Eternal Life – Just Keith Harris

“The Lamb Who is Our Shepherd” from Revelation 7 — a Refresh & Restore Bible Study

"The Lamb Who is Our Shepherd" from Revelation 7 (The KING is Coming) – Refresh & Restore | A JustKeithHarris.com Podcast

📖 Revelation 7After the terrifying events of Revelation 6, John is given a breathtaking glimpse of hope. Before judgment continues, God reveals that His people are known, sealed, and secure in Christ. The chapter culminates with one of Revelation's most beautiful pictures: the Lamb who was slain is also the Shepherd who leads His people forever.In this episode, Keith Harris and Jamie Harrison discuss:✔️ Why Revelation 7 is an interlude between the sixth and seventh seals✔️ What it means for God's servants to be sealed✔️ The two primary views of the 144,000—and why faithful Christians differ✔️ How John's pattern of hearing one thing and seeing another helps interpret the chapter✔️ The innumerable multitude worshiping before the throne✔️ Why Jesus, the Lamb, is also our Shepherd who leads us to living waterThis chapter reminds us that our greatest hope isn't solving every prophetic question—it's belonging to Christ. Those who trust Him are safe in Him, and one day He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.📖 "For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (Revelation 7:17, ESV)🔗 If you'd like to see a written version of this podcast, complete with footnotes and cross-references, you can find it here.

We’re back in our study of Revelation called The KING is Coming, where we’re taking a verse-by-verse approach to see what the book truly reveals—Jesus Christ Himself. As always, I’m joined by Jamie Harrison, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to walk through this study together. Today, we’ll be in Revelation 7, where John sees what comes after the opening of the sixth seal. After the wrath and judgment of Revelation 6, this chapter gives us a picture of God’s people being sealed, saved, and gathered before the throne, where the Lamb who was slain is also the Shepherd who leads His people to living water. This week’s passage is Revelation 7:

After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. ²Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, ³saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” ⁴And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
⁵12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed,
12,000 from the tribe of Reuben,
12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
⁶12,000 from the tribe of Asher,
12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali,
12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
⁷12,000 from the tribe of Simeon,
12,000 from the tribe of Levi,
12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
⁸12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun,
12,000 from the tribe of Joseph,
12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
⁹After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” ¹¹And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹²saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
¹³Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” ¹⁴I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
¹⁵“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 shelter them
with his presence.
¹⁶They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,nor any scorching heat.
¹⁷For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”^[1]

Keith Harris:
Greetings, sojourners.

Here we are, back in our The KING Is Coming study, and today we’re in Revelation 7. Jamie, you got anything preliminary you want to say, or you just want to dive right in?

Jamie Harrison:
Let’s just dive right in.

Keith:
Let’s do it. So Revelation 7 is following—because, again, it’s been a minute since we recorded—Revelation 6. We see some wrath being poured out.

Jamie:
Well, I was sure wondering if Revelation 7 followed Revelation 6. I appreciate you really clarifying that for me.

Keith:
You may be joking, but part of what we’re—

Jamie:
That is a new development.

Keith:
But in looking at this, one of the things that we’re doing—and I said it that way as a sort of reminder—

Jamie:
Yes.

Keith:
Our point in this study isn’t to answer every question, because every one of our questions is not meant to be answered. The text wasn’t designed that way. We’re seeing what God showed John. And so, when we look at this, we’re looking at what John saw next. And I’ll let you take it from there.

Jamie:
Yeah, that’s really important. And I’m glad you went back to chapter 6 just to kind of point out that the last thing we saw was that sixth seal being opened, and this huge earthquake. The sun turns black. The moon becomes like blood. You know, all these different things happen. Stars are falling to the earth. All these things. And every single mountain and island is moved from its place.

So you’re talking about worldwide destruction going on when this sixth seal is busted open. And then the next thing he sees—now, again, it’s very important, just like Keith said—that’s not necessarily the next thing that happens. That’s the next thing he sees.

The next thing he sees are four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, restraining the four winds of the earth so that no wind can blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. So, in other words, right after this extremely destructive storm, the next thing he sees is calm. There’s no wind.

Keith:
And sees the supernatural reason for why the calm has come. Like, he can see these angels.

Jamie:
That’s right. And so what you get here is—you know, we always talk about the calm before the storm—and judgment is coming. And it’s about to come hot and heavy right after this.

And so you kind of get the idea here that everything is calm for a minute because the Lord is about to seal some people who are going to make it through the tribulation. And we can go back to Ezekiel chapter 9. We get the idea of that sealing, what it looks like. Ezekiel has a vision of a slaughter in Jerusalem. That’s going to be chapter 9, verses 4 through 7. I mean, you can read the whole chapter, but kind of where the seal starts is verse 4 there.

And they’re being sealed from judgment. They’re being sealed on their forehead by a mark. So you get the same kind of idea here. Same idea as the Passover, Exodus chapter 12, you know, where they’re sealed by the blood of a lamb from their firstborn being killed there.

And so, in Revelation 14:1, we find out this is the same group of people in Revelation 14. And it says:

Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him were 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.^[2]

And so it looks like that seal is something to do with Jesus’s name and the Father’s name on their foreheads—some type of, what we’re going to learn, spiritual protection from the coming judgment.

Keith:
Yeah, and that symbol would have looked like what the Hebrew letter tav looked like at the time of Ezekiel, which some interpret as kind of a cross at an angle or an X. Either which way, it’s obviously pointing forward to Christ and the fact that He—I think it’s John 10, and I think it fits with the end of Revelation 7, not getting ahead—but Jesus being the Good Shepherd, and that He holds His people in His hand, and no one can pluck them from His hand.

The symbolic seal represents the spiritual reality that Jesus has them.

Jamie:
Yes and amen. And this group of people that we’re looking at here, they’re being sealed until the number would be completed. Look at chapter 6, verse 11 of Revelation. It says:

So they were each given a white robe, and they were told to rest a little while longer until the number would be completed of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters, who were going to be killed just as they had been.

Now, you ask, why do we connect those together? Great question. Because in chapter 7, where Keith just read, in verse 14—well, right above, in verse 13—he says, “Hey, who are these people in white robes, and where did they come from?” And he says, “Sir, you know.”

Then he told me these were the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

So each of those connect together to show us that these are the people that are going to be sealed, that are going to be saved, that are going to be persecuted for their faith during the great tribulation, that are going to reach other people for Christ. And when that number is completed, then the Lord’s judgment will be completed directly after.

I hope all that makes sense.

I do want to point out that this is the exact opposite of the mark that we’re going to learn about in Revelation 13, verses 16 through 17, where it says:

¹⁶And it makes everyone—small and great, rich and poor, free and slave—to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, ¹⁷so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark: the beast’s name or the number of its name.

And, of course, it’s commonly referred to as the mark of the beast. And so this is the exact opposite. That mark is going to bring judgment.

Keith:
Well, and I mean, when you look in the context of Ezekiel 9 to get the understanding there, it’s those who are faithful to God. And the faithfulness to God—in Ezekiel chapters 4 through 7 preceding that—the faithfulness to God is very important in the context of Revelation.

Your mark shows to whom you’re faithful. And so nobody who is faithful to Christ is at risk of being hoodwinked into getting this other one. Your mark shows your allegiance. I think that’s a very important thing there.

Jamie:
Absolutely. No doubt about it.

So now we get into the real controversial part, right? What is this 144,000 number? Is there only 144,000 people going to heaven?

And let’s just go ahead and hit that one right off the bat: no. That’s dumb. I don’t know any other way to say it. And I don’t joke anymore. That’s a very serious statement. That’s dumb. There’s way more than 144,000 people going to heaven, and the Bible is going to tell us that here in just a minute.

Keith:
And the danger—and really where the idea of only 144,000 people are going to heaven comes from—the fact that different cults, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, have gained ground, and people are believing what they’ve heard or what they’ve seen on social media, or some random jake-leg—I’m using my quotey fingers—preacher says.

What the Bible says matters. And so when anybody says anything—us, your pastor, especially Jehovah’s Witnesses and jake-leg internet TV preachers—check it with the Bible. That doesn’t pass the test.

Jamie:
Yeah, just a lot of people believe whatever’s on social media is true. If it made it on social media, it’s got to be true, right? And that’s also very dumb. I can attest to that personally.

Keith:
I mean, last week I saw a picture of a cloud that was shaped like a soldier, including kneeling at his gun. And no cloud ever was that clear. And people are like, “Oh my gosh, look at this sign from God!” And under it was the city of Jackson that did not resemble the city of Jackson, and nobody noticed because they were looking at the soldier in the sky.

Jamie:
Wow.

Keith:
Don’t get your theology from social media.

Jamie:
Correct.

Keith:
Or look for truth there at all.

Jamie:
Yeah. Just that. Period. The end.

So with the 144,000, there’s two main approaches to that number. One is that it’s a literal number. One is that it’s a figurative number. And so I think the best way to go about it is, let’s look at both. Let’s talk about the—I don’t want to use the word justification—but I’ll use the verses that people use for each. Okay?

And then read the Bible on your own, and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you, and He will guide you into truth.

So the literal number—we’ll start there—and it comes from, you go all the way back to Numbers, where there was a military census performed at different times. And what they would do, Israel would do, is they would count the military-aged males to see how many people they had that were of age and eligible to fight in a war. Okay?

And in Revelation 14:4—remember, Revelation 14 is also talking about this same group of people—it says:

These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women, since they remained virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were redeemed from humanity as the firstfruits for God and the Lamb.

So this is talking about males from the tribes of Israel, and they have been counted as a military census would have been counted.

Keith:
Yeah, and I think Numbers 31 is the reference there. In that case, just to clarify, it wasn’t 144,000 in the book of Numbers, right? But the book of Numbers obviously contains a lot of numbers and censuses, and they weren’t always clear, round numbers.

Numbers 31:4-5:

⁴You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.” ⁵So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.

It’s not always so clear-cut a number.

Jamie:
That’s right. And so, again, same thing. Numbers chapter 2, you know, it talks about—it goes through how they camped in the military formation. And this tribe camps here on the east side. This tribe camps on the north side. This tribe on that—the Levites in the middle, where the Ark of the Covenant would have been, the temple would have been—the tabernacle would have been.

And so this, you kind of can go back again to Revelation chapter 14, verse 4, where it says they follow the Lamb wherever He goes. Because as the Spirit—as the glory of God moved, the cloud moved, so the Israelites followed.

And I do think it’s very interesting that Judah is the first tribe listed, and that in Numbers chapter 2, Judah is the first tribe listed. And so there is a connection to who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and that would be Jesus. So that is a pretty cool correlation there, where you look at it and go, “Hey, regardless of whether this is an exact number or a figurative number, they’re following the Lion of the tribe of Judah.”

And we’re going to come back to that thought in just a minute. A lot of people also look at Ezekiel chapter 37, where the dry bones become an army. The Lord puts His Spirit in them. That would be the thought of salvation. And so the idea is that this 144,000 number gets saved.

Keith:
Well, and I think we need to pause there, because so much conversation—again, a lot of it from these random social media snippets that people put pictures up there and stuff—there is nobody, no matter what their ethnicity, who is going to heaven unless they’ve been saved.

Jamie:
Correct.

Keith:
In the Old Testament, it was still by grace through faith. Jesus, God in flesh, had not yet become incarnate. But think about Abraham. Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.

Everyone who trusted and called upon the name of the Lord showed faith in Him. And every Israelite who’s ever walked the earth hadn’t got saved.

Jamie:
Right.

Keith:
Every son of Adam, daughter of Eve, as C. S. Lewis says it—they’re not in heaven. Those who have faith—You look in the book of Numbers. The ground opened up and swallowed thousands. It didn’t catapult them up to heaven. They were in open rebellion.

I think the reading we’re currently looking at, Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament, in our Bible reading plans—yesterday, they were—it was where Phinehas, the Priest came up and literally skewered people who were taking their cult prostitutes and trying to go into the tabernacle with them. And Phinehas is like, “That’s enough.”

And then when people are like, “Dude, why are you acting like this?” God audibly spoke from heaven. He’s like, “Hey, y’all need to be glad he killed those two, because he’s jealous with My jealousy.”

