This sermon delves into Revelation chapter 7, exploring the judgment of God unfolding through the seals, the significance of the 144,000 sealed from the tribes of Israel, and the worship in heaven. It emphasizes the importance of surrendering to God, the cleansing power of the blood of the Lamb, and the promise of God wiping away all tears in the future.

You may be seated and let's turn to Revelation chapter 7. The judgment of God has begun in chapter 6 and it is in this little scroll titled D to the earth with seven seals and through the first four seals, one fourth of the earth's population is destroyed. As we go a little further on, we'll find that another sequence of events, another third of the population of the world will be destroyed. So heavy days coming for those that are upon the earth and as Jesus spoke of these days of the great tribulation in Luke 21, he said, pray always that you'll be accounted worthy to escape these things that are coming upon the earth and to stand before the son of man. In the sixth chapter there in the fifth seal, John sees an interesting group of people. They are under the altar, they are the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice saying, how long, oh Lord, holy and true before you judge and avenge our blood on those that dwell on the earth. They were given white robes and it was told to them that they should rest for still a little season until their fellow servants also and their brothers should be killed as they were should be fulfilled. So now as we get into the seventh chapter, after these things, after the sixth seal and before the seventh seal of this scroll is broken, I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth that the wind should not blow on the earth nor on the sea nor on any tree. Now you know there are always people that are looking for some kind of error in the scriptures and they will latch on to anything that they perceive to be a misstatement, an error, because they are working hard to try and prove that the Bible is not the word of God so that they can excuse the kind of living that they want to live without feeling guilty at all. And so this is one of those verses that they oftentimes jump on. I saw the four angels standing on the four corners of the earth and they say, you see the Bible teaches that the earth is flat, four corners of the earth. Though the Bible does in other places tell us that God hung the earth in the midst of the skies and that it used to be that they thought that the earth was on a giant elephant or something. But the United States Marine Corps, I guess, also believes that the earth is flat because they used to have a sign at the enlistment center and it said, the Marines are in the four corners of the world. So I guess that they believe that the earth is flat too. Talking about the four corners, it's just northeast, south and west, and it isn't inferring at all or seeking to infer that the earth is flat, but they are holding the winds of the earth. It's amazing the destruction that the wind can create. Now here we are in California and we really don't know much about that kind of destructive wind that they know in the other part of our nation in the Middle West and so forth where they have these fierce tornadoes and so forth. And we just don't really experience those much here in California, nor do we get to see the heavy damage that wind can create. But it would appear that there are going to be, during this period of time, tremendous devastation from winds. These angels are holding back but ready to release these winds. Not just the east or the south or the north or the west, but just all four directions, winds coming from them, that they should, that they're holding them back that they should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God, and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And so we now read of these servants of God that will be sealed and spared from the devastation of these four winds, and further on, we will see that they are also spared from further judgments that will be coming. But I heard the number of them which were sealed, and there were sealed 144,000 of all of the tribes of the children of Israel. Now it is interesting that there are many groups that seek to claim that they are special and that they are the 144,000. Their group comprises the 144,000 that are going to be sealed of God and protected from a certain devastation that will take place in the Great Tribulation. The Jehovah Witnesses have been a group that claimed to be the 144,000, and when their numbers exceeded that, then they made up another kind of special place for the Jehovah Witnesses. In other words, if you didn't make it in already, that allotment is full and you can't make it. So, you know, they say that figures don't lie, but liars sure can figure, and that's one of those things, you know. There was another group known as the World Tomorrow, Herbert W. Armstrong, and they also laid claim to being the 144,000 that the Lord was going to seal. But if you read, just plain read, the text, it makes no sense, and that's sort of nonsense, isn't it? That a group would try to claim to be the 144,000 because it tells you very plainly they are of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Now, in case you didn't get that, he then does lists, 12 of the tribes, and he says 12,000 from each of these