 Today, we're in Revelation chapter 7. We're going to be looking at the entire chapter, and I chose simply to refer to this as the 144,000. So, beginning at verse 1, reading to verse 8. Revelation chapter 7, beginning at verse 1, reading to verse 8. After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then 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 granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. And I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed. Of the tribe of Judah, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Gad, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Asher, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Napthali, 12,000 were sealed. Of the tribe of Manasseh, of the tribe of Simeon, of the tribe of Levi, of the tribe of Issachar, of the tribe of Zebulun, of the tribe of Joseph, of the tribe of Benjamin, 12,000 were sealed. Now, as we look at this, let me give you a brief introduction, and then we'll move into chapter seven. Let me remind you that chapter six introduced a time in the history of man that is still future. For us, it is still future. And it's a time that is called the tribulation. Now, the tribulation is a seven-year period of time that occurs after the rapture of the church, when Jesus Christ takes the church to be with him, after the rapture of the church and before the return of Jesus Christ. The tribulation is a time of God pouring out his wrath on a world that has rejected the Lord Jesus Christ, and is also the time when Jesus takes back the earth from Satan, who has usurped the authority of Christ. Revelation chapter six gave us a view of what would take place when Jesus began breaking the seals of a scroll, the tidal deed of the earth. As each seal was broken, we saw escalating judgments that began to fall upon the earth. In Revelation chapter six, we see the antichrist revealed, widespread violence breaking out, extreme inflation, war escalated along with spreading famine and pestilence, increasing persecution of believers and martyrdom, the increase of natural disasters, including a mass of earthquake and perhaps meteor showers. We saw that in chapter six as we're going through that chapter. Now, these events that we're looking at that we looked at in chapter six took place in the first three and a half years of the seven-year period called the tribulation, and the result was that it became clear to some that the lamb was behind all of this judgment. The lamb is behind the judgment, and they make it very clear in verse 17 when it said in chapter six, the great day of his wrath has come and who is able to stand. What were they saying in verse 16? They were saying to the mountain and the rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb. And so you see that this is referred to as the wrath of the lamb. They recognize that it's Jesus or Messiah that is pouring out his wrath. Now that's an interesting thing, and I want to touch that for just a moment, because normally when we think of Jesus we do not associate him with wrath. When we, in the 21st century, and we've been doing this for centuries, when we think of Jesus, we think of him meek and mild. We think of Jesus carrying a lamb over his shoulder with kind of a weak smile in his face. We see him as a lamb, but we see him with a mildness about him. And so it's hard for believers, especially hired for those of us who have experienced the grace of God, to realize that Jesus Christ could actually have such wrath that he pours out in this period of time called tribulation. It's hard. It's hard for the church. We are so soaked in the grace of God that it's difficult for people to even believe for a moment that Jesus actually meek and mild would pour out wrath like we find in Revelation chapter 6. But the problem is, as we forget that, he's not only our Savior, but he is also the judge of the whole earth. Jesus does show his anger. He does in the New Testament. Mark chapter 3, we have an interesting story there. Jesus was in a synagogue. There was a man there, the Bible says, who had a withered hand. He was there in the synagogue along with Jesus Christ. And as the religious leaders are watching Jesus closely, they're watching him. And this is ironic to me, to be honest with you, because Mark makes it very clear that they're watching to see if he's going to do something good. That's what they're doing. They're watching him closely to see if he's going to do something good. When's the last time somebody is watching you? They said, I just know they're going to do something good. If I keep an eye on them, I will bust them doing something good. My mom never said that about me. If I keep watching him, I know he's going to do something good. I'll catch him at it. But that's what took place there. They knew that he was going to do something. They saw this needy, they saw Jesus, and they knew that Jesus was going to do something good. So they watched him closely. And so Mark chapter 3, verses 4 and 5 tells us that Jesus said to them, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill? But they kept silent. And when he had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, he said to the man, stretch out your hand. And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. He looked around at them how? With anger. Jesus did show anger. You say, well, yeah. Remember in John chapter 2, remember how the Lord Jesus Christ is the beginning of his ministry and Jesus enters into the temple? And there are the money changers and all. There are the people who are ripping off the pilgrims. It's very interesting how that Jesus is there during the Passover. He