Today's message explores the fifth and sixth seals of Revelation, teaching us to remain faithful through suffering and take refuge in the Lamb before the Day of the Lord.
Revelation 6:9–17
9 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 witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
Introduction — From the Four Horsemen to the Fifth Seal
I. The Fifth Seal — Persecution and Martyrdom (vv. 9–11)
1. Persecution is part of the Christian's calling. (John 15:20)
2. The martyrs are under the altar. (v.9)
3. The martyrs cry out for justice. (v.10)
4. God tells them to wait. (v.11)
II. The Sixth Seal — The Coming Day of the Lord (vv. 12–14)
1. These signs point toward the Day of the Lord.
2. Jesus' prophecy and Revelation belong together.
III. The Wrath of the Lamb — Who Can Stand? (vv. 15–17)
1. No earthly power can protect us from God's judgment. (v.15-16)
2. The wrath of the Lamb. (v.16)
3. The Question: Who can stand? (v.17)
IV. Our Response — Be Ready for the Day of the Lord