The Spirit's Future Ministry (2)

We are, I think I said this last week, or something similar to it, but we are nearing the end of our study on the Holy Spirit. We've been in that study for a few months and I anticipate finishing up this study tonight on the sin against the Holy Spirit of the unpardonable sin and getting into tonight some of what the Holy Spirit the Bible tells us will do in the future in what we think of as prophecy and then Lord willing we will finish that up next week so we will finish our study on the Spirit next week and less of course we get into a bunch of heresy that we have to kind of clean up along the way and I hope that won't happen but we'll try to get finished with this next week and then we'll start into a study of the doctrine of angels or what the Bible teaches about angels which includes not only good angels but also Satan and demons so it's quite a fascinating study really as to what the Bible teaches about those areas. Let me just quickly remind you of what we looked at last week as we looked at the sin against the Holy Spirit we were in Matthew chapter 12 where that is described in the most detail in the gospels. As we began looking at it last week we saw that the sin against the Holy Spirit which is often just referred to as the unpardonable sin and we'll see why when we get to the end of the passage this evening. Last week we saw the situation that kind of presented itself that brings this into focus. The situation was a man who was demon possessed in Matthew 12 verse 22 also blind and mute Jesus healed him so that he could both talk and see and that generated quite a response from the crowd. The crowd is literally astonished actually literally outside themselves. We would say beside themselves with wonder and amazement and they're torn between two conclusions. They are ready to conclude this must be the Messiah that has been promised in the Old Testament but they're torn the other direction too because they're religious leaders whom they've been taught from childhood to respect tell them that this is not a good man and he is not the Messiah and so they're being torn but the evidence is overwhelming and they are teetering on the edge ready to go the direction of believing that Jesus is the Messiah. Well the charge of the Pharisees in verse 24 they recognize that they're about to lose the crowd and so they say this about Jesus it is only by beels above the Prince of demons that this fellow drives out demons. They can't deny the fact that he's doing great miracles that's obvious but they say if we can't deny what's happening we can deny what power motivates it or where it comes from and so they say rather than this being by the power of the Holy Spirit what he's doing is by the power of Satan so they basically are ascribing what is truly God's power to Satan's power. In essence they are saying Jesus the one who is God incarnate God in human flesh really they're saying is Satan in human flesh. He is being motivated by the power of the Prince of demons and so that's quite a serious charge in Jesus of course knows how serious it is and knows that with the crowd kind of teetering between the two opinions how easy they could be swayed by that kind of forceful argument and so Jesus uncharacteristically directly and quite thoroughly responds to that charge and so the response of Jesus as we saw last time is three-fold Jesus says first of all your charge is absurd are you telling me Satan is gonna oppose Satan and tear down his own kingdom that's absurd to say that I would cast out demons by the power of demons that's absurd and then he says not only is it absurd he said that charge is inconsistent there are others Jews in the past and even in Jesus day who cast out demons and you honor them respect them but you accuse me of doing it by Satan's power so your charge is inconsistent and he says in verse 29 your charge is contradictory and he gives an illustration if someone goes into the house of a strong man to steal his possessions he's got to first of all bind up the strong man which means he's got to be stronger than the man into whose house he's going to rob his treasures oh Jesus is saying I'm taking away Satan's stuff his demons out of someone and so I have to be stronger than Satan I have to have more power than Satan and you're telling me Satan is giving me that power more power than he has himself that's contradictory that cannot be it's it's it's not even logical what you're saying so Jesus kind of ties them in knots with his responses to their arguments and verse 30 the challenge of Jesus as we saw last week basically he comes down to this he who is not with me is against me he who does not gather with me scatters it is Jesus who gathers who heals who brings things together back to God's order it is Satan who scatters and disrupts and destroys human lives and so he's saying if you're not on my side then you're actually on the side of the one who scatters and destroys you are the ones who are citing with Satan so he basically turns the whole argument back against them now we come to verses 31-32 where we left off last week and Jesus now will after issuing this challenge show how serious their charge really is and so he describes the unpardonable sin the unpardonable sin described in verses 31-32 and so I tell you every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven then but the blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven anyone who speaks a word against the son of man will be forgiven but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven either in this age or in the age to come now the reason why we spent so much time with