does go into that temple. He does see those money changers. He sees the people selling animals. And what does he do? It was pointed out by one of our recent speakers that he just began slowly to fashion a whip. He made a whip. That's what it says in John chapter 2. He made a whip of cords. Now, can you picture that? Jesus is watching all that's taking place, and he's getting some cords together, and he's putting it together because he's going to go and drive them out. And he was angry. It says in John chapter 2, verse 16, he said to those who sold doves, take these things away. Do not make my father's house a house of merchandise. And it is mentioned of him that the zeal of the Lord consumed him. Does the Lord Jesus Christ show anger? Yes. Not only did he show anger at the fact that people wanted to leave a man with a withered hand untouched and unhealed, not only did he get upset in the beginning of his ministry when he fashioned that whip of cords, but at the conclusion of his ministry, he once again entered into the temple and once again cleansed it. Mark tells us in chapter 11, verses 15 through 17, they came to Jerusalem. Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. He would not allow anyone to carry wares through the temple. Then he taught, saying to them, is it not written, my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have made it a den of thieves. He wouldn't allow them to come past him. He stood there as a guard in the temple. So in the next time you begin to think of Jesus meek and mild, Jesus was a bad dude. No, I don't say that disrespectfully. He's the, he's God on earth. I mean, he's corsies. Of course he's powerful. Of course he's got authority. Of course he has that, that presence about him. Of course he does, but sometimes we forget that. You see Revelation six revealed Jesus displaying his wrath. That's what we saw as the lion of the tribe of Judah, but we now enter into chapter seven. Chapter seven is what is called parenthetical. It actually separates the six seal judgment from the seventh seal. The seventh seal isn't resumed until chapter eight verse one. And chapter seven actually is giving to us an answer to the question that was asked in verse 17 when the question was asked, who's able to stand? Who's going to be able to stand when the wrath begins to pour out his judgment? And the answer is going to be those who have found the grace of God through Jesus Christ. What we see in chapter seven is two major groups of saints in the tribulation and we'll look at them. When you look at verses two through eight, you see one set of those who are being referred to. Then when you look at verse nine to the conclusion of the chapter, you see the second. Now in verses two through eight, we have what are called the 144,000. The 144,000 representatives of the godly remnant of Israel are being referred to here. These are the ones that are, they're during the period called tribulation. These believers will survive. They're going to survive the seal judgments, the trumpet judgment, the bowl judgments that are going to come upon the earth. They're going to survive anti Christ persecution, the wars, the famines, the natural disasters, the diseases and all the evil that breaks out. They're going to enter the millennial kingdom alive because as we see they have the seal of God. They are preserved by God. Now you see that in the Old Testament. Noah survived the flood. Lot survived Sodom and Gomorrah. Rahab survived Jericho. There's a remnant that survived the Babylonian captivity. And so these people are those who are going to be passing through. These are people who are going to go and be preserved by the Lord. The second group is found in verses nine through 17. These are the ones who were referred to as tribulation saints. These are those who do not survive the tribulation alive, but they don't experience God's wrath either. They're not coming under his wrath. Some are going to die. They're going to die perhaps during the earthquakes. They may die during the wars and the famines, the disease. They die because, and this is something that really doesn't need to be said, but they die because people die in wars and famines and disease. They're not sealed. They're not going to be preserved. They're actually going to go through and die during the tribulation. So do people actually die who are believers during the tribulation? The answer is yes. These are tribulation saints. Notice verse 13 and 14, and we'll get there in a moment, says, one of the elders answered saying to me, who are these irate in white robes and where did they come from? I said to him, sir, you know, he said to me, these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation and wash their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. These are called tribulation saints. We'll look at that group in just a moment. Will anyone be saved after the rapture occurs is a question that people sometimes ask. After the rapture of the church, there will be people placing their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. Why? Because God's desire to save people continues. Remember with me in the Gospel of Luke chapter nine. Interesting story there. It's found in verses 51 through 56 in Luke chapter nine verses 51 through 56. It says, as the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem and he sent messengers on ahead who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him. But the people there did not welcome him because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them? None of us have ever wanted to do that, right? Do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them? They