthrow Rome? And he thought they thought, oh he's going to establish His millennial or His kingdom now, right? They didn't understand the full council of God. But what were they waving? Palm branches and then throwing you know their their clothes under the feet of Christ as he made His way in as we call it the triumphal entry, right? The triumphal entry. And it was as he's making His way to to to Jerusalem to do what?

To suffer, die, to be crucified. He was victorious, just not in the way they thought. They thought he was going to overthrow a government. No. He overthrew all sin, death, Hades, hell, and everything in between. Satan was defeated that day and every day because of the work of Christ. And we're just reminded now at this point in Revelation, they're waving the holy branches, again the palm branches, right? And they're shouting salvation. What did we sing this morning? Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb. Amen, praise and glory, right?

We used to sing that up in Calvary Chapel Finger Lakes where I was from. It's a beautiful song and it's it's right out of Revelation. John is told those who were white clad, right? This robes, there's multitude he sees them. He says they're from every nation, tribe and tongue, people on the earth that they they're going to get saved and they're all washed by the blood of the lamb and they're wearing these white robes and it's it's beautiful. Chapter 6 verse 14 and they're given a promise, right? They're given a promise. And then And then the seventh seal.

When the lamb opens the seventh seal, this is this is remarkable because remember in chapter 4 when we began our Revelation, John said he's heard all kinds of sounds and noises and thunderings and lightnings. Remember that? There was a lot going on in heaven and all of a sudden we get to Revelation chapter 8 which is when the seventh seal is broken and it's silence. Can you imagine all of the things going on in heaven, your senses all peaked and and then all of a sudden not a single whisper. There's silence in heaven and and it wasn't just for a moment.

It was for a half hour, 30 minutes. What would that be like with our remaining time here if I just sat quiet? It it maybe it could be unnerving on earth. In heaven, it will be an awe, a moment of awe. You the judgments that lead up to the close of the tribulation are now visible in the scroll and so severe that literally solemn silence falls upon all of heaven. Remember what we just studied last week on Wednesday, midweek study for those that were with us, how God doesn't find any pleasure in the death of the unrighteous.

Everybody in heaven, the saints, they're seeing the whole scroll now, both sides, and they realize what's coming with the trumpet and then the bowl judgments or vial judgments and they're literally speechless. As we study it, I believe we'll be speechless. The severity of what is coming to this earth and to these people that reject Christ, that they literally just for half an hour have no words. And and there's sort of this solemn moment in heaven. Wow, you know no matter what, that's still humanity and those are people and and oh if they would just call out to the name of Jesus Christ and be saved even then.

I have no doubt they were all thinking and praying that as we should be praying that today. So it obviously introduces this next series of judgments for John and he immediately sees seven angels who are handed seven trumpets verse 2, right? And what are they going to do? They are going to start to bring in the trumpet judgments. Now an eighth angel takes a sensor and he burns much incense in it representing the prayers of God's people. And that's verses 3 and 4. And then the angel uh then took the same sensor. He fills it with fire from the altar.

He hurls it to the earth and there came pearls of thunder, rumbling flashes of lightning and an earthquake. Once the seven uh seal judgments are finished, the next part of the tribulation featuring the seven trumpets judgments is ready to begin. I mean most of us quiver quiver for being honest here just at the seal judgments. And that's just the beginning. Just the beginning. Think of all of us here who have prodigals, all of us who have family members and friends that we know that if if if the Lord raptured us even before the end of this service here this morning, how many people we love, how many people we care about that we know would go through the great tribulation.

What would be one more thing you would say to them if you had an opportunity? Think about it right now. What would be one more thing you would say to someone? Maybe it's a boss, maybe it's a friend, maybe it's an acquaintance, maybe it's a neighbor. What would be that last thing? Because friends, guess what? You still have time. You can still say that very thing. There will come a time when you will be in heaven and won't be able to. Just to be sober minded about that. Let's look at verse 2 now. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?

And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look at it. So I wept much, meaning John here, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll or to look at it. But one of the elders said to me, do not weep. Behold. Notice two two different uh uh names were given here for the line of the tribe of Judah. And then what? The root of David has prevailed to open the scrolls and to loose its seventh seal. So God's communicating a whole lot.

The first thing that John hears is this mighty angel crying out saying, who is worthy to break the seals and open the scrolls? And as we read in verses 3 and 4, no one no one was found worthy of breaking the seals and opening the scrolls. A fact that literally causes John to mourn. If if the scrolls could not be opened, the the wickedness would not be judged and evil would continue to affect this earth. And I really believe that's what John was thinking about. And then John saw this really strong angel with a loud voice, right?

And he makes this proclamation in heaven. Now some have tried to identify this angel as Gabriel and they'll go back and say, well Daniel 8 16, Daniel 8 16 or Daniel chapter 9 verse 21 or maybe it's Luke 1 19 and verse 26 where there's some similar language. Others have come back and said, no, this is again the great tribulation. God is going to redeem Israel as part of what's going on. He's going to give them new hearts and and this is what it's going to take to reach them, this kind of catastrophic event. Uh and so he says maybe it's the Archangel Michael who is the Archangel over Israel.

