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New geneva.org on the day that Jesus entered into Jerusalem, the people were scouring the hills in search of the perfect sacrifice for their upcoming Passover meal. However, they didn't realize that the ultimate sacrifice was right in front of them, riding into town on a donkey. In today's study of Revelation 7, we'll consider Christ's triumphal entry in light of its prophetic, heavenly fulfillment. Two weeks from now, two weeks from now, Christian churches will celebrate a day that we call what Palm Sunday. Now, what is Palm Sunday? Palm Sunday is the day when we remember Christ's entry into Jerusalem. The week before his death, Christ enters into Jerusalem. What did the people do? They shout out hosanna, which means save us, please. And they let down palm branches in their blankets and clothes. And like before the passage of Christ, with that said, on Palm Sunday, on the first Palm Sunday, no one in their right mind called it Palm Sunday at all. Why, that day had a different meaning for those that were gathered on the hillsides in Jerusalem. This to them, was not Palm Sunday. This for them was what you might call lamb selection day. Now, what lamb were they looking for? Well, remember what they're about to celebrate. The reason for the pilgrimage, the reason everyone's going to Jerusalem, was to celebrate the Passover. The Passover was coming up the following week. So what are they doing on this particular day? They're out looking for perfect lambs. Why? Because that's what you sacrifice for the Passover. Way back in the book of Exodus, what happened? The angel of death comes through the land, decreed through Moses to the people that those who would be spared in Egypt would be spared for this reason and this reason alone that they would go and seek a perfect, unblemished lamb. Then they would take the blood from that lamb from the sacrifice and put it on their doorposts. And that night, when the angel of death passed through the land, he would pass over them. When the angel of death passed through the land, he would pass over the houses that were marked the blood of the lamb. So that's what they've been doing for century after century after century. And that's why they did it. It was a remembrance of this great event, save all the people there across the hillsides, just out of Jerusalem, they're buying and selling, exchanging, and they're looking for the perfect lamb to slaughter for the Passover sacrifice. With that said, how fascinating, how wonderful, and not coincidental at all in the economy of God, but how wonderful was it that on that very day when the people were out looking for the perfect lamb, that the perfect lamb walked right in their midst. Now, did they understand that? No. When the people chanted hosanna, save us please, what did they want to be saved from? Rome. They want to be saved from Roman depression, hardship, cancer, diabetes, gout, whatever. There's all manner of things that they wanted to be saved from. Specifically, though, Rome. Rome had the people under its boot, so they wanted to be saved. And here came a guy that the rumors had. It was doing healings and miracles and all sorts of wonderful stuff. Just very recently, he had resurrected Lazarus from the dead, and they began to talk about that. Did you hear what happened? Did you hear about this guy named Lazarus? So there was a great deal of rumors about this particular guy. And before long, everyone's pointing, saying, that's the one. That's the guy. What did they do? They. They start taking their palm branches. Palm branches were signs of a nationalistic Israel. It was on the coins and the like. Palm branches were the signs of the zealots overed against Rome, the people who really hated Rome. Palm branches were signs of their own nationalistic fidelity there in Israel. So palm branches were a sign of their own people, their own unity. They laid them down before a king, and they hoped that that king would ride in and kick out Rome. This guy would enter into the city and usher in the days of milk and honey. That's what their hope was, that he might do with that. Said they had a couple things right. One of the things they had right was this, that he was a king. There was a king coming. There was a king who was entering into the city. In that sense, they had that right. However, they had an entirely different understanding about what his reign and rule would look like in the near term. Their desire was a king that could boot out Caesar, could boot out Rome, could save them from the oppression that they were under. Well, Jesus did come to save them. Hosanna. Save us, please. He did come to save them, but not from that which they cared about. They wanted to be saved from hardships. There's a lot of people in churches around the globe this very morning who want us to be saved from hardships. Would you like to be saved from your own personal hardships? I trust you do. But your own personal hardships, be it gout or cancer or diabetes or economic difficulties or whatnot, that's not your biggest problem. That's not the biggest problem in the world around us. The biggest problem. The people here, the people at Walmart, the people at Jones park, is not necessarily the Gout and the diabetes and the relationships that are broken and all those things and politicians and the like. As challenging as those things might be, the that's not the biggest threat that mankind faces. The biggest threat that mankind faces is that God is holy and we are not. The biggest threat mankind faces is that God is good and we are sinners. The biggest threat that mankind faces is that God is