were greatly insulted. Why? Jesus's face was set to go to Jerusalem. He is passing through Samaritan village. Samaritans and Jews have no dealings together. Jews normally would cross the Jordan to the east and and skirt it as they went south or cross the Jordan and go north across the Jordan and pass Samaria. And yet these Samaritans would not receive Christ who was about to go through and all. And so the response of his true blue disciples was, let's just smoke them. Can we call fire down from heaven? Jesus turned and rebuked them, went to another village. The Lord is not slack as some encounter slackness, but his long suffered, a long suffering toward to us were not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3 9 God's desire is for all to come to repentance. God's desire is to save people. And during the tribulation, the Holy Spirit continues to work to convict sinners of their need for salvation. Again, I mentioned a moment ago chapter seven has been referred to as a parenthesis. In chapter six, we saw the opening of six of the seven seals on the scroll chapter six, verses one and two introduced to us the antichrist with the break into the first seal, the seven year tribulation period began. Now the tribulation begins with the signing of an agreement between the nation of Israel and the antichrist. Daniel tells us when the clock begins to mark the start of the tribulation. In Daniel chapter nine, verse 27, speaking of antichrist, it says, he will confirm a covenant with many for one seven. In the middle of the seven, he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple, he'll set up an abomination that causes desolation until the end that is decreed is poured out on him. This seven is seven years. This is a seven year period according to Daniel nine 27. And so the tribulation is a seven year period broken into two segments of three and a half years. You have what is called tribulation, which is the first three and a half years. And then Jesus spoke concerning great tribulation, which represents the last three and a half years. You'll see that clearly as we go into some of the further chapters here in Revelation. Again, we looked in chapter six at the opening of the six seals of the scroll. They introduced the tribulation. And this opens the time of call what is called the wrath on earth. The things that we've looked at, according to Matthew 24, eight were the beginning of birth pains. Now we would expect chapter seven to continue with that theme, but it doesn't. You don't pick up with that theme again until chapter eight, verse one. Again, we looked at chapter six, verse 17, where the question was asked, who's able to stand? The answer, of course, is no one. No one is able to stand. No one would be able to stand when God pours out his judgment. If God didn't show mercy and grace in Habakkuk, chapter three, verse two, it says, Lord, I have heard of your fame. I stand in awe of your deeds, oh Lord, renew them in our day, in our time, make them known. Then he goes on to say, in wrath, remember mercy, in wrath, remember mercy. So chapter seven reveals God giving mercy. It's been called the calm before the storm. Verse one, that's all your introduction. We better get into the chapter after these things. I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. So I saw four angels. These are ministering spirits, and they're actually actually acting out in a merciful way. Now notice these angels are portrayed as restraining the wind, and as they're restraining the wind, it produces an eerie calmness. Nothing is stirring. What happens when the wind begins to be restrained, when they're holding these four winds of the earth and the wind should not blow on the earth? What happens? Well, there's something that is called the hydraulic cycle. It's not raining, there's what happens is there's a drought that is going to take place. And with that drought, there's going to be starvation, there's going to be pollution, because there's no rain. And so what is happening in this calmness is people are given time to think because God is bringing judgment. When it speaks of four corners, there are those who say, see these backwards people actually thought that the world was square, and it had four actual corners. No, that's an old term, even in the Bible times, four corners represents the whole earth. It's not actually four corners, it's just an expression concerning the whole earth at that time. Now, in this case, what we're seeing is judgment being typified with the winds. It says in Jeremiah 49, 36, upon Elam, will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven and will scatter them toward all those winds. And so this is a picture of judgment. He says, I saw in verse two, I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried out, he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea saying, do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees that we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. So he has the seal of the living God. The seal represents ownership. And it also represents security. The seal that we're looking at here are believers. They are the redeemed and they're being protected by God. Now notice it says he's ascended from the east. We need to remember that Jerusalem would be to the east of Patmos. And so he's possibly saying he's coming from that direction. And the order in verse three is, do not harm the earth, the sea, the trees that we've sealed the servants of our God. So divine protection is given to these servants. Even when facing persecution from the beast, these will be protected by God. And he goes on to say, verse four, I heard the number of those who were sealed. 