tribes, so 12 times 12,000 is 144,000. It can't be any clearer or any plainer, and if the plain sense makes sense, don't look for any other sense, and it's plain. Here, Judah, 12,000, tribe of Reuben, 12,000, the tribe of Gad, 12,000, tribe of Asher, and goes on to list the tribes, telling you 12,000 from each of the tribes. Now, as he gives the listing here of the tribes, it is interesting that he doesn't list the tribe of Dan or the tribe of Ephraim, and Dan was the first of the tribes to go into idolatry, and Ephraim also went into idolatry, so instead of listing the tribes of Dan and Ephraim, he does list, of course, the tribe of Joseph. Now, Ephraim was one of Joseph's sons. Usually in the listing of the tribes, you don't read of Joseph, but you read of Ephraim and Manasseh, and they were two of Joseph's sons, and you remember when Jacob finally met Joseph, and he, Joseph came to his father, who he had not seen in years, and Jacob, you remember, put his hands on the two sons as Joseph brought, I mean as, yes, Joseph brought his sons to his father. He brought them in a position so that, and Jacob was going to bless them, so that Jacob's right hand would be on the older son, and Jacob crossed his hands and put his right hand on the younger son, and Joseph said, no, no, dad, and he tried to change his, son, I know what I'm doing, and sons, know this, your dad usually knows what he's doing, but he then blessed them, and the greater blessing upon Ephraim, the younger of the two, but they are the twelve sons, and Joseph here is listed, Manasseh is also listed, and Levi is listed. Now, usually, Levi is not listed because the tribe of Levi did not receive any inheritance in the land, and apportioning the land out to the various tribes, they apportioned certain sections to each of the tribes, and Jacob said to Joseph, these two are mine, whatever sons you have from here on, they can be yours, but these two are mine, so Jacob claimed the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, and then in the listing of the tribes, you usually find Ephraim and Manasseh listed, they received their portion in the land, but there was no portion for the tribe of Levi, but they had cities for the Levites throughout the land, but no portion was given to them. It said God was their portion. So, the names of the sons are interesting, and especially the order in which the sons are listed here. Oh, and just incidentally, though Dan is not listed as being sealed to escape a part of this great tribulation, in the book of Ezekiel, in the future, when the Lord comes, again, the land is going to be apportioned out to the tribes of Israel, and in the 48th chapter of Ezekiel, in the apportioning of the land to the tribes, Dan is the very first tribe to get his allotment, and there I see the grace of God and the goodness of God, though he isn't spared through the great tribulation, yet in the future, he is the first of the tribes to get the apportionment, and of course, also Simeon, I mean, also Ephraim gets an apportion of the land in the future. So, Judah is the first one listed here, of the Judah 12,000. The name Judah means praise of God. Reuben, the second one listed, it means viewing the sun. Gad, a troop is coming. And Asher means blessed. Leah, the mother said, happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed, and she called his name Asher. Naphtalene, it means wrestling or striving. It was a difficult pregnancy, and so she called him striving, striving in her womb. Rachel said, with great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister and prevailed, and so she called his name Naphtalene. And Manassas means forgetfulness, and Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manassas, for God has made me to forget all my toil in my father's house. And the name Simeon means hearing or obeying. She conceived again, bore a son, said because the Lord has heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also, and called his name Simeon. That is, the Lord heard my distressful cry. The tribe of Levi means joining or cleaving to. Genesis 29-34, she conceived and bore a son and said, now my husband will be joined unto me, because I've borne him these three sons, and called his name Levi. Ishkar means reward. Leah said, God has given me my hire, because I've given my maiden to my husband, and she called his name Ishkar. Zebulun means to dwell, and Leah said, God has endued me with good dowry, now will my husband dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons, and she called his name Zebulun, to dwell. And Joseph means added, and she called his name Joseph, and said, and this was the first son, of course of Rachel, and said, his name Joseph, for the Lord shall add to me another son, and she did have another son, called his name Benjamin, son of my right hand. Sort of putting the names together in the order that they're listed here in Revelation is interesting. A praiser of God, viewing the Son. Blessed ones, wrestling with forgetfulness, but hearing and obeying the Word. They hold to the reward of a heavenly dwelling. In addition, they have become sons of God's right hand. And so, the order in which the names are given, when you give the interpretation of the names, it is interesting. And of course, if the names were in any other order, it wouldn't make any sense. And so, evidently, the Spirit of God was