Revelation 6: The Veil Removed

Revelation 6:12-17

Snug Gospel Chapel: April 9th, 2016

Good morning!
Well, once again, were delving into the book of Revelation, and well be continuing this
morning with our studies in chapter 6, looking at the breaking of the first six seals in that
chapter.
Youll recall what weve studied so far: Johns entrance into heaven, the Revelation of the King,
the letters to each of the seven churches, the vision of the throne room and the unveiling of
the Lamb, and now of course weve entered into that time period that Scripture refers to as
the Tribulation, or the time of Jacobs Trouble. Weve looked in some measure so far at the
first five seals, although the fifth I only dealt with very briefly in my previous sermon. We will
come back to that seal somewhat in my next sermon, but today Id like to look at the sixth
seal which many of your Bibles will provide a title to, calling this the seal of Cosmic
Disturbances.
Were going to look at that in some depth today, and there will be a number of things that
may surprise you about what takes place at this point, and exactly why it is that the people of
the earth suddenly seem very keenly aware of who theyre dealing with, and whose judgment
theyre under.
Before we read Gods Word, however, lets pray.
Father, as we come to your Word this morning, as we seek to learn more about your incredible
plan for the Last Days, we do thank you that you are the God who makes the end known from
the beginning. Lord, we recognize you as the only hope and savior of mankind, and we give
you the glory as our Creator, Redeemer and King.
We ask this morning, Father, that you would glorify yourself among us. May your Word be the
lamp unto our feet, and the light to our path; that we might see where we are, and where you
would have us go. May your Spirit convict, compel and empower us to move ever closer to
you, and may the image of your Son, our beautiful risen Lord, be ever in our hearts and
minds, that we might be made more like Him.
We ask all these things in Jesus name,
Amen.
Turn with me in your Bibles please to Revelation chapter 6, beginning at verse 12.

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.

13

And the stars of

heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty
wind.

14

Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island

was moved out of its place.

15

And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the

commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves
and in the rocks of the mountains,

16

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!

17

For

the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?
Weve been studying Revelation for some time now, and throughout this series, weve seen
some amazing things some, like the Revelation of the King, have been incredible an aweinspiring; others, like the persecution at Smyrna or the idolatry of the Medieval Church, have
been difficult and painful. The four horsemen, here in this very chapter, were terrifying, and
the consequences of their ministries devastating.
Here, however, at the breaking of the sixth seal, we see something new.
Verse 12.
I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the
sun became black as sack-cloth of hair, and the moon became like blood.
For the first time, we see the signs of Gods judgment not only upon the earth, but in the
heavens themselves. Well come back to that in a moment, but the first thing I want you to
notice here isnt the events nor the drama that surrounds them, but the context. Once again,
we see the Apostle John say I looked. This is not insignificant, because it indicates to us
that Johns perspective is shifting. In every instance, in every seal, up to this point, John has
observed heavenly events from a heavenly perspective.

We need to remember here that

each of the first four seals, with the avenging angels sent forth to execute judgment, are
described as events occurring in heaven; and while their enactment is no doubt on earth,
there is actually no instance in which John describes first-hand the judgments that occur on
earth.

What Im suggesting here is that John never actively describes these judgments;

merely the fact that the horsemen have been given the right to execute those judgments. If
you doubt me on this, you can read these verses for yourself. Prior to verse 15 of Revelation
6, the perspective is utterly consistent. The context is heavenly, and at no time does John
describe what is occurring on earth; only ever what the angels have been given power to do.
Even the fifth seal falls into this same category. The martyrs are in heaven, under the altar,
crying out to the One who is seated on the throne.

The significance of this shouldnt be lost on us. Ive mentioned this before throughout this
series, but if you ever had any doubt that the seal judgments are in fact the judgment of the
Lamb upon a rebellious world, this fact alone should utterly dispel it. The wrath of God does
not begin at the sixth seal, nor at any later point in the Tribulation. The fact that all of the
seals prior to this point are purely heavenly events makes that abundantly clear. In fact, I
would go so far as to suggest to you that the Holy Spirit has written this chapter with an
incredible precision, in anticipation of the arguments that would ensue.