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed. Now God is revealed here as being at work within the nation of Israel. And in verses five through eight, he begins to give names of tribes. He speaks of the tribe of Judah, etc. What we need to know at this point is he's speaking concerning the nation of Israel. He is not referring to the church because the church has been raptured. And these 144,000, I'll say this briefly, is not in reference to Jehovah's Witnesses. I have had conversations as perhaps most of you have, which shows the effectiveness of their door to door ministries. Or they actually go door to door and talk to people. I have had conversations with Jehovah's Witnesses and within their own literature, they will tell you that the 144,000 are Jehovah's Witnesses. Is that what the Lord is saying here, that these are Jehovah's Witnesses? No. He gives to us the tribes of Israel and he names 12 tribes. And when I've spoken to Jehovah's Witnesses on this particular matter, I've asked them, which tribe do you come from? Now I'm a Mexican. I come from the tribe of Reuben. Where do you come from? God is at work in the nation of Israel. Let me give you five reasons. I'll say these briefly. God is at work in the nation of Israel. This is the nation of Israel. This is not in reference to the church. Why would God be at work in the nation of Israel? One, it's because God loves the nation of Israel and God keeps his promises. In Genesis 12, one through three, the Lord had said to Abram, leave your country, your people, your father's household, go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you. I will make your name great. You will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you, I will curse and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. Zechariah two eight through ten for this is what the Lord Almighty says after he has honored me and has sent me against the nations that have plundered you for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye. I will surely raise my hand against them so that their slaves will plunder them. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me shout and be glad oh daughter of Zion for I am coming and I will live among you declares the Lord. One, God loves the nation of Israel. God keeps his promises. Second, why would this be Israel? Messiah comes from Israel comes from the nation of Israel. Romans one three. Jesus was made of the seed of David according to the flesh. Third, God gave the Bible to the nation of Israel as his revelation. No other people received this word as Israel did in Romans chapter three verses one and two. What advantage then is there in being a Jew or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way. First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. So God gave the Bible to the nation of Israel, his revelation. Fourth, God was revealed to the rest of the world through Israel. In Romans chapter nine three through five, I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. There's is the adoption of sons. There's the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship, the promises, the people of Israel. There's is the adoption of sons. There's the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises. There's are the patriarchs and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ who is God over all forever praised. Amen. God was revealed to the rest of the world through Israel. And fifth, God is not through working with the nation of Israel. He's not through. Romans 11, one through five, did God reject his people by no means? I'm an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people whom he foreknew. Don't you know what the scripture says in the passage about Elijah? How he appealed to God against Israel? Lord, they have killed your prophets, torn down your altars. I am the only one left. They're trying to kill me. And what was God's answer to him? I've reserved for myself 7000 who have not bound the knee to Baal. So too at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. God is not through working with the nation of Israel. Now here we have a list of 12 tribes. Here's something for you. Some will say, how can that be? How can the tribes be known? Well, God has declared in scripture to be all knowing. So I'm going to have to assume that if God is all knowing, he knows who is part of the tribes of Israel. God knows when man doesn't. There are websites right now that you can go on and it's called Jewish genealogical websites and they have what they call deep DNA testing. And if you were interested to see whether or not you had Jewish ancestry, you could actually go on to these websites and you could find out whether or not somewhere in your background you actually have relatives or Jewish heritage. This particular website, as for others, is concerned with and wanting to discover people with Jewish ancestry because they're looking for what in Hebrew it's called the koen, the priests and they're trying to find what are called the koanim, the priesthood. And so they're looking for that in particular because they're trying to line up the lineage of priests. If your name is koen, the koen is the Hebrew word that speaks concerning priests and even to this day when you see people whose last name is koen, that's referring to the fact that they come from a lineage of priests. And so you can go on these websites. They have something called a Sephardic website, Jewish genealogical websites and a variety of those things. And for those of you who are Hispanic, perhaps you may be