directing the order of the names of the tribes given, who are sealed, and they go through a portion, at least, of the Great Tribulation. They will be 144,000. They will be, as we said, Israelites, 12,000 from each of these 12 tribes. And they will be probably the greatest evangelists the world has ever seen. And God will use them during the Tribulation period. They are sealed by God to go through the Tribulation. They are a type of Noah in the Old Testament, another time in the history when God brought judgment upon mankind, the judgment of the flood. And God saw Noah, a righteous man, and he ordered him to build this large ark. And it said that Noah went into the ark and God sealed the ark, so that Noah went through the great judgment of God upon the earth. He survived being sealed by God. And so, these 144,000 Jews who are going through the Great Tribulation, they find a type in Moses, I mean, Noah. But you remember Enoch. He walked with God, and he was not, because God took him, but before God took him, he had this testimony that he pleased God. And without faith, it is impossible to please God. Enoch becomes a type of the church who is raptured before the Great Tribulation, and thus does not have to go through the Great Tribulation, whereas Noah, a type of the 144,000, sealed of God to go through the Great Tribulation. So, after this, John said, I beheld, and lo, there was a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, kindreds, people, and tongues. And they stood before the throne and before the Lamb, and they were clothed with white robes, and they had palms in their hands. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God, which sits upon the throne, about the elders and the four living creatures. And they fell before the throne on their faces, and they worshiped God, saying, Amen, blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, and power, and might be unto our God forever and ever. Amen. It's interesting. We do get insights into the worship in heaven. It's interesting to note that all of the worship is directed towards God and towards Jesus Christ. As we sing, the Lamb is all the glory in Emmanuel's land. There's one thing that we must be careful of, and that is trying to take glory in ourselves, or glory in our accomplishments, or even glory in what God has done in or through our lives. One of the quickest ways to bring an end to the anointing of God upon your life is to take credit for what God has done. God does want to work. God desires to work. God uses human instruments to accomplish His work. And as the Prophet Hannah and I said to Asa the king, don't you know that the eyes of the Lord go to and fro throughout the entire earth to show himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are toward him? Don't you know that God wants to work? Don't you know that God is looking for people through which He can work? But when God does work through an individual, God wants the glory for the work that He has done, and not the glory to the individual. So, if you find that you are blessed and God is using your life, make certain that you don't take the glory for what God has done, but that you give the glory to God. There is a constant and prevalent danger of people seeking to take glory that belongs to the Lord. You remember in the book of Acts, when Peter and John were going into the temple at the hour of prayer, and there was that lame man there who was seeking alms. And Peter said, look on us. And the fellow reached out, expecting to get a coin. And Peter said, don't have silver and gold, but what I have, I'll give to you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Stand to your feet and walk. Peter took him by the right hand, lifted him to his feet, and immediately the man began to walk, began to jump up and down, began to run around and grabbed hold of Peter, so that all of the people said, isn't that the lame man who's been there at the gate all these years? And it said, sure looked like him. And they came around Peter, gathered a huge crowd as this man was holding on to Peter. And they related somehow that with his joy and excitement, they related the miracle of his walking to Peter. And Peter, when he saw that they were trying to give adulation to him, said, ye men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why do you look upon me as though I, or us, John and I, through our own righteousness have done this good deed to the lame man? Be it known unto you that it is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you denied in the presence of Pilate, and you delivered him to be crucified. It is by him and through his name that this man stands here before you all. But they were ready to worship Peter. They were ready to give credit to Peter, to give glory to Peter for what was done to that lame man. And he was used as an instrument of God, but he was wise enough not to let the people worship him or hold him up in high esteem. But I'm just an instrument. God used me, and it was the Lord. And to give the glory to God for the things that God does. And so here we find that the praise and the worship to God there in heaven, this great multitude that John sees from all of the nations and families and people and tongues, standing before the throne and before the lamb, clothed in their white robes, palms in their hands, and crying with a loud voice saying, salvation to