Tribulation Saints!

Revelation 7:9-12

Tribulation Saints!

Revelation 7:9-12, After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰ and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” ¹¹ All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying: “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, Thanksgiving and honour and power and might, Be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” Certainly, all of us who are Christians through the ages have prayed for the salvation of souls worldwide. We have prayed for great awakenings, great revivals, and great moving of God’s Spirit.

We have prayed for people, families, cities, and nations to come to Christ.

We have prayed that someday there will be a sweeping revival across the world that would bring millions of souls into the kingdom. It has been the prayers of God’s people through the centuries that God would bring a great harvest of souls, and He will.

One day it will come. It will be the greatest movement of God’s saving power in terms of sheer numbers that the world has ever known. This anticipation of that should not shock us, because God longs to save.

1 Timothy 2:1-6, Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, ² for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. ³ For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴ who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,

God desires all men to be saved. That’s why He gave Christ, and that’s why He calls on us to pray.

2 Peter 3:9, The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

God is a saving God and that is his nature.

Titus 1:3,But has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Saviour.

Titus 1:4, To Titus, a true son in our common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.

God our Saviour. Christ Jesus our Saviour.

Titus 2:10, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.

Titus 2:13, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ,

Titus 3:4, But when the kindness and the love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,

Titus 3:6, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour,

The Scripture characterizing God and Christ as our Saviour. These and many other texts of Scripture identify God as a saving God. He desires and he plans to save sinners, and that is why Jesus came. He even bears the name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.

As we come to Revelation chapter 7, we see God in His saving activity in numbers never seen up to this time. A time in future history when His most massive saving work will take place in a very brief period of years. At the same time, a most unexpected time, for since God is going to be saving people in a volume never known before in that short space of time.

But the fact is it is the worst of times.

• It is the worst time in human history.
• It is the day of Satan’s full fury.
• It is the time of the unleashing of demonic power over the face of the earth.
• It is the time when the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit is taken away, and sin runs unchecked and wild.

• It is the time of the terrorizing dictatorship of Antichrist and his cohort, the false prophet.
• It is the time of the hellish, murderous reign of terror that causes people to slaughter each other all over the globe.
• It is the time of God’s unrestrained fury, as the whole world is engulfed in His wrath, as He lets loose powerful judgments that destroy men and women.
• It is a time of war, famine, earthquakes, pestilence, death, plagues that will kill billions of people, known as the day of the Lord.
• It is in the very midst of that time that God the Saviour, saving people in a way and to an extent unknown before.

The prayers of all saints, through all the centuries, for such a time to come, will be answered. The saving work of God this time period to come will be twofold. It will involve on the one hand Israel, and on the other hand the nations of the world we know as Gentiles, another word for nations other than Israel.

We know that God has promised to save Israel, and we are waiting for that day.

The apostle Paul certainly prayed for that day passionately, zealously. His heart’s desire was for Israel. His passion was for the redemption of Israel.

Romans 10:21, But to Israel he says: “All day long I have stretched out My hands To a disobedient and contrary people.”

God Himself even, longing for the Jewish people to turn to Him, and they would not.

Romans 11:2, God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying,

Romans 11:11, I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. May it never be.

Romans 11:25-26, For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶ And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;

This promise will come to pass. In Revelation chapter 7, we have already gotten a taste of that. For there we meet 12,000 Jews out of the 12 tribes who will be redeemed, who will be sealed and protected during the time of tribulation, and they will become the evangelists and the preachers of the gospel that will crisscross the globe.

At their preaching, Israel will hear the message of the saving gospel. Eventually they will look on the one whom they have pierced. They will be redeemed, as Zechariah says, and a fountain of cleansing will be opened to them and their salvation promise will come to pass.

Salvation for all Israel is coming. Secondly, there is coming salvation to the Gentiles. This too is promised in Scripture. Set your mind the promise of God to the nations of the world for the ultimate time of salvation.

Genesis 12:1-3, Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him

who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” It was through them that anyone would be blessed. In the Old Testament, any nation or any person of another nation heard the truth through them only. Because the law, the prophets, the testimonies, the ordinances, the covenants, and all the promises of God were given to the nation Israel. It was then, through the means of Israel as the witness nation, that others heard.