Maybe it's it's Him because he's going to play a major role in end time events. And we read about some of that in Daniel chapter 12 verses 1 and 3. However, as Bereans here this morning, we must we must admit that we the text provides no indication of who this angel or the identity of this angel is. And if God is silent on something, He wants us to be silent on it as well, right? Not to speculate. The loud sound of an angel's voice, that's what he wants us to focus on. It's reverberating throughout all of heaven.

What is it trying to communicate to us? What is he telling us? It's communicating authority because it's reverberating, right? It's got an urgency the same way we should have an urgency. And it's an importance to what he has to announce the same way you and I have an importance to announce and give the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now the the angel's proclamation it it it comes in the form of a question. Did you catch that? Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals? Now there's this universal search and it always amazes me because if I was doing a search and probably like many of you, you think where are you going to search?

Under the earth? On the earth? No. You're going to look in heaven, right? Because after all, that's where forgiven sinners are, right? In heaven, that's where the righteous are. But it says that this is a universal search, right? And no man, right? In heaven nor in the earth nor under the earth, right? Was able to open the scroll nor neither and this is important to look at it. No one was worthy. Couldn't even look at its contents. You and I have been given Revelation here by John. Yes, this is wonderful. This is This isn't a sealed Revelation like Daniel was.

You see John's response was so sorrowful that he what did he do when he when he saw that? He wept in such a way where he convulsed. He said, so I wept much and because no one was found worthy to open uh and read the scroll, to look at it, this this implies here to John wailed, okay? That's what the Greek word here is, uncontrollable in a loud voice. You know scholars have come back at this, studied this and taken apart the text, textual criticism it's called in the Greek where you go and study these things.

And And some And they've come up with really three different rationale why this could be. I'd like to share them with you this morning. Some believe he wept over the moral inability of humanity or mankind to open the scroll. Many scholars will come and say that's why. Not a single human, you mean since the dawn of time to this point and on, not one human. Others believe he wept because the world would never know the contents of the scroll which the whole point of the Revelation is the things that much happen here after, right? Nobody would ever know these things and that would be very difficult for the Christian because we would be living a life without understanding what would happen and God that wasn't His desire, but John at this point didn't know this in the Revelation yet.

He didn't get six, seven and eight in a book like we have. He just kind of was watching this vision and all take place and he's sitting there, oh you mean this is how it's going to end? For you and I, we can flip right to Revelation chapter 21. We can keep reading. We know it doesn't end that way. But for John in all His humanity, he was he was so broken. Maybe that's it. Still others believe he wept because without the scroll being open, God's program of destroying all evil, removing all wickedness would never be complete and there would be a perpetual state of sin, much like we talked about last week where God removed Adam and Eve from the garden so that they didn't stay in a perpetual state of sin because if they would have aided the tree, that would have given them basically life forever on earth in that state of a a sin in their fallen state.

And so maybe John is thinking, oh no, we're we're we're going to live in the state or other people in John saved these in heaven. Maybe he's thinking about the earth at that point, those that have rejected Jesus, the prodigals. Maybe they're going to stay in that damned state for eternity. I don't know. I think the third answer seems most reasonable to me. The text simply states that he would you know that he wept because no man was found worthy to open read the scroll.

Guest (Male): Pastor Matt Vandervinn on His perfect love. Thanks for taking part in today's study of Revelation, a book that comes with a blessing attached to those that read and study it. If you are blessed and encouraged by the Lord, we'd like to know. Email us while it's fresh on your mind. They're at our website His perfect love dot org. Be sure to include your prayer requests. Also at our website, you'll find an archive of these studies in Revelation making it easy to replay a message you enjoy or catch what you miss on the radio. Again we're at His perfect love dot org and now at one place dot com as well.

Look for us wherever you get your podcasts. And if the Lord is leading you to support this ministry with a one-time gift or ongoing monthly support, you can do so through the website at His perfect love dot org. Are you looking for a Christian school that offers a quality education and a nurturing environment for your children? If so, you might be interested in Calvary Chapel Christian Academy, a ministry of Calvary Chapel Harrisburg West Shore. Calvary Chapel Christian Academy is a non-denominational Christian school that serves students from kindergarten to 12th grade. The academy's mission is to provide a Christ-centered education that equips students to love God, love others and serve the world.

The academy offers a rigorous academic curriculum, a variety of extracurricular activities and a caring and supportive staff. The academy is located at 28 North Locust Point Road in Mechanicsburg, PA. For more information, please visit our website at cc harrisburg dot org slash academy. That's cc harrisburg dot org slash academy. There is much more to come in Revelation. Don't miss a moment of the journey here on His perfect love with Pastor Matt.

Matt VanderVen: His perfect love is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Harrisburg West Shore.