Revelation 6

Good morning, Saylorville! If you brought a copy of scripture with you this morning, you can find the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter 6, as we resume our series, The Unveiling of the Lord Jesus Christ and all of His Second Coming resplendence. Revelation chapter 6.

You know, it’s 20 years ago this last week that an earthquake of the magnitude of 9.1 struck just off the island of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean, and a tsunami ensued the likes of which our generation has never seen! This tsunami generated waves that reached to a height of over 100 feet tall, traveling at hundreds of miles an hour, hitting coastlines of 14 different countries. This is a beautiful area where literally people were vacationing one moment and running for their lives in the next. And the devastation was unbelievable as over 230,000 people in the space of under three hours were wiped out! We sent people there to help out 20 years ago. And that was a natural disaster! And the thing about that disaster was it came virtually without warning. That was one of the things these countries learned. They all have early detection systems now they didn’t have then.

I would contrast that with another natural disaster that occurred in 1980. I was in my younger 20s at the time when for weeks on end the news was saying, “Mount St. Helens is going to blow. It’s going to blow!” — And people, they ran like bugs on a summer day that you lift up a log in the yard, they just scurry! — except a few people who decided not to heed the warning, like Harry Truman, not the President, but that was his name. He owned a lodge down below and he famously said “That mountain won’t hurt me!” Well the mountain went out with a… when it exploded, it exploded with the energy of 1600 atomic bombs that we bombed Hiroshima in World War II. That’s how much power… and it just wiped out all kinds of acres… killed tons of animals… and did kill 57 people! And I’m not making light of 57 people, but most of them were 57 people who did not heed that warning… like Harry Truman. You can’t find him. He’s under tons of mud.

Warning signs… They’re everywhere! And whether it’s a tsunami, or a volcano, or 9/11, or Covid, which ironically we just celebrate. That’s a dubious celebration of five years. Can you believe that? Or the current wars in the Middle East or the Russian… Russia and Ukrainian war. Or last week’s terror attack in Louisiana, New Orleans. Gods warning signs are constant! — And they’re not just in the world, they’re in your own lives and in your family.

I talked to somebody just in the last service who is an elderly woman and her sister’s an elderly woman, but she’s a little more elderly than her sister and they joked about how she would go before her sister, and her sister died unexpectedly just last week.

The warning signs are everywhere, and they are this. There is no guarantee of tomorrow. And the question here as we resume this study of Revelation is, are you heeding those… Are you heeding those warning signs that God gives you? And we don’t have to study the book of the Revelation to be reminded of the brevity of life. Am I right? James says “what is your life?” He says,

[James 4:13-14 (ESV)

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—

14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are (a vapor) a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”]

“Come now, you who say “Today or tomorrow we’ll go here, we’ll go there, we’ll buy, we’ll sell, we’ll make a profit. You don’t even know what a day will bring forth, right? What is your life? It’s even a vapor.’

We don’t have to study the book of the Revelation to be reminded of the many warning signs if we are willing to take heed to them. So what do you say to that? Here’s what I say. “Happy New Year!” (audience laughs) I got to think of, maybe this isn’t the best message to start the New Year. I don’t know, but… Oh well! We’re going to stay in the Word of God if that’s okay with you. Let’s pray.

Our Father, as we begin this year, we resume this study of this great book so ignored, so misunderstood, so mystified and mystifying. I pray to you, God, you would help us, harness us, direct us, the preaching, the teaching, and our hearts. If nothing else, Lord, create a great fear of Yourself in the hearts of every person in this room and those who do not know you, they would take the heeding. They would take the warning and they would flee to Jesus. And those of us who do, we would do something about the knowledge that we have in the face of your coming Lord, Jesus. And we ask this in Your name. Amen.

Revelation. It means “unveiling.” We’ve talked about that. That’s why we’ve titled the series that, and it’s about the future. We take an unashamed futuristic approach to the book of Revelation. Now when I say unashamed, I don’t mean dogmatic. I don’t mean that… I don’t wanna present that we may be off on this or that. I don’t wanna pretend I’ve got it all figured out. I did have it all figured out about 30 years ago, and now I figured out I don’t have it all figured out. It’s no secret that God used prophecy, the futuristic teachings in scripture to get ahold of my heart and bring me to His Son Jesus, and I will always be grateful for that.