You have God’s people, generically talking about Israel, but you have God’s people—those who, by grace through faith, are saved and, I guess in the context, we say sealed to Him. They belong to Him by grace through faith. No other way.

And so, in any understanding of the 144,000, there’s nobody getting in because they descended from Abraham.

Jamie:
Correct.

Keith:
Not a one. Zero.

Jamie:
Only by the blood of the Lamb.

Keith:
Amen.

Jamie:
So, just to really briefly, I guess, quickly finish the Ezekiel thought: you know, God puts His Spirit in them to salvation. And then, in Ezekiel 36:24 through 28, Ezekiel 37:24 through 28, you have the Jewish people coming under the new covenant, which would be salvation. But it very distinctly says they will be under one King, and that’s a reference directly to Jesus.

And so, the idea of witnesses—how do we, what makes us think that they’re witnesses? Because this just looks like a list of 144,000 people.

Well, in Revelation chapter 14, again, what we get is that—let’s start in verse 4:

⁴These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women, since they remained virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were redeemed from humanity as the firstfruits for God and the Lamb. ⁵No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.

⁶Then I saw another angel flying high overhead, with the eternal gospel to announce to the inhabitants of the earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. ⁷He spoke with a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

So you have this proclamation of the gospel, and right before it, we’re told that these 144,000—this number—are the ones redeemed from humanity as the firstfruits. Okay? Firstfruits infers that there’s more fruit.

Keith:
Or at least last fruits.

Jamie:
That’s right. And so that’s where the idea that they’re witnesses comes from, is that they will be sent forth as a quote-unquote army of witnesses to reach people for the name of Christ.

Keith:
And that makes sense because you were talking about—I just found the verse I was looking for—you were talking about until the number has been completed. Matthew 24:14:

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

And that’s red letters. That’s Jesus.

Jamie:
Yes. So then, let’s talk for a second about, all right, is this a symbolic number? Is it just a number? We know that 12 is the number of completion in the Bible: 12 tribes of Israel, 12 disciples, on and on and on.

Revelation 21:12 through 14, you have that same number 12 come back around with the foundations and things. And so you get the idea that number 12 is just the perfect unity of God’s kingdom.

And I think that Revelation 21 is really important there, because in verses 12 through 14, this is talking about the New Jerusalem:

¹²The city had a massive high wall, with twelve gates. Twelve angels were at the gates; the names of the twelve tribes of Israel’s sons were inscribed on the gates. ¹³There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. ¹⁴The city wall had twelve foundations, and the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb were on the foundations.

And so the idea there being is that the church is unified. It is one in heaven. There is no distinction of male or Greek, Jew or male or female. Do you agree?

Keith:
Yeah.

Jamie:
Wow. Okay. There’s that. And so, again, is this a symbolic number? Is it a literal number? You know, you walk through it and you look and you go, “All right, 12 is the number of completion. That makes sense to me. I get that.”

We know that the Lion of the tribe of Judah will be leading this group of people. And I want to point out something very important here. And, and, and hopefully this makes sense. If it doesn’t, you can leave Keith a comment and let him know, because I will not be looking at the comments, but Keith will.

Revelation chapter 5—chapter 6. Excuse me. I don’t know what I’m talking about. It is chapter 5. I’m just—wow. Maybe we need to hit the pause button and take a break.

Keith:
No, you got it.

Jamie:
Okay. So Revelation 5:5, same place it’s always been. This is one of mine and Keith’s favorite Scriptures. It says:

Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Look, the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered so that he is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Now, who leads the 144,000?

Keith:
Jesus.

Jamie:
Jesus, the Lion from the tribe of Judah.

Look, the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered so that he is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Okay, so this is what John hears the elder say. He hears him say, “Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” And we know that the 144,000 is led by the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

And then he looks, and in verse 6 it says:

Then I saw one like a slaughtered lamb standing in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth.

And it goes on. He takes the scroll, and He unseals the scroll, and then they have this awesome praise moment there together.

And so the “he hears, and then he looks and sees” connects right together with chapter 7, because watch this: in verse 4 he says, “I heard the number of the sealed.” But watch this in verse 9: “After this, I looked.” So he hears the number, just like he heard, “Look, the Lion from the tribe of Judah,” but he saw one like a slaughtered Lamb. So he looks—or, excuse me, he hears—144,000, 12,000 from each tribe. But he looks, and there’s a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language—which no one could number—standing before the throne and before the Lamb.

So first off, there goes your 144,000 people are going to be saved, and that’s all.

Keith:
Well, and also, this numberless multitude—if it’s all tribes and peoples and languages—there are obviously Jews in there.

Jamie:
That is correct. And so the last part of this is, we look and we go, okay, he sees this number. He sees—or sees this group of people that nobody can number standing before the throne. They’re clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands.

And in verse 14—again, back to the same verse we talked about earlier—he asks, you know, “Who are these people?” And he says they’re the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They’ve washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

So this innumerable number of people are people that come out of the great tribulation, who are persecuted for their faith, most likely killed for their faith—not necessarily all of them, but most likely killed for their faith—persecuted for their faith. They came out of the great tribulation.

In other words, there’s a seal placed on their forehead, and once that number is completed, the Lord’s judgment will come. And so I think we, when you put all these things together—

Keith:
Well, I think there’s one more Scripture that goes with that before you put it all together. Romans 11, which talks about the remnant of Israel coming to Christ. Romans 11:25. And I think—and I think the wording of this is particularly helpful for when we put this all together:

Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

So we’re seeing all these places—Old Testament, New Testament, with future vision for John—talking about till the number has become complete. Now we see the number, and then we see the numberless. Like, it does seem that when we put all this together—again, this isn’t like, there are way more popular theories—

Jamie:
Right.

Keith:
But sticking with what the Bible says, it seems to reason, “lest you be wise in your own sight,” that where there is a lot of clear evidence in Scripture—a good rule of Bible interpretation is the clear things are important, and the important things are clear. Or, as Alistair Begg says, “The main things are the plain things.” So when Jamie puts all this together, this is coming out of a volume of Scripture.

Jamie:
For sure. And again, I go back—I guess the word is, I guess, to say, to put all this together—we have this group of people. And again, it says these are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.

And in verses 15 through 17, you get all these things that they’re going to be protected from. But in verse 15, it says, “For this reason, they are before the throne of God.” For what reason? For the reason they were persecuted for their faith, and they came out of the great tribulation.

So we know this is an innumerable group of people that was persecuted for their faith, and for that reason, they’re before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple.

Which, first off, that’s just—that’s an incredible thought. You know, I was listening to a song—maybe it was yesterday—a song came on, and one of the lyrics were—I can’t remember the exact wording now that I brought it up—but it’s basically that we get to join a song they’re already singing when we get to heaven.

Like, just think about that for a minute. There’s these awesome worship sessions going on in heaven right now as we speak, and one day we’ll be part of the choir.

Keith:
And I think we lose sight of that sometimes. And again, the reason for us doing this—we’re not trying to be relevant, not trying to be cool, not trying to be any such thing.

It’s so easy to try to have religion outside of relationship with Jesus. And none of these people who are standing around the throne are there for some religious experience. Religion does not withstand persecution. Right now, around the world—and I was looking at something else Jesus said in Matthew 24:21:

For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.

Y’all, persecution has been increasing and been going on since Jesus ascended into heaven. You’ve got Stephen, the first martyr, all the way up through—you go through the Roman Empire where they were killing Christians.

Finally get to the point where they realize, “We’ve got to burn this book that they’re preaching from, because killing the folks ain’t stopping it.” And then God puts an end to that persecution.

They meet together. You get the canon of Scripture going. And then every so often, all over the world—like even right now—there are countries in the world where you will be imprisoned for the rest of your life for the preaching of the gospel, be shunned and never be a part of your family again because of the preaching of the gospel.

There are places right now on the continent of Africa where they are killing Christians by the hundreds and thousands. And none of these people are sitting there begging for their life. They’re being witnesses.

Literally, the word that we see for witness in the New Testament—that Greek word is martyrion, where we get our word for martyr. They gave their life to point to the eternal life that comes from the life of Jesus Christ.

They’re not resentful that when they see Him in glory, after they lose their life for Him on earth, they see fulfillment. They see not personal achievement, but their personal Savior.

And y’all, I think we lose that when we spend too much time trying to figure out what exactly is the 144,000. I’m fine if it’s literal. I’m fine if it’s figurative, because I’m going to be standing before Jesus. And I might have a lot of questions when I get up there, but I don’t think they’re going to come to mind as readily.

Jamie:
Nope.

Keith:
Like, yeah, I don’t—you know, it’s going to be eternity, but I think I’m going to have better things to do.

Jamie:
Yeah, I think verse 11 there says:

All the angels stood around the throne, and along with the elders and the four living creatures they fell facedown before the throne and worshiped God….

I think that’s—I think that’s going to be what we’re doing.

Keith:
It does say, “forever and ever, amen.” That’s good enough for Randy Travis. That’s good enough for me.

Jamie:
Amen. I was going to go into some other things here, but I think, instead, just to close this out, I think to look at—it says back in verse 15:

¹⁵For this reason they are before the throne of God,
and they serve him day and night in his temple.
The one seated on the throne will shelter them:
¹⁶They will no longer hunger;
they will no longer thirst;
the sun will no longer strike them,
nor will any scorching heat.
¹⁷For the Lamb who is at the center of the throne
will shepherd them;
he will guide them to springs of the waters of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Now, there’s all kinds of correlations to the Old Testament and Israelites and Greeks being brought together. But I think here’s what I want to point out, is that all of these things that it just listed are judgments that are going to happen. And some of them will affect these people to an extent.

I mean, they’ll no longer hunger—they’re going to be hungry, right? They’re going to be thirsty. The sun’s still going to be hot while they’re here on earth. But all of these protections, all of these things that will no longer happen, happen after they have died for their faith.

Keith:
Yeah, the division between the sixth seal and the seventh—that, I mean, you think about—and just as reference for the fact there were those sealed who didn’t go into exile, but that doesn’t mean that no one who went into exile had faith in God.

Look at Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael. Like, but when God’s ultimate wrath is poured out, God’s not unjust. If Jesus has borne the wrath, there’s no need for His people to bear the wrath. It’s been borne.

And so I think it’s important, as we close out, to kind of just look at the paradox here. Because the beauty of this—more beautiful than a symmetry of numbers. I know, to some people, numbers and understanding and clarity, it just resonates with their soul. “For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd. He will guide them to springs of living water. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” When you look at all this language, it’s Revelation 21. The beauty of eternity being outside of time—you skip, you skip things.

And I think that paradox right there, that thing that doesn’t make sense from an earthly perspective: lambs aren’t shepherds; shepherds are. But Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, will be their Shepherd. He’ll be the Shepherd of all who, by grace through faith in Him, are saved by Him from the wrath of God.

And I think the beautiful thing here is what you need to be asking yourself, more so than anything about a number, more so than anything about anything else, is: Who is your shepherd? Who is your Savior? Is your hope in the Lamb?

If thinking about heaven being forever and ever, amen—standing around the throne, around the Lamb, waving palm branches, singing hosanna—if that bores you, you’ve got eternal problems. In fact, as we record this today, the next day is Sunday, the Lord’s Day, when we’re supposed to gather. If the thought of gathering in worship of Jesus tomorrow bores you, you might want to look at the eternal forecast. If you are bored gathering around the Lamb now, maybe you need to analyze, more than you need to theorize, whether you are covered by the blood of the Lamb. And I don’t mean a momentary lapse, or you’ve got something else to do. I mean, you really need to look and see if practicing for heaven here on earth is something that you just can’t stand.

You’re either with Him or you’re not—sealed and saved, or you ain’t.

Thank you. God bless, and we’ll see you next time with Revelation 8.

^[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), Re 7:1–17.

^[2] When Jamie quotes from Scripture, he uses the Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Re 14:1.

You are Invited to Celebrate RESURRECTION SUNDAY at Christ Community Church!

Sunday’s coming, and I’m excited!

But about 1,993 years ago today, the outlook seemed bleak.