As always, His

signature, His stamp, and His wisdom is written behind the text for those who are willing to
look for it.
With all of that in mind, this sixth seal stands out as being markedly different. For the first
time, John is not looking inward at heavenly events, but outward, at physical ones; and while
every judgment prior to this point has affected the people on earth, this is the first time John
actually describes first-hand the judgments that occur.
and the first thing he describes is an earthquake.
I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake.
Earthquakes are not alien to our experience, and you could argue that they are something
that were becoming increasingly familiar with. The internet is littered with charts that show
an exponential increase in significant earthquakes over the past hundred or so years. This
earthquake is different. The events were seeing now in this world are warning signs; the
earthquake John describes it is of a magnitude and severity that the world has never seen
before. Allow me to elaborate on that. Turn with me to Isaiah 24.
Isaiah 24, beginning at verse 17.
Fear and the pit and the snare
Are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth.
18

And it shall be

That he who flees from the noise of the fear

Shall fall into the pit,
And he who comes up from the midst of the pit
Shall be caught in the snare;
For the windows from on high are open,
And the foundations of the earth are shaken.
19

The earth is violently broken,

The earth is split open,

The earth is shaken exceedingly.

20

The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard,

And shall totter like a hut;

Its transgression shall be heavy upon it,
And it will fall, and not rise again.
You can see the parallels with Revelation 6, cant you. The people of the earth are fleeing with
fear; falling into pits and looking to caves for safety. The windows on high are opened, and
the foundations of the earth are shaken. The earth splits open, is shaken exceedingly, and
begins to reel to and fro like a drunkard. This is some pretty dramatic language, and it attests
to the severity of this judgment.
Lets put this in some context.

I think most of us would remember the earthquake Japan

suffered in 2011. That quake, which measured 9.0 on the Richter Scale, caused a massive
tsunami that swamped the city of Fukushima and led to a nuclear catastrophe there.
According to NASA, this earthquake was so large that it shortened the length of the day,
moved the earth off its axis, and caused the earth to wobble. Now, I understand that that all
sounds very dramatic, but allow me to put those facts in some context.

The day was

shortened by just 1.8 microseconds; the earth was shifted around 17 centimeters off its axis,
and the wobble created was so minor that it was only noticeable to the most sensitive
instrumentation.
This is not what we see in Revelation, nor the picture we see in Isaiah. As horrific as the Japan
Earthquake and its after-effects were (and you only need to read the accounts of sailors in the
North Pacific to see just how dramatic Fukushimas impact has been on the wildlife there), it is
nothing at all compared to what we have before us here.
Look at verse 19 of Isaiah 24.
The earth is violently broken,
The earth is split open,
The earth is shaken exceedingly.
The language here is unmistakably dramatic. When we think of something, anything, being
split open, we would generally consider that to be a significant catastrophe. Let me give
you an example. One of my staff at work last week dropped a watermelon from our kitchen
bench onto the floor. I think it would be fairly safe to say that the watermelon split open.
One entire side tore open, and you could see the pink flesh of the watermelon exposed in a
ragged gash down one side. Now, that sounds somewhat graphic, but you get the idea. This
is the kind of earthquake that will split continents. but theres more than that here, isnt

there. Verse 20 says that the earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall totter like a
hut.
The same effects that caused alterations in the earths gravity, shifted the earth off its axis
and caused the planet to wobble in the 2011 earthquake in Japan are present in the
earthquake of Revelation 6. The distinction, of course, is one of magnitude. The Japanese
earthquake had relatively minor effects on the earth; the quake that is to come will cause it to
reel to and fro like a drunkard. This is a cataclysm great enough not only to shake the earth,
but to split it open.
The trauma doesnt stop there, though. Turn with me back to Revelation 6.
Verse 12.
and the sun became black as sack-cloth of hair, and the moon became like blood.
This verse has a parallel that has been used for a number of different purposes in the past few
years.