It’s also no secret that the futuristic view of this book has fallen on hard times. Many popular preachers and teachers take some form of a preteristic position. Preterism… That’s a word we don’t use, but it’s just basically from an eschatological… (there’s another word! Oh my goodness!) From a futuristic perspective… you know what the Bible says about the future. Preterism says Revelation’s done. It’s history. It happened when Titus sacked Rome in… or not Rome, but Jerusalem in 70 AD. And so this is really just history. There’s no real practical value in this book. And I would remind those individuals, and that might be some of you, so I’m not attacking you, I’m not coming down, I’m not being condescending, I would just simply remind you that we’re told by Paul that “all scripture is profitable.” [2 Timothy 3:16] Amen? “All scripture,…” That means we need to pay attention to ALL scripture, even if we disagree on the finer points. And we can disagree on the timing, for instance, of Jesus’s coming. We cannot disagree on the fact that He IS coming again. And yes, the rousing amen once in a while would help the situation just a little bit! (congregation laughing) Because if you disagree that He’s coming again, you’re not disagreeing with me. You’re not disagreeing with the church. You’re disagreeing with God who has made it very clear that Christ IS coming again. And even as we celebrate the Lord’s table, at the end of the whole Lord’s table, He says, ‘You do this, and you’re remembering My death until I come back.’ [1 Corinthians 11:25-26] Even the Lord’s table is tied in to the return of Jesus! And that wasn’t even in my notes! But I would just appeal that anybody who would differ with me with a story… ’cause that’s what I do. I tell stories, you know.

So 20 years ago, I was at a conference and it was a conference that John MacArthur was hosting in his church… about three to five thousand pastors, and I was one of them. And he was the keynote speaker. And at lunchtime, we were sitting with just whoever sat at a particular table, and this guy who was sitting with us was a full on 100% Pentecostal! — believed in speaking in tongues, signs and miracles… The whole gambit! And we’re sitting together and we’re talking. I said, “Hey brother,” I said, “I gotta ask you. I mean, you’re at this conference with John MacArthur and he… I don’t know if anybody takes a harsher approach to the charismatics than John MacArthur. I mean, he just flame torches them!” And he looked at me and he said, “I know… but I must hear that man because he speaks the truth!” And I’m telling you, I was so humbled in that moment! I was so humbled at that moment. I just… my heart… It’s… Our hearts were tied together as brothers right there and then! I mean, it was so cool! We can have disagreements. Amen?

But as we approach this portion of the book of Revelation, the guts of it now, which a lot of… there’s a lot of judgment here. We do… We approach it… We take a literal view of the book of Revelation like we do the rest of the Bible. It’s the most consistent, and it’s the most honest approach to interpret the scripture. Taking the Bible literally is the safest way to approach it. If you don’t take the Bible literally, you’re open to just wide eyed interpretations of… you can just make it up. You’re like a kid with Play dough. You’re making anything you want. I’d rather let the scripture teach us the scripture. And that’s what we’re gonna do.

And by the way, when you take a literal approach to scripture, it doesn’t matter where you’re taking the approach. You’re not denying symbolism. You’re not denying metaphor.  You’re not denying simile. You’re not denying hyperbole. You’re not denying any of those things. Here’s something that I learned years ago. You should memorize this. It’s really simple. When plain sense makes good sense, seek no other sense.

So when you’re studying the book of Revelation, you see the symbols. We recognize that. You take it literally, but you literally understand the symbolism. It’s a little bit like when Jesus said, ‘If your hand offends you…’ [Matthew 5:30] (what?) — well, did He really mean you should literally cut your hand off? I was preaching on this year’s ago and a friend of mine who had his hand on the pew like this, [Pastor holds up his arm with his hand pulled back into the cuff] he goes “Well, it was a little late for me, isn’t it Pastor?” Being a little facetious here.

Now we don’t deny that there are symbols in the Bible. Not at all! And there are gonna be horses, and these horses aren’t literal, but they are depicting something. That’s the point. So Jesus told us in Revelation chapter one in verse 19. He gave John in a vision a virtual layout or an outline. Here it is Revelation 1:19 where he says,

Revelation 1:19, “Write therefore the things that you have seen, (that was his vision of Jesus) those that are (that was the current condition of the church, and we saw that in Revelation chapter two and three in our study of those churches) and those that are to take place after this.” That’s the third part of the outline. That’s where we’re at now. Okay?

So, and just a note from a futurist’s perspective, The Church, which is mentioned in chapter one, chapter two and chapter three repeatedly, is virtually never mentioned again! From chapter four through 18, this is… it’s not there! It’s NOT there. And some even take the first verse in chapter four where it says

[Revelation 4:1, (ESV)

“After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”]

… I heard a voice say, “Come up here…” as sort of symbolic of the Rapture. I don’t know if that’s what it is or not. I just know the church is not mentioned here which is a strong argument for the fact that it may not be here. It may depict the fact that “the Church” of Christ will be rescued before hell breaks loose on earth. And that’s where I’m coming from. But I’m not as dogmatic as I once was on this… but that’s where I’m coming from. It’s just not there! You say, ‘Well, that’s an argument from silence.’ I agree it’s an argument from silence, but it’s a strong one.

When we left off, we were in chapter four and five, the worship before the wrath. Remember that? And this is the scene in heaven. We have all these angels that are around the throne of God and they’re worshiping Him and there’s the title deed to the earth… Nobody has the right to open it. Then the Lamb… remember, the Lion of the tribe of Judah? — Jesus comes and snatches the title deed from the Father’s hand. He begins to open it now, and this title deed opens up with it. Seal… seal… seal… seal… seal… seal, and every seal that’s broken reveals the events that will be taking place before His return. That all makes sense to you so far? Just checking. And as this opens up, it’s almost like all hell starts to break loose on earth, and to a Christ-rejecting world.

And by the way, this is my simple understanding of the purpose. Why is… Why the events of the Revelation? Why the events of the tribulation? Why the events of the Great Tribulation in the latter half of the seven-year tribulation? And I see basically two reasons. Two purposes in the coming judgment. One is to punish Christ- rejecting men, and you see that. And the other is to prepare Christ receiving Israel. And when you study the composite of the New Testament, Israel, having rejected the Lord, Jesus, they WILL receive Him because Jesus said,

[Matthew 23:39] ‘You’re not gonna see me again until you say, “Blessed is he who comes in name of Lord.“

… and someday they will. And then Paul says,

[Romans 11:26] “… all Israel will be saved…”

There are four horses in this passage. They’re symbolic. They represent situations and forces that will come upon this entire world.

So without further ado, the first seal is the white horse, and it depicts a false peace,

Revelation 6:1-2

1 Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!”

2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, (Now, picture bow and arrow… a bow) and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.”

(Now, this is… the rider has no name. Some people have thought, ‘Well, this must be Jesus.’ It’s not Jesus. It’s more likely the Antichrist. And the bow… notice there’s no arrows. He has no arrows. So he is going to conquer without war. He’s gonna be a man of great persuasion and deception. He will present himself as a peacemaker among nations and, who doesn’t love a peacemaker? It’s all part of his deception. First Thessalonians chapter five says,

[1 Thessalonians 5:3, “While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.“]

… this is gonna be a time when people go, ‘Oh, peace! Finally, peace!’ — and BANG! All hell breaks loose!

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12

[9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders,

10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,

12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”]

… and just give you the reference. That’s where you have this layout of the deceptive powers of the coming Antichrist. Daniel chapter nine, very powerfully, and very… and this is one of those passages that those who deny a futuristic position, they struggle with this one. And they should because in Daniel 9:27,

Daniel 9:27, [“And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”]

…you have the Antichrist actually making a covenant with Israel to bring peace for three and a half years, give or take, but it’s a false peace and that’s the first seal. The second seal is the Red Horse. The Red Horse and it depicts war. Verse three.

Revelation 6:3-4

3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!”

4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.”

Now this is very easy to see. He tells us this is a war. By the way, since World War II, there’s been over 150 wars, but the war referred to here is the mother of all wars to end all wars!

So let’s move on to the third seal in Revelation 6:5. This is the black horse, which is famine, depicts famine, which by the way, this is very natural. This also follows Matthew 24 almost to the T. So what happens at this point when you have war and you look at any significant war in the history of man and the outcome of that war will be famine. It just naturally follows. And so in verse five, when he opened the third seal,

Revelation 6:5

5 “When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand.

6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!”

Now this is the black horse, and he symbolizes severity, scarcity, rationing the scales, the holding of the scales here. The great theologian John Walvoord said,

“This is a time of famine when life will be reduced to the barest necessities.”John Walvoord

…And none of you can relate to that, I’m guessing, not here in this room anyway, probably.

The fourth seal is in verse seven. This is the pale horse or the greenish… that’s what the Greek word means. And he depicts death, verse seven.

Revelation 6:7-8

7 “When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!”

8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. (And what Hades means… means the realm of the dead. So it just makes sense. If there’s death, they’re going to the realm of the dead. That’s where dead people go. And so he says Hades followed him…) And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.”