For those living through the original Holy Week in the time depicted in the gospels, Saturday morning must have been a sad and scary time. They had lived through Jesus’s arrest – they had seen Him taken away, beaten, mocked, scourged (Matthew 26:47-68, 27:26-31). I can’t imagine how terrible the cries of “Crucify Him!” and “Behold your king!” had been (Luke 23:21, John 19:14-15).

Then, all of the times that Jesus had prophesied His death had come true (Mark 8:31, 9:31, 10:33-34). He had walked out of Pilate’s compound carrying His cross (John 19:16-17), a crown of thorns ripping into His scalp and forehead (John 19:2-3), bloody and bowed while struggling under the weight. Imagine seeing Him walk the road to the place of the Skull (Luke 23:26, 33), laying the cross down and being laid down on it.

Could they watch as His arms were stretched wide and the nails were hammered into His hands and feet? Could they look upon Him as He was pierced for our transgressions (Isaiah 53:5) – as the cross was lifted and plunked in a hole as it was stood up?

He had told them all of this time and again. Didn’t He tell them of His conversation with Nicodemus when He said that He would be lifted up so that all who look upon Him may believe in Him and have eternal life (John 3:14-15)? Oh, how that prophesy must’ve seemed thin at that moment as His life drew to an end.

But Sunday was coming….

The spectators of His crucifixion would have heard Him cry out, “It is finished” (John 19:30). It must have sure seemed so to see His body taken down, carried to the cemetery, and laid in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb (Matthew 27:57-60). Think of the finality of the heavy stone rolled by multiple men into place (Matthew 27:60).

So, as Saturday dawned the next day, I don’t imagine it was a scene of celebration. The Bible doesn’t tell Saturday’s story, but we know that the powers-that-be who were used of Satan thought they had won. They had sealed the tomb and set a guard because they thought Jesus’s followers would try to steal the body (Matthew 27:62-66). But His followers were not a political or religious movement. His followers were His friends – those whose lives had been changed by Him, those who had believed and received life in His name (John 1:12). They were in mourning because the Teacher was dead. They were in mourning that they had doubted or denied Him (Luke 22:61-62). They were afraid because, if the powers-that-be had been able to kill Him, there’s no limit to what could be done to them (John 20:19). So, they huddled in the upper room with the table where they had their last supper with Him (Luke 22:14-20, John 20:19).

But Sunday was coming.

I cannot begin to explain what happened – that’s above my pay grade, so to speak, but think of all we know of life and death: it came untrue! The lifeless body of Jesus, truly dead and laid in the tomb, began to live again! The decay of His corpse reversed. Synapses in His brain fired. His bloodless heart pumped fresh. The torn and ripped skin on His back healed. The lungs that breathed the breath of life into Adam filled once more. The Lamb of God, looking as if He had been slain – because He had, stood of His own power (Revelation 5:6, John 10:18). The nail pierced hands took the grave clothes, folded them carefully, and laid them at the foot of the bier (John 20:6-7). Then, the maker of the stone willed it to move aside, needing no help because He was no mere mortal man. God who put on flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14) – who had died in our place (1 Peter 2:24) – rose again in power (Romans 6:9, Acts 2:24), putting off mortality so that those who put their faith in Him could put on His immortality (1 Corinthians 15:53-54).

It was Sunday, and Jesus had risen as He had said (Matthew 28:6).

The stone rolled away, light blinded and incapacitated the feeble guards keeping watch over His tomb (Matthew 28:2-4). The Author of Life and inventor of humanity could not be held by death because it wasn’t for Him (Acts 3:15, 2:24). The Lion of Judah had laid down His life as the Lamb of God (Revelation 5:5-6, John 1:29), and now walks forth in victory, every step announcing defeat – defeat of death and hell and putting Satan to open shame because His work was finished (Colossians 2:15, Hebrews 2:14).

Sunday came!

For the last 1,993 years, every Sunday has been a celebration and reminder that the tomb is empty and Jesus is alive. Every, single Sunday His followers have gathered in worship of Him, looking for His return (Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:2). In that sense, Sunday is coming again because we have the hope that He who came to save us by dying for our sin in accordance with the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) is He who could not be held by death. And if He can’t be stopped by death, He must surely be able to return as He has said (Acts 1:11). He who promised is faithful (Hebrews 10:23).

That’s why we gather. That’s why we celebrate.

So, tomorrow, we will lift our voices in worship because He is risen as He said. John will open the Scriptures and point us to Jesus – who He is and what He has done. We have the opportunity to celebrate that He who is alive offers life eternal to those who trust in Him (John 11:25-26). And YOU are invited to gather with us.

Won’t you join us?

Here are our Scriptures and songs:

Call to Worship | “Blessed is the King (Hosanna)” —
Scripture Inspiration: cf. Psalm 118:19-29, Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-10, Luke 19:29-38, Philippians 2:5-11; Isaiah 26:2, Psalm 100:4, Psalm 107:22, John 1:29, Zechariah 9:9, Hebrews 9:26, Luke 2:25-26, John 12:13, Luke 2:11, Revelation 19:1, John 6:15, Matthew 11:29, Isaiah 9:2, John 1:4-5, John 8:12, Isaiah 28:16, 1 Peter 2:6-7, Luke 19:10, 1 Timothy 1:15, John 18:36, Hebrews 12:2, Revelation 19:16, Colossians 3:1-2, 1 Peter 2:24, Romans 5:8, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Revelation 5:12, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, Revelation 5:6, Matthew 28:5-6, John 19:30, Revelation 21:6, Revelation 1:18, Acts 2:33, Ephesians 1:20-21, Acts 1:11, Revelation 22:12, 1 Corinthians 16:22, Revelation 22:20, Psalm 47:6-7, Psalm 145:1-2, Romans 10:9

Scripture | 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 —

³For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures….

Song | “King of Kings” —
Scripture Inspiration: Proverbs 4:19, John 3:19-21, Ephesians 2:1, Philippians 2:5-11, Matthew 5:17, Isaiah 7:14, Luke 1:31, Isaiah 9:6-7, Luke 2:7, Psalm 3:3, Psalm 8:1, John 1:14, Psalm 136:3, Matthew 28:18, Revelation 19:16, Matthew 13:24-52, 2 Corinthians 5:18-21, Isaiah 53, John 3:16, Romans 5:6-10, Galatians 3:13, Colossians 2:14, Titus 2:14, Acts 4:33, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, Matthew 27:52-53, Luke 15:7, Acts 2:1-4, Matthew 24:35, Ephesians 1:7, Galatians 5:1, Galatians 2:19-20, 2 Timothy 2:11

Scripture | Revelation 7:9-12 —

⁹After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” ¹¹And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, ¹²saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Song | “Worthy of It All” —
Scripture Inspiration: Revelation 4:10-11, Revelation 7:9-17, Isaiah 53:7, John 1:29, Revelation 5:6-13, Romans 11:36, Malachi 1:11

Song | “Holy, Holy, Holy (Jesus Reigns)” —
Scripture Inspiration: Isaiah 6:1-7, Revelation 4:5-11, 1 Peter 1:15-16, Genesis 17:1, Revelation 1:8, Psalm 59:16, Psalm 86:5, Lamentations 3:22-23, 1 John 4:19-20, Job 36:26, Psalm 48:14, Psalm 90:2-4, Revelation 11:17, Revelation 22:13, John 3:20, Deuteronomy 32:4, Psalm 92:15, Philippians 2:10-11 (Help/guidance from Scripture with the doctrine of the Trinity: Nicene Creed, Athanasian Creed, Baptist Faith and Message (2000), Westminster Confession of Faith (Chapter 2), Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry)

Scripture | 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 —

⁵¹Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵²in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. ⁵³For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
⁵⁵“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Song | “Ain’t No Grave” —
Scripture Inspiration: John 8:34, Romans 6:6, 1 John 4:8, 1 Chronicles 28:20, 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 1 Corinthians 15:50-56, John 8:44, 1 Peter 5:8, Revelation 12:9, Genesis 3:15, Ephesians 6:11-18, Isaiah 25:8, Hosea 13:14, 2 Timothy 1:10, Hebrews 2:14, Revelation 5:5, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8

Invitation | “Thank You Jesus for the Blood” —
Scripture Inspiration: Deuteronomy 6:5, Lamentations 3:22-23, Isaiah 64:8, Psalm 139:16, Deuteronomy 6:7, Psalm 113:3, 2 Timothy 2:13, Psalm 27:13, Psalm 31:19, Psalm 145:9, Psalm 150:6, Psalm 107:1, 1 Kings 19:11-12, Hebrews 1:3, Isaiah 43:1-3, Jeremiah 23:23-24, John 15:14-15, Psalm 23:6, Luke 9:23-24

Offertory | “Come Jesus Come” —
Scripture Inspiration: Revelation 22:20, 1 Thessalonians 4:18, Romans 13:11-12, John 17:24, Romans 6:9, John 10:18, Col0ossians 2:13-15, Matthew 28:18-20, Titus 2:13, Matthew 25:31, Revelation 1:7, Hebrews 9:28

“Before the Throne of God Above” from Revelation 4 — a Refresh & Restore Bible Study

4 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” ²At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. ³And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. ⁴Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. ⁵From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, ⁶and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.
And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: ⁷the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. ⁸And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!”

⁹And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, ¹⁰the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

¹¹“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”^[1]

Keith Harris:
Greetings, sojourners. We have a lot to dive into today, and frankly I am excited. I’m beside myself — and also beside Jamie. Jamie, talk to us about Revelation 4. Yes, yes — threw you off with that.

Jamie Harrison:
Yes, yes you did. So we have here — just to get started — to remind you the timeline of Revelation from this point forward. So we finished the seven letters to the churches, and from here on out we have to understand that the timeline is what John saw next. So does this mean historically this is what did happen or will happen, or whatever is happening right now? No. It’s just what John saw next.

Keith:
So does it mean it’s not?

Jamie:
No — it’s just what John saw next.

And so it starts by^[2], “After this I looked, and there in heaven was an open door.” And we learned just a couple of weeks back that Jesus is the one who opens doors. So Jesus opens this door, and the first voice that I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet — now we know that that first voice he heard was Jesus way back in chapter 1, verse 10 — and he speaks to him again in a voice sounding like a trumpet. And he says, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

And so again, what John saw next — this is what’s going to take place after this. After what? We don’t know. We have no idea. But what we do know is what’s going to take place next — right, at some point.

And so just to hit real quick on the trumpet deal — because of what’s coming up in Revelation — the idea of a trumpet in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, would have been something that was used to signal a warning. Like a warning that maybe there was an enemy approaching and a war was about to happen. Sometimes they would blow a trumpet to signify that the Lord had delivered a message, and then they would deliver the message.

Keith:
And so I know those are both really negative sounds, and this isn’t necessarily one of those, but it kind of makes me think about in today’s time like a tornado siren or the sound your phone makes when an emergency alert comes through. And again, I’m not saying that it’s exactly that — those are very negative in our minds — but they get your attention.

You know, when you hear those, stop what you’re doing. Listen.

Jamie:
That’s right. And so that’s the idea here. And again, in every single letter that we read — all seven letters — it was “For those who have ears to hear, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.”

And so here again Jesus is saying — voice like a trumpet — you better listen. I’m trying to tell you.

And so immediately John is in the Spirit, and there’s a throne in heaven and someone was seated on it. So he is taken to the throne room, which is pretty awesome — somewhere that I look forward to seeing one day, whatever that’s going to look like. Jesus will be there. I’ll be there. It’s going to be pretty awesome.

And so what we do know is that from here on out the focal point of the book of Revelation is the throne room. Every time something happens we’re going to be taken back to the throne room. Something will happen — we’ll be taken back to the throne room.

Fourteen times in chapters 4 or 5 — fourteen times in just chapters 4 and 5 — the throne room is talked about. In the rest of the book of Revelation, forty-six times the throne room is mentioned, with God the Father of course being the one sitting on the throne.

And so again, just to help you understand that: what is the setting of the rest of this book of Revelation? It’s the throne room. It’s centered around the Godhead.

Keith:
And one thing, just as you were describing that — you know a lot of times in literature or movies, if you’ve got a king and a battle is going to be waged, the throne room is kind of like that last resort, like a place of safety. But we also know the throne room is at risk.