interested to know that there are many Hispanics who actually derive their ancestry from Israel. And you can find quite a number of Jewish Hispanics in a variety of places, including South America, Central America. Here in the United States, you can go just outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico and there's a good group, a good-sized group of Hispanic Jews. And you may very well have Jewish ancestry within you. I could go into that with you. I'm actually interested in that kind of thing and we've done some personal research on that. But there are people who are greatly interested in that kind of thing at all. So there are people who are actually looking and trying to find people of Jewish ancestry today and they're finding them through deep DNA testing. You can actually know for a fact though that you don't need deep DNA testing. In reality, God knows. And it's interesting, as you see that in 2 Timothy 2 verse 19, it says, nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription. The Lord knows those who are His in James 1. This is interesting. In the introduction of the book of James, chapter 1 verse 1, it says, James a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes scattered among the nation's greetings. So in his mind, the 12 tribes are still in existence and God knows those who are His. Now, when you look at these 12 tribes named here, in his list, two tribes of Israel, Dan and Ephraim are eliminated and they're replaced. You don't see the tribe of Dan and you don't see the tribe of Ephraim. Why is that? Well, the common answer and I think the correct one is very basic is this. These were two tribes that were guilty of idolatry. As a matter of fact, idolatry was as first mentioned in regard to idolatry with the tribe of Dan, but Ephraim was also associated with idolatry. You can look into Deuteronomy chapter 29 verses 18 through 21 and in that portion, this idolatry is strictly forbidden. But when you look in Judges chapter 17 into chapter 18 verse 30, both of these tribes are in the context of idolatry and therefore there are those who would say and I think rightfully so that they're eliminated because they introduced idolatry into the nation of Israel. Now, beginning in verse nine, one, these are the tribes of Israel, literally. These are the ones who are sealed. These are the ones who are going to go through the tribulation and they are going to be unharmed because God protects them. But now you look at a great multitude of Gentiles. Verse nine, after these things I look, 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 and crying out with loud voice saying salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne into the lamb and 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 saying amen, blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honor and power and might 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? I said to him, sir, you know, so he said to me, 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 they are before the throne of God, serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore. The sun shall not strike them nor any heat for the lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. How sweet is that? Every nation, notice with me please, every tribe, every people and every tongue. These are in reference to Gentiles and notice how they're dressed. They're with white robes. White robes is a picture of righteousness. It's a picture of purity through the cleansing of the blood of Jesus Christ. They have palm branches. Palm branches are a symbol of triumph. Remember with me when Jesus entered into the city on Palm Sunday and notice also they had songs of praise, Psalm 1491 says praise the Lord, sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints. These are people who are worshiping and praising God and I want you to see this with me for just a moment. Notice how it says in verse 11 and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God. Do you think they did that to be seen by men? No. Is there a place for believers to worship God with such intensity? Absolutely. What's the problem sometimes? The problem sometimes is I'm impure and I might do something to be seen by men and not by God. But guess what? In heaven you don't have that problem. In heaven you're not falling down in your face so the person next to you will look at you and say, oh what a very holy worshiper that one is. Have you ever been in the quiet of your own worship time, you and Jesus? You're in your house, you're in your room, perhaps you're driving your car, but you're alone. It's just you and him and have you ever been overcome by the Spirit of the Lord in that fashion where the Spirit of God is just moving in you in such a righteous way where you go, oh God, you're too much. Have you ever done that? I have. I can't honestly say I have often. I can't say I have enough, but I have. There have been some times in my work where I just cry, where I'll just, it's just Jesus in me, you know, and I just will, I'll just shake my head and I'll just say, oh God, and I'll just say, oh God, you're just so much. You're too much. You've blessed me so much. Thank you Lord. Amen. See this is not, listen guys, this is not something that's weird. You know, some people are very restrained in the worship and God bless you. I'm not saying you need to jump around and swing a tambourine around us or, you know, get on a chandelier and swing through the hall. I'm not saying that. I don't think you have to dance around and do weird stuff either. Please, I'm not saying that at all. What I'm saying is true worship. True worship is when you