Those of us who are interested in prophecy will be familiar with the Blood Moon

phenomenon, and all the hype that has surrounded it, particularly since 2014. In Joel chapter
2 and verses 30-31, the Lord says:
And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth:
Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
31

The sun shall be turned into darkness,

And the moon into blood,

Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
These verses are not referring to pre-tribulational events; they are referring to the sixth seal
before the coming of the Great Tribulation. Theres an additional element described here that
gives clarity to the cause of the suns veiling and the moons altered colour. Joel refers to
blood and fire and pillars of smoke.

It is well known, of course, that earthquakes and

volcanic activity tend to go hand-in-hand, both being caused ultimately by the same root: the
movement of tectonic plates beneath the earth.

What Joel implies is that the earthquake

detailed in Revelation causes volcanoes around the world to erupt, spewing ash into the
atmosphere. This will blot out the sun and make the moon appear red.
So, we have a massive earthquake, big enough to split continents, followed by significant
volcanic activity and the veiling of the sun and moon; but the judgment here has still barely
begun. Turn back to Revelation 6, and verse 13.

And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by
a mighty wind.
Weve seen already in the book of Revelation what stars represent in figurative terms. This
image was used in chapter 1 to indicate angels and indeed that same metaphor is used
throughout Scripture.

Id suggest to you that what were seeing here in Revelation 6,

however, is far more literal. There is indeed a point in the book of Revelation where Satan
and his fallen angels are cast down to the earth; that is yet to come, and well see that once
we reach chapter 12 (God willing). What were seeing here is what the title in your Bibles may
describe as a cosmic disturbance and one wherein heavenly bodies streak toward the
earth. Its important that were not thrown off by the use of the word stars in the text here;
this is the Greek word astare, which is used to describe various heavenly bodies, from
comets to meteors, stars and planets; and, yes, angels too. but its the literal meaning
being employed here. Put simply, what this means is that there are meteor showers that are
observable from the earth. However, the way that this passage unfolds would suggest that
there is a connection between the meteor shower and the earthquake in fact, the effects of
the earthquake are detailed further in verse 14 after the falling stars are described here in
verse 13. So what is it that could tie these things together? Well, there is more than one
potential answer here, and there are numerous conjectures among scholars who have studied
these passages. Im not going to go into great detail on this, but I will present one potential
scenario to you, and you can make up your own minds.
It is quite possible that all of the events in the sixth seal are caused by a comet whose path
takes it into direct conflict with the earth. It obviously doesnt strike the earth, as there is no
indication of that here but if, for example, a comet were to pass close enough to the earth to
force us to pass through the debris field it leaves in its wake, that would explain the volume
and quantity of the meteors seen here in Revelation 6. The gravitational effect of such a close
pass-by could also cause an earthquake significant enough to split the earth open, and cause
the planet to wobble to and fro like a drunkard.

If this were the case, the subsequent

judgments described in Revelation 8, in which hail and fire fall from heaven, mingled with
blood, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea,
could very well be the periodic return of our planet to that same debris field at a later time in
our orbit around the sun.
The idea of a comet leaving a trail of meteors in its wake could also explain the third trumpet
judgment in Revelation 8, in which a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it
fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A
third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was
made bitter.

Comets are typically composed primarily of rock, dust, ice, and frozen gases.

In addition,

however, they also contain organic compounds like methanol, formaldehyde, and hydrogen
cyanide. Its this last compound that fits the bill: hydrogen cyanide is not only bitter, but also
incredibly deadly, even in very small quantities. Were a chunk of a comet to fall to the earth,
upon rivers and springs of water, it would certainly cause the kind of bitterness and death that
this passage describes.
All of these things would certainly add up to an absolutely catastrophic scenario, but its what
happens next that I believe truly terrifies the people of the earth.
Lets read on. Verse 14.
Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was
moved out of its place.