None of those times in the book of Revelation is the Godhead in the throne room hiding. Nothing’s — there’s no catapult of hell, so to speak, in danger of reaching them. God is so high and lifted up and unapproachable.

And so God — this is a place of safety and security beyond our greatest fears. God’s in no danger whatsoever. And so in that case, even despite worldly danger, that tells us the things in here that frighten us — we’re safe in the arms of Christ.

Jamie:
And so John goes into a description of what he sees. And again, so many times in Revelation we get descriptions of things, and it’s just the best John could do to describe what he saw. I think some of these things he probably didn’t have words for, and so this is the best thing he could compare it to.

And so he tells us that the one seated on the throne — verse 3 — had the appearance of jasper and carnelian stone, and a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald surrounded the throne.

And so the jasper and carnelian stone of course were in the breastplate of the high priest back in Exodus 28 — you can see that. Jasper being a crystal-clear gem, diamond-looking, reflects all — refracts all — the colors of the spectrum in wonder. It’s brilliant.

So just think about that for a second — refracting all of these colors of the spectrum in this brilliance is what it looks like to him.

Keith:
So more shiny and shining than the shiniest, brightest thing we can come up with.

Jamie:
That’s right. And carnelian stone — or sardius stone — which is a fiery, bright ruby-looking red stone. So you put all that together, and so far that’s the description we have of what he sees when he looks at God.

And then you get this rainbow that has the appearance of an emerald — of course an emerald being like this cool green hue — dominates the rainbow that he sees that is surrounding the throne.

And remember that a rainbow back in Genesis is the sign of God’s faithfulness to keep His word and His promise that He gave to us then. And so I want to just kind of stop there for a minute and point out that what he’s seeing here is God’s glory. He is seeing the glory of God and describing it the best way that he possibly can.

But you have this rainbow that surrounds the throne. It’s not a half rainbow like we see — this is the full rainbow. This is the complete promise of God. This is the complete fulfillment. This is His mercy even in judgment. This is all of these things completed around Him.

And I’ve got Keith who’s going to read this cool deal from the Jesus Storybook Bible. And if you want to kind of talk about it and then read it.

Keith:
Yeah. The Jesus Storybook Bible is not a translation of the Bible, but it’s where Sally Lloyd-Jones has tried to communicate through all the parts of the Bible to children who God is in Christ. And so this is from the chapter on the flood.

“The first thing Noah did was to thank God for rescuing them, just as He had promised.
“And the first thing God did was to make another promise. ‘I won’t ever destroy the world again.’ And like a warrior who puts away his bow at the end of a great battle. God said, ‘See, I have hung up my bow in the clouds.’
“And there, in the clouds – just where the storm meets the sun – was a beautiful bow made of light.
“It was a new beginning in God’s world.
“It wasn’t long before everything went wrong again, but God wasn’t surprised; He knew this would happen. That’s why, before the beginning of time, He had another plan – a better plan. A plan not to destroy the world but to rescue it – a plan to one day send His own Son, the Rescuer. “God’s strong anger against hate and sadness and death would come down once more – but not on His people, or His world. No, God’s war bow was not pointing down at His people.
“It was pointing up, into the heart of Heaven.”^[3]

Jamie:
So again, that rainbow signifying that promise — Jesus took the wrath for us so that we could be saved. And this is what we are seeing in the throne room — His complete promise, His glory.

So again, that rainbow signifying that promise — Jesus took the wrath for us so that we could be saved. And this is what we are seeing in the throne room: His complete promise, His glory.

And I want to read a little excerpt from a book by Paul David Tripp called Do You Believe? This is from pages 69 and 70. I think that covers us on copyright stuff. Is that accurate?

Keith:
Yes. And then write this stuff — we’re quoting it.

Jamie:
This is quotation marks.

“Glory is not a thing like a shoe, a steak, a candle, or a cottage. Those are particular physical things that can be carefully described by words so that you would immediately have an accurate picture in your mind of what is being talked about. One could draw a picture or take a photograph of a shoe, and you could see it and know what it was, but glory is not like that. No single picture could ever capture glory. Glory simply cannot be photographed. Glory is not so much a thing as it is a description of a thing. Glory is not a part of God; it is all that God is. Every aspect of who God is and every part of what God does is glorious. But that’s not even enough of a description of God’s glory. Not only is He glorious in every way, but His glory is glorious.
“Scripture does, however, put the hugeness of the glory of God into the smallness of human language so that we can at least get some sense of what it’s like. For example, the prophet Isaiah, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in Isaiah 40, stretches human language in order to give us a little glimpse of God’s glory. ‘Who has measured the water in the hollow of his hand?’ Imagine how much water you could hold in the palm of your hand, then consider that God could hold all of the liquid in the universe in His hand and not spill a drop! ‘Who has…weighed the mountains in scales? … Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket [to God]. … He spreads [the heavens] like a tent to dwell in’ (Isa. 40:12, 15, 22). Isaiah is employing incalculably huge word pictures to help us to have even a twinge of understanding of how glorious God is. Yet even these very picturesque and helpful descriptions fall miserably short of capturing the awesome glory of God.
“We cannot gain a full understanding of the glory of God from a few passages, because the reason glory is glory is because it lives above and beyond that kind of description and definition. You can say for sure that God is glorious, because your Bible declares He is, but you cannot accurately and fully describe in words the glory that Scripture declares. Perhaps the only workable path 9into some understanding of the grandeur of the glory of God is to read the entire Word of God again and again, looking for divine glory. Why? Because the glory of God isn’t hidden in His Word; no, His glory is so grand that it splashes across every page of His book.”^[4]

Keith:
One thing’s for sure — there’s awe in everything John writes. Like, this is John, good friend to Jesus on earth. And he’s not saying, “Hey, that’s my buddy.” That’s my God. That’s the throne. That’s — it’s amazing, glorious.

And again, there’s nothing we can say that’s going to do it justice.

Jamie:
That’s right. And you can go to Revelation 21:9–27 and look at New Jerusalem. That’s what heaven will be — what it will look like. And it talks about God’s glory and how glorious it is.

But again, it’s something that is indescribable — or undescribable? Is that the — it’s both of them.

Keith:
It’s both of them.

Jamie:
Yes, it is. I wasn’t sure if that was even a word until just then. So John moves on and he says in verse 4:

“Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones sat twenty-four elders dressed in white clothes with golden crowns on their heads.”

And these twenty-four elders throw a lot of people off. You know — who are they? What are they? What do they represent? Are they really twenty-four people?

And the answer is: we don’t know. Because it doesn’t tell us.

You know, I can tell you that in Revelation 21:12–14 the Bible talks about the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles. And it could be that these twenty-four elders are literally those people. It could be that they’re representation of those people. It could be that they represent the fact that every human being — despite race, despite ethnicity, despite whatever you want to fill in the blank with — will be in heaven if they have a relationship with Christ.

It could represent that — so to speak — the complete church.

Keith:
It could be representatives from the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles.

Jamie:
That’s right.

Keith:
If you’ve got that many “could be’s,” then we need to look at what can we know for sure.

Jamie:
That’s right.

Keith:
That’s the big deal with the study of Revelation — or any sort of prophetic book like this. We want to find our favorite preacher guys or writers to tell us definitively, because we get comfort from it.

I get comfort from having a God who’s so big that He doesn’t need me to know everything. That kind of tells me in some cases — if you’ve got something that’s completely explainable by the mind of man, some dude made it up, right?

And this is so otherworldly that, like Jamie said, John’s doing the best he can.

Jamie:
The absolute best he can.

And now on that thought, we do know in Daniel chapter 7 and verse 9 where God sits down on His throne, and you look around — there’s other empty thrones around Him in Daniel. And now when John sees them, there are twenty-four people sitting on them.

Keith:
So what was empty is, at this point, going to be full.

Jamie:
That’s right.

Keith:
Now full with who?

Jamie:
Again, we don’t know. And I think that’s okay.

Keith:
Well — and well, I know that’s okay.

When you look at this, the point of them — just like when you see angels in Scripture — they’re very quick to say, “Hey, don’t worship me. I worship the One worthy of worship.”

Their whole everything is to say, “Look — look to the throne. Look to Jesus.” They’re not in any sense saying, “Hey, we’ve arrived. Look at how good we are.” They lay their crowns down. They are continually in worship of the One.

So who the twenty-four are — they would say very clearly, “We point to Him.”

Jamie:
That’s right.

Keith:
And so I think that’s enough for me.

Jamie:
And when we see them, we see that they lay their crowns down before the throne.

Keith:
That’s exactly right — which the only reason we know they have crowns is because it tells us they have them.

Jamie:
That’s right.

Keith:
And then it tells us they lay them down.

Jamie:
That’s right.

And so it goes on from there in verse 5: flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder came from the throne.

And this reminds me of Exodus 19 and Exodus 20 where God speaks through the thunder right before He gives the laws and punishments. So kind of another idea of God speaking here.

Flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder come from the throne. And then if you look further in Revelation — Revelation 8:5, 11:19, and 16:18 — that lightning and thunder is a sign of the fury of the judgment to come.

So it’s kind of like God is about to speak, or God is speaking through this to help us understand, to get ready for the fact that His judgment is coming. His judgment is going to be complete, and it is going to be furious.

And we’ll get there in a few chapters. But it is — it’s intense, I think may be the best word I can think of.

And it goes on — same verse, verse 5 — seven fiery torches were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. And we know that to be the Holy Spirit, as we’ve talked about before.

Something like a sea of glass, similar to crystal, was also before the throne.

And notice he says “something like a sea of glass.” So is it a sea of glass? No, it’s not. It’s something like that — meaning that it’s some type of crystal-clear pavement that’s around God’s throne that looks like some kind of glistening sea.

A lot of the commentaries that you read say that this is a symbol of God’s holiness. And I’m — you know — I’ll go with those guys. They’re a lot smarter than me.

But we do know that Revelation 15:2 and 21:1 say there’s no sea in heaven. So it’s not a literal sea, but it is some type of idea of His holiness and that it’s around His throne.

But again, I think it just goes to the fact that there are these things that are indescribable that John’s doing the best he can to describe.

Keith:
Well, and employing language that we use — and again this is an English translation of the Greek — but that’s the language we use when we don’t know how to describe something. We use similes.

And he says, “as it were a sea of glass like crystal.” He’s literally trying to describe this.

But again he keeps making a beeline back to the throne, back to God, back to the praises — because a lot of the stuff that we very easily get caught up on are trappings, wall hangings, adornments, decorations. Jesus is the main thing.

Jamie:
That’s exactly right. And so he goes on again in verse 6 to talk about four living creatures covered with eyes in front and in back, and they’re around the throne on each side. And that’s kind of a freaky—

Keith:
Yeah.

Jamie:
—I wouldn’t think about these as Precious Moments cherubim. And then he describes the four living creatures. And now remember, before we go into this, that we’ve already got the rainbow surrounding the throne, which is going to be your Noahic covenant.

And now here we go. The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature was like an ox, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle.

Now if you’ve got your Bible with us, turn to Genesis 9 — going almost all the way back to the beginning here — Genesis chapter 9. And we look at verses 8 through 11 and it says:

⁸Then God said to Noah and his sons with him, ⁹“Understand that I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, ¹⁰and with every living creature that is with you—birds, livestock, and all wildlife of the earth that are with you—all the animals of the earth that came out of the ark. ¹¹I establish my covenant with you that never again will every creature be wiped out by floodwaters; there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.”

And you notice every single thing that is listed here is exactly who these four living creatures appear to be in Revelation. So it tells us in Revelation that one looked like a lion, and this covenant is with the beast of the earth — or the wildlife of the earth. In Revelation it says one looks like a calf. Well here you have that — it tells us livestock or cattle. And in Revelation it says the face of a man. Well it tells us that with you, Noah, and your descendants after you — that’s man. And then you have like a flying eagle, and it tells us with the birds or the fowl.

And so it appears as though these four living creatures would be representative of this Noahic covenant. In other words, His promises that He is not going to flood the earth again. In fact, He’s going to send His Son to die on a cross, to be raised again three days later so that we could be saved.