just, if your knees are not on the ground, your heart is. If your face isn't touching the carpet, your heart is before the Lord, before God. Worship is not a boring experience. Singing praise to God is not a boring, it's never been intended to. As a matter of fact, I want you to notice something here. Notice verse 10. It says, crying out with a loud voice. With a loud voice. You know, that throws some people off because for them worship is just kind of quiet. But it isn't, it isn't worship. Guess what? I think that heaven's going to be kind of a noisy place. I do. I do. You know, sometimes when you watch the babies, when they're singing songs to God, I don't know if you ever have a chance to do that. But when you, when you see the little ones and they're screaming at the top of their lungs, you know, that is so precious. You know, I suspect that that's pretty much what we'll be doing one of these days. You know, just, my son, David, when he was a little, little boy, maybe four years old, had a little girl down the street that he would play with. Her name was Crystal. And David was a very evangelistic four-year-old. He was the kind of little boy. If you had him in the cart and you were going through the groceries, you know, purchasing groceries and you're going through the line and he was in the cart, he would look at the checker. He did this all the time and he would say to the checker, do you know Jesus? Do you know Jesus? You know, and they say, oh, yes, we do. And they'd give Maria a little look like, yeah, you got your son's kind of little weird little guy, huh? You know, you know Jesus. I can remember when salesmen came to the door one day and knocked on the door and said, little David was standing next to the door and he was only around four years old. And he looked up at the salesman and the man looked down. Hi, little boy. And I happened to be right behind Dave. Hi, little boy. Is your father home? And David looked up at him and he said, yes, do you know Jesus? And the man smiles and says, yes, I do, son. Yes, I do. And then David says, what church do you go to? Because he wasn't, you know, you can't say that to me. Where do you go to church? Where do you fellowship? You know, don't be playing me. You know, that was David. I remember this little girl named Crystal and David was trying to lead her to Christ. And he's, like I said, four or five years old and he used to ride his bike in the front yard with Crystal. And I remember him saying, Crystal, just say praise the Lord. Just say praise the Lord. And Crystal would say, no. And he said, and I could remember him riding past and she's going, no. And he'd say, no, Crystal, just say, praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. No. And then he said, like this, and he yelled at the top of his lungs. I still remember it's just in my heart forever. He yelled at the top of his lungs, praise the Lord. And he's riding past the house of his little training wheels just screaming at the top of his lungs, you know, praise the Lord. I suspect that we're going to fall on our faces before God loudly. I really don't think that we're going to be just kind of like, well, bless you, Jesus, you know, I just don't see that. I mean, this is that they cry out with a loud voice. This is loud. This is loud praise. They're saying, so, you know, you guys, you guys are too loud. Your music's too loud. No, it's not. It's not. Heaven's going to hurt your ears. It's going to hurt your ears. And they're screaming it out. Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne to the lamb. And they're worshiping God. They fall on their faces and they cry out, amen, blessing and glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power and might be to our God forever and ever. That's what you call sevenfold praise, blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power and might. It all belongs to Him. These are the tribulation saints. These are the ones who are martyred during the tribulation. Out of the nations, they will, they will still be being saved during this time. They're going to give up their lives for their faith in Lord Jesus Christ and they're before the throne and they serve Him there night and day. There's a special place of blessing. There's a place of preeminence. There's a place of honor for them. And what touches me deeply is God will wipe away every tear from their eye. Tenderness, tenderness. I've done that with my own children. Have you, parents? I've done that with my grandbabies where they have cried because of their mean mother. I've done that where they're crying and I hold them in my arms and I rock them and I'll put my hand underneath their little eye and I wipe away every tear and I hold them and I kiss their faces and I rock them and that's what Jesus is going to do. Can you picture that in your heart? He's going to hold you and rock you. You look up his face as he wipes away every tear. You look into his face and you'll cry no more. No more pain, no more sorrow, no more hurt, no more disease, no more death, no more fear, but joy swallowed up in the glory of God. Praise God. That's what the Lord is promising. He will lead them to the fountains of water. He's in the midst of the throne. He will shepherd them. They will neither hunger or thirst. They will not be struck with the sun. There'll be no more heat because Jesus will shepherd them. I bless the Lord for the promise of God to these tribulation saints. They went through something terrible but they'll never cry again and for them I am certain not a single one would ever say that it was not worth it. They will all say it was worth it. It was worth it.