And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the

commanders, the mighty men, every slave and 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?
The first thing I think we need to acknowledge here is that this is a pretty incredible event
and one that we have absolutely no frame of reference for. The sky receded as a scroll when
it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. No matter how we
choose to look at this or interpret it, this is unlike anything that any of us have ever
experienced. In fact, the fear of the unknown alone could explain the reaction of those who
remain on earth and youd be hard pressed to view those reactions as anything other than
sheer terror, as they call out for the rocks and mountains to hide them from the wrath of the
Lamb. But theres an issue here, and its one that really stands out in the last verse of this
chapter.

I understand completely that people are terrified.

After all, the events of this

chapter are just... jaw-dropping. Id be terrified to. But why is it that here, now, at the sixth
seal, the people of earth suddenly seem to recognize that they are under the judgment of the
Lamb? How is it that a people who have long lived in rebellion against God, choosing neither
to acknowledge Him as God, nor give giving thanks to Him, to suddenly speak so clearly and
with such conviction about the judgment theyre receiving at his hands?
Weve seen some incredible things already in this book, and yes, the judgments poured out
upon the earth thus far in the seal judgments are awful immense and far-reaching but are
they enough, are they sufficient, on their own, to drive unbelievers to acknowledge the
judgment of the Lamb?

I have to be honest with you, I dont think so. More than that, I think these verses actually
give us a pretty concrete reason why these people are reacting the way that they are and
its both amazing and dramatic. Allow me to elaborate.
First, let me remind you of what we read in Isaiah 24. This is verses 18 to 20.
The windows from on high are open,
And the foundations of the earth are shaken.
The earth is violently broken.
The windows from on high are open. Thats an unusual phrase, but as with everything in
Scripture, it is precise, and meaningful.
The closest parallel that we have to this phrase is found in the book of Genesis, wherein the
Lord opened the windows of heaven in order to cause rain to fall on the earth at the time of
the Great Flood. In this instance, it is a reference to the (partial) removal of a protective layer
of water from our atmosphere. Now, if thats what Isaiah is referring to, wed expect to see a
significant amount of rain, followed by a massive spike in the amount of radiation reaching
the earth. This would lead to both drought and famine, and would dramatically reduce the life
span of everything on earth. It might even explain why men seek shelter beneath rocks and
mountains. At the very least, this is plausible.
but Id like to suggest to you that theres more than a merely physical judgment occurring
here. Im going to take you through a few verses elsewhere in Scripture that shed some more
light on this, and share with you my thoughts on what is happening. Lets start with Isaiah.
Isaiah 51 verse 6 says this:
Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
And look on the earth beneath.
For the heavens will vanish away like smoke,
The earth will grow old like a garment,
And those who dwell in it will die in like manner
You can see here that the inflection is different. This isnt just windows opening; Isaiah says
The heavens will vanish away like smoke.

but how literal is this?

Is Isaiah actually

implying that the heavens will disappear? Well yes. He is and not just Isaiah, but the
writer of Hebrews, too. Listen to Hebrews, chapter 12, and verses 25 to 27:

See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who
spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from
heaven,

26

whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, Yet once

more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.

27

Now this, Yet once more, indicates the

removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things
which cannot be shaken may remain.
Now, Pauls making a different point to what I am here, but the truth remains that He speaks,
as if it is already understood, even, that God will shake not only the earth, but heaven and
that this phrase indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken.
This has an ultimate fulfilment in Revelation 20, of course, when heaven and earth flee away
from the face of God, and the apostle John sees a new heaven and a new earth - but here, at
this point in the timeline of the Tribulation, what were seeing is more than just the physical
alteration of our atmosphere; what Revelation 6 portrays is the removal of a literal veil
stretched out between heaven and earth. and when God tears that veil away, the people of
earth are suddenly, powerfully, traumatically exposed to a vision of the King of Kings, holy
and majestic and righteous, pouring out His wrath from on high. The veil that separates the
physical world from the spiritual world is torn aside, and just as the Apostle John entered
heaven through a door in Revelation 1, now the people of earth are able to see directly into
the throne room of God as the windows of heaven are opened and God Almighty is revealed.
This is what Luke means when he says in chapter 21 that mens hearts [would be] failing
them for fear in expectation of those things which are coming on the earth. Its not that the
people of the world have suddenly gained an understanding of what Scripture says will
happen in the last days it is that those things that are coming upon the earth are literally
manifest before their very eyes, and as the veil between heaven and earth is torn aside, men,
women and children are driven to their knees by a vision of the King so terrifying, so angry, so
consumed by righteous judgment that they flee to the rocks and hills to hide. but as Jonah
learned, all of heaven and earth is not enough to hide a man from the face of God; and so it is
that when the veil that separates our physical reality from Gods spiritual realm is rolled up
like a scroll, the Revelation of the King, Jesus Christ, the wrath-filled Lamb of God, is so fierce
and so all-consuming, that all that they can think to do is flee.
Theres a statement being made here about our own human condition, too. Remember just a
few chapters back that we saw how the apostle John reacted when He had such a vision of the
King of Kings. He fell at His feet as though dead. John, beloved of the Lord, the man who
knew Him and loved Him perhaps better than any other, lay crushed before a holy God,
unable to speak, unable to stand, unable to do anything but fall and worship before Him.

This is, I think, what wed like to think of all humanity: that if we could only make them see, if
we could somehow pull back the veil and show this world a true and powerful vision of the
Lord Jesus Christ, that people would fall upon their knees, confess Him as Lord and King, and
believe.
but thats not the picture that Scripture paints of the state of mens hearts. and as we see
here in these verses, there is an entirely different reaction.

There is no repentance here.

When the world is crushed before Almighty God, when earthquakes rage and blood and fire
and pillars of smoke erupt from the shattered earth; when the sky breaks down and the veil is
torn apart, people still will not repent.
You see, the Bible has a very different view on humanity to the one we so often hold.
Men dont refuse God because they dont know Him.
They refuse God because they love their sin, and want to continue living in it. This is what
Jesus made clear in John chapter 3, saying This is the condemnation: that light has come into
the world, but men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
It is for this reason that Romans says that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them [but]
although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were they thankful, but became
futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened.
and so it is here, in Revelation 6, when the truth that has for so long been suppressed in the
hearts of men is made undeniably clear, when not just the knowledge of God is manifest, but
the very King of Kings Himself appears before the eyes of all the world, Gods wrath, poured
out from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, is entirely justified
because still, men refuse to repent.
Look again at verses 15 and 16.

There is no denial here.

No confusion about what is

happening, or where these judgments are coming from. and as I said last week, there are
no atheists in Revelation 6. but there is no repentance, either.
And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men,
every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the
mountains,

16

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!

Do you see it? Theres no grieving for sin; no worship; no all-consuming conviction of the sinstained heart before a Holy King only fear. Only terror. Only judgment. For the great day
of His wrath has come, and who can stand.
So much for the world. but what of those of us who are in Christ? What does this mean for
us?
Turn with me to 2 Corinthians, chapter 3 and verse 12.
Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech

13

unlike

Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the
end of what was passing away.

14

But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same

veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in
Christ.

15

But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.

when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

18

17

16

Nevertheless

Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror

the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as
by the Spirit of the Lord.
Now, this might seem like a tenuous connection, so allow me to elaborate.

What is the

gospel, if not the revelation of Jesus Christ as Saviour and as Lord? Paul puts it this way in 1
Corinthians: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried,
and that He rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures. Thats the gospel, pure
and simple.
Now, remember what weve seen in Revelation 6: Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him
who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb!.
Do you see it there? Do you see the gospel in that verse? Remember Johns entrance into
heaven, and understand that this is now the vision displayed before all the world! The veil is
gone, the heavens laid bear, and the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the
world, that John saw in chapter 4, who died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and
now stands in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures, and in the midst of the
elders, looking as though it had been slain. He was buried, and rose again on the third day,
according to the Scriptures, and is now in Heaven, glorified, magnified, the Living King of all
eternity.
This is the point and purpose of the removal of the veil that in Christ, God might remove
every obstacle to the gospel and be justified beyond all reproach in His judgments. Those
verses we read in 2 nd Corinthians make clear to us that a veil remains on this world perhaps

even over some among us this morning that leaves us blinded to the truth of the gospel.
Thats figurative language, of course but where Corinthians is figurative, Revelation is literal.
The veil is removed, men are without excuse, and the holy judgment of the Lamb, made
manifest in wrath upon a sinful world, pours forth.
but listen to those verses from Corinthians again.
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being
transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
We have a tendency, dont we, to spiritualize these things. In fact, the Church has spent the
better part of 2,000 years doing so, in effect finding ways to excuse our own powerlessness by
suggesting that God didnt really, literally mean what He said that its merely a spiritual
truth, not a literal truth. When we say these things, we rob such verses of their power. Look
at what Scripture says!

The veil between God and man was torn aside in Christ, and we

behold His glory face to face! Is this the reality of your walk with Christ? Are you being
transformed into His likeness, from glory to glory? How many of us live defeated Christian
lives while this truth stares us in the face? This is Gods will for you in Christ! The veil is
ripped aside, and you, Christian, are exposed to the Holy of Holies, where the Glory of God
Himself shines with an inexpressible power, radiant and pure and bright how then can we
possibly remain unchanged, or continue living a life that does not reflect the resplendent glory
of His grace?
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind! This is the reality of your walk now, and your
destiny in Jesus Christ: that you should be conformed to the likeness of Gods Only Son. so
if youre living a life that does not reflect the calling youve received, if these things come to
you as a rebuke rather than an encouragement, look to Christ! Look to Scripture! Seek out
the author and perfector of your faith for it is He that has the power to transform you into
the likeness of the Lamb.
Dont misunderstand me: I get it I really do. Were all human, we all fail, were all fallible. I
am painfully inadequate in the light of my calling and the image of Jesus Christ. but this
work begins and ends with Him. Our sole responsibility is to keep our eyes on Christ, and
follow where He leads, with the confidence and conviction that He will finish what He has
started in us. As Philippians 1:6 says, you can be confident of this: That He who began a
good work in you will carry it through to completion in the day of Christ Jesus.
We do not toil in this life alone. It was Jesus Christ who began a good work in you. In His
Name, you are beyond the veil. You are living a life, here and now, in the presence of the
King, washed in the blood of the Lamb, and clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 10, as we close.

Hebrews 10, verse 19.
Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,
and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh,
High Priest over the house of God,

22

21

20

by a new

and having a

let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of

faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure
water.

23

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who

promised is faithful.
works,

25

24

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good

not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but

exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Brothers and sisters, that day is approaching
The day when the heavens are swept aside and the glory of God the King is made manifest to
all. The day that every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Press on. Press on to know Christ; to know the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship
of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. Press on toward the prize of the upward
call of God in Christ Jesus, when the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God.
but we need to step back a little, dont we. because this isnt the truth for all of us. Back
to Revelation 6. Back to judgment. If you havent stepped beyond that veil this morning if
you havent trusted the Lamb of God, who lived, and died, and rose again, the One who
suffered for you, bore the judgment of God for you, carried sin and death for you, that you
might live this passage stands as a warning to you. There is no heaven without Christ:
only a fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation, as Scripture says.
If youve spent any time in this church, you know the gospel. You know the truth. and its
not for a lack of understanding that you flee and hide from a holy God. Its because of sin.
You love darkness, rather than light. You love your sin, and want to remain in it.
Thats offensive, isnt it. Its offensive, and hurtful to think that you havent accepted Christ
because you love sin, and want to continue in it. but its true.
Maybe youre justifying it to yourself this morning. Maybe youre not as bad as everyone else.
Maybe youve been in church your whole life, and youre a good person. Maybe thats your
security.

If it is then Scripture says youre lost. All the goodness in the world isnt enough. Sermons
and singing and church attendance arent enough. You dont need cleaning up and youre
not enough alone. Only one has paid the debt to wash your sin away. You need Christ.
You need the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world.
Lets pray.