It also has the implication about the Messiah will come through the nation Israel, through the very loins of Abraham. Ultimately the Messiah came in whom is provided salvation not only for Jews but for Gentiles. Finally, it will be through the witness and testimony of a converted Israel, and certainly in great part 144,000 Jews, that the rest of the world in the time of the tribulation to come, hearing the truth of Christ, will be saved.

Thus, in Israel, they will be blessed. So, there is a promise there, at the very outset in the Abrahamic covenant, related to the salvation of nations. Psalm 67 is a psalm of praise that the Jews would read and sing. It speaks about God’s blessing to them.

Psalms 67:1-2, God be merciful to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us, Selah ² That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.

Psalms 67:7, God shall bless us, And all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.

God had designed them to be His witness nation. They were in part temporarily failed and had to be set aside, and a new people were called out, namely the Church. But again, in the end at the great testimony of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists, the nations will hear and fear the Lord and turn to Christ.

Psalm 68:32, Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth; Oh, sing praises to the Lord, Selah From the very beginning, there was a call to Gentile salvation.

Psalm 98:3, He has remembered His mercy and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

God put His saving power on display through Israel in order that He might reach the nations of the world.

Israel was never ever called His people to be an end in themselves. They thought that but that wasn’t God’s plan. God didn’t save them as an end. God saved them as a means to reaching the nations of the world. Eventually, though they failed the first time, they will succeed the second time as God converts them, sets aside these marvelous witnesses who preach, and the result is massive Gentile salvation.

Isaiah 11:10, “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious.”

There is a time coming when the nations of the world bow their knee to the Messiah.

Isaiah 49:6, Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ” Always God’s plan with Israel was through them to reach the world, just as when they were set aside His plan was through the Church to reach the world.

This was made clear in the Great Commission, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

Isaiah 52:10, The Lord has made bare His holy arm In the eyes of all the nations; And all the ends of the earth shall see The salvation of our God. Looking at the future time when the Messiah comes, and the world is going to see the power of God. As they see the power of God, they will be saved.

Joel 2:28, “And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. All mankind in the millennial kingdom.

What that means is they must be redeemed during the time of tribulation to go into the kingdom because there will be no unbelievers in the kingdom initially. Some will be born and rejected. But there will be believers, from all mankind, going into the kingdom, as the Spirit of God is poured out on them all.

Matthew 24:14, “The gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all nations, and then the end will come.

So, right before the end of the tribulation, when the Lord comes back and sets up his His kingdom, there will be worldwide gospel preaching across the face of the earth. This is part of the Lord’s plan for the period we know as the tribulation.

Luke 2:32, “A light of revelation to the Gentiles, as well as the glory of the people of Israel.”

God has promised salvation to the Gentile world, and it will come to pass. In John 11, one of the most curious prophesies in all the Bible, because it was given by a deposed hater of Christ by the name of Caiaphas. He made this statement.

John 11:49-52, And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, ⁵⁰ nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.” ⁵¹ Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, ⁵² and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.

Not just for Israel, but the world. The promise that Christ died to redeem people from the world.

Romans 3:29, Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also,

When is this going to happen? There are Gentiles coming to Christ all the time, but when is this great, massive revival that’s going to sweep Gentiles from across the face of the earth. V 9, After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands Singing about salvation.

Who are they, and where did they come from? John is asked. To which he replies, “You tell me.”

1. Description. “A great multitude beyond counting, out of every nation, tribe, people, and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”

Who are they? There are people from every nation. V 14, And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, People give all kinds of explanations. But it is very clearly explained here. By the time John was on the Isle of Patmos, in his old age 96 A.D., and this is 30 years after the last real apostolic action. He is alone as it was now and receiving revelation that is late in the century.

By that time, he knew Gentile churches had been established all over every place. He knew that Asia Minor had been evangelized by the apostle Paul.

He knew that Timothy and Titus had been working in their respective areas, and others who had evangelized Gentiles. So, he knows the Gentiles are going to come to Christ. But what he sees here is way beyond what he could even imagine for the most part.