just. And if he's just, then he must deliver justice. If you were to look at the way Revelation chapter six closes, the very last words in chapter six is these words, who can stand? Chapter six identifies six seals. They're all bad news. They involve judgment. They involve wrath. Last three words, who can stand? The good news is that God, out of his love for a fallen people, has chosen and elected and made clean a large number of individuals that not only can stand in the day of wrath, but also will dwell with God on high. How is that possible? Well, let's return to today's text, see who these people are, how they're made clean, and what their future is. Let's look at verses 9 and 10, and then we'll work our way through the text itself. Verse 9. Now, after these things, I looked and behold a great multitude which no one could, number of all nations, tribes, peoples, tongues, standing before the throne before the land, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, then crying out with a loud voice saying, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. All right, as we consider these verses, let's remember the context. Let's start with the simple context. Who wrote Revelation? Who wrote Revelation? John. Right. John the Revelator wrote the Book of Revelation. Way back in chapter one, John says what happened. He says that God gave them his vision. At this point in John's life, he's outlasted all the other apostles. The other ones are dead. They've been martyred. You got John. He's an old man. He's on the Greek isle of Patmos. He's basically on the equivalent of house arrest. He's isolated, he's by himself. And he's given a vision in chapter one. It's a vision of events that are yet to come. Now, did John understand everything that God showed him? When John even wrote down the Book of Revelation, did he have it all figured out in his mind? Not at all. You know how many times the Book of Revelation, he's like having to ask the angels, what is going on here? I don't get what I'm seeing. John himself didn't have A totality of understanding of what the book of Revelation contains. And guess what? Neither will you. Those who think that Revelation is a puzzle book and you got the key to unlock it all, be very careful, be very humble. John himself didn't fully, fully understand it. With that said, although he didn't understand every last component, what everything pointed forward to, even though he didn't understand all that, again, he did understand this much. Jesus wins. Jesus wins. Parts of Revelation are notoriously difficult, but verses nine and ten that I just read are not difficult at all. Verses nine and ten. We talked a few moments ago about first Palm Sunday. Well, verses nine and ten is a heavenly recapitulation, the eight dollar word. If you think back to Palm Sunday, as we went through the narrative just a few moments ago on Palm Sunday, what did you have? We had a bunch of people approaching Jesus. You had a great multitude of individuals that approached Jesus. Then, just as in verses 9 and 10, the crowd was looking for one specific thing, for a perfect lamb. Just like In Revelation chapter 7, in the future, there's a great crowd of people. What's their focus? Their focus is the perfect lamb. Just like Palm Sunday. What were the people doing both way back then and in Revelation chapter 7? What are they doing? They're gathered. They're looking for the perfect lamb. And what are they holding? They're holding palm branches in their hands. Now, what are they crying out in this text as well as back in the hillsides in Jerusalem? They're crying out about salvation. You have people, a great multitude, focused on the lamb, palm branches in their hands, talking about salvation. Do you think there's a continuity, a recapitulation of that future event or with that which happened in the past? Yes, 100%. Amen and amen. In order to understand this right, you have to look back and see that text. In the same way to understand that text, you have to look forward and see this text. So the similarities to the original Palm Sunday are striking, but so are the differences. Now, what differences am I talking about? I'll take a closer look at what the text says, the biggest difference is the people themselves. Who is seeking out Jesus there on the hillsides? Well, predominantly Jews, predominantly people from Israel. However, we see in verse nine that in the future and the day yet to come when people are holding palm branches, verse 9 says that they represented all nations, tribes and tongues. For centuries upon centuries. God's covenant was represented by one nation on the face of the earth, and that was Israel. God's chosen people were not the Philistines the Amorites, the Hittites, the Jebusites, any of the Ites, those were not his chosen people. For reasons that escape us, we don't know why he said you, even though you're not a great people, you're not a big people, and you mess up a lot, you're my people. That's what he does for each of us. If you're called by God's name, if you've been elected, chosen, predestined unto salvation, it's not because you're great, it's not because you're grand. In fact, it's in spite of all your sins and errors. But for whatever reason, God's volition alone, he says, that one's mine. Well, he did that with Israel. He said, amongst all the nations, I have chosen you. I have a covenantal relationship with you. For century after century after century, that's the way things worked. However. However, when God made the covenant with Abraham about his progeny, about his ancestors, He. He said, here's the thing. I'm calling you to be a people group, a special people. You're