Now this is death and this is where all hell is breaking loose! A fourth of the earth is gonna die! Listen, there’s about eight billion people in the world today. That’s two billion! Try to get your mind around that, that will die in this carnage!

The fifth seal is where it gets very insightful and very theologically interesting to me. The fifth seal is the cry for justice. This is verse nine and following. Follow with me here when he opened the fifth seal;

Revelation 6:9, “When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.“

By the way, we’ve seen that expression before. It’s repeated in the book of Revelation. It’s true then. It’s true now. It has always been true. If you want to see people… God’s people are persecuted for two reasons, for their stand on the Word of God and their open testimony and love for Jesus Christ. That’s always the reason why the people of God have suffered throughout the generations, of the current time and beyond. For your stand on truth and for your open witness of Jesus Christ. So if you don’t want to stand for the truth, you don’t want to speak up for Jesus… You’re cool. Or will you be cool? These people have died! They have died because of their witness, because of their stand for the Word of God.

And back to the text, notice what happened. They’re under the alter…

Revelation 6:10-11

10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

11 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 been.”

So they’re given white robes. So much for disembodied spirits up in heaven when you die. These people are apparently able to wear robes and told to wait because the carnage isn’t over. There are more to die. Okay, just take a break for a minute. Okay? I know I’m coming at you like a fire hose here.

But just the other day I was with a friend, a good friend of mine, we’ve hung out for about, oh, the better part of a half a year or more. And we’re talking about God and the future and heaven and hell and whether it’s all true. He’s not a Christian. And I said to him, I said, “Let me ask you a question. Do you actually believe in heaven and hell?” His answer struck me! He looked right at me and he said, I quote, “I’m not sure about heaven, but I’d rather think there should be a hell.” Isn’t that interesting? I’ll give it to you again. “I’m not sure about heaven, but I’d rather think there should be a hell.” Now what would provoke anybody to make that kind of a comment? And the answer is theological. God has created every single human being in this world. That’s all of us here. It doesn’t matter. Some of you are not Christians. Several of you are probably not Christians. But you have this as well as we do. Every single one of us have an innate desire for justice. Am I right? You want to see the bad guys get their due. We all want it. You read the books. You watch the movies. You just sort of anticipate it. Bad guys got to get it! Bad guys got to get it! And they usually do. But… Listen to this: Our cries for justice must be mingled with songs of gratitude. I’ll say that again. Your cry for justice must always be mingled with a cry or a song of gratitude. I’m talking to those of you who are actually Christians, because if you’re a Christian, Jesus has taken the justice that you deserve. If we got what we deserved, who would stand? None of us would stand.

And John chapter 3, Jesus, after the most famous verse in all the Bible said,

John 3:17 (ESV), [“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.“]

‘The Son of Man did not come to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.’

John 3:36 (ESV) “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

Have you ever read that?

I had a dear friend in the church I formerly pastored. He was an older gentleman. He was raised in a Christian home like a lot of you. He could hardly remember a time he wasn’t a Christian, he got saved at such a young age, and he had scriptures coming out of his pores! He knew God. He walked with God. And I said, “Well, how did you ever come under conviction where you repented and believed the Gospel?” He said, “John chapter three, verse 18. When I realized that I stood condemned apart from God,” I remember how he put it, “that put the bug on me.”

And some of you still need the bug put on you because as it stands right now, you stand condemned and you don’t know what tomorrow will bring. That’s a cry for justice.

The sixth seal is open in Revelation 6:12, and it’s the cry of the condemned.

Revelation 6:12-17

12 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,

13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.

14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, (because God is not a respecter of people, right? — and their sociological position) hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains,

16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Hm who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, (The wrath of the lamb?)

17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

Just think of those last words, “…who can stand?” David said in Psalm 130,

Psalm 130:3,  “If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?“

It’s a rhetorical question. If God is counting your iniquities, if He’s counting your sins, and He surely is, who among you are going to be able to stand before Him? The answer is none of us, and that’s why the Psalmist says,

Psalm 130:4,”But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.“

Hallelujah? And when He forgives, He hurls those sins away. Justice has prevailed in His Son. Righteousness is given to us.

But these are the individuals. They are the condemned and they’re crying. [Revelation 6:16] They’re the ones like some of you who have refused to repent and believe the gospel. You’ve heard it repeatedly. Every single week you’re hearing it and you keep saying ‘No!’ and you’ll say no forever, because God won’t take you if you don’t want Him.