our God, which sits upon the throne and unto the lamb. And the angels join into the worship, along with the cherubim and the elders, and they say, amen. Blessing, glory, wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might be unto our God forever and ever. Amen. Now, one of the elders, John said, ask me, who are these who are arrayed in the white robes, and where did they come from? And I said to him, sir, thou knowest. In a modern vernacular, you would have said, search me. I mean, I don't know. And so, he then tells John, these are they which came out of the great tribulation. They've washed their robes, made them white in the blood of the lamb. Now, going back to the sixth or the fifth seal, verse nine of chapter six. Here's this multitude in heaven, and they're under the altar. They were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice saying, how long, O Lord, holy and true, that you not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth. White robes were given every one of them, and it was said to them that they should rest for yet a little season, until their fellow servants also, and their brethren which should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. It would appear that these, this multitude in heaven, are those who were under the fifth seal, calling for God to bring them into the heavenly scene. They were under the altar and sealed, or they were under the altar and calling for how long before we can join in. As we read of them here, they came out of the great tribulation. They've washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. So, you have that back, you know, in the fifth seal, those were given white robes, told to wait a little while. And therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve him night and day in his temple. And he that sits on the throne shall dwell among them. And they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and lead them into the living water or fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. As we look at this multitude in heaven, not the church. If they were the church, John would have known them. They came up out of the great tribulation. The church is going to escape the great tribulation. As Jesus said, as he talked to the great tribulation in Luke 21, pray always that you'll be accounted worthy to escape these things that are coming upon the earth and to stand before the Son of Man. Peter, speaking of the tribulation, talked about how that Lot in the Old Testament, the nephew of Abraham, that righteous man who was vexed by the way the people were living around him. It was a community where the homosexuals had really controlled and were ruling in the city of Sodom. And when the two angels came to destroy the city of Sodom because of the sin, Lot insisted that they come in and spend the night in his house. And the men of the city, you remember, surrounded the house, tried to get in and tried to force these two angels to come out that they might abuse them sexually. And Lot offered his daughters instead. And how that the angel said to Lot, you've got to get out of here. And, you know, in the morning, they led him out. And they said, we cannot destroy the city until you are safely out of the city. And so, there was that, as Peter gives us really a commentary on that, he said how that God spared that righteous man Lot. For God knows how to spare the righteous, but to reserve the ungodly for the day of tribulation. So, as Peter is making the commentary on that, he is showing how that God spared the righteous. You remember in the story of Lot, how that when the Lord told Abraham they were heading down to Sodom to destroy, Abraham said, but what if there are 50 righteous men? Would you destroy the righteous with the wicked? You're the Lord of the earth. Shouldn't you be fair? Shouldn't you be just? And the Lord said, if there are 50 righteous, we'll spare it. What about 40? What about 30? What about 20? What about 10? And if there are 10 righteous, we'll spare it. But there weren't 10. There was just the one righteous man Lot. And the Lord delivered him, for the Lord knows how to deliver the righteous, but to reserve the ungodly for the day of judgment. So, here we find that they came out of the great tribulation. I believe that the greatest revival the world will ever see will take place immediately after the rapture of the church. I do believe that when the world, especially people who have had a smattering of understanding of the Bible, had witnesses, Christian people witnessing to them of what is going to transpire and how the Lord is going to come and take his church out of this sinful world, I believe that the rapture of the church is going to be a great awakening for millions of people. And I believe that they are going to turn to the Lord and cry out unto the Lord at that time and that there will be still an opportunity for them to be saved. I do not believe that the rapture is going to end the opportunity of salvation, but it's a hard way to go. And if you're figuring on going by that way, you'll find it's going to be tough. If you don't have the courage to live for Christ today with the help of the church, with the help of the Holy Spirit, the fellowship within the church, if you can't live for Christ with all of the things that are going for us here, how in the world do you think you're going to die for Christ when that day comes? I think that you're just putting yourself in a very precarious place, and yet there will be, as he says here, this great number, and they've washed their robes in the white and the blood of the Lamb, and they're before the throne of God, and they have come up out of the great tribulation. But by martyrdom, as we go back to the fifth seal in chapter six, as they are asking, how long, O Lord holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood on those that dwell on the earth? They have been martyred for their testimony and for their refusal to take the mark of the beast, and so they are crying actually of how long before we have our place. Who are these? Where did they come from? They came up out of the great tribulation, washed their robes, made them white in the blood of the Lamb, and standing before God. In looking at this whole scene, the salvation through Jesus Christ, they are crying with a loud voice, salvation to our God which sits on the throne and unto the Lamb. Reading in Isaiah 53, Christ the Lamb of God, slain for the sins of the world, he was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shears, he is dumb, and so he opens not his mouth. Zechariah prophesied, in that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness. Matthew 26, 28 declares, for this is my blood in the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins, as Jesus took the cup of the Passover and gave it to the disciples. In Acts 20, 28, Jesus said, or not Jesus said, but Paul is saying to the elders, take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all of the flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you the overseers, to feed the church of God which he has purchased with his blood. Ephesians 1, 7, Paul declares, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. Ephesians 2, 13, but now in Christ Jesus you who were one time far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Hebrews 9, 11, but Christ being come a high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, not that is to say not of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us. Hebrews 9, 13, for if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctified to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Hebrews 10, 19, having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiness by the blood of Jesus. If you walk in first John 1, 7, if you walk in the light as he is in the light we have fellowship one with the other and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. Revelation 1, 5 the opening salutations and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead, the prince of the kings of the earth unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. Revelation 5, 9 the redeemed in heaven and they sang a new song saying thou are worthy to take the scroll to open the seals for you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. And here we find in 716 the chapter we're in tonight there they shall hunger no more neither thirst anymore neither shall any light or sunlight on them nor any heat. We'll get to that in a moment. Dealing with the blood of Jesus it's interesting that the blood of Jesus is referred to as the price of our redemption. Sin was condemned by God. In the Old Testament he warned Adam if you disobey and you eat of the fruit of that tree you will surely die. That's the consequence of sin, death. The wages of sin we read is death. The life of the flesh is in the blood and so in the Old Testament because man had disobeyed and was under the penalty of death, sentenced to death, God provided this whole system of sacrifices where when you sinned there was a way of covering the sin. Not putting it away but covering it. You would take a lamb out of your flock, it had to be without spot, without blemish, and you would bring it to the priest and he would and you would lay your hands on the head of that little lamb and as you laid your hands on its head you would confess your sins and as you confessed the idea was the transferring of the guilt of your sin onto this little lamb and then the priest would slit the throat of the little lamb, take the blood and put it on the altar and it made a covering for your sin or atonement but the word atonement is kofar which means a covering. Didn't put away your sin but it did cover your sin and of course the animal sacrifices in the Old Testament and then on the day of atonement the sacrifice of the goat and it was all the blood represented death and you were conscious of the fact as this little lamb that you'd taken out of your flock as it was slain there, it was your guilt that caused its death. You'd transferred the guilt as you confessed your sins touching the head of the little lamb and it was certainly something that was very graphic. If you saw that little lamb dying you'd realize my sin caused the death of this little lamb. It was all prefiguring the coming of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God as Jesus made his public appearance and John the Baptist saw him he said behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world not covers he takes them away but these were all prefiguring the coming of Jesus. The perfect sacrifice the blood of Jesus Christ shed for our sins and so all of these passages that we read to you deals with the blood and how that it made the Jesus