the story and the the incident that led up to this explanation of this unpardonable sin was because it's all tied together when Jesus talks about speaking against the Holy Spirit he's referring back to verse 28 and what he said in verse 28 if I drive out demons by the spirit of God then the kingdom of God has come upon you and so it's not just kind of a random speaking against the Holy Spirit that the unpardonable sin that's not the point the point in the context is these people are ascribing the power that Jesus is using to cast out demons not to the Holy Spirit but to demons themselves and so the work that Jesus is doing in the power of the Spirit they're striving to the power of Satan that's how serious the charge is specifically then the unpardonable sin is charging Christ with doing his miracles through Satan's power not the Spirit's power that's the unpardonable sin and that is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit now why is that so serious and why is that unforgivable verse 32 tells us why anyone who speaks the word against the Son of Man will be forgiven anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven either in this age or in age to come so he says you can still be forgiven if you just speak against Christ but if you speak against the Holy Spirit in other words if you deny my miracles being done in the power of the Spirit that's the last straw and here's the reason why remember in John chapter 6 I'm sure you remember this from probably about a year ago when we were in John 6 on Sunday morning so sure you remember this Jesus said said there I have several things that testified me John the Baptist testified of me the father testified of me I testified myself but if you deny all of those at least believe the testimony of the signs the miracles because that is directly from the Old Testament the miracles the signs that Jesus did were exactly for told in the Old Testament this is exactly what the Messiah will do you can read you can read down the list of the miracles and Messiah will do in Isaiah 35 the Prophet told exactly what the Messiah will do these are the miracles he will do he will heal the lame the blind and so forth just was a whole list of them there Jesus was doing all of those so Jesus is saying I'm doing those in fulfillment of Old Testament scripture by the power of the Spirit if you deny every other testimony about me including what I say about myself verse 32 speak a word against the Son of Man you can still be forgiven but the last confirming testimony to be denied is the voice of the Spirit of God through the miracles and if you deny that then there's nothing left there's nothing left there is no other witness there is no other line of argument that is the final concluding proof of who Jesus is once you deny that one you've thrown everything down the drain and there is nothing left for you but judgment that's why it's so serious that's why it's unpardonable unforgivable because it's like saying no for the last time and God says okay there's no other witness I'll give you there's no other testimony I'll give you this is it there's nothing left for you but judgment that's why this sin is so absolutely serious now that leads us to the question that everybody asks about the the unpardonable sin can the unpardonable sin be committed today well a lot of people feel like they have or some people do some people feel like they've either sinned so grievously in their lives that they can't be forgiven or some people pick out specific sins that they say are unpardonable and the one that is most commonly used is suicide and you know it kind of stands the reason people would think that because if you commit suicide obviously you die and and there's no opportunity to be forgiven of that sin I've I've preached several funerals of folks who have committed suicide and when I know that that is the question in the family's minds and hearts because they have posed it to me and they're struggling with it then I'll just deal with it honestly in the funeral service I've done that several times we'll always do that but when I know that's the issue people need to be cleared up in that issue then I'll deal with it suicide is not the unpardonable sin obviously you can't be forgiven of that sin but let's think theologically now all of us will probably die with some sin that we've not confessed right some sin that you've forgotten a long time ago or some sin you committed when you were 20 and you'd live another 10 years never confessed it's the Lord you've forgotten all about it we will probably all die with some sin unconfessed in that sense theologically it's no different than suicide the reason people make suicide is the unpardonable sins because you can't confess it well they're probably probably all of us will die with some unconfessed sin so that's not the issue obviously if a believer commits suicide then they've got a stain a spot of sin on their record that will damage their rewards in heaven but again that's probably true for all of us to some extent so that's not the unpardonable sin the unpardonable sin specifically technically could only be committed when Jesus was on the earth why because specifically the unpardonable sin was committed by the nation of Israel it's religious leaders as they are visibly witnessing the miracles of Christ which are the testimony of the spirit as to who he is and when they rejected that testimony they committed the unpardonable sin we can't commit that anymore because first of all we're not the nation of Israel who is investigating their Messiah and we are not living during the life of Jesus when he's doing his miracles in the