Kentucky MBC
06.21.2026 AM Service!

      • Psalm 71:23NIV

  • Worthy of worship
  • Made For More
  • Redeemed How I Love To Proclaim It
  • I Believe In A Hill Called Mount Calvary

  • Hopefully by now, you are realizing that Revelation is not a dark and closed book being very difficult to understand. Yes there are some things hard to comprehend and details left to the imagination but the simple truth is that, as the name implies, a revelation, The Revelation of Jesus Christ is clear and simple in its statements of future events according to God’s purpose and program.
    Last week, we ended with some severe and awful judgments that followed seeing a 1/4 of the world’s population dead. the remaining individuals were crying out to creation but were recognizing the wrath of God upon the world.
    Revelation 6:17 KJV 1900
    17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
    “Who shall be able to stand?”
    This should make the sinner think and consider his way. If you are lost, you need to be saved. If you are saved, you need to be living for Him.
    The present age does not end with the Rapture, the present age ends with Return of the Lord Jesus Christ.
    His return will usher in the next age, the age of peace and happiness under the rule of the Messiah, the King of kings, called the Millennial Reign.
    Today is not the Day of Wrath, today is the Day of Grace. Therefore, we need to accept His salvation before it is eternally to late.
    As we enter the 7th chapter of Revelation we discover a pause, a parenthesis, parenthetical between the 6th and 7th seal. When Jesus opens the 7th Seal, it will usher in judgements so terrible and destruction so complete that except those days are shortened, no flesh should be saved.
    How do we know this is a parenthesis? In Chapter 6, we see the opening of the first 6 seals, and the judgments which followed. We naturally are looking for the 7th seal and its judgment, however it is not in this next chapter. As a matter of fact, it doesn’t appear until chapter 8. Thus making chapter 7 a parenthesis. If you left out chapter 6, then you would find a running narrative and a completed picture of the seal judgments making the omission of chapter 7 non distracting from the rest of the picture from man’s viewpoint. However, Jesus Christ thought it necessary to give us details of 144,000 Jews being sealed.
    Notice, I said Jews because chapter 7 states they are Jews. When studying biblical prophecy, do not lose sight of the fact that this chapter can have no application to the Church on earth, nor to the Church in glory, for the simple reason that the Church is already complete and translated to glory. Rev. 4 where we saw the rapture.
    Number 2, the vision clearly states that the sealed company is “of all the tribes of the children of Israel.”
    The reason I mention this is because today there are many sects who all claim to be the 144,000. Holiness sects, Advent sects, healers, pentecostal people and others, all claiming to be the company of the 144,000. If we believe the true interpretation of Revelation as seen, that this 144,000 are called and sealed after the rapture of the church, we can easily reject these confusing theories.
    Again, the tribulation period, all 7 years are “Daniel’s Seventieth Week”. The church was not a part of the first “69 Weeks” and will not be a part of the “70th Week”.
    Before we get into the message this morning, let me read from Ezekiel 9:3-6 describing a time where Jerusalem will be threatened with divine judgment. A man clothed in linen will go through the midst of the city and , using writer’s ink horn, will “set a mark upon the foreheads” of all who cried over the abominations that were being commited in the city.
    Ezekiel 9:3–6 KJV 1900
    3 And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer’s inkhorn by his side; 4 And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. 5 And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: 6 Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.
    So, with all that being understood, Revelation 7 is a parenthetical. We are stepping away from the chronological breaking of the seals in order for the Spirit of God to enlighten us concerning the sealing of a chosen group of evangelists to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom to the millions who never heard the Gospel of the Grace of God.
    After the Rapture, these 144,000 will do what the Church should have done during the Dispensation of Grace.
    God has not and will never be without a witness on the earth.
    During the Dispensation of Grace, every born again believer is sealed by the Holy Spirit. Eph 4:30.
    Every born again believer is immersed into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor. 12:13.
    Every born again believer possesses the Holy Spirit and is to be led by the Holy Spirit in our Christian life.
    However, when the church is raptured, the Holy Spirit will go out with the Believers.
    The 144,000 will not be sealed with the Holy Spirit as we are today, but they will have a seal in their foreheads or by their death for Jesus Christ.
    While we study chapter 7, note that there are 2 major groups of saints in the Tribulation period. The first half we find 144,000 representatives of the children of Israel on earth preaching the gospel of the coming Kingdom.
    In the later half of chapter 7, we will again see martyred saints in heaven that have died as a testimony to their faith from every kindred, tongue and nation.
    Again, this proves that there will be individuals saved after the Rapture of the Church. Just like in the Old Testament, people will be saved by the hearing of the Word of God delivered by the prophets and preachers of God. However, there will not be the drawing of the Holy Spirit, that would have probably left me without salvation as a young child when I battled the Hearing of the Word and the Conviction of the Holy Spirit to finally convince me of my need of salvation.
    Romans 10:17 KJV 1900
    17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
    The Word of God becomes the conviction and conversion.
    It will not be nearly as simple to be saved during the tribulation period, but there will be saved people during the Tribulation period of that day.