through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God to purge your conscience and therefore having holiness having boldness turned into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. So Hebrews tells us that the blood of bulls and goats could not take away our sins it could only look forward to this perfect sacrifice that God would offer in that he offered his only son to be slain to shed his blood there upon the cross that we might have redemption for our sin. Because our redemption is related to the death of Jesus the shed blood of Jesus for our sins because of that Satan has fought the idea of the blood the blood of Christ being shed for our sins Satan has fought that concept and even in the church so many of the churches today from their hymnals they have removed all of the hymns that refer to the blood of Jesus Christ what can wash away my sins nothing but the blood of Jesus what can make me whole again nothing but the blood that's been removed from the hymnals of practically every major denominational church they don't sing about that anymore because Satan realizing that our salvation is related to the shed blood of Jesus Christ seeks to squelch that church seeks to keep people from that truth and thus it's something that we find has been a real target of Satan through the years we find that so often people refer to Christianity as a bloody religion well yes it is it cost Jesus Christ to give his life to shed his blood the life of the flesh and the blood to shed his blood for our sins it was costly and so we here they are acknowledging really that these are they which came out of the great tribulation and they've washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb and so it is um it's something that you can't just sweep under the rug it's the price that was paid to redeem you and me from sin so uh the blood of Jesus Christ God's son john said cleanses a man from all sin now as you get down to verse 15 these people that john sees who came up out of the great tribulation wash their robes made them white in the blood of the lamb therefore they are before the throne of God and they serve him day and night in his temple and he that sits upon the throne shall dwell among them the place of the church in heaven is the bride of Christ not really sitting in the temple but uh Jesus gave the promise to he that overcomes I will grant to sit with me on my throne even as I have overcome and have set on the father's throne so the place of the church in heaven is different from the place of these who have been martyred for their testimony of Jesus Christ so having been here on the earth they did experience much of the judgment of God that came upon the earth ultimately martyred and thus saved through martyrdom but notice they shall hunger no more neither thirst verse 16 and the sun shall not light on them nor any heat in revelation chapter 8 next week the first angel sounded and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood and they were cast upon the earth and a third part of the trees were burnt up and all of the grass was burnt up and the other angel sounded and the he talks about the judgment against the waters the fresh waters and the name of the star is called wormwood and a third part of the waters became as wormwood and many men died of the waters because they were made bitter or poisonous in revelation 6 6 I heard the voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying a measure of wheat for a penny three measures of barley for a penny see that you don't hold don't hurt the oil and the wine a tremendous shortage of food and thus those that are here on the earth will experience a great famine there are indications that there will be a very serious war with nuclear weapons and the radioactive fallout will pollute much of the food supply of the world so that it will be inedible and thus a great famine and hunger and thirst the water supplies fresh water supplies being destroyed and and it's going to be uh really a heavy duty thing so that these people that came up out of the great tribulation while they were here experienced the hunger experienced the thirst and experienced that great problem with the sun increasing in its intensity and the sun shall not light on them nor any heat they will thirst no more going through great thirst here on earth david said how excellent is thy loving kindness oh god therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings they shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures for with thee is the fountain of life and in thy light shall we see in thy light shall we see light jeremiah said for my people have committed two evils they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters and they've hewed out cisterns broken cisterns that can hold no water jeremiah is really speaking about the folly of the people as they had forsaken the fountain of living water the lord jesus christ and they had hewn out cisterns now a cistern was sort of a reservoir because the land is uh very arid during the summer period they would carve these huge cisterns out of the rock and they would store the runoff rainwater in the rainy season in these cisterns the problem with the cisterns is that the water gets stale these little wiggly things in the water and also you'd have to strain it to drink it but it was it was at least you know a way to supply your water during the