gonna have more sons, more daughters than all the stars in the sky and all the sand on the beach. Although this is true. And I'm gonna have a special covenantal relationship with your people. And I got a special land. We'll call it the Promised Land. And that's where you'll live. Although that's true Abraham, there's something else that's cool. Not only are you going to have this great progeny, all these ancestors, not only is that going to be the case, but through you, even those who are not your ancestors will be blessed. Through you, all the nations will be blessed. Interwoven into the covenant language that God gave to the first Israelite, to the first Jew, to the first Hebrew, was a promise that ultimately the kingdom of God would expand to every tribe and tongue. And we see that there in this text. In this text, we see that on the first Palm Sunday, it was largely Israelites who were gathered around waving the sign of Israel, the palm branch. But we see here in the future that it's God's people, people from every tribe and tongue. Why? Well, because the true Israel is not necessarily those who are descended from Abraham by way of lineage. Rather, the true Israel is all those who share the faith of Abraham. And in Revelation, chapter seven, we see that that great family of faith, the true descendants of Abraham, so to speak, are the ones gathered around the throne. So that's one of the differences between the original Palm Sunday and this recapitulation here in the future. And as kind of an interesting side note, you know, this didn't dawn on me really until like the past 24 hours. I was like, man, what an idiot. I sure missed this one. You know, you and I look back and we look at the text and the growth of the church and all the nations and tribes and tongues, and we just go, uh huh. I mean, we're gentiles living in a gulf port. We take all this stuff for granted. But remember, John is a single dude. He outlived the other apostles. At one point, you could have taken the whole church and basically shrank it down to fit inside the upper room. The church was tiny. It was very small. You have John. He's. He's outlived the other apostles. They're all dead. He's in exile. And he sees this vision at a time when he's got to be thinking that the church is just this tiny little thing shrunk down to a small number, so to speak. And he gets this vision. Great multitudes beyond any ability to number. And not only that, it's so great and so grand that it encompasses people from every tribe and tongue. Do you remember the Great Commission given in Matthew 28? The great commission was what? Go make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the of Son, Son and the Holy Ghost. Well, that sounded well and good then, but they had no picture for what that would actually look like. But John, on this day, on the day he was probably feeling very alone on the Greek island of Patmos, gets this picture that, oh my goodness, look at what happens in the future to the kingdom of God. It grows beyond all measure. Those gathered around the throne in all likelihood were greater than the number of the entirety of those who lived on planet Earth in the time of John himself. The amount of individuals, the amount of those saved across the generations, the amount of individuals he saw gathered around the throne probably outnumbered all those who were even living at the time that he himself was alive. This we take for granted to him. He must have been startled to look out and see that sea of humanity, that sea of different ethnicity and background and experiences and tongues, and to recognize that the promise of Abraham came true. All the nations would be blessed by the Lamb who sits on the throne, because that's what they're all focused upon. They're all focused upon this Lamb. Now, what's another difference? We were talking about some of the differences between the original Palm Sunday and then of Course, this recapitulation here in Revelation, chapter seven. Well, one of the similarities, slash differences, is with regards to what they were talking about. Remember, initially, the people there on the hillsides were crying out hosanna, which sounds very pious. Hosanna, right. What it means is save us, please. And again, as we talked about, what do they want to be saved from? They want to be saved from the hardships in Rome and the like here in heaven. Of course, they're talking about salvation still, but it's a different salvation. In verse 10, the people are talking about salvation, but they are saying, this salvation belongs to our God. Salvation belongs to our God. They were excited about this prospect that they had been saved, not necessarily from Rome, but rather from sin and death itself. Now, let me stop and remind us as we head towards Easter season, just in a few weeks, in order to have a right understanding of salvation. Like, if I asked you, are you saved? I hope you'd say yes. But if I was to follow up, I'd say, from what? How do you answer that question? Don't blurt it out, but think about that. When I encounter people and say, I'm a pastor, they immediately want to tell me what I want to hear. If I was to ask, are you saved? Oh, yeah. How do you know? Oh, I was baptized. I did this, I did that, I prayed the prayer and what have you. Okay, If I was to ask people, what are you saved from them? That question trips a lot of people up. But it shouldn't trip you up. It shouldn't trip you up because we talk about it every time that we break the bread. What are you saved from? Well, here's the thing. You are saved from God by God. You are saved from God by God. What do we mean by that? Well, remember