    A Time of Contemplation:

    The opening of the 6th seal brings recognition that God is sitting in judgment on the earth. In the first 5 seals, we saw the judgment of God through the movements of men. However, things changed with the opening of the 6th seal. Then, with the opening of the 7th seal, judgment will continue from the throne of God. However, between these seals, the dispensing of judgment is ceased long enough to reveal grace and mercy still operating in the midst of judgment.
    As we contemplate this parenthetical, God will demonstrate how He saves two great groups and the results that will follow.
    Notice:

    Calming of the Winds

    Revelation 7:1 KJV 1900
    1 And after these things 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.
    “after these things” = after the playing out of the 6th seal which has been previously opened. The sixth seal is just a prelude to what is about to happen on the earth. The magnitude will intensify.
    “four angels standing on the four corners of the earth” = These four angels will also be the four angels that blow the trumpets that harm the earth, sea, and trees.
    “the four corners of the earth” does not mean the earth is flat!
    Isaiah 40:22 KJV 1900
    22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, And the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; That stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, And spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
    This is an idiomatic expression, a figure of speech, that refers to the four points of a compass.
    “holding the four winds of the earth” = “holding” refers to a grip, a firm grip keeping the winds from struggling to get loose. “the four winds” refer to the judgments of the first four trumpets that are about to be released from the blowing to the trumpets. “the four winds” show that the judgment will be worldwide not just regional.

    Ceasing of Judgment

    Revelation 7:2 KJV 1900
    2 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,
    “another angel” = a spiritual creature with an exalted message to herald that held an official and directive position.
    The entire Bible speaks of ranks of angels and their angelic intervention in the affairs of men. Angels in the Old Testament seem to appear during times of crisis.
    Sodom in Genesis 19:10-17 angels smote the vile mob hastening Lot our of the city.
    Between this 6th and 7th seal, we definitely have a time of crisis.
    That is why the angel “cried with a loud voice” = “loud voice” in the greek is μεγάλη (megalē) loud, mega φωνή (phōnē) voice or sound When put together, we get mega phone = drawing attention to the urgency of the event.
    “having the seal of the living God” = an appointed seal for a specific purpose holding the authority of God.
    “the living God” is a phrase used multiple times in the Bible always distinguishing The True God, Jehovah, with the dead gods of the heathens.
    We will also discover in Revelation 13 that “the beast”, the Antichrist will also seal his followers with a seal on the foreheads or their right hand. Another indication of the tense conflict between the forces of good and evil in the last days of this age.
    The “living God” should again be an encouragement. In the midst of turmoil and chaos, God is there.
    Revelation 7:3 KJV 1900
    3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
    Here is a time of quietness denoting a state of profound quiet; as when we say that it is so quiet that not a leaf of the tree moves. This is the calm before the storm, the suspense before the scene continues.

    Condition of Contemplation:

    Revelation 7:3 KJV 1900
    3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
    “til” = a word of time indicating the restraint is temporary. The time is this parenthetical that we find ourselves in this morning. This ceasing and calmness will only last for a period of time.
    “we have sealed” = Marked and protected from the wrath of Satan that will be poured out in the Great Tribulation.
    Revelation 12:13–17 KJV 1900
    13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman [Israel] which brought forth the man child. 14 And to the woman [Israel] were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time [3 1/2 years], from the face of the serpent. 15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
    We do not know anything about what this seal in the forehead could be or its design. Any suggestion would be a guess or speculation at best. However, I believe it will be in contrast to the mark of the beast in Rev 13:16-17.
    I believe that this mark on the forehead is something that will be immediately recognized because it will be prominent and will be of such a nature of character that it would be a proper designation of the fact that they were the true servants of God.
    It will be a mark of guaranteeing ownership and security, as the Holy Spirit is for the believer today.
    The question is
    Are you owned and sealed by the Living God?

      • Revelation 6:17NIV

      • Ezekiel 9:3–6NIV

      • Romans 10:17NIV

      • Revelation 7:1NIV

      • Isaiah 40:22NIV

      • Revelation 7:2NIV

      • Revelation 7:3NIV

      • Revelation 7:3NIV

      • Revelation 12:13–17NIV

  • Softly And Tenderly

      • Psalm 71:23NIV

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