It should be obvious to you that the Gentile churches were not large. They were beleaguered in many ways. The Gentile churches that we know that existed in Asia Minor have, for the most part, passed out of existence. There is nothing left of the testimony today in most cases.

They were small, beleaguered, and persecuted. To see a massive Gentile multitude singing, “Salvation to our God,” was a very shocking experience. This is different than the 144,000, although some other commentator wrote that he thought this was another way to describe the 144,000, which doesn’t make sense to me since it tells you they are Jews, names the tribe, and these are not.

These are from the nations. But he sees them as separate.

How were they different?

➢ The number of people here is indefinite ➢ The number of people in the prior vision is definite: 144,000. ➢ The tribes of Israel were mentioned there. ➢ Here every nation and tribe and people and tongue. ➢ The people were prepared for perilous persecution.

➢ They are victorious and beyond any persecution. So, it is a distinctive group and a distinctive vision that John sees. It was a shocking thing for him to see Christianity, for which he is now suffering exile on the island of Patmos. He was going to send these seven letters to the churches.

Only two of those churches were faithful. Five of them were in sin at one level. Some of them were even told that they were going to pass out of existence if they didn’t shape up. John has probably got the worst-case scenario in his mind.

But on the other hand, in spite of the littleness of the Church, he sees the massive volume of Gentiles in this vision. What hope that must have put into his heart. What joy. What exuberance, exhilaration, and anticipation.

“I saw a large multitude which no man could count.” The number was too high. The crowd was too large. God knew, but it couldn’t be counted. They counted a million in Nineveh. They counted three thousand on Pentecost and kept counting and counting in the early years of the Church.

So, they could count to some degree, but not this crowd. This is beyond counting. It can’t be done humanly. These people come from every nation, and all tribes, and peoples, and tongues. Now, that same fourfold description appears.

It is a way to designate the people of the world. It is a way to identify broadly and comprehensively the people of the world. Every nation, tribe, people, tongue. As we noted earlier in our study of this tremendous book, those four things speak about descent, language, race, and political association.

No one is left out.

Same phrase appears again and again.

Revelation 5:9,

Revelation 11:9,

Revelation 13:7,

Revelation 14:6,

It just means the mass of humanity crossing all barriers, all lines. The persecuted believers fleeing and preaching all over the world, the flying angel with the everlasting gospel. The two witnesses and the 144,000 are going to be going all over the place preaching the gospel. They are going to ignite a revival that is going to result in this massive number of people embracing Christ.

The Church may not succeed in reaching every nation, but the tribulation saints will. They are going to get a little help. They are going to get some help from the miraculous. The two witnesses who have a miraculous ministry and even rise from the dead in front of the whole gaze of the world.

The angel flying through the heavens, preaching the everlasting gospel in some supernatural way, like some supernatural celestial skywriter. Then the 144,000 who are sealed and protected from any harm doing the same thing.

Then the persecuted believers who are running everywhere, calling people to come to Christ, for whom they are willing to die. They are further described in verse 9. “Clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands.”

Being clothed in white robes gives us some insight into their condition. The word “white” is a word that doesn’t really conjure up in English what it does in Greek. The word Leukas describes a robe. Leukos, from which the word “white” comes that means brilliant or dazzling. It’s a dazzling, brilliant, shining light kind of white. They have robes that are dazzling and brilliant.

The only other people we see in the book of Revelation who are dressed like that are mentioned are in Revelation 6.

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 testimony which they held. In the first half of the tribulation period, even before the abomination of desolation hits at the midpoint, believers who

have come to Christ in those first few years are going to start to be killed. There will be persecution. People are going to begin to take the life of believers, and they are going to die for the Word of God and the testimony that they had maintained.

Here these believers have been martyred, and they are under the altar.

What are they doing?

Revelation 6:10-11, And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” ¹¹ Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed. Leukas stolas again.

We found a similar group. Here there are people from every tongue and nation, and they have white robes. They then would be identified with those people in Revelation 6:9-11., As people who had been identified as believers and had been martyred.