power of the spirit so technically no this sin cannot be committed today it was specifically localized to that time period that set of circumstances however there is a similar sin that many people today call the unpardonable sin and although I probably wouldn't call it that I can understand again the reasoning why some people would there's one sin that is similar and it would be the sin of unbelief the sin of unbelief why because it's the only sin that keeps you from being forgiven as long as you remain in unbelief you'll never be forgiven right you'll never be saved so when you think about it logically that way okay that is an unforgivable sin because you can never be saved if you continue an unbelief but a person when they do turn from unbelief and trust Christ automatically they're forgiven so it's not unforgivable ultimately finally unless that person dies without having trusted Christ as Savior then obviously they would spend eternity in the lake of fire so in one sense I guess that's similar but it's still not what Jesus was talking about okay an unpardonable sin then I would conclude could have only been committed when Jesus was on the earth presenting himself as the Messiah to the nation of Israel and his miracles as the credentials for who he was to deny that testimony of the spirit is the blasphemy against the spirit the sin against the Holy Spirit the unpardonable sin okay I hadn't slowed down enough to give anybody a chance to ask a question or say anything well or you're talking about if they committed suicide well I guess I would counter this way and I'm not sure if right you can only ask forgiveness for something that has been done otherwise you're basically the lack of a better comparison kind of like the Catholics who say just kind of forgive me of everything but I'm gonna go do it anyway or I'm gonna go commit sin this week anyway to ask forgiveness and then commit the sin renders the asking forgiveness no and void because you have gone ahead and done the sin that you were gonna ask forgiveness for does that make sense you know as I'm as I'm saying it doesn't make a lot sense to me either but I still need to write you don't ask for forgiveness and then go commit the sin it really basically indicates you weren't serious about asking for forgiveness the Bible teaches that asking for forgiveness is not just saying the words asking for forgiveness basically means you turn from that sin Proverbs 28 13 now I'm thinking a little bit more clearly Proverbs 28 13 he who confesseth and forsakeeth his sin shall find mercy he that covered his sin will be judged but but he that confesseth and forsakeeth his sin shall find mercy so in involved in the very act of confession is not just saying words that you don't mean because you're gonna go ahead and sin anyway confession means that you're deeply troubled over that sin and you turn from it so I would say confessing something that you're planning to do after you confess it makes the confession more than void it's not genuine Judiciary yes our sins are covered by the righteousness of Christ so no matter what a believer does it's not gonna take their salvation away no so even if a believer commits suicide it doesn't take their salvation away because all of our sins are covered by the blood of Christ the moment we got saved yeah so judicially as far as our standing before God suicide is no different than any other sin it cannot take away our salvation the reason some people think it's the unpardonable sin is because you don't have a chance to confess it and as we've already pointed out all of us will die with some unconfessed sin no doubt right right as a believer confession of sin is not to restore salvation it's to restore fellowship it's to restore the family fellowship yeah okay the other questions is that clear for everybody then okay are we done with the unpardonable sin? Vibliically? Theologically? Yes we're done with it because it cannot be committed today all right so we're done done? Yes another good affirmation any verse that talks about eternal security is approved that nobody can lose their salvation because of any sin they did that's a good one he that comes from the outlaw and no wise cast out John chapter 6 verse for good verse okay all right let's let's move on to what the Holy Spirit will do in in prophecy and I'm not talking there about the Holy Spirit giving us prophecy or you know giving us the word of God which tells us prophecy I'm talking about what the Holy Spirit role will be in the future and let me introduce this topic the Spirit's future ministry by talking again a little bit about the neglect of this area this area the Holy Spirit role in the future is given practically no attention in writings theology books books on the Holy Spirit I'm gonna show you a prophetic chart in just a little bit not quite yet but and I'll explain these terms if you're not familiar with them post millennialists and on the list don't really care much about the role the Holy Spirit in the future anyway because they don't see future things as as we who are pre-millennialists would so if you read on the list which are more common today post millennius the couple of generations ago they don't give much attention to prophetic things at all much less the Holy Spirit role in in prophecy I mean their prophetic scheme is so simple it can be dealt with in just a few sentences and and really don't just kind of wash away a lot of what the Old Testament teaches but even pre-millennialists like we are and again I'll explain those terms in a moment even most pre-millennials don't spend hardly any time talking about the Holy Spirit role in the future the the one who does a good job of that is John Walbert who was for many years the president of Dallas theological seminary in his excellent book on the Holy Spirit he has he has a couple whole chapters a whole section of the book on the Holy Spirit role in the Old Testament he's got the only one that really deals very extensively with that now having having said that there is such a neglect in this area let me give you before we jump into what the Holy Spirit will be doing in the future let me give you a framework for the future this is our prophetic chart which all of us who are dispensationalists and pre-millennialists we love prophetic charts and so we're going to show you this this cool little chart of what we believe about the future now let me explain the terms first pre-millennial pre-tribulational prophetic timetable pre-millennial means that we believe Jesus will return to earth pre or before he sets up his kingdom the millennium we're going to see it right here Christ's return to the earth before he sets up the millennium so we believe Jesus returns before the millennium to set up his kingdom I mentioned earlier post-millennialism post-millennialism is not as popular as it used to be although there is still a wing of that it's popular called reconstructionism russus russian doony and some others like him had really tried to repopularize that movement the post-millennialism was was basically popular in the first half of the 1900s and basically what it taught was that the church is bringing in kingdom conditions on this earth so the church is really building the kingdom and Christ will return after we have brought in kingdom conditions to rule so the coming of Christ is post after the millennium so we had a lot of carry over of that in our terminology a lot of times when we talk about doing kingdom work and building the kingdom and spreading the kingdom and so forth and I understand what we mean by that theologically it's not the most precise way to speak of what we do but that's post-millennialism all millennialism is is basically those who say there is no literal thousand-year kingdom on this earth so the the preface armies know no millennium all millennial now what the millennialist do believe is that the church is living under a heavenly kingdom and we inherit all the promises that the Old Testament made to Israel about their kingdom on this earth all of that is taken figuratively and and shifted over to the church by omelinialists they do not believe that there is a literal future kingdom set up on this earth for a thousand years okay so we believe here at Johnson Chapel and we believe the scriptures would would bear this out that pre-millennial Jesus will return to the earth before the kingdom starts or at least the literal earthly form of the kingdom there has always been a form of God's kingdom because God's kingdom is simply his rule over his universe at least in general terms so the man who founded Grace Theological Seminary where I attended Alimekin wrote probably the greatest book on the kingdom called the Greatness of the Kingdom and he describes he describes it this way the mediatorial kingdom and that is throughout the Old Testament God mediated his rule through people here on earth and part of that was through Israel the Old Testament and today he mediates his rule through the church but someday he will come back and literally set up a kingdom a literal earthly kingdom on this earth called the millennium and and that's what we believe okay so that's what pre-millennial means now pre-tribulational means that we believe Jesus is going to rescue the church pre-tribulation before the tribulation takes place so we believe in a rapture that Jesus will come back and take the church away from planet earth before the tribulation so we are pre-tribulation rapturists there are some people who believe the church will go through the tribulation and when Jesus returns to the earth we will be caught up and then come right back down with him those are post-tribulation rapture they believe we will go through the tribulation time but but here at Johnson Chapel our official doctrinal statement is that we believe Jesus will come back at the rapture before the tribulation okay so here's here's kind of the way we look at the future this is a framework for understanding prophecy or understanding the future here's the cross Jesus ascends back to heaven the Holy Spirit comes down onto the epinecost and usheres in the church age and that's where we are right now we are living in the church age right now the next thing or actually the first thing on God's prophetic time table is the rapture where the church is caught up Jesus returns we are caught up to meet him in the air go back to heaven with him now that usheres in a seven-year period of time on the earth called the tribulation or the last half of it called the great tribulation where God pours out his judgment on the earth according to the book of Revelation in a series of 21 judgments sealed bowls and trumpets while that's going on we are in heaven with Christ at the judgment seat of Christ being judged for our works the marriage suffer the land takes place when we come back with Christ to set up his kingdom so Jesus comes back after the tribulation time he returns to the earth sets up his kingdom for thousand years that's described specifically even following this very time table in Revelation chapters 19 and 20 after describing the tribulation in Revelation 6 through 18 the second coming of Christ has described in Revelation 19 and the first six versions of chapter 20 in Revelation described the thousand-year rule of Christ on the earth during that time Satan will be bound and not be able to roam the earth and do all the mess he's doing today he will be released for a short insurrection following this thousand-year reign but at the end of the millennium will be the great white throne judgment of all unsaved people before new heaven and new earth are created and those who are judged at the great white throne judgment are cast into lake of fire and that begins the eternal state that begins what we typically think of as eternity where we as believers will be in the presence of God in heaven and unbelievers will be in the lake of fire forever okay that's that's what we believe the Bible teaches about prophecy about the future kind of in a nutshell in one one little table therefore your chart so when we talk about what the Holy Spirit role is going to be we're going to talk about what will the Holy Spirit do in two basic time periods the tribulation and the millennium what will the Holy Spirit do in those two time periods that's what we're gonna talk about with the Holy Spirit role in prophecy all right any comments or questions before we jump into the Holy Spirit role what during what time period questions will be doing what during the millennium Christians believers the Bible does not really say the Bible describes the great white throne judgment in Revelation 20 verses 11 through 15 and it just describes the unsaved dead appearing before God's throne and judgment doesn't really say where we're gonna be but we will be we will be with the Lord we will be in heaven so whether or not we will be observing that or you know I don't know but we'll be in heaven yeah okay other questions okay this is that's a question of millennials are not instant serious students of the word they're not ignorant of scriptures and obviously that's true nor are post tribulationists and people who disagree with us on that issue either so how can they come to that conclusion it the only way they can come to that conclusion is because of the hermeneutics that's the key issue hermeneutics is how you interpret scripture and on the linear list basically choose to interpret the Old Testament promises to Israel in a symbolic way almost well almost allegorically but they choose to interpret that symbolically now let me say it is hard to answer this in a very brief answer there are a lot of symbolism and prophecy there are symbolism in the Old Testament there are symbolism in the book of Revelation and there have been whole books written on how to distinguish what symbolic and what's to be taken literally and there are some clear guidelines just common sense guidelines about how you deal with language that that can give you kind of that breakdown but because there are symbolism in prophecy ovalennialists basically symbolize a lot more than we would and that's how they come to the conclusion for instance in Revelation 20 the thousand years has mentioned several times so how do you get away from a thousand-year rule of Christ on the earth well you say basically the thousand years as a symbolic figure it doesn't it's not literal and so that's the way they take it my professor at Piedmont wrote his doctor of dissertation on those six verses against the ovalennial position and that's what he really rigged them over the Coleson was symbolically interpreting those numbers so that's in a nutshell the reason why they're careful scholars no question you know they're they're differing views on a lot of theological topics by equally qualified scholars it's just how you choose to interpret some things and with the Old Testament promises going all the way back to the Abrahamic covenant and that's where it all starts going back to the Abrahamic covenant omelennialists choose to just to take the prophecies and the promises made to Abraham symbolically not literally so when there's a promise of a literal borders of the land which Israel has never fulfilled and we say okay if they never fulfilled that God promised that there has to be a future when they do fulfill it that's just kind of taking symbolically by omelennialists so that that's kind of a short answer it's a lot more complex than that yeah people who disagree with us on this kind of prophetic chart we're not saying we're not at all saying please don't understand me say that they're they're just ignorant they don't know their Bibles oh these are these are good careful scholars it's just you know if they don't agree with me they're wrong funny cheek goes out I'll probably apologize for a lot of things in heaven okay that's a great point the great point okay anything else done we're we're getting there we're gonna talk about that next if we can get to it so let's let's hang on to that there is a sense in which he does and a sense in which he doesn't so we're gonna look at that in fact that's a good segue into this this next point so let's go ahead and talk about that the Holy Spirit and the Tribulation let me make the point first of all and I think this has to be understood first of all the Spirit will be active in the Tribulation the Spirit will be active now if you believe that and we're gonna show how that is proven in the Old Testament or in the New Testament and Old Testament but if you believe that you've got to deal with Second Thessalonians chapter 2 so let's begin there Second Thessalonians chapter 2 which talks about the very thing Don mentioned the Holy Spirit the Restrainer being taken away before the Antichrist is revealed so let's look at second test chapter 2 verse 6 verse 5 beginning the paragraph he says don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things and he's talking about in verses 1 through 4 what must happen before the Antichrist is introduced okay Antichrist is revealed right here oh we forgot the charts not very much very beginning of the Tribulation the Antichrist is revealed so let's let's see what he says in verse 6 he says and now you know what is holding him back holding the Antichrist back so that he may be revealed at the proper time for the secret power of lawlessness is already at work but the one who holds it back okay there is there is one spoken of in in personal terms a person an individual that holds back this power of lawlessness that the Antichrist will operate by okay but the one who hold now holds it back will continue to do till he is taken out of the way and then the lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroyed by the splendor of his coming now this this one who holds back this secret power of lawlessness or some translation that the King James says restrains that this restrainer is probably the Holy Spirit now there are different views as to who it is or what it is that holds back this flood of lawlessness this unchecked spread of sin but it's clear that Paul is saying something and someone restrains that holds it back until he's taken out of the way now I believe that is the Holy Spirit who restrains the the spread of corruption evil and he will be taken out of the way but it does not mean that the work of the Holy Spirit comes to an end what I believe this is saying is that one particular ministry of the Spirit ceases at the rapture it is the rapture that that kicks all this off or the Antichrist is revealed and the lawlessness just is unleashed and the sense in which the Holy Spirit's ministry is taken away is because of the removal of the church the church is raptured right before the tribulation starts and the Holy Spirit's holding back the tide of evil because of the presence of the church in this world the presence of believers in this world that is what is removed in the rapture it doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit ceases to function and does no more work after the rapture because as we'll see he does and scriptures are clear on that but this one particular ministry of the Spirit is taken out of the way and that is the restraint on evil by the presence of the church in this world when when the church is raptured that particular evidence manifestation of the ministry of the Spirit is removed and so the flood of evil just rushes in to take up the vacuum and that's when the Antichrist has his day but the Holy Spirit will continue to work in other ways in the tribulation time he's just not present in the church because the church is raptured taken out of the way but the Holy Spirit will continue to work in fact he will be very active in the tribulation and we're going to see two ways that he will be active first of all his ministry to unbelievers and little bit later we'll see his ministry to believers I don't think we're going to get that part of night but let's begin with his ministry to unbelievers the the Holy Spirit very clearly will continue to minister to unbelievers in the tribulation time now in order to understand that again we have to think theologically we have to put together pieces of truth to come to this conclusion and the first piece of truth that we need to recognize and the reason why I want to emphasize this is because some people stumble over this the first piece of truth we have to recognize that leads us to the conclusion the Holy Spirit will still be active is that people will be saved in the tribulation time okay it's not like people will not be saved there will be mobitudes of people saved during the tribulation time let's look at a couple of instances of it in the book of Revelation chapter 7 and verse 4 Revelation 7 verse 4 then I heard the number of those who were sealed 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel so there are 144,000 Jews 12,000 of them from each of the 12 tribes and they're listed here by tribe by number 144,000 Jews are sealed now skip over to chapter 14 which tells us a little bit more about this chapter 14 verses 1 through 4 then I looked and there before me was the lamb standing on Mount Zion within 144,000 who had his name and his father's name written on their foreheads obviously their believers then I heard a sound from heaven like the Royal Wreshing Waters like a loudspeel of thunder the sound I heard was like that of harpists played their harps and they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders no one could learn the song except 144,000 who have been redeemed redeemed from the earth these are those who did not defile themselves with women for they kept themselves pure they followed the lamb wherever he goes they were purchased from among men and offered as first roots to God and the lamb obviously descriptions of salvation so to make a long story short these 144,000 Jews 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes are redeemed they are saved during the tribulation time and they are sealed in such a way that they cannot be killed by the antichrist they are protected by the Lord to be evangelists all throughout the world and they will take the message of Christ and his redemption and his coming kingdom all over the world they will be flaming evangelists and when they are described as people who have not defiled themselves with women and so forth the idea is not that that being married is simple that's not the idea the idea is that they knowing the time is short devote themselves holy to the work of God and they don't entangle themselves at all in the affairs of normal life they give themselves completely like the possