 Okay, what we're going to do is we're going to conclude our study of chapter six and then move into chapter seven So let's begin reading here in Revelation chapter six at verse nine I'll read to the end of the chapter and we'll get into our study then I'm going to pick up at chapter seven and move from chapter seven and go through the through the Go through that chapter. So beginning here in Revelation chapter six verse nine When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain For the word of God and for the testimony which they held and they cried out with a loud voice Saying how long oh Lord holy and true until you judge in avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth Then a white robe was given to each of them and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer Until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who would be killed as they were was completed I looked When he opened the sixth seal and behold There was a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair the moon became like blood The stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up and every mountain and island was moved Out of its place the kings of the earth the great men the rich men the commanders the mighty men Every slave every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne From the wrath of the lamb For the great day of his wrath has come and who is able to stand And so as we've seen Jesus has been opening the seals of the scroll We saw that the scroll is the title deed of the earth and as the Savior Jesus is the one who can open that Scroll in Matthew 28 verse 18 Jesus came and spoke to them saying all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth So he has all authority as the one with all authority. He is also the one who is worthy He's worthy of glory and honor and power and he's worthy to open up that scroll Now Revelation 5 tells us that no one in heaven or earth was able to open the scroll and lucid seals John made it very clear as we looked at that chapter that no one was even able to look at it And when John had seen this he broke into tears He cried with great emotion his tender heart was touched by that because He began to wonder is the earth to remain in sin and sorrow will evil continue Will oppression reign will sickness and death prevail will sorrow Remain is there no future for us at all. Is there no hope. It's no freedom from our pain Who would want to live in a world that remains like it is today and even gets worse than it is today So as we've seen Jesus took the scroll from God's hand and worship broke out as the Lamb of God He was slain he redeemed us the scripture says by his blood and heaven exploded in worship to Jesus The one who was slain the one who's worthy We saw that after receiving worship Jesus began to open those seals he began to unleash judgment and The judgment was portrayed by the four horsemen of the apocalypse There was one that was riding a white horse and this one brought false peace under the rule of antichrist The second wrote upon a red horse bringing war and violence The third wrote on a black horse unleashing terrible famine and financial devastation You know as I was going through my notes in preparing I thought financial devastation How can I illustrate that I didn't illustrate it completely last week? And so I was thinking about it and so even today many don't realize what an immense debt We as a nation carry The national debt I was looking it up and it's changing constantly, but the national debt is estimated to be 27 trillion dollars 27 trillion dollars, and I say that and none of us blink because none of us know what that means That is such an immense number that I can't get my mind around it I can't figure that one out 27 trillion dollars and when I'm watching the news so often they're talking about all this We're gonna have this kind of bill and it's gonna bring it's only gonna cost us a trillion dollars And so we have gotten so used to these numbers. I began to wonder how can I illustrate what that really means You see that number 27 trillion is beyond anything that I can imagine so I looked up how long it would take to spend one trillion dollars How long would it take to spend one trillion dollars if you spent one dollar per second? So that's something I can begin to kind of consider So how long would it take to spend one trillion dollars at the rate of one dollar per second? You see to spend one million dollars at that rate would take 11.57 days Would take 11.57 days for me to spend a million dollars one dollar a second But to spend one billion dollars at that rate would take 31.7 years 31.7 years spending a dollar a second for 31.7 years to spend one trillion dollars Would take 31,688 years To spend 27 trillion dollars Would take 855,576 years So next time you hear it's only a trillion dollars Think about that and think about our national debt And so there's going to be there's going to be an incredible inflation. There's going to be financial stress We're already beginning to experience that we just don't realize it You see the opening of the fourth seal revealed a horseman on a pale horse And this horseman brings death through war famine and pestilence and as we saw one quarter of the world population will die And so in verse nine he opened the fifth seal And john says I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of god And for the testimony which they held So this seals the events begin in the first half and they mark the midpoint of the tribulation The tribulation is a period of god pouring out his wrath for seven years This seals the events begin in the first half at the midpoint of the tribulation These are those who are martyred after the rapture. These are people who came to faith in christ during the tribulation They had come to faith in the lord and they were persecuted and killed They were martyred for the word of god and for their testimony of his saving grace Notice how he says in verse nine that he saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain When it speaks of the altar that altar that he's speaking about most likely represents the altar of incense in the old testament In exodus chapter 40 verse 5 it says you shall also set the altar for altar of gold for the incense Before the ark of the testimony and that would represent prayers So john is speaking of the souls of those who had been slain And these martyrs haven't yet experienced bodily resurrection that will occur later in revelation chapter 20 verse 4 And notice what they're saying in verse 10. They cried out with a loud voice saying How long oh lord holy and true until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth Look, look at what they're crying out. They're crying out for justice against their living persecutors Now as i was reading and preparing this it began to think of how unpopular it is today to speak of god as actually having A wrath it's unpopular to speak of god as being a god of vengeance Because we know him as a loving and compassionate a merciful and a graceful god And yet we need to remember that he also reveals himself as just and a god who actually takes vengeance isaac 35 verse 4 says Say to those who are fearful hearted be strong do not fear Behold your god will come with vengeance with the recompense of god. He will come and save you So they're crying out for justice to the god of justice And this kind of crying out is found often in the old testament The psalmist in psalm 7910 says why should the nations say where is their god? Before our eyes make known among the nations that you avenged the outpoured blood of your servants In psalm 83 17 and 18 Let them be confounded and dismayed forever. Yes, let them be put to shame and perish That they may know that you whose name alone is the lord are the most high Over all the earth you see this over and over again in the old testament, especially a crying out for vengeance a crying out for justice Well, the the ones who are crying out here are called tribulation saints They are the overcomers if you will They've been martyred for their faith in christ even as jesus had prophesied in matthew 24 9 When he had said you will be hated by all nations because of my name And so they're crying out How long in verse 11? Then a white robe was given to each of them And it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer until Both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who would be killed as they were was complete So these white robes are given to them When it speaks of them receiving white robes that speaks of the fact that they've been washed in the blood of the lamb And in verse 11 says they are to rest a little longer until their fellow servants and brethren are killed in other words The tribulation is not complete There are going to be even more who die for their faith. So you need to wait until that number is completed And so in verse 12 I looked when he opened the sixth seal And behold there was a great earthquake And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair And the moon became like blood The stars of heaven founted the earth as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind The sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up And every mountain and island was moved out of its place The kings of the earth The great men the rich men the commanders the mighty men Every slave every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb For the great day of his wrath has come and who is able to stand Now this takes place After the midpoint of the tribulation has passed Again, jesus prophesied this in matthew 24 He had said there'd be famines pestilence and earthquakes in diverse places But this particular earthquake Is the mother of all earthquakes It brings terror upon the people we've had earthquakes so many times. We're californians You know, you'll you know earthquake will hit before you know it. Everybody's on facebook. Did you Now those are all the old people on facebook. I guess the younger ones go other places But yeah, we're used to it. Aren't we we have heard earthquakes during church services on more than one occasion I'm thinking about how we had just moved into a building on maple street in ontario and we were having a wednesday night bible study and as i was teaching We had an earthquake the little building we're in began to shake and I have never seen people move so fast They were running out. They ran out ran out and I saw him running out of the doors A lot of people are very afraid of earthquakes. We had a secretary Who had a a bit of a fear of earthquakes and her her Desk was right next to a wall You know and I walked up to the wall while she was there typing and I started hitting real on the wall like that until it started She got up ran out. It was a lot of fun. Then I fired her, but you know Where's your faith? the mother of all earthquakes We've seen so many but this is the greatest This is the one that's already following On the heel of disasters and notice the description how it says the sun becomes black the moon becomes as blood The stars of heaven fall like ripe figs heaven Departs as a scroll and every mountain and island move The the earth is under such devastation That people cry out. They even begin to cry out. God is judging They look up and they see that that the sun has been black and the moon is like blood There are those who say that this obviously this is an earthquake But it may be something that course is occurring right around the same time as Nuclear strikes. I'm not sure whether that's true or not, but the description sounds like nuclear winter It may be smoke from destruction, but as this is happening it goes so far as to say that the stars begin to fall Maybe those are meteors In the book of neom in chapter 1 verses 5 and 6 It says the mountains quake at him the hills melt the earth is burned at his presence. Yeah, the world And all that dwell therein who can stand before his indignation Who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire the rocks are thrown down by him And so speaking of this devastation this this judgment that is falling and man's response is very simple They're hardened. They begin to pray they pray to the rocks and the mountains notice it says in verse 16 They said to the mountains and rocks fall on us and hide us from their From the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb For the great day of his wrath has come who is able to stand So instead of turning to god they turn to nature. They're actually speaking to nature itself And they're praying for death Not realizing that they'll stand before the judge of the whole earth if that prayer is granted But it's called in verse 17 the great day of his wrath The tribulation is is you that the term the great day of his wrath is is the term that is used to speak about Jesus christ is bringing this tribulation. It's the day of his wrath And so as this is all taking place chapter 7 After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth Holding the four winds of the earth And the wind should not that the wind should not blow on the 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 And then he begins to name the tribes of the tribe of juda 12,000 of the tribes of ruben, which is a mexican tribe 12,000 Sorry The tribe of gad 12,000 asher naptali manasse simian levi isekar zebulan joseph and benjamin So he has 12 tribes mentioned 12,000 per tribe. That's 144,000 that are sealed As we look at this Chapter seven is called a parenthetical Chapter it's actually separating the sixth seal And the seventh seal judgment the seventh seal judgment we will see in chapter eight verse one But this is what answers the question that's asked in revelation chapter seven verse 17 Which says who is able to stand? In other words, who will survive the fury of this divine judgment? When we look at this the main focus is really on two major groups of saints during the tribulation Verses two through eight Speaks of the 144,000 And the 144,000 are what is called the godly remnant of israel That will be alive during the tribulation These believers survive the seal the trumpet as well as the bowl judgments that come upon the earth These believers are going to survive persecution Wars famines natural disasters diseases and all of the evil And these will enter the millennial kingdom alive because they will have been preserved by god Now when you read your bible, you see that god often has safeguarded believers When noah when the flood came noah survived the flood Lot survived Sodom and Gomorrah Rahab survived Jericho And a remnant survived the Babylonian captivity and you'll see how god preserves believers during his judgments The second group we'll see in a moment is found in in verse nine to the end of the chapter verse 17 the tribulation saints They aren't going to survive the tribulation But they're not going to experience god's wrath either some are going to die during the The earthquakes and the wars and the famines and the diseases because those things happen Others will be martyred But they're in heaven and they were there there are from every nation every tribe every people and every tongue Now logically we'd expect chapter seven to continue with the opening of the seals But this is a Parenthesis we're not going to pick up the subject again until chapter eight And again revelation chapter six verse 17 had closed with the question who's able to stand But the answer of course is no one no one is able to stand without god's grace In abacchuk chapter three verse two it reads 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 and he went on to say in wrath remember mercy So chapter seven reveals god giving mercy It opens with what has been called the calm before the storm So he says in verse one After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth These four these angels that are standing there are restraining the wind What happens is that produces an eerie calmness nothing is stirring Earth's hydraulic cycle stops and it produces drought and starvation pollution Occurs and this interruption gives people time to think because god is bringing judgment It speaks of the four corners of the earth The four corners is simply a saying it refers to the whole earth It represents the four points of a compass. He's not saying the earth is square It was just an expression that was used at that time And so in this case By using the term four corners and four winds judgment is being typified He says in verse two. I saw another angel ascending from the east having the seal of the living god So he's ascending from the east more than likely from jerusalem, which is east of the island of patmos And this would be taken as israel where god salvation through jesus originated and it represents the 12 tribes of israel The seal represents divine ownership and security The sealed are believers. They're the redeemed or being especially protected by god And notice how it says in verse three Do not harm the earth the sea or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our god on their forehead And so again that seal represents protection It's it's protection that is being given to god's servants They're going to be protected from and preserved through the judgments that are to come Even when facing persecution from the beast, they're going to be protected by god One of my favorite scriptures is found in romans chapter 8 verse 31 Where paul said what shall we say to these things if god be for us? Who can be against us? So even when facing persecution, they are being protected He says in verse 4 that he heard the number of those who were sealed 144 000 of the tribes of israel So god has revealed that work within the nation of israel. He's drawing jews to salvation And they're going to be the most effective missionaries that the world has ever seen We've seen great missionaries over the years and in history of the christian church There have been fantastic missionaries these 144 000 are going to be amazing. They've been called jewish billy grams They're you know, they're going to go and they're going to have a tremendous Impact in this unbelieving world. They're the most effective missionaries the world has ever seen and he begins the name In in in these verses here. He names the different tribes from verses 5 that way He names 12 tribes. He names juda and rubin etc So he gives the the tribes now this is israel. It's not the church You see the church has already been raptured And god is working once again with israel and there are those who would say no Why would god once again work with israel? During the i was asked this question recently. So i'll answer it very briefly here as an introduction to this I was asked concerning Why god would work with israel and how is it that many believe that that the church Was replaced Rather israel was replaced by the church and and i was sharing with the with the person who asked the question that in the early days of the history of christianity After after israel after jerusalem was destroyed and the jews were sent throughout the world that Over the centuries the bible scholars would be reading things concerning the last days and the return of christ And because israel didn't exist any longer they couldn't see it on the map It was everybody had been dispersed. They had left just a few behind and and there were jews there There were still jews there jews remained and occupied israel throughout all that time It just wasn't the large population because the jews had been scattered throughout the earth You can go throughout the earth even to the state and you will discover jewish people in different places We've discovered um jewish people throughout the world. They're in south america. They're all over And so because they've been dispersed and over the centuries have continued moving to other places And so because there was no israel any longer because israel was not what it was in scripture The theologians had had to determine how can we apply the um teachings related to the last days to a nation that doesn't exist Any longer and so what developed was something called replacement theology where where the church replaced israel in the mind of the writers because there was no israel And so what they did is they began to look at scriptures that spoke Inserting the last days and all and applied the things that would have spoken of israel and they applied those things To the church because they didn't realize that in 1948 God would miraculously regather that nation and once again It would be the nation of israel all of that was taking place in the 1800s 1700 1600s They didn't have an idea that god was actually going to regather But he did he regathered them. Why did he do that? Why did god create what we call today the miracle of the jews? How come he did that? Well, there are a few reasons I I noted that to introduce this Why would god work with the nation of israel? I'll give you five basic reasons. Then we'll look at this passage one God loves the nation of israel and god keeps his promises In genesis 12 1 through 3 the lord 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 and 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 This is one of the reasons by the way I as an evangelical christian have a support for the nation of israel God said I will bless those who bless you And so I as an evangelical christian I support israel a second reason is messiah comes from israel in romans chapter 1 verse 3 Jesus was made of the seed of david according to the flesh A third reason is god entrusted the word of god to the nation of israel in romans 3 1 and 2 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 entrusted the bible to the nation of israel messiah comes from israel god loves the nation of israel A fourth reason is god was revealed to the rest of the world through israel In romans 9 3 through 5 I could wish that I myself were cursed and could often cut off from From christ for the sake of my brothers those of my own race the people of israel There's is the adoption as sons There's the divine glory the covenants the receiving of the law the temple worship and the promises He says there's an adoption as sons There's his divine glory the covenants the receiving of the law The temple worship the promises there's are the patriarchs and from them is traced the human ancestry of christ Who has god over all forever praised amen, and then finally god promises to once again work with the nation of israel in romans chapter 11 Beginning at verse one. I asked then 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 scriptures say in the passage about elisha how he appealed to god against israel lord They've killed your prophets and torn down your altars. I'm the only one left And they're trying to kill me And what was god's answer to them to him? I have reserved for myself 7 000 who have not bowed the knee to bail So too as a present time there is a remnant chosen by grace and what we see here in these verses Is a list of the 12 tribes? now Some say how can these how can these tribes be known? On second timothy chapter 2 verse 19 the scripture says nevertheless god solid foundation stands firm Sealed with this inscription the lord knows those who are his Remember the book of james in chapter 1 verse 1 how james began by saying james a servant of god And the lord jesus christ to the 12 tribes scattered among the nations greetings God is aware of those who are his And so what you have here is a lift list of 12 tribes. I'm not going to go into this very deeply But there are two tribes that have been eliminated And those two tribes have been replaced by other tribes the two tribes that have been eliminated from that list Are the tribe of dan and the tribe of effrium And the reason that they have been eliminated most scholars believe is because these two tribes were very guilty of idolatry In deuteronomy 29 verses 18 through 21 those scriptures forbid idolatry And judges chapter 17 all the way to chapter 18 verse 30 refers to both of these tribes in the context of idolatry And so they've been replaced Now these tribes are sealed with god's mark in contrast with the mark of the beast They make it through the tribulation because god preserves them their sealing is the holy spirit In ephesians chapter 4 verse 30 it says do not grieve the holy spirit of god by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption and one of my Bible commentators that i used charles feinberg Said just as the seal today is the holy spirit So it will be in the tribulation And so you have these who are the 144 000 who are going to go through the tribulation They're going to make it through and they will not be killed But verse nine speaks of tribulation saints After these things i looked and behold a great multitude which no one could number of all nations tribes peoples and tongues Standing before the throne and before the lamb clothed with white robes with palm branches branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice saying Salvation belongs to our god who sits on the throne and to the lamb All 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? Where did they come from? And i said to him sir, you know So he said to me these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation And washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb Therefore they are before the throne of god and serve him day and night in his temple And 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 These are tribulation saints These are the ones who come to faith in jesus during the tribulation These are those who have died or been martyred during this period called the tribulation Notice with me every nation tribe people and tongue So that includes israel as well as the gentiles notice also that they're wearing white robes The white robe symbolizes righteousness. It speaks of purity through the cleansing of our sin Notice how they're holding palm branches A palm branch is a symbol of triumph And just called to memory what took place when jesus came into jewslam on palm sunday It's a symbol of triumph And in verse 10 it says they're crying out They're crying out with a loud voice and they're saying salvation belongs to our god So they're praising god they're praising the lamb for saving them And for bringing them home notice. It's a great multitude It's made up of every tongue every culture every race every language It represents all of humanity it crosses every barrier it crosses every dividing line The jewish evangelists had great effectiveness and many have come to faith in jesus christ We need to remember we know so many scriptures that are so familiar with us But we need to remember that the bible tells us god so loved the world That means that he loved every person every person in the world He has a love for humanity And and and he has from one blood created every nation every tongue every tribe every language Every cultural group it comes from one blood adam and eve and we're all related And we all belong to christ when we're saved and that makes us a family And and that's something really good That's something that I think we need to remember in these last days and again I've already said this I say it every time, but we just need to remember who we are We just need to remember that we belong to one another that we shouldn't separate ourselves from one another That we ought to love one another and we ought to respect each other's languages and cultures You know years ago. I had a a group come a couple of brothers The the good chattis brothers some of you know of their music and worship they they were with us for a number of years they actually began their music ministry as christians here in this church and And I love these guys and they now minister in other places and all And but they're very they were very special to me and when the lord began to use them I thought it would be kind of nice to have them come in and do a wednesday night This is many years ago now, but i'll never forget this And and I asked them could you do a wednesday night for us and they said yes and so um I I had them do a wednesday night and because their their background was actually they would sing, you know, uh in uh you know Mexican or spanish uh Spanish language songs all the time. I said, you know sing a song or two in in spanish because you know, I suspect that god understands that language and so They did And I just wanted people to see that that you know when you go to heaven, you know Every nation every tribe every culture every ethnicity whatever we're all there together worshiping the lord And I i'm not sure that we're going to be singing in english. Maybe we are I don't know All I know is we'll be praised and the lord and I thought it would be a nice experience for the church to To see and to hear because many people had never worshiped in spanish or heard the spanish language In singing praise and worship so I asked them to and I thought it was nice I thought it's something that would unite the church and I got a letter from somebody saying this is america speak english And I told rawl don't be so thin skin You know and I I I have to tell you that disappointed me a lot A lot I thought my goodness have we brought that attitude into this church Have we brought that kind of mindset into this church? That's I hate that why because we're one in jesus christ We need to remember that we belong together. We have to remember that You know, I respect that you know, I've heard I've heard the worship of the lord in japanese and in The language of the ty I've I've heard it in in the philippines, you know in israel I've heard I've heard worship in various languages and and it's all worshiped to god and they're they're singing and they're praising god It's a great multitude. You see the jewish evangelists had great effectiveness Many are coming to faith in christ and notice with me in verse 11 How it says all the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the forliving creatures 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 And they're worshiping the lord The angels are worshiping they're giving praise to god for what he has done not for them But for us for those who have been called wretched sinners You see angels don't experience salvation But as ministry and spirits they rejoice at our salvation And they're worshiping god the god of mercy the god of love the god of grace the god who did save And and and he is worthy and so you see the angels and as they're doing that they're they're there's praise to the lord in verse 12 Again, it says saying amen blessing and glory and wisdom thanksgiving and honor and power and might Be to our god forever and ever amen singing songs of praise That's what believers do In psalm 149 verse 1 it says praise the lord sing to the lord a new song his praise in the assembly of the saints And it's been said that they sing what is called a sevenfold song of praise They speak of blessing and glory wisdom Thanksgiving honor power and might This is the song of the tribulation saints The ones who have been martyred during the tribulation Notice verse 13 one of the elders answered saying to me who are these arrayed in white robes Where did they come from? I said to him sir, you know, that's another way of saying I don't know but you do So he said to me These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation and wash their blood the robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb Therefore they are before the throne of god and serve him day and night in his temple And 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 Out of the nations People will be saved Some will give up their lives For their faith in jesus christ Notice that they are before the throne And notice that they serve him day and night When it says that they're before the throne, this is a special place of blessing This is a place of prominence This is a place of honor And what is touching in verse 17? It simply says god will wipe away every tear from their eye this Is a picture of a father How a father can tenderly Dry the tears of the child. I remember my son joseph when joseph was a little boy He came into my room I think that joe was probably around eight years old or so right in that area eight or nine is a little boy And I was in my in my room and he came walking into my room and my son joseph said dad Can I talk to you for a minute and I said of course of course And I was sitting there on the side of my bed and my little boy sat next to me and he began to sob He began to weep his little shoulders were shaking and And he said you know dad. He says Every day at school we have we play games he said and And teams are chosen And he said nobody chooses me. He says I can run and I can throw and I can catch like everybody else And they don't they don't ever choose me. I'm the last And I sitting there and I and I remember looking at him as his tears began to come down the sides of his eyes And and I wiped his tears with my hands And I held them And I prayed for him and I asked god God helped my little boy to deal with these feelings and The lord it would be great if somebody would choose him, but I reminded him I said, you know when man doesn't choose you never forget god shows you Never forget that god is the one who makes the choice and you may not be on their team But you're on god's team and never forget that son And and when you don't feel that you're loved by others always know you're loved by your father And know that you're loved not only by your Your your physical father, but you're loved by your heavenly father And then I went to school the next day and beat up all the little boys Fathers do that Some do Fathers put their arm around the child is crying And welcomes them holds them protects them safeguards and encourages them. That's what we do as fathers That's what we should do as fathers You know the world can be tough They need to know that there's somebody on their side. They need to know that somebody's with them Somebody considers them to be something special. They need to know that My sons grew up knowing that my daughters grew up knowing that they they are special Because they have a father's love and a mother's love, but from a father's perspective There's a tenderness and and when I read this this says god will wipe away every tear from their eyes I cannot help but think of the tenderness of our god Because he's gently wiping away their tears. He's showing a father's love for his child No more persecution. No more Torment no more suffering at the hands of sinners no more sorrow. No more loss It's said it is said that the sources of sorrow will be cut off in the land where there is no sin And god wipes away every tear from their eye On the one hand, you see god pouring out his wrath on those who have rejected jesus the wrath of the lamb But on the other hand, you see the tender love of a father Who cares for those Who've been hurt Who are hurt during this period of time Never forget How much god loves you Never forget that You can Sometimes you can forget sometimes you can think oh, he doesn't care about you know, he does he does And sometimes I believe in a spiritual way that He may put somebody in your life Who can put an arm around your shoulder at a time when you're hurting And it's like the lord himself ministering to you through one of his vessels Heaven is a place where all the tears of sorrow and pain will be wiped away No more pain. No more suffering