They are the believers martyred. Not just in the first half, but now, in the second half, when the martyrdom is even exaggerated as Antichrist has now taken charge of everything and massacres believers everywhere he can.

Starting before the middle and starting early in the first half of the tribulation or somewhere in the first half, people start to die for Christ, and it accelerates and accelerates. Now there was some under an altar praying.

We don’t know, because there is no number indicated, but from chapter 6 to chapter 7, as you move through the tribulation, that group that’s under the altar has swollen to a mass that can’t even be counted. It shows us the tremendous spiritual revival that is going to happen, even during a time when Christians must pay the high price.

We can’t think of a time when people come to Christ as easy as possible. The greatest revival the world will ever experience will come when the price is the highest it’s ever been. Those white robes are symbols of exaltation.

They are symbols of righteousness. They are symbols of victory. They are symbols of celebration.

All those things are related to the wearing of white robes. There is no need to assume they had actual bodies, because we know they don’t have actual bodies at this time.

How do we know that?

Revelation 20:4, And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. So, up until this time, they haven’t yet come to life.

Revelation 20:5, But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. So, they are still waiting for their bodies to come to life. That doesn’t happen until the time for the initiation of the kingdom there. So, here they are just souls. How can you put a robe on your soul? It’s symbolic. If you didn’t put a robe on a soul, John couldn’t see it because a soul is invisible. The symbol of those souls is that dazzling robe

that they wear symbolizes their righteousness, their exaltation, their victory, and their rejoicing. The souls of those who had been slain. They don’t get their bodies until the end of the tribulation time in preparation for entering the kingdom.

They have palm branches in their hands. Palm branches were associated with celebrations. To the ancients, the palm tree was the perfect tree because it had so many uses. But the palm branch was a very familiar tree in that part of the world, very useful to those people because of all that it provided.

Whenever there was a time of joy or a time of triumph or a time of celebration, palm branches became prominent. They were waved like fans or flags.

John 12:13, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ The King of Israel!”

The triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem is called Palm Sunday because the people were waving palms in their hands. They associated palms with deliverance, with celebration, with

joy. Especially prominent were proms in the feast of tabernacles. The feast of tabernacles was a Jewish commemorative feast which was a remembrance of the wandering in the wilderness, when the children of Israel lived in tents or tabernacles. They would use them when they reconstructed those booths. They would use palm branches for the roofs.

During the Fest of Tabernacles, they would put up little booths to remember the time of their wilderness wandering, and they would put palm branches on the top as roofs.

Nehemiah 8:17, So the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness. Even the Greeks and the Romans would use palm branches as symbols of great celebrations and triumphant victorious times. So, here we see them in righteousness, in victory, in celebration.

The celebrations are not only represented by the white robes but by the palm branches in their hand. The Feast of Tabernacles was, in many ways, the supreme feast because it remembered God had delivered them from the

bondage of Egypt. This was God’s great Old Testament deliverance act provided for them. God cared for them as they wandered through the wilderness. So, it has a sort of deliverance salvation feel. So, here the palm branches are waved at the Messiah in the triumphal entry.

Here again we see them celebrating their salvation with symbolic palm branches in their hands. A fitting backdrop for the one who had delivered them from the world, Satan, Antichrist, death, and hell. 2. Location. V 9, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, Where are they?

They were standing before the throne and before the Lamb. We know where that is, because we have studied Revelation chapter 4 & 5.

Revelation 4:1-2, After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.” ² Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.

They are not on earth. They are in heaven. These are the souls of these people who are now in heaven. The throne is described. The throne that is described as a magnificent throne in chapter 4 and 5. It is the throne of God.

It is the throne where the Lamb is as well.

Revelation 5:6, And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

The throne of God, The throne of Christ. They are in heaven.

How did they get there? One must die to go there. They died. They were martyred.

Revelation 20:4, They were beheaded.

They were killed because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the Word of God, and because they didn’t worship the beast. They didn’t worship his image. They didn’t get his mark. Their souls left their bodies when their bodies were killed.