this. You're a sinner. So why is that a problem? It's a problem because the wages of sin is death. But who's the enforcer of that? Huh? Think about that. Who's the enforcer? The wages of sin is death. You're a sinner. Right? That's the problem. We can all say, yes, I have the problem. The whole world has the problem. Everything. Every man, woman and child who's lived on planet Earth since the days of Adam has the same problem. They're sinners. The wages of sin is death. Why is that a problem? Well, of course, the wages we talked about. But who enforces the consequences? God himself. Who do you think is throwing people in the lake of fire? God himself. Anyone who has ever been saved is saved. From the wrath of God. Why? Because He's a just God. He's holy, and he must deal justly with sin. Sin? He cannot sweep it under the coat closet in heaven. God cannot take sin to say, hey, let's forget about it. Let's let bygones be bygones. If he's a just God, he must act justly. This is the great problem we have, that we are sinners, and he must judge sin. We need to be saved from that judgment, from God himself, who is the administrator of that judgment. So how are you to be saved? How are you ever going to be saved from God? Well, there's no force outside of God that can do so. If you're going to be saved from God, you've got to be saved by God. God himself has to say, you deserve punishment. But here's the thing. I'm going to provide the means for your rescue. Now, how is that possible? If the wages of sin is death, someone's got to die, right? Aha. The wages of sin is death. If a man is sinned, a man must die on Calvary. That's just what happened on Calvary. The perfect Lamb, he who knew no sin became sin for us. He willingly went to a cross, and when he was on the cross, the cup of God's wrath was poured out upon him. The cup of God's wrath, for all that which you have done. All that which I have done was poured out on Christ himself as if he was the guilty party. That's the first imputation. God's wrath was poured out upon Christ as if he was guilty. At the same time, his righteousness was granted to us. We who have sinned in great quantity and quality are treated righteous as why? Because our sin was credited to him, but his righteousness was credited to us. Here in Revelation 7. That's what the people are recognizing. That's what the people recognize. And read verse 10 once again. What do they say? They cry out with a loud voice. Meaning they're not mumbling this. They got this truth. They understood what this means. They understood the significance. They understood the consequences. Not mumbling. They cry out with a loud voice. They say salvation. And they knew what they were talking about. Salvation from sin, death and the lake of fire. Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, the Lamb of God. Remember how John the Baptist, when he saw Jesus approaching on the riverbank, what did he say? He said, there's my cousin, there's my cusbro, there's my friend. There's my good buddy? No. He says, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Propitiation, atonement, substitution. These are some of the richest theological words. If you lose touch with what they mean, you won't value what Christ has purchased you back from. Which is why we linger on these things. It's why we do that in remembrance of Him. We remember who he is, we remember what he did, and we remember why it matters. And we rejoice. All right, let's look at our remaining verses with the balance of our time. Let's look at verses 11 through 17. Now, all the angels stood around the throne, and the elders and the four living creatures. And they fell on their faces before the throne and they worshiped God, saying, Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving, honor and power and might. Those are seven things, because this is a sevenfold doxology. Be to our God forever and ever. Amen. Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, who are these arrayed in white robes? And where did they come from? And I said to him, sir, you know. And he said to me, these are the ones who come out of the Great Tribulation. Is that some future tribulation? In a sense, yes. But we've been a tribulation ever since the days of Christ himself. This is not necessarily referring to some group of 144,000 people that that'll be at the very end. This is a reference to the large scope of God's people across the breadth of the church age itself. So we see there the Great Tribulation. These are the ones who come out of the Great Tribulation, washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. Therefore, verse 15. They are before the throne of God. They serve him day and night in his temple, and he who sits on the throne will dwell amongst them. That's the great promise. Emmanuel. What does it mean, Emmanuel? God with us. That never changed. God likes hanging out with his people. As weird and crazy as we can be, and sinful and stupid and all that. God likes to hang out with us. I can't figure that out. Even in the garden, that's what he did. He creates Adam and Eve. And he didn't just create them. Spin them like a top and then stand away to see what they would do. What did he do? He says, I think I'm going to hang out with you all. And he would walk and talk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the afternoon. Right. Now, even after they sinned, he still did that. He could have stayed up at the top. You remember how Zeus is on Mount Olympus, far away? Well, God says, no, that's not for me. What I'm going to do is this. Y' all are going to create a tabernacle, and I'm going to dwell in the midst of it. Wherever you go, I'll go. Then the temple and the like, and then in the church. Age. Where is the temple now? The temple is right here. Where is God dwelling? And you? God wants to be with you. If you look in the mirror and you don't like the person you see, well, that happens. But God does and doesn't change when you screw up. God desires to be with his people. People. And we see that here in verse 15. Therefore, they're before the throne of God, the servant, day and night in the temple. He who sits on the throne will dwell amongst them. Emmanuel. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore. The sun shall not strike them nor any heat. For the Lamb. The Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them. What fascinating imagery. How many lambs shepherd the people? Right here you see, a lamb shepherding the lamb will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Jesus wins. Jesus wins. Verses 11 through 17. If I had to distill it down to the shortest thing you got all the people bowing down before him, praising the one in the middle. The one in the middle wipes away their tears. Jesus wins. But here's the thing. It's not just that Jesus wins. It's that you and I win too, by virtue of our relationship to him. Tell me it's not a victory that a day will come when you're able to dwell on high in a perfect estate and you will never shed another tear. Tell me that's not a victory that you would buy with all your riches right now. Tell me you wouldn't spend all the money you've got, however small or great that is, in order to be free from sin, in order to never cry again, in order to always perpetually be at peace with God and your fellow men. Tell me that's not worth everything. Well, that's what we're granted. It's not just Jesus wins. That's the principal thing here. It's what we certainly rejoice to know. Jesus wins. The devil doesn't. Jesus wins. The serpent gets crushed. Jesus wins. Yes, but we win too. What's going on in this text? In this text we see the people of God with him, and he says amen. This is the way I want it. This is the way I want it. I want to relate to you not just as peons in my kingdom, but I want to adopt you into my family. I want you to be a son. I want you to be a daughter. And I want to forever spend my days with you and you with me. Emmanuel. God with us. How exciting that is. In verse 13, the question was asked, who are all these people? And the short answer is that they're us. The future of God's people is not the pit. It's not hell, it's not Hades, it's not limbo, it's not purgatory. It's none of these things. It's a throne room. And in that room we will have eternal proximity to God Himself, to the one who sits on the throne. In the future, God's people have eternal proximity to both God and to one another. In a place that, as a side note, there's no hunger or thirst or any need of any kind there. In the fullness of time, you and I will have eternal proximity to God. We'll be able to walk and talk with him in the way that our forefathers did in the garden prior to the fall. In the time yet to come, you will have eternal proximity to God. And it will be so cool. Because that proximity is not going to be you having to wait in a queue, you know, like in Disneyland. Do I get to meet with God now? Now, Two hour wait. Hope I get the fast pass. No. In a way we don't fully understand, we'll have eternal proximity to God. And when you encounter God in that context, what does he do? Well, Scripture uses the most tender description it can to describe that relationship. This God will look to you and he will take his hand and do the most gentle thing one person can do for another person. Wipe away your tears. And when they're brushed away, they never return again. When you think of heaven, heaven sounds pretty cool. A place that's free from all the things we hate and is filled with all the things we love. But what makes heaven heaven? What makes heaven heaven is not that it's a cool place with neat or toys. What makes heaven heaven is what the people recognize in chapter seven. What makes heaven heaven is that God is there and that people get to relate to Him. With this sort of proximity. In the future, God will hold us in his everlasting arms. It will wipe away all of our tears. If you and I are a believer this morning, the future can't get any brighter. Than what we see see depicted here now. This morning, as you hear these words, this morning, as you hear about the future, this morning, as you hear about salvation, this morning, as you hear that you've been purchased back from sin and death, this morning you hear about a future with no more tears, no more cancer, no more hardship. This morning as you hear these words, if you had a palm branch, would you lift it? If you had a palm branch, would you say amen? I hope you would. I hope you'd be excited. Because here's the thing. One day you will. Who did John see in this text? He saw you in a way we can't fully understand, Fully explain. What John saw in this text is the totality of God's people gathered around the throne waving palm branches in a way that we can't fully appreciate or understand. When John the Revelator was given this vision of the future and saw all the sea of humanity gathered around the throne in a way that we can't fully imagine, he saw you. Do you appear in scripture? You sure do, right? So when I ask you the question, think you'll wave a palm branch? I know you will. Why? Because that's what this text promises. Let's pray. To listen to other sermons and classes by Dr. Toby Holt, President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, please visit the seminary's website@new geneva.org.