drought or the summer season but some of the cisterns you'd carve them out spend years carving into the rock these cisterns and somehow you missed that there was this fissure in the rock and when the rains came and you went out to you know gathered the water you found that the bucket hit the bottom of the cistern the water just didn't stay in it didn't hold the water and that's what jeremiah said they're broken cisterns jesus the fountain of living water water is essential for life now water being essential for life people try to create systems of belief but they are broken cisterns they can't hold water and and so with man-made religions they are broken cisterns they just can't hold water and jeremiah speaks to that the two evils forsaken the fountain of living waters fresh water running water and hewed out these cisterns but they are broken cisterns they can't hold water jesus said whosoever drinks of the water that i shall give to him shall never thirst but the water that i shall give to him shall be in him a well of water springing up to everlasting life jesus said in the last in the last day the great day of the feast jesus stood and cried saying if any man thirst let him come unto me and drink and he that drinks of the water that i give out of his innermost being there will flow or gush torrents of living water john tells us that he was speaking of the spirit which was not yet given revelation 21 verse 6 right towards the end he said to me it is done i'm the alpha and the omega the beginning and the end i will give unto him that is thirsty of the fountain of the water of life freely here it tells us that he is going to wipe away all the tears he said to me thou must prophesy make your product jump to page god shall wipe away all tears from their eyes the end of the chapter there job said man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble quite a picture of life short and full of trouble but we all know what it is to experience sorrow to experience the pain of sorrow we don't escape that and uh there is trouble in isaiah 25 8 he prophesied he will swallow up death in victory and the lord god will wipe away tears from off all faces and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from all take from off all the earth and the lord has spoken in isaiah prophesied in 30 19 for the people shall dwell in zion at jerusalem they shall weep no more he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry when he shall hear it he will answer you revelation 21 4 god shall wipe away all tears from their eyes there will be no more death nor sorrow nor crying so the beautiful future that the lord has for those who do love him the tragic future that the lord has for those who reject his son jesus christ and who want to go their own path it's going to be a rough rough go and i believe with all my heart that we're in what is called in the scriptures the beginning of sorrows things are bad i don't think they're going to get better i think they're only going to get worse how long before the lord takes us out we don't know but surely it can't be very long the way the world is going today the conditions of the world and even the united states today our president declaring that we're not a christian nation though in past it has been declared by the supreme court and by so many of our early presidents that we are a christian nation trusting in the lord under the current government there's the denial of that and you know i think that if we want to deny the lord as he said if you deny me before men i'll deny you and i think that we're going to suffer the consequences of trying to legislate god out of our nation pretty much legislated him out of our public schools and trying to legislate him out of government and i see only hard times ahead the outlook is very dark and very bleak but i'll tell you this the outlook is exciting and look up lift up your head jesus said because your redemption is drawing nigh father we thank you for the hope that we have in christ jesus and lord as the world is just in a tailspin and there seems to be no no real logic or reason for the folly of man and as the sin of the world is abounding and as the love of many is waxing cold lord we pray that that shall not be the case with us but may our zeal for you and our love for you only increase in these days lord we pray that you will just really stir our hearts in these last days to really live recklessly for you lord touch our hearts in our lives in jesus name we pray amen shall we stand pastors are down here at the front to pray for you tonight i don't know what your spiritual condition is but i'll tell you what it's not the time to be messing around with the world or the flesh or the things of the flesh it's time to get very serious concerning your relationship with the lord and i would encourage you tonight if god's been speaking to your heart respond to it and just really surrender your life to live for jesus christ and to really commit yourself fully to him and so as we're dismissed you're welcome to come forward they'll be here to pray for you and to pray that god will just really touch your life and and set a fire in your heart that will burn until jesus comes again the lord bless thee and keep thee the lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee and be gracious unto thee the lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace