GETTING THE MESSAGE/Christians should expect tribulations

In this passage, the apostle John sees a vision of four angels at the four corners of the earth holding back the four winds of the earth (Revelation 7:1-4). The winds are destructive forces because the angels that hold them back have been given power to harm (verse 3). These four winds take us back to the four horsemen in Chapter 6 that cause tribulation on earth.

In verse 2, an angel ascending from the rising sun with the seal of the living God instructs the four angels holding back the winds to “not harm the earth or sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”

The winds are going to affect the inhabitants of the earth, but before that happens the Lord is going to seal his people. In Malachi 4, the prophet speaks of the coming judgment of God on rebellious men, but to those who fear the Lord’s name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in his wings; the strength to walk with the Lord amidst trouble.

This imagery of the rising sun points to the ascension of Christ to receive all power and authority from God after his victory over sin and death. The angel John sees in verse 2 has been sent by Christ. The seal symbolizes the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised before he died.

In Acts 1, the resurrected Jesus, before he ascended into heaven, spoke to his disciples about the kingdom of God. The disciples would be his witnesses all over the world, but they were told to wait until they were baptized with the Holy Spirit, which happened at Pentecost in Acts 2. The Spirit was the promise of the Father (Acts 1:4).

In Acts 1, the disciples were a small group. What chance did they have of building the kingdom of God through the proclamation of the gospel? They faced weakness from their own sin, the opposition of the world, and the rage of the devil. The answer was the power of the Holy Spirit. 

The sealing of the Holy Spirit was not a promise of physical security. The disciples were told by the Lord they would go through tribulations. The Spirit was given to protect their faith, grant them wisdom, and enable holy boldness while also manifesting signs in proclaiming the truth of Christ. The gospel spread because God was working through the apostles.

It is the same with us. When Jesus told his disciples, “You can do nothing apart from me,” he was pointing them to the necessity of living by the Spirit of God. The Spirit is given not only for the preservation of our faith, but the power to battle sin and bear fruit by honoring Christ, and to overcome the world and the devil by faith. Christians are told not to grieve the Spirit by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption (Ephesians 4).

In Revelation 7:3, the servants of God are sealed on their foreheads. The seal is a mark of identification. Later in Revelation, unbelievers have the mark of the beast, but those who know Christ have the name of Christ and God on their foreheads. The seal of God points to how precious his people are to him. Treasures were sealed in those days.

As much as God, being holy, hates sin, his love for his people is immeasurable. It is of the greatest worth to have been sealed by his Spirit and know that Christ is yours. Baptism points to being united to Christ by the Spirit of God, and that your sins are washed away.

But the Spirit does not stop with the forgiveness of sins. The second thing about the seal is that it is given to “servants of God” (verse 3). This is the word for bondservant. The seal is a mark of ownership. Paul referred to himself as a “bondservant of Christ.”

It is the Spirit who convicts us of sin as it appears in the presence of God. It is the Spirit who points us to the beauty of Christ’s love in giving himself for sinners like us. And it is the Spirit who gives life. Are you sealed by the Spirit? This is the essential thing. 

The Christian life isn’t easy. Though Christians are delivered from the guilt of sin, the corruption is still there. We have to be intentional of living by the Spirit beneath the cross of Christ. There is much that would obscure our view of Christ in this world. But the seal of the Spirit also points to security. The four winds will blow in this world, but the Lord has a firm grasp of his people.

The Rev. Chris Shelton is pastor of Union’s First Presbyterian Church.