And so all of this again going back to Jesus — every bit of it. Did you have something you wanted to add there?

Keith:
No, just a thought — or take away. I thought of a phrase from Scripture. I don’t have the address right off the top of my head, but it says, “The whole earth is full of His glory.” He’s not going to flood in wrath anymore, but instead with His glory.

And we’ve already said that it’s incalculable, indescribable. But at this point we just see Him better. Again, if you can look in Revelation 4 and go back and see ties to Genesis, there’s a reason God does that — and it’s to show us He’s got this.

He knows what He’s doing. He’s not saying stuff by accident. He’s got a definite plan that has already been fulfilled and victorious while we’re waiting for it to pan out. He’s 100% sure on it. He sat down, right?

If we’re looking at creation — seventh day is a day of rest. We’re reading about Revelation wondering what’s going to happen this day, that day, this year, that year. God’s already said it and sat down.It’s finished.

Jamie:
And I think on that note it’s cool to point out — which I feel like this is related here — but in the temple, the Holy of Holies, all of these things that they built in the Old Testament and performed sacrifices in… what’s the one piece of furniture that wasn’t there?

Keith:
Nothing to sit on — except for the mercy seat.

Jamie:
That’s right. There’s no chair for the priest — the high priest — because those sacrifices were never ending. They continued on and on and on. But once Jesus raises again three days later, what does He do?

Keith:
Sits down.

Jamie:
Sits down.

Keith:
Well, I know this doesn’t directly tie, but thinking about who’s sitting on those twenty-four thrones — we ain’t got to worry about it. We don’t need to be looking for a place to sit down. It’s occupied.

Jamie:
That’s accurate. And so what are these four living creatures doing while they’re in heaven? Verse 8 says each of the four living creatures has six wings. They’re covered with eyes around and inside. Day and night they never stop saying:

Each of the four living creatures had six wings; they were covered with eyes around and inside. Day and night they never stop, saying,

Holy, holy, holy,

Lord God, the Almighty,

who was, who is, and who is to come.

Keith:
And that’s the address I was looking for earlier — Isaiah 6. That’s what the angels there are saying in the throne room.

And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory!”

Jamie:
And to what Keith spoke about earlier, the next couple of verses say that whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the One seated on the throne — the One who lives forever and ever — which we know is day and night, they never stop saying it.

It says the twenty-four elders fall down before the One seated on the throne and worship the One who lives forever and ever. And they cast their crowns before the throne and say:

¹⁰…the twenty-four elders fall down before the one seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne and say,

¹¹Our Lord and God,

you are worthy to receive

glory and honor and power,

because you have created all things,

and by your will

they exist and were created.

And so I think it’s just awesome to think about heaven for a second, right? This throne room — you’ve got these four living creatures constantly crying out to the Lord. You’ve got these twenty-four elders constantly crying out to the Lord and worshiping the Lord and praising the Lord. And His glory and His brilliance is there, and this rainbow is there. Just how awesome it’s going to be if we have a relationship with Him.

Keith:
And again that’s the kicker. When we look at these things, a lot of time is spent in the world today — more “Christian” books written on the end times than any other particular subject — because people want to know what Jesus says cannot be known. He doesn’t know the day or the hour. And if Jesus isn’t read in on it, there’s not a soul on the earth who’s going to be like, “You know…”

Because here’s the thing: what we can know is Jesus is worthy. Jesus is God. And when we see these descriptions we should be moved, at the very least, to be like Isaiah in his vision of the throne room:

And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

When we look at these we need to be moved to worship. It should drive us to our faces. It should drive us toward His throne. It should drive us — for all the things that we think we have that are of worth, which is nothing comparable to a crown of an elder with a throne around His throne — to focus on the worthiness of Him.

When we move forward in Revelation that is a consistent theme: the glory of God on full display. Him being God, being all powerful, not being in danger. War being made against Him and Him being able to fell all the forces of evil with a word. It’s not going to be a battle. It’s not going to be a fight. We’ve got a toothless lion seeking to devour and destroy. But as we’ll see next week, seated on the throne—

Jamie:
—Is the Lion.

And I want to just say this before we close out, kind of to piggyback on what Keith said. I think it’s important to note that these elders and these living creatures aren’t worshiping God because of what He did for them. They’re not worshiping Him because of what He can offer. They’re not worshiping Him because He filled their bank accounts up or He did this or did that or whatever. A lot of times as believers — I’m not going to say a lot of times — sometimes we get caught up in that. “Well, God blessed me with this,” or “God’s given me that.” But we worship Him because He is who He is.

Keith:
And the Bible does describe being thankful and grateful in our worship to Him for what He’s done — yes. But if He had done nothing for us, He’s still worthy.

Earlier we mentioned Philippians 2 — that because Jesus is who He is and He’s done what He’s done, God has bestowed on Him the name that is above every name.

⁹Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

These are people who didn’t want Jesus, don’t want to fool with Him, aren’t bowing in worship — they’re bowing in submission and subjection because He is the King. And when it’s time to bow, you bow.

So whether it be like the elders casting their crowns before the throne, or those under the earth bowing in subjection — Jesus is Lord. Jesus is God. He lives forever and ever. He is worthy to receive glory, honor, and power. He created everything. It’s by His will they exist. It’s by His will that we were created. By the word of His power that it’s all held together.

And He is thrice holy. Holy, holy, holy.

How will you stand — or kneel — in response to the King?

^[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), Re 4:1–11.

^[2] When Jamie cites Scripture, it’s from the CSB – The Christian Standard Bible (Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017).

^[3] Sally Lloyd-Jones, The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name, illus. Jago (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007), 46–47.

^[4] Paul David Tripp, Do You Believe?: 12 Historic Doctrines to Change Your Everyday Life (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2021), 69–70.

“Kept Through the Trial: Jesus’s Letter to the Church at Philadelphia” — a Refresh & Restore Bible Study

⁷“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.⁸“ ‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. ⁹Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. ¹⁰Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. ¹¹I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. ¹²The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. ¹³He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’^[1]

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3jmFoqZKEX3Uxr90Bd1q8T?si=c6iEuIjESoqS7zdb3Eyjfw

Keith Harris:
Greetings, Sojourners,
We’re excited to dive into this letter today. How excited are we?

Jamie Harrison:
I am almost as excited as you are. Almost. Almost.

Keith:
Too many cups of coffee.

Jamie:
Too many cups of coffee — and that’s T-W-O, actually number three. I had one before I got here. This is not good.

Keith:
Well, I’m glad you’re excited. Since you’re excited, why don’t you filter that excitement into Revelation 3 — the letter to Philadelphia.

Jamie:
This letter — this letter is… it’s a little deep. It’s a little controversial. There’s one particular verse in here that’s the only one I ever hear quoted when people say Jesus is going to come back before the tribulation. It’s always this one.

But I want to say up front — Keith and I have made very clear from the get-go that these kinds of controversial things are not our focus. Our focus is: What does the Bible say about Jesus?

Keith:
And we’ve said this at least once every episode. We don’t have the answers to all the popular questions. We’re not seeking to. What we try to do is what I would call good, practical, healthy Bible interpretation — where the clear things are important and the important things are clear. And that which is less clear? That’s above our pay grade. So we’re going to tell you — to the best of our ability — what the Bible says, and do what Nehemiah 8:8 says:

“They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.”

That’s what we’re going for — to point people to Jesus. And if something cannot be known, we’ll tell you that. And then we’ll move on.

Jamie:
That’s right. Amen. Let’s go.

So as we get started here, remember the letters are all set up kind of in the same order, for the most part. And here we start off again with our salutation: “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia…” — referring to the pastor of said church. And then Jesus is going to jump straight in and give some attributes about Himself. And He says: “The words of the Holy One, the True One, the One who has the key of David, who opens and no one will close, and who closes and no one opens.” (CSB) So He gives quite a few things about Himself here. And just to briefly dive into each one a little bit: First off, He describes Himself as the Holy One. Please understand — this is Jesus declaring that He is God. Don’t ever be confused about that. Some people will say, “Well, Jesus never said He was God.” Well, first off — He did. And second — here’s one example. When He says He is the Holy One, He is declaring that He has full authority as a member of the Godhead. He is God — and that is exponentially important to understand. Jesus has the same authority that God the Father and God the Holy Spirit do.

Keith:
Because we’re not talking about three gods. We’re talking about three persons of the One God. Because it says the Holy One, the True One, clarifying that while Jesus is a member of the Trinity — which is just a word we use to describe this multifaceted God — He is one God, and His name is Jesus.

Jamie:
And so He goes from there — He says the Holy One, the True One, like Keith said. Now, the city of Philadelphia — not Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, because that didn’t exist yet.

Keith:
That’s accurate.

Jamie:
Coincidentally, this city was actually destroyed [once] by an earthquake — but we digress. Philadelphia was called “the Gateway to the East.” They were situated on a main route of the imperial post from Rome to the East. So it was a very important city in terms of traffic — people passing through, mail being delivered — things like that. But along this route, because there were so many travelers, there were also many, many temples to other gods.

Keith:
Which was very common — not just in the Roman Empire, but especially in the Roman Empire. They wanted to keep people happy, keep people placated. And one way to do that — especially if you’re trying to gather a lot of people together — is to make it easy for them. So you think about cities today that have mosques and temples and synagogues and churches and this and that. It’s along the same vein — gather the people in, get them for your purpose. And, I mean, that’s what gathers them.

Jamie:
That’s right. And so Jesus here — when He says the True One — understand: He’s not fake. He’s not man-made. He’s not a copy. He is God. He’s saying, “I’m not like all these other false gods and temples you see along the way. I am God.” Revelation 6:10 refers to Jesus as the One who is holy and true.
In other words — again — He is God. So He is making an emphasis here, so that the church in Philadelphia understands: this is who is speaking.

Keith:
And I think it’s 1 John 5:20 that says — specifically about Jesus —

“He is the true God, and eternal life.” (ESV)

So this is consistent — same author as Revelation, by the way. The same John who wrote Revelation also wrote 1 John. So the message is consistent: Jesus is God.

Jamie:
So then the third attribute He gives here is: “The One who has the key of David, who opens and no one will close, and who closes and no one opens.” (CSB) I just want to briefly hit on this. If you look back at Isaiah 22:15–25, you’ll see kind of where this idea — the “key of David” — comes from. And the story that happens in Isaiah 22 is this: Assyria invades Judah, and the Jewish leaders — instead of calling on God to defend them — they call on Egypt to defend them. And one of those leaders was named Shebna… Shebna? Shebna? However you want to say it.

Keith:
Just say it fast.

Jamie:
Say it fast. Nobody knows.

Keith:
Confidence. That’s the key.

Jamie:
That’s right — confidence.

So Shebna used his office for personal gain, and so God removes him and puts Eliakim in his place. And gives him the keys of authority — these “keys of David.” Whoever this steward is has control over the distribution of resources. So again, Shebna uses it for personal gain. Eliakim comes in — he’s a very good man, according to the Bible. But even though he’s a good man, we’re told in the story that he will give way — that his shelf will be removed, so to speak — because he’s still just a man, and he’s not able. He’s not able to do what Jesus can.

So when he’s removed, the keys are going to be given to Jesus. Only Jesus can be trusted with our lives. He is the heir to the throne of David. So when He says, “The One who has the key of David,” that’s what He’s referring to. He is, so to speak, over the house. He is the treasurer. He’s in charge of the distribution of resources. In other words — He’s the man, okay? I think that’s the best way to say it. He has the key.

So if you ever hear anybody else say that they have the key of David — they are a liar.

Keith:
And in a very real sense — an antichrist. Not the Antichrist, but an antichrist. If the Bible says this is what Jesus has — and they’re not Jesus, or Eliakim from centuries ago — then they’re lying. And they’re dangerous.

Jamie:
Very, very dangerous. And I do encourage — as we go through this study — look in the Word. Don’t take our word for it. We’re big on that when we’re teaching or preaching in church. Our pastor, Big John, is always like, “Man, go back to the Word. Don’t just take my word for it — go to the Word.” So again, that was Isaiah 22:15–25 — check it out, read it for yourself.

Keith:
Specifically verse 22 is where that key reference is — that Jesus is pretty much quoting word for word.

Jamie:
Absolutely.

So what does Jesus do with these keys of David? Well, it tells us: “The One who has the key of David, who opens and no one will close, and who closes and no one opens.” (CSB) Well, what is He opening and closing? You can look straight to the Bible on this — because again, the Bible is going to tell us what the Bible means. And if you look in Acts 14:27, 1 Corinthians 16:9, 2 Corinthians 2:12, Colossians 4:3–4 — and there are others — but if you look at those, all of them refer to a door being opened for ministry, for the gospel to be spread. So Jesus has the authority — as a full member of the Godhead — to close and open doors. And what doors is He closing and opening? They’re doors to ministry, the spread of the gospel, for you to go and do the works you’ve been placed here to do. Paul talks about this in a couple of his letters — Keith, help me with the exact one — but he wanted to go to a particular country to the East and wasn’t allowed to go.

Keith:
Yeah, and at one point in time, he was planning on going to Spain — and we know he didn’t make it there.

Jamie:
That’s right. Wanted to go to Rome, but wasn’t allowed to go at that time because the Holy Spirit closed that door. And so that’s the idea we’re looking at here.

So Jesus, once again, is explaining — in three different ways — “I’m part of the Godhead, and I’ve got all authority.” And then He goes on from there and says: “I know your works. Look, I’ve placed before you an open door that no one can close, because you have but little power, yet you’ve kept My Word and have not denied My name.” (CSB) So — you have but little power. He’s opening these doors not because they have wealth, not because they’re a large congregation, not because they have some qualification like X, Y, Z — He opens the door of ministry because of their faith.

Keith:
It’s a clear contrast here to [Jesus’s last] letter. If you look back at Matthew 7, Jesus says, “You said you did this in My name, and that in My name — we raised the dead, we prophesied…” And Jesus says, “But I don’t know who you are.” Here, Jesus is saying, “I do know who you are. And I’ve picked you — not because you’re strong in and of yourself — but because I’ve given you a ministry that no one is going to be able to stop.” The contrast is the strength of Jesus that He gives to those He has saved — those He has made alive. That’s what it takes for ministry. It’s not based on your gifting or your ability or your works — because the world will tell you (and a lot of times, even religion will tell you): “Do this, and you earn that.” But Jesus is saying: “You get this because I am this. I used My key. I unlocked the door. They can’t shut it.”

Jamie:
That’s right. That’s a huge deal. Very much so.

So He says: “You’ve kept My Word, you’ve not denied My name. Note this: I will make those from the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews and are not, but are lying — I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I have loved you.” (CSB) So first — you’ve kept My Word and not denied My name. In other words, they’ve survived persecution. They’ve survived trials. These people are stepping out in faith. They’re doing the things the Lord told them to do. They’ve kept His Word. They’ve survived persecution. They’ve survived trials.

Keith:
Which, in contrast, obviously means there are some who — because of the persecution and the trials — denied His name. They just walked away from Him. That was a common practice — not just back in ancient times, but even now. If you’re living in a country that is hostile to the gospel, they will absolutely give you the opportunity to renounce that belief — to say, “No, just kidding. Jesus isn’t my Lord. Allah is,” or “Caesar is,” or whoever. And these people — in the midst of that, having the opportunity — said: “No. Jesus. Period.”

Jamie:
That’s right. Period. So with this next verse — verse 9 — talking about the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews and are not, but are lying — you can jump back to Revelation 2:9–10 and you get the same kind of idea. They are Jews outwardly, but not inwardly, so to speak. In other words, they’re not who Jesus would want them to be — who God would want them to be. They’re being led by Satan to persecute these believers. Now, if you’re a Jew reading this letter back during this time, you might say, “Are you trying to say I’m part of the synagogue of Satan?” Well — if you’re doing Satan’s work, then that’s what you are.

Keith:
It says what it says.

Jamie:
That’s right. And He says: “I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I have loved you.” (CSB) You can also look at Philippians 2:5–11 and Revelation 5:11–13 for similar language.

And then He says: “Because you have kept My command to endure, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is going to come on the whole world, to test those who live on the earth.” (CSB) Then verse 11: “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one takes your crown.” (CSB) And here’s that verse I mentioned earlier — the one that some people quote when they say Jesus is going to come back before the tribulation. It’s this phrase: “I will keep you from the hour of testing…” Now — when you read that, you might assume that it means He’s going to remove you from the trial, that He’ll take you off the face of the earth and move you to heaven before the trial starts. So I think we have to look at that word “keep.” What does it mean? Is Jesus saying, “I’ll take you out of the Great Tribulation”?

Now, mind you — He’s just commended them. There’s no admonition in this letter, no rebuke. It’s all praise. He just told them, “Great job working through persecution. Great job working through trials.” In other words, as Christians — we’re going to go through these things. The Bible’s clear about that. So again, what does the word “keep” mean? This particular Greek word — and Keith, you can pronounce it better than I can…

Keith:
I believe it’s tēreō.

Jamie:
Sounds great. We’ll go with that. It means: “To cause to continue, to guard, to watch over, to protect.”

So let’s read that verse with each of those meanings plugged in. “I will also cause you to continue from the hour of testing.” “I will guard you from the hour of testing.” “I will watch over you from the hour of testing.” “I will protect you from the hour of testing.” So when you read it that way, it doesn’t sound like you’re being removed. It sounds like you’re being protected through the hour of testing.

So let’s look back at a couple of places where that same word — keep — is used. First, let’s go to John 15:20–21. This is where Jesus is speaking to His disciples. He says: “Remember the word I spoke to you: A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will also keep yours.” (CSB) There’s that same word — keep. Verse 21: “But they will do all these things to you on account of My name, because they don’t know the One who sent Me.” (CSB) So these two verses say that we’re going to go through persecution — it’s going to happen.

Now jump to John 17:6–19. This is where Jesus is praying for His disciples. And I think it’s important to read this whole section: “I have revealed Your name to the people You gave Me from the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. Now they know that everything You have given Me is from You, because I have given them the words You gave Me. They have received them and have known for certain that I came from You. They have believed that You sent Me. I pray for them. I’m not praying for the world but for those You have given Me, because they are Yours. Everything I have is Yours, and everything You have is Mine, and I am glorified in them. I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, protect them by Your name that You have given Me, so that they may be one as We are one. While I was with them, I was protecting them by Your name that You have given Me. I guarded them, and not one of them is lost except the son of destruction…” (CSB)

Keith:
— referring to Judas.

Jamie:
Right — “so that the Scripture may be fulfilled.” Then He says: “Now I am coming to You, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have My joy completed in them. I have given them Your word. The world hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I am not praying that You take them out of the world, but that You protect them from the evil one.” (CSB)

Keith:
That word protect — same word again: tēreō. That’s the word we’re looking at.

Jamie:
Exactly. He says: “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. I sanctify Myself for them, so that they also may be sanctified by the truth.” (CSB) Now, one of the keys to studying the Bible is knowing that the Bible is going to confirm what the Bible says. And if it doesn’t, then it’s probably one of those things that we’re not supposed to know about.

Keith:
And when something is only mentioned vaguely, or only mentioned in one place — it depends on how it’s used, whether or not we can be clear about it.

Jamie:
Right. So here in Revelation, Jesus says He will “keep” them from the hour of testing. And in John 17, He uses the same word — and He literally says: “I’m not praying that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one.” In other words, while they’re going through the tribulation of the world — the persecution — He is protecting them through it, not removing them from it.

Keith:
And we’ve been looking at that word keep as a verb — but the noun form of it literally means something like a warden or a guard. It’s related to how we use the phrase “keep an eye on.” And “keep an eye on” doesn’t necessarily mean you rescue someone from everything — it means you make sure they can make it through. If you’re keeping an eye on your kids, you don’t necessarily mow everything down in front of them — even if you want to.

Part of that is them learning how to navigate things, knowing you’re there. As kids grow into adulthood, they’ve got to be able to do things on their own. So, like, if I’m keeping an eye on my kids while they’re cooking, I can’t run over every time they touch the stove knob and slap their hand away. They know I’ve got them — but they’re still learning. And that’s the idea behind this word keep.

Jamie:
So I think to kind of finish this out — if you’re still with us (and hopefully you didn’t click off because you disagree with what we just said) — I want to say this: Is Jesus coming back before the Tribulation? Is He coming back halfway through? Is He coming at the end? The answer is: I don’t know. I’m not Him. And He told us that no one knows — only the Father.

Keith:
One thing we can definitively say is that He’s not coming back before any tribulation — because we know from the book of Acts, the church has already been going through tribulation. And I think about 1 Peter 5:8–9 — where Peter’s writing to believers who are going through trials and tribulations. He talks about their adversary, the devil, prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking to devour and destroy. And he says: “Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.” (ESV)

I hear people in the church today talk about, “Well, what are we going to do when persecution sets in?” If you’re living a godly life in the middle of a secular world, you’ve probably experienced it on some level. But all around the world today — and for the last 2,000 years — there are Christians who’ve faced the choice: “Will you renounce Christ and live, or remain faithful and die?” So we can definitively say — whether or not He comes back before the Great Tribulation — there’s already great tribulation happening in a lot of places.

Jamie:
A lot of places. Here in America, we’re kind of shielded from that — or spoiled. That’s a better word.

Keith:
Spoiled. Good word.

Jamie:
So again — the answer is: We don’t know. Sure, I’m rooting for a pre-tribulation return…, but I also have to look at it objectively and say: If believers at the beginning of the church suffered immense persecution… We could talk all day about the torture techniques used on them. Some of it would blow your mind — might even make you puke. The early church suffered.

Keith:
And I love how Shane Viner put it when we discussed this a while back. He said, “I want more than anything for the pre-trib view to be right… but it sure is good news to know that if it’s not — He’s got us.” That’s it. That’s such a beautiful sentiment. Do we want Jesus to come and rescue us beforehand? Absolutely. But we can also look at those who are suffering now around the world and say — “He’s still got them. And He’ll still have us — no matter what the world throws our way.” I’ve heard someone say, “The world’s greatest threat — death — brings the Christian’s greatest reward.”

Jamie:
So Jesus goes on from there and says again: “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one takes your crown. The one who conquers, I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never go out again. I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God — the New Jerusalem — which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.” (CSB) So here we go — “the one who conquers.” Again, 1 John 5:4–5 tells us the one who conquers is the one who is saved. He says, “I’ll make him a pillar in the temple of My God.” Now, I think it’s interesting — in Philadelphia, they were constantly scared of earthquakes. They were constantly having to evacuate the city. And we mentioned at the beginning that it was actually destroyed by an earthquake in 17 BC. So this language would’ve hit home — when Jesus talks about a pillar. A pillar holds a building up. They had seen buildings collapse — often. So this is personal.

Keith:
And ideally, the pillar stays.

Jamie:
That’s right. So here Jesus says: “I’ll make you a pillar in the temple of My God.” In other words — this temple will never be destroyed. You will be there forever. And of course, we know this temple isn’t a literal building. Revelation 21:22 tells us that there is no temple in heaven — because Jesus Himself is the temple. We also know that the believers bear His name (Galatians 2:9). He says: “I’ll give you the name of My God, the name of the city of My God — the New Jerusalem — and My new name.” (CSB) Ezekiel 48:35 says the New Jerusalem means: “The LORD is there.” And that’s exactly what we have here in Revelation. The Lord is there. There’s no sun, because He is the light. There’s no temple, because He is the temple. And we will be there forever with Him. Now as far as where it says He’ll write on us His name and His new name — Some people say, “Well, what is that name?” I don’t know. Because He didn’t tell us.

Keith:
And if He doesn’t tell us, we’re not supposed to know.

Jamie:
That’s right. I can give you a few other verses in Revelation that mention His new name — that’s Revelation 2:17, 3:12, 19:12, and 22:4. Check those out. But again — it doesn’t say what the name is. Who knows? But I know it’s going to be pretty cool — because it comes from Him.

Keith:
It’s one of those things like — have you ever tried to explain something to someone, and finally just said, “You had to be there”? Well, this is going to be one of those things. You have to be there — with Him — to know. And that’s good. Because again — we’re talking about a Savior who keeps us through persecution, who gives us perseverance. If we are His, we will be with Him forever. So we don’t have to know everything right now. We can have assurance in this: We know Him. And He knows us.

Jamie:
And of course, the last verse: “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.” (CSB) Or maybe it says, “has ears.” I don’t know. That’s horrible. There’s some guy in the world without ears right now who’s reading the transcript going, “I don’t think that’s very funny.” Yeah, I apologize to you, sir.

Keith:
Most of what comes out in these podcasts starts as writing, but this — oddly enough — is meant to be heard. These conversations — while we joke — the idea here is: Don’t just hear what we said. Hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Not just these churches in Revelation — but to your church as well. If you’re saved, you should be part of a local church. And this letter is written to yours, too. Are you going to be like the churches that Jesus rebuked for their works? Or like the ones who had no works at all?
Or are you going to be like this church — where Jesus says: “I know that you have little power — but I’ve given you work to do, and you’ve done it.” This letter is meant to apply to your life. Before Jesus gave any of the future stuff in Revelation, He gave these letters — to deal with the now. So… are you part of the synagogue of Satan? Are you claiming to be part of God’s people, but lying? Or are you bowing at His feet, knowing full well that He loves you — and because He loved you, you love Him? With this letter to the church at Philadelphia — dear Sojourner, this is our plea: Seek to apply this. Do you belong to God?

Has He saved you? Have you confessed Him as Lord, and believed in your heart that God raised Him from the dead? Because if you haven’t — You’ve got nothing to hold fast to. If you haven’t — There’s no amount of works, no amount of Bible reading, no obsession with prophecy that can save you. Jesus is the True One. And if He has opened the door to you — no one can shut it. That’s good news.

Alright. We have thoroughly enjoyed this. Jamie, thank you for being here.

Jamie:
Oh, thank you.

Keith:
We’ll see y’all next week with the last of the letters — the letter to the church in Laodicea.

^[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), Re 3:7–13.

Christ Has Come: The Promised King & His Gift of Love” — a Refresh & Restore Bible Study

Romans 5:8 –

…but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.^[1]

John 3:16-17 –

¹⁶“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.^[2]

1 John 4:9-10 –

⁹In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. ¹⁰In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.^[3]

Merry Christmas Adam, Sojourners!

Why Christmas Adam, you ask? Well, Adam came before Eve, right? Ba-dum-cha!

I’m somewhat sorry to start with a dad joke, but I am who I am. And even a light moment like this can remind us that Christmas meets us in ordinary, human places before leading us to eternal truths. So, with that smile (hopefully) in place, let’s turn our hearts to deeper things.

As we move toward the culmination of Advent and stand on the threshold of Christmas, we pause once more to reflect on the gifts God has given us in the coming of His Son. Over the past few weeks, we’ve traced the steady unfolding of the gospel through hope, peace, and joy. We’ve seen that our hope rests not in circumstances but in the faithful God who keeps His promises. We’ve seen that true peace was secured when Jesus entered our darkness to reconcile us to God. And we’ve seen that real joy is not manufactured by emotion or ease but springs up where God’s mercy is received and trusted. And if this season finds you carrying grief, sorrow, disappointment, or weariness, there is room for that here. The coming of Jesus doesn’t require us to pretend, perform, or put on a happy face. It invites us to come to Him honestly – needy, heavy-laden, and real – and to find that He meets us with mercy (Matthew 11:28-30, Psalm 34:18, Hebrews 4:15-16).

Now, all of those gifts converge in the love of God.

Christmas is the declaration that God’s love is neither distant nor abstract. It took on flesh (John 1:14). The incarnation is not merely the arrival of a baby in Bethlehem; it is the greatest gift ever given – the Son of God sent for sinners like us. Hope, peace, and joy all find their source and fulfillment in Him because they flow from God’s love revealed in Jesus. Without God’s love, there would be no promise kept, no peace secured, and no joy that lasts. Christmas tells us that love has come near (Hebrews 2:14-18).

In this final study in our Christ Has Come series, we’ll consider how Scripture defines that love – not as sentiment, but as saving action. We’ll briefly walk through three key passages that together give us a clear and faithful picture of the love of God revealed in Christmas: Romans 5:8, where God demonstrates His love for sinners; John 3:16-17, where God gives His Son so the world might be saved; and 1 John 4:9-10, where love is defined – not by our response to God but by God’s initiative toward us. As we do, it’s my prayer that we’ll see that Christmas proclaims this staggeringly simple and gloriously true gospel message: God loves, God gives, and God saves.

God Demonstrates His Love (Romans 5:8)
…but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

This verse doesn’t merely tell us that God loves – it shows us how He loves. His love is not theoretical. It’s not conditional. It’s demonstrated, proven, and displayed throughout history through the death of Jesus (1 John 3:16).

What makes this love so staggering is when it was shown. Paul explains that Jesus didn’t die for good, righteous people or folks who had earned God’s favor. He died for sinners – ungodly people living in rebellion and enmity against God (Romans 5:6-10). Human love, at its best, may sacrifice for someone we feel is worthy, but God’s love belongs to an entirely different category. While we were still estranged, still guilty, still God’s enemies, still unable to fix or save ourselves, God acted. He moved first in love (1 John 4:19).

And it’s important to see that this wasn’t only the love of the Son for us but also the love of the Father. You see, the cross wasn’t a tragic accident or a reluctant sacrifice – it was God’s loving plan of redemption. God demonstrated His love by sending His Son to die in our place (Romans 8:32). The justice and righteousness of God required that sin be dealt with, and Romans 5:9 reminds us why the cross was necessary: “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God.” God’s love doesn’t ignore sin or minimize judgment. Rather, love moved God to place His righteous wrath against sin upon His own Son, so that sinners like us could be forgiven, justified, and reconciled to Him.

Romans 5:8 teaches us that God’s love isn’t measured by how we feel in a given moment or how well life is going. It’s anchored in an unchanging historical reality: Jesus died for us. Christmas, then, isn’t sentimental but sacrificial. It points us to the cross, where God’s love is demonstrated fully, finally, and forever.

God Gives His Son (John 3:16-17)
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.

If Romans 5:8 shows us how God demonstrates His love, John 3:16-17 helps us understand why – and to what end. The cross doesn’t stand alone as an isolated act of love but flows out of the eternal, gracious heart of the Father. Long before nails pierced flesh, love was already moving. God loved, and so God gave.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son….” These are probably the most familiar words in all of Scripture, but they lose none of their weight or strength with repetition. They magnify this God-sized love, a love not measured by the size or goodness of the world but in the costliness of the gift He gives. Scripture is clear: God’s love for the world is astonishing not because the world was worthy, but because it was fallen, rebellious, and broken. The wonder of John 3:16 isn’t that God loved something lovable—which would make sense—but that He loved sinners and gave His Son so that they might be saved through Him. That is grace. That is mercy.

And this love isn’t vague. It’s not sentimental. God’s love takes action. He gave His Son – He sent Him into the world to take on flesh, dwell among us, and ultimately to bear the penalty for our sin. The incarnation – Christmas – is an act of love. Christmas tells us that love came near to us, and as we said before, Christmas leads us to the cross, God giving Himself so that sinners might live.

John 3:17 presses this even further because Jesus didn’t enter a morally neutral world awaiting judgment; He entered a world already condemned by sin (John 3:18, 3:36). His first coming wasn’t to add condemnation but to offer rescue (John 12:47). Love sent the Son on a mission of salvation – not ignoring sin but dealing with it fully and finally.

This helps us see the way Christmas and the cross are woven together in God’s redemptive plan. God’s love doesn’t deny judgment but provides salvation from it. The same love that sent Jesus into the world is the love that led Him to lay down His life. And the promise attached to that love is breathtakingly simple: “whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” God’s love invites trust. It calls for faith. And it offers life – real, eternal life – to all who believe in Him.

If Romans 5:8 shows us that God loved us while we were still sinners, John 3:16-17 shows us that this love has always been purposeful, redemptive, and saving. Love gives. Love sends. Love saves.

God Defines Love (1 John 4:9-10)
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

If Romans 5:8 shows us when God loved us and John 3:16-17 shows us why He loved us, 1 John 4:9-10 tells us what love truly is. Scripture doesn’t leave love to our imagination or interpretation. It defines it for us. And it does so by pointing, once again, to God’s action in sending His Son.

John tells us that God’s love was “made manifest” – made visible, made known, made unmistakable. Love didn’t remain hidden in God’s heart or vague in His intentions. It was revealed when God sent His only Son into the world so that we, who were dead in our trespasses and sins, might live through Him (Ephesians 2:1-5). Love isn’t about how we feel toward God but about what God has done for us. “In this is love,” John writes, “Not that we have loved but that God has loved us.” Love begins with God. Love moves toward sinners. Love takes the initiative.

This is where Christmas love often gets misunderstood. We tend to think of love primarily in human terms like affection, warmth, or generosity, but Scripture presses us deeper. God’s love is not only demonstrated in sending His Son – it’s defined by His purpose for sending Him: “to be the propitiation for our sins”^[4]. That word matters. Propitiation means that Jesus bore the righteous wrath of God against sin, as we discussed earlier, but it also means that He fully satisfied the demands of God’s holy justice (Romans 3:25-26, Isaiah 53:5-6, 2 Corinthians 5:21). Love didn’t ignore our sin. It didn’t excuse our rebellion against God. Love dealt with sin fully and finally by placing its penalty on a sinless substitute.

This is also why no human comparison or analogy could fully capture what God has done – though it can help us feel the weight of it. As a father – as a daddy, I cannot imagine loving anyone enough to give one of my children in their place. My love for my kids outweighs any value anyone else could ever have in my eyes. And even if I could somehow bring myself to offer such a sacrifice, it wouldn’t do any good. My kiddos, like their daddy, are sinners. They couldn’t atone for anyone’s sin. They couldn’t bear God’s righteous wrath. They, like me, can’t even save themselves. We didn’t need a better example or a more inspiring human being—we needed God’s Son. We needed God to put on flesh and dwell among us, live the sinless life we are incapable of living, and die the death we deserve because of our sin. Only a sinless Savior could stand in the place of sinners (Hebrews 4:15, 1 Peter 3:18). Only Jesus could be the propitiation our sins require.

This is the love Christmas proclaims. God didn’t send His Son because we were lovable. He sent Him because we were lost. He didn’t wait for our love but acted in love first. And He didn’t merely show us affection – He provided atonement. Christmas tells us that love came down, took on flesh, and willingly walked toward the cross so that we might live through Him.

Wrapping Up

As this study comes to a close – and Christmas itself arrives – we’re reminded that the love we’ve been considering isn’t something to admire. It’s something to receive. Christmas isn’t only a message to be believed but a Savior to be trusted. And coming to Jesus doesn’t require you to feel “merry”, to force a smile, or to pretend the season isn’t heavy. There is room in Christ for grief, sorrow, anxiety, and whatever burdens you’re carrying (Psalm 34:18, 1 Peter 5:7). He meets us where we are – and He loves us too much to leave us as we are (Hebrews 4:15-16).

For some, this invitation is especially clear. If you find yourself among the lowly – aware of your need, burdened by guilt, weary from sin, or conscious that you can’t save yourself – Christmas holds out real hope. The love of God has come near to sinners in Jesus, near enough to take hold of. And Scripture tells us plainly how to do that: “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). It really is that simple – and that profound. Look away from yourself and toward Jesus and what He has done. Put your trust – your faith – in Him. And if you do, God’s promise stands firm: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13). What better time to receive Him—and the love that’s been given?

For others, this season is a call not to come for the first time but to remember again. Many of us have been lifted by grace – saved, forgiven, reconciled to God through Christ. And yet even the redeemed can grow weary, distracted, or dulled by the noise of the season. Christmas gently calls us back to the gospel we first believed. It invites us to remember what the Lord has done and to ask Him to remind us again – day by day – of His steadfast love. The love of God in Christ that saved you is the same love that sustains you, comforts you, and carries you forward.