They died as martyrs, like Revelation 6:9-11. They died for the same things because of the Word of God and because of the testimony they had maintained. These saints are in heaven because of death. Many are martyred. And others who had probably died in the holocausts that are going on in the world, as the judgments of the first six seals hit. Some perhaps died through other more natural means. But here is a massive group of people.

Not just martyrs, but certainly in great measure martyrs and others who have died. It is an international crowd. It is so large it defies counting. Victorious, celebrating, righteous saints who have been faithful to the testimony of Jesus and the Word of God and are now in the presence of God at His very throne.

They are now out from under the altar. Praying that the Lord would take vengeance. They have now seen enough to know he has already done it.

They have been praying Revelation 6:9-11. The sixth seal breaks right after that, and the whole universe begins to disintegrate, and they know the end is near. The seventh seal, the last seal, spells the final end. So, they are no longer under the altar interceding but they are now standing triumphantly before the throne.

They have gotten up, come out from under the altar, and they are standing, ready to see the triumph and to receive their resurrected bodies and come back to inherit the earthly kingdom of Christ. 3. Action.

What are they doing? Standing there. V 10, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” They are worshiping. Their prayers of intercession have stopped for the moment and they are not pleading, “How long, O Lord, how long are you going to let this stuff go on?”

Now that’s changed. Now what they are doing is crying out in worship. Joyful exuberance. “They cry out with a loud voice.” God likes things loud. “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” Two words “our God.”

Nation after nation after nation rejecting Christ. Where Christianity was so strong once in times of the Reformation and it is dead now. A mass of humanity from everywhere. They are singing “Salvation to our God.” God has become their God, and they are now worshiping the God who sits on the throne, and they are worshiping the Lamb.

They have had a change of heart. This multitude of people from all over the world are saying, “Salvation to our God” that simply means we give Him the credit for our salvation. Salvation is the theme of their worship, just like it is of ours.

They have now entered into the fullness of salvation.

They have been delivered from sin, death, hell, and Satan. They are now in the very throne room of God. They are right in His glorious presence and the presence of the Lamb. Their praise is very much like some others. We met a group called the 24 elders in Revelation 5.

They represent the Church for a number of reasons. They have harps. Harps are associated with prophecy. They have bowls of incense which are there characterized as the prayers of the saints. They are praying saints, and they are those who spoke and heard the prophetic word.

They sang a new song.

Revelation 5:9-10, And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, ¹⁰ And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”

They are simply praising God for redeeming the Church. Again, in chapter 7, a new group shows up, and they are praising God for redemption as well. They are not praising for the redemption of the Church.

They are a new group who have come out of the great tribulation according to V14. What we learn here is that the action of heaven is primarily praise! Revelation 5, certainly the 24 elders start the praise, along with the 4 living creatures, the 4 living beings.

Then there is more praise in verse 12.

Revelation 5:12-14, saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!” ¹³ And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!” ¹⁴ Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever. Heaven is just all praise.

Revelation 11:15-18, Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” 16 And the twenty- four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to

come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned. ¹⁸ The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth.”

Revelation 12:10, Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. Praise for salvation, power, kingdom, and authority.

Revelation 19:1, After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honour and power belong to the Lord our God!

They are always singing about salvation in heaven. Because it’s the redeemed and the saved that are doing the singing. All the worship of heaven is to be focused on God and the Redeemer.

Revelation 19:10, And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus.

Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

Revelation 22:9, Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” All the worship in heaven focuses on God and the Lamb. Group of redeemed and ascended souls, in the presence of God, engaged in worship.

Conclusion.

This gives me a lot of hope! It’s wonderful to know that we struggle along in this life, and we have such strong desires and such intense wishes that the gospel triumph. It is inexplicable to me how people can hear the gospel and walk away. From a rational standpoint, it’s irrational. It is absolute foolishness and mindlessness.

We Christians feel like we’re outnumbered. We want to crawl into our little corner and say like Elijah only I am left. We are on the losing end of this deal.

The day is coming when by God’s grace and His mercy the gospel will triumph. It will triumph across the world. The promise of salvation to the nations of the earth will come to pass. It will be the best of times during the worst of times.

But that’s just like God, who in the midst of wrath remembers mercy, in the midst of judgment remembers grace.