And that leads us up to the seventh chapter where out of the horrors of the Great Tribulation comes an army of soul winners the likes of which this world has never seen! Verse seven, verse one, rather.

Revelation 7:1-4

1″ After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, (they’re literally involved in the weather patterns of the earth) that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree.

2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea,

3 saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”

4 And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000,” (They’re not Jehovah’s Witnesses!) sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:”

He list them, 12,000 from every tribe and they are… this is God! What He’s going to do, He’s going to seal, He’s going to protect, and then He’s going to unleash 144,000 Jewish evangelists, the results of which will be worldwide and great praise in heaven! And I know what you’re thinking. ‘How do you know they’re evangelists?’ Well, skip down to the verse after that! Verse 9. This is the results of these 144,000 released.

Revelation 7:9-14

9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, (I love that!) with palm branches in their hands,

10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

11 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,

12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, (Who are these people?) clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?”

14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “Ahhh…” (I just threw that part in) “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

Hallelujah! These soul winners will be released around the world and people by the kazillions!  (and I just made that word up!) — will be coming to Jesus! They won’t all get saved, but many of them will! John Wesley, the great evangelist once said,

“Give me a hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin, desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw, whether they be clergymen or laymen. Such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on earth.” John Wesley

And I have to tell you, as a pastor, and I’ve been a pastor for a long time, I have come to genuinely love the distribution of the gifts that God gives to the saints. Every one of you who know Jesus have been gifted. Some of you have just one gift, some of you have multiple gifts, abilities by God to serve others, serve the church. The church doesn’t function without gifts and without gifts functioning amongst the brethren.

And I say all that to say that at the same time I have a very special place in my heart for the evangelists. We don’t have a hundred but we have dozens and they’re changing worlds. Many of you, some of you here, you are the recipients of that gift upon you with the Gospel. Right? If you think about it, here from the text in the midst of chaos, and rebellion, and death, and fear, and cosmic occurrences, there will be cheering in heaven and salvation on earth!

And some of you are thinking, ‘Well, what about the world we’re living in now? Isn’t it chaotic? Isn’t our world rebellious? Isn’t there death? Aren’t there unexplainable occurrences?’ Yes, yes, yes, yes, and a hundred times yes! — and there is cheering, there is cheering in heaven today every time someone crosses over from death to life and trusts Jesus! There’s more joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents! That’s what Jesus said.

And some of you need to repent. You’ve been warned. You’ve been warned so often, some of you have gotten callous to those warnings! Don’t be callous anymore. God loves you! He doesn’t have to prove that anymore. He sent His Son to die for you! Believe that, and place your faith in Him. Because some of you, you know…

By the way, Jesus… people are always looking for America. They’re always looking for the United States in the Bible. I found it! I finally found it after, you know, 40 years of walking with Jesus. I found it. It’s in Luke chapter 12. Now they’re not listed as United States, but it’s the parable that Jesus gave. He said… He talked about a man who had just amassed an enormous amount of wealth, and so he asks the question, “What am I going to do with my wealth? Should I distribute it? — or, I’ll just build a bigger barn.’ Remember that parable? That’s America, right there. We just… that’s what we do. You just get wealthier, get bigger, get fatter… get more lethargic about everything spiritual. You know what Jesus said to that guy?

Luke 12:20, “But God said to him, Fool! This night your soul is required of you…”

There may be somebody in this room right now or who are watching online, and this night, God is going to require your soul. He might require mine! You’ve been warned. What are you going to do? When are you going to heed the loving and sometimes severe warnings of God?

There’s a seventh seal, but that’s for the next time. Are you going to get a next time?

We’re going to go from here to the Lord’s Table and they’re all around the church here. And as we get ready to do that, you should know, as I mentioned earlier, that even the Lord’s table is tied into the return of Jesus. And if you’re a Christian, this is a time for you to think deeply about your readiness. Are you ready? Let’s pray.

Our Father, we thank you for this powerful book, these not-so-subtle warnings. And Lord, as we enter into a new year make us more ready. Remove the callousness from our hearts. I pray for those who are in this room right now. They’ve resisted the Gospel. You know who you are. And right now you’re saying, ‘I can’t resist anymore. I don’t have a guarantee of tomorrow. I want to believe in the love of God and Christ Jesus who died and rose again for me. I receive you, Jesus, as my personal Savior. Right now, I accept you into my heart for forgiveness and salvation.’ Would you pray that? And then, Lord, is the rest of us ready for your table, well, make us ready. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.