This is the good news Christmas proclaims. Love has come. Love has taken on flesh. Love has walked toward the cross. And love calls sinners to come, believers to remember, and all to rest in Christ – because He is love. So wherever you find yourself this Christmas, lowly or lifted, weary or rejoicing – fix your eyes once more on Jesus. The Promised King has come. And in Him, the greatest gift of love has been given.

^[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ro 5:8.

^[2] ESV, Jn 3:16–17.

^[3] ESV, 1 Jn 4:9–10.

^[4] Propitiation means that Jesus bore the righteous wrath of God against sin and fully satisfied the demands of God’s holy justice (Romans 3:25–26; Isaiah 53:5–6). At the cross, God did not ignore sin or lower His standard; He dealt with sin completely by placing its penalty on His own Son. Because Jesus satisfied God’s justice, all who trust in Him are justified—declared righteous before God, not because of their works, but because Christ’s righteousness is credited to them (Romans 5:1, 5:9; 2 Corinthians 5:21). This means that God’s love and God’s justice are not in conflict at the cross. In love, God provided what His justice required. Propitiation shows us that salvation is not God choosing between love and holiness, but God expressing both perfectly in Jesus.

Songs for Sunday, November 16, 2025 @ Christ Community Church

Tomorrow is the Lord’s day, and I’m excited!

Plus, it’s baptism Sunday at Christ Community tomorrow — a day when we celebrate a visible proclamation of faith and the public confession of our hope: JESUS is LORD! And while we get to watch this, we are reminded that baptism itself doesn’t save us but instead illustrates the saving work of Jesus in the lives of those He saves.

Paul gives us a clear picture of this in Romans 6:4:

We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Baptism is a symbol of union with Christ — we go under the water as a picture of His death and burial and rise out of the water as a picture of His resurrection. When a believer participates in baptism, he or she procaims that “Jesus died for me, Jesus rose for me, and by faith in Him, I now walk in newness of life!” It’s a public testimony that Jesus saves and that He has brought us from dead in our sins to alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:1-5).

Watching these new believers being baptized will give us a picture of the gospel. We will also read a presentation of the gospel in our worship time in Titus 3:3-7:

³For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. ⁴But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, ⁵He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, ⁶whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

This passage shows both who we are and what God has done:

Who we are: sinners enslaved, lost, angry, guilty, unable to save ourselves
What God did: “He saved us” — not because of our goodness, effort, or religious zeal and “not because of works done by us in righteousness
How He saves: “according to His own mercy”, giving us new birth and new life through His Holy Spirit
Who we are after salvation: “justified by His grace” — declared righteous — and “heirs according to the hope of eternal life”

And we’ll see this gospel a third way as John opens up Hebrews and points us to Jesus in the preaching of His Word.

So, come tomorrow.

Come rejoice with those being baptized.

Come remember the mercy of God.

Come sing of His grace and see His salvation on display.

And make sure above all you come to Jesus.

Here are our Scriptures and songs:

Scripture | Titus 3:3-7 —

³For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. ⁴But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, ⁵He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, ⁶whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Song | Washed Clean —
Scripture Inspiration: 2 Corinthians 4:4, Ephesians 1:17-18, Matthew 11:28-30, Romans 8:2, John 8:34-36, Psalm 51:2, Psalm 51:7, Jeremiah 33:8, 1 John 1:9, Titus 3:4-5, Proverbs 16:18, Proverbs 3:34, Ephesians 2:1-2, Acts 26:18-19

Song | Lead Me to the Cross —
Scripture Inspiration: Matthew 20:28, Luke 9:23, John 1:14, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

Scripture | Romans 6:3-4 —

³Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? ⁴We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Song | In Christ Alone —
Scripture Inspiration: John 14:6, Ephesians 5:8, Psalm 28:7-8, Psalm 40:3, Ephesians 2:19-22, Matthew 7:24-27, Romans 5:1-8, Joshua 1:9, 2 Timothy 1:7, 2 Corinthians 5:15, Galatians 2:20, 2 Corinthians 1:3-7, 1 Corinthians 15:28, Philippians 2:16, John 19:38-42, John 8:12, John 3:19-20, Acts 3:15, Acts 4:33, 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, Romans 6:15-23, 1 Corinthians 15:54-57, Galatians 3:13, Revelation 21:3, Ephesians 1:7, 1 Peter 1:18-19, Romans 8:1-2, Romans 1:16, Deuteronomy 4:39, Psalm 115:3, Isaiah 43:13, Daniel 4:35, Ephesians 1:11, Matthew 16:17-19, Romans 8:35-39, John 10:28-30, Psalm 115:18, Revelation 5:9-13, Luke 9:23-26, Philippians 2:5-11

Song | I Got Saved —
Scripture Inspiration: Psalm 46:1-4, Zechariah 13:1, Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23, Psalm 36:9, Isaiah 1:18, Isaiah 61:10, Matthew 26:28, Ephesians 2:4-5, 1 John 1:5-10, Psalm 103:12, Psalm 51:9, Psalm 32:5, Psalm 107:10-16, Nahum 1:13, Isaiah 6:5, James 2:13, Zechariah 7:9, Hebrews 9:5, 1 Peter 2:10, Psalm 25:7, Psalm 31:19, Psalm 85:4, Acts 3:21, Galatians 2:16-17, Romans 5:8-9, 1 Peter 2:1-3, Hebrews 6:5, Colossians 2:13-15, Psalm 25:11, Numbers 4:19, Romans 8:28-30, Philippians 3:20-21, Colossians 3:10-13

Invitation | Come Jesus Come —
Scripture Inspiration: Revelation 22:20, 1 Thessalonians 4:18, Romans 13:11-12, John 17:24, Romans 6:9, John 10:18, Colossians 2:13-15, Matthew 28:18-20, Titus 2:13, Matthew 25:31, Revelation 1:7, Hebrews 9:28

Offertory | Thank You Lord —
Scripture Inspiration: Psalm 100:4, Hebrews 4:16, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Ephesians 5:20, James 1:17, 2 Corinthians 4:18, Ephesians 1:3, Colossians 3:16, Psalm 95:2, Psalm 63:4, Psalm 126:3, Colossians 1:13, John 8:12, 1 Peter 2:24, Isaiah 53:4-5, Psalm 103:2-3

#RomansChallenge | July 31 – 16:17-27

Click here for Romans 16:17-27 audio:

Read it. Pray it. Share it. Live it.

As Paul closes his letter, he gives a sobering warning to watch out for those who cause division and promote teachings that go against sound doctrine (v. 17). These individuals, driven by selfish appetites, use smooth talk and flattery to deceive the naive (v. 18). But Paul urges the church to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil, confident that God will soon crush Satan under their feet (vv. 19–20; cf. Gen. 3:15).

A brief set of greetings from Paul’s companions (vv. 21–23), including Timothy and Tertius (Paul’s scribe), reminds us that Paul ministered within a community of believers. Finally, Paul ends with a beautiful doxology, praising the God who strengthens His people through the gospel, the mystery once hidden but now revealed to the nations through Scripture to bring about the obedience of faith (vv. 25–26). All glory belongs to the only wise God, forever through Jesus Christ (v. 27).

🎯 Theme: Be alert to division and deception, cling to the gospel, and glorify the God who saves through Christ.

🌀 Reflection: The gospel that began with God’s promise in Genesis ends here with a shout of praise. Are your eyes open to falsehood, and is your heart anchored in the glory of Christ?

💬 Mission Challenge: Ask God to show you someone who may be spiritually naive or wavering, and gently guide them back to the truth of the gospel (v. 18; Gal. 6:1). Boldly declare Romans 16:27 in your own words to someone today.

#RomansChallenge | July 30 – 16:1-16

Click here for Romans 16:1-16 audio:

Read it. Pray it. Share it. Live it.

Paul ends his letter by commending and greeting a diverse group of believers who have labored faithfully for the gospel. He introduces Phoebe, a servant of the church and a generous supporter of many, likely the one delivering this letter (vv. 1–2). He honors Priscilla and Aquila, who risked their lives for him, and acknowledges house churches, early converts like Epaenetus, hard workers like Mary and Persis, and fellow prisoners Andronicus and Junia, who were in Christ before Paul (vv. 3–13).

Many names reflect a wide range of backgrounds—men and women, Jews and Gentiles, slaves and free—showcasing the unity of the church in Christ. Paul’s repeated affirmations (“beloved,” “fellow worker,” “approved in Christ”) highlight how gospel faithfulness is measured not by status but by service (vv. 8–12). He ends with a call to greet one another with a holy kiss and reminds them of the love of the wider church (vv. 16).🎯 Theme: Christian fellowship crosses every barrier—social, ethnic, and geographic. Gospel relationships are not merely friendships but partnerships in the mission of Christ.

🎯 Theme: Christian fellowship crosses every barrier—social, ethnic, and geographic. Gospel relationships are not merely friendships but partnerships in the mission of Christ.

🌀 Reflection: How are you investing in gospel friendships? Who in your life could you thank or encourage today for their partnership in the Lord?

💬 Mission Challenge: Choose one person from your church or community who has been faithfully serving behind the scenes. Write them a note of thanks for their service in Christ—and include a gospel tract or invite them to join you in reaching others with the good news.

#RomansChallenge | July 29 – 15:14-33

Click here for Romans 15:14-33 audio:

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Paul closes the main body of his letter by affirming the Roman believers’ spiritual maturity—commending their goodness, knowledge, and ability to instruct one another (v. 14). Still, he reminds them boldly of their shared calling, especially his own unique role as a minister to the Gentiles (vv. 15–16). Describing his ministry in priestly terms, Paul presents the Gentiles as an offering made holy by the Spirit (v. 16). He boasts only in what Christ has accomplished through him—by word, deed, miraculous signs, and the Spirit’s power—as he preached from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum (vv. 18–19).

Paul’s aim has always been to preach the gospel where Christ is not yet known (v. 20; cf. Isa. 52:15), which explains why he had not yet visited Rome (v. 22). Now, with his work in the east complete, he hopes to visit them on his way to Spain (vv. 23–24, 28). But first, he must carry a financial gift from the Gentile churches in Macedonia and Achaia to the poor believers in Jerusalem—an offering of unity and gratitude (vv. 25–27). Paul asks for prayer: for protection from hostile unbelievers, for the offering to be received well, and for the joy of finally visiting the Romans in the blessing of Christ (vv. 30–32). He ends with a word of peace (v. 33).

🎯 Theme: Gospel ministry requires partnership, boldness, and sacrifice—and the unity of believers across cultural and geographic lines is part of God’s plan for His glory.

🌀 Reflection: How might God use your life as an offering for His glory—set apart and sanctified for gospel purposes? What are you holding back that might be used for His mission?

💬 Mission Challenge: Identify a missionary or church planter who is actively reaching unreached people. This week, write them a note of encouragement, pray fervently for their work, and consider giving to support the advance of the gospel.

#RomansChallenge | July 28 – 15:1-13

Click here for Romans 15:1-13 audio:

Read it. Pray it. Share it. Live it.

Paul calls on the “strong” to bear with the “weak” (v. 1), urging believers to imitate Christ, who did not please Himself but bore our reproach for the glory of God (v. 3). Rather than demanding our own way, we are called to build up others (v. 2), to live in harmony (v. 5), and to welcome one another as Christ welcomed us (v. 7). The Scriptures were given to instruct us, and through them God brings endurance, encouragement, and hope (v. 4).

Christ came as a servant to the Jews to fulfill God’s promises and to bring salvation to the Gentiles, so that all people might glorify God (vv. 8–9). Paul strings together Old Testament passages (vv. 9–12) showing that this inclusion was always God’s plan. He ends with a prayer: that the God of hope would fill believers with joy, peace, and overflowing hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (v. 13).

🎯 Theme: Christ’s example calls us to selfless unity, mutual encouragement, and a shared hope in God.

🌀 Reflection: If Jesus bore reproach for us and welcomed us into God’s family, how can we withhold love or unity from fellow believers? True Christian strength shows itself in humility and a desire to build others up.

💬 Mission Challenge: Reach out this week to someone outside your cultural, racial, or generational circle—share a meal, a prayer, or your testimony—and demonstrate the unifying hope of the gospel.