God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes

Revelation

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal
and, lo,
there was a great earthquake
and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair
and the moon became as blood
And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth,
even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together
and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
...


Again, there is no horse-no rider- no beast to portray this message to John rather as soon as Jesus opens the sixth seal John experiences a myriad number of sights all very physical in nature without. He beheld instantly- there was no 'coming and seeing', no 'and I looked and saw', these strange sights were seen one after the other in quick succession.

A Great Earthquake
Sun Black as the mourning symbol
Moon As Blood
Numerous Stars Fell Quickly to the Earth
Heaven Departs as a Scroll
Every Mountain and Island Moved


Tell me why this sudden departure from seemingly completely symbolic gestures to the physical signs in nature? Why the leap from following the time line of the Seven Churches to seemingly jumping in this time period straight to the end of all things? From the point in time after the sixth angel things would seem to happen very swiftly without slowing down right to the end of time, right? Seriously, think about it. In about the mid-1800's the knowledge of people all over the world seemed to suddenly spring to life. By the early 1900's people had invented things that would keep the ball in motion right up until where we are today, after thousands of years of seeming stagnation with only little bouts of inspiration. Seriously, the horse for transportation and such existed for thousands of years- thousands. The suddenly we have cars. The increase in knowledge didn't slow down either after a short burst. We didn't suddenly have one startling change such as having the printing press or other noteworthy yet seemingly singular invents taking place. We had this sudden outpouring of knowledge and it hasn't ceased to this very day and in show no sign of stopping- people are not getting dumber, or slowing down, the fount of knowledge hasn't been exhausted if anything it's increased exponentially and continues to do so. You take a person from the 1700, 1800's and drop them into the 1900's, or into the new millineum and there would be such shock it would be unbelievable.


The rapidity of events shown to John here in a very physical way are like markers in time. This will happen (when?), this will happen (when?), this will happen (when?), and so on right up to a point we haven't seen it happen and yet having markers along the way tell you something don't they? Think about it.


You're on a trail with markers along the path - will you expect the markers to remain true to form until you reach your destination? You would.


Here are markers in time that are so blatant that to ignore them is to risk ignoring the fact that Christ is returning and the world is as we know it is ending. Following markers is important even if there are varying lengths of time between them, right? If I'm on a path I keep on it and hope for the markers even if it seems like a long, long time since I've seen the last one. That hope for the last marker has to remain and it's through faith that hope stays firm. Christ admonishes the Ladicean church to buy of Him gold tried in fire- faith. Through the early time period of these markers it's easy to follow, to believe and the sixth church of Philadelphia has this remarkable renewal of faith, a clarity of these markers.


A GREAT EARTHQUAKE -

The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon Earthquake, took place on 1 November 1755, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquake)

SUN BLACK as the mourning symbol -

The Great Dark Day - New England's Dark Day refers to an event which occurred on 19 May 1780, when an unusual darkening of the day sky was observed over the New England states and parts of Canada. The primary cause of the event is believed to have been a combination of smoke from forest fires, a thick fog, and cloud cover. The darkness was so complete that candles were required from noon on. It did not disperse until the middle of the next night (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_England's_Dark_Day)

MOON AS BLOOD -

Moon Turned Into Blood - "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come." Joel 2:31 May 19, 1780, stands in history as "The Dark Day." Since the time of Moses, no period of darkness of equal density, extent, and duration has ever been recorded. "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come." Joel 2:31.

The moon became as red as blood on the night of the "dark day," May 19, 1780. Milo Bostick in Stone's History of Massachusetts says, "The moon which was at its full, had the appearance of blood."

(http://www.bibleuniverse.com/articles/second-coming-prophecies-fulfilled/moon-turned-into-blood.aspx
"New England's Dark Day" in The Weather Doctor Almanac 2004. Retrieved from http://www.islandnet.com/~see/weather/almanac/arc2004/alm04may.htm.
"An Account of a very uncommon Darkness, in the State of New England, May 19, 1780" in The Analytical Review, Or History of Literature, Domestic and Foreign, on an Enlarged Plan, p. 519.
^ Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, p. 193 )


Numerous STARS FELL Quickly to the Earth -

Silliman believed the meteor had a cosmic origin, but meteors did not attract much attention from astronomers until the spectacular meteor storm of November 1833.[23] People all across the Eastern US saw thousands of meteors, radiating from a single point in the sky. Astute observers noticed that the radiant, as the point is now called, moved with the stars, staying in the constellation Leo

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoroid

The meteor storm of 1833 was of truly superlative strength. One estimate is over one hundred thousand meteors an hour,[2] but another, done as the storm abated, estimated in excess of two hundred thousand meteors an hour[3] over the entire region of North America east of the Rocky Mountains. It was marked by the Native Americans, slaves and owners, and many others. That same 1833 shower, near Independence, Missouri, was taken as a sign to push the growing Mormon community out of the area.[3]

(http://www.answers.com/topic/leonids)

***

Heaven Departs as a Scroll
Every Mountain and Island Moved

***

Now we come to a time when the heaven departs as a scroll- how does a scroll depart when it's rolled together? If you have a scroll laid out on a table you put weights down on the corners to hold it open, don't you? It's hard to study otherwise, unless you are just going to stretch out your arms and put your hands on it to keep the two halves from closing. What happens when you lift the weights, or your hands? It snaps back into place doesn't it? And very quickly at that.


So the heavens departing in a snap - has this happened? We've breached the atmosphere sending shuttles into space and still the sky doesn't snap away does it? Surely we'd know. We've set off atomic bombs which have sent mushroom clouds billowing upwards spreading the poison it contains for miles, but have the heavens departed? No.


This is a marker in time that hasn't oocurred- in fact the last marker would be in 1833 almost 176 years ago. Time indeed for the waters to become lukewarm.


This day is coming there is no doubt about it, and only those who are not lukewarm but found counciled by Christ will escape the dreadful coming of the end of times for those not found safe in the righteousness of Christ.


...
And the kings of the earth, and the great men,
and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men,
and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
And said to the mountains and rocks,
Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne,
and from the wrath of the Lamb
For the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand?
...


John saw this amazing trail of events and then it ended and he was seeing after those things - this:


...
And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth,
holding the four winds of the earth,
that the wind should not blow on the earth,
nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
...


The angels of God are holding in check the strife that would come upon the earth should they not hold it back. Why are they holding it back? Because of this...


...
And I saw another angel ascending from the east,
having the seal of the living God and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels,
to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees,
till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

And I heard the number of them which were sealed:
and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand.
Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
...


Those that are God's in this time before the angels fully release winds of strife will be sealed. Sealed how? If I give my seal of approval it means nothing unless say you are my child- my son or daughter. They do something and I approve, giving them my seal of approval and it means a lot to them, it shows my approval of them which they hold in high esteem. If God seals us we are sealed His. We are given a mark that reveals that we are His and He approves of us, of our total reliance upon the Son of God for all things, for allowing Christ's righteousness to reign in us, for accepting fully the sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.


After the sealing John was allowed to see this:


...
After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number,
of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues,
stood before the throne,
and before the Lamb,
clothed with white robes,
and palms in their hands
And cried with a loud voice, saying,
Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne,
and unto the Lamb.
And all the angels stood round about the throne,
and about the elders
and the four beasts,
and fell before the throne on their faces,
and worshipped God
Saying, Amen
Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
...


Amazing! Such a glorious sight! John witnessed the saints throughout time gathered before the throne of God, the angels, the elders, the beasts all of them fell before the throne and worshipped God! Truly this was an amazing sight to behold. God reigns forever in all blessing, all glory, all wisdom, all thanksgiving, all honor, all power, all might to God! Forever and ever!


Was John through with this vision yet? No. One of those 24 elders before the throne spoke to John as he witnessed the wonder of things to come.

...
And one of the elders answered, saying unto me,
What are these which are arrayed in white robes?
and whence came they?
...


The elder wanted to know what John thought he was seeing. He asked- What are those in white robes and where did they come from? John answers--

...
And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest.
...


He doesn't presume to know does he? He doesn't launch into some speech about who he thinks they are or where they come from but he tells the elder that the elder himself knows. He doesn't even ask that it be revealed to him, but lets the elder decide if that is something he wishes to reveal and he does...

...
And he said to me,
These are they which came out of great tribulation,
and have washed their robes,
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Therefore are they before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple
and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
They shall hunger no more,
neither thirst any more;
neither shall the sun light on them,
nor any heat.
For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them,
and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters:
and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
...


How amazing! How beautiful! John is told the truth of the whole matter. Those who come through the great tribulation- for what other tribulation is there than to fight in the war of good and evil and prevail through Jesus Christ our Savior? This is a battle we ALL fight in, we are all called to war in it by our very birth.


Those who take their own filthy garments of unrighteousness and wash them in the blood of the Lamb are truly making them white in His righteousness, pure in the only righteousness that exists anywhere- the righteousness found alone in Christ.


Those who do this, who claim Christ's righteousness will stand before the throne of God- they will serve him always in his temple and that is wherever He dwells. No more hunger of any type! No more thirst of any kind! No more sun and heat to burn us and we will be fed by Jesus! We will be taken to the living fountain of water! And GOD shall wipe the tears from our eyes! Tears that we know so well, so deeply, agonizingly felt for all that goes on around about us.


May God bless and keep us! May God accept us through the righteousness of His Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, now and forever may we be found in Him forgiven by Him as we ask for forgiveness and repent of our sins.


By His grace!


Amen.