Jonathan Edwards 1703-1758, preached a sermon on July 8, 1741 titled Sinners in the hands of an angry God. He spoke of the wrath of God upon those who were living constantly in sin, Edwards opening verse was Deuteronomy 32:35. It reads: “Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; Their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things to come hasten upon them.” The implication of that particular verse is that the people are walking on slippery ground, they are subject to destruction at every turn, even just not looking at what they are doing can cause them to slip and fall.
Edwards goes on to say: “That the reason why they are not fallen already and do not fall now is only that God's appointed time is not come. For it is said, that when that due time, or appointed time comes, their foot shall slide. Then they shall be left to fall, as they are inclined by their own weight. God will not hold them up in these slippery places any longer, but will let them go; and then, at that very instant, they shall fall into destruction; as he that stands on such slippery declining ground, on the edge of a pit, he cannot stand alone, when he is let go he immediately falls and is lost.”
Revelation 7:9-17 is preceded by the opening of 7 seals, these lead us into the beginning of the destruction to follow. Chapter 7 is a respite if you will between the destruction of the sixth seal, which is death to ΒΌ of all who dwell upon the earth and the seventh seal which is the destruction of 1/3 of the water both fresh and salt, and the death of 1/3 of all fish as the water is poison for them and for men who drink of the rivers. The the third of the sun and of the moon and of the stars are destroyed. That is found in Chapter 8.
Returning to Chapter 7, the verses we read today, 9-17 are preceded by a sealing or branding of 144,000 of the men of Israel who believe that Jesus is the Messiah. They are to be sealed and will then go out into the world to witness for the gospel wherever they are sent by God. They will not be killed by the enemies of God for they are sealed by God for protection against the forces of darkness.
In verse 9 we see a great multitude of people from all nations, all tribes, they are standing in front of the throne and the Lamb is seated on that throne. They are crying out before the Lord, in celebration of their salvation which came from the grace of God, by the acts of Jesus on the cross at Calvary and the resurrection from the dead. Then the angels and the elders all begin to join in to worship God.
Then John is asked do you know who these are? John of course must say no, but you know. The elder then tells John who they are. These are those who were saved, and were killed in the tribulation period for their faith. They are as near as any can ever hope to be before the throne of grace. They have a place of service before God himself, they are in fellowship directly with God, they will never thirst, nor hunger, they will not suffer, for their security is secured and their presence in this place means that Christ himself will shepherd them and lead them to the waters of life. They will enjoy all things for God will even wipe away their tears.
What a picture that is for those of us who are personally acquainted with Jesus the Rock of our Salvation. We could of course leave it right here and just give the benediction and go home, unfortunately it is not that easy.
First of all, the question has to be asked, how did all these people come to be before the throne of grace, worshiping and praising God. That would be just fine, everybody lives happily ever after, but.....
Let me return to the reality of Jonathan Edwards sermon. He is talking about Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. As we read the scriptures we find that Israel, a people who had everything, they were the chosen people of God all that was required of them was to following the commandments of God and all would be sweetness and light. But they did not do so, they worshiped other gods, like Ba'al, Ishtar and others, they did not make disciples as they were told to do, but rather ignored God and chased after the things of the world around them. The history of the people of Israel is replete with sin and punishment, read the book of Judges and you will see that it does not mince words when talking about sin and its consequences.
Finally after having suffered invasion and exile from their homeland, after the northern tribes disappear into complete exile under the Assyrians, the people are allowed to return by the Persians to rebuild their temple and the city of Jerusalem so they might worship God once again. However, sin again enters into the picture, culminating in the death of Jesus Christ, and then the rebellion against Rome. In AD 70 they are exiled once again and this time the exile doesn't end until 1947, almost 2000 years later. Millions of Jews have been killed, in the lands where they were exiles, all because of sin. Meanwhile the gentiles were given the reins, and those who believed were grafted onto the tree. We have not replaced Israel, we have become a part of the family of God, let us not think we are the promised people, that is still Israel.
We have been grafted on to the tree, and we now share in the promises of God with the Jews who also believe that their Messiah came in the person of Jesus Christ.
There is however one huge caveat, we are still sinners, we are not any better than those ancient Jews who suffered punishment, and banishment because of their sin. Jesus taught that the law was still to be followed, even though you might be saved by grace, you are still to be aware of the law for it gives a clear picture of what sin is:
Mat 5:17-18 NKJV "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. (18) For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.”
Yet here we are in this century, celebrating those things that God set forth in the law, as sins. We who profess to follow Jesus Christ, lie when we are willing to murder innocent life so that we can do what we want and call it choice over our bodies. We lie when we say that homosexuality is just another way of showing love, or when we allow men to enter into women's rest rooms an locker rooms. Especially when it is a teen boy claiming to be a girl. A parent who allows a 5 year old to say I want to be a girl, and they go out and buy girls clothes and treat this little boy as if he were a daughter.
In ancient Israel, God sent the Assyrians to punish Israel for their sin, later he sent Babylon to punish Judah for their sin, finally sending Rome to destroy Jerusalem and the temple, all because the sons of Israel could not live for God.
In the year 1776, the Continental Congress approved and signed a document called the Declaration of Independence. That document says in part: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The truth is that Edwards was speaking to a people who professed to believe that God was ruler. They had come to America to escape from the tyranny of the State Church, they wanted to be able to worship God freely, and so we have in the Constitution of the United States the 1st Amendment which states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
So why is it today that we have a Federal Government trying to supplant the church with the secular rule of people who hate God, and want to rule by force? It is because we who call ourselves Christian, have not followed Jesus Christ, but rather our own selfish interests. We have allowed the government to invade our lives more and more and now we find government telling us what we can and cannot do in and out of Church. You see there was an interesting quote made by Martin Neimoller in an address to Congress in 1968 and it says: "When Hitler attacked the Jews I was not a Jew, therefore I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the Catholics, I was not a Catholic, and therefore, I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the unions and the industrialists, I was not a member of the unions and I was not concerned.
Then Hitler attacked me and the Protestant church - and there was nobody left to be concerned."
There are other versions of this quotation, but this one appears in the public record as a part of a speech he delivered to our US Congress on 14 October 1968. If we do not stand for something, then the government will tell us what is allowed, and that is what is happening today. The question asked at the end of Revelation 6 is this: “For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" Chapter 7 says there are 144,000 members of the Messianic Jewish people, who will stand, the Christian's who have stood are now awaiting God's vengeance to happen to those who have killed, maimed and tortured them for their faith. So the question that must be asked is this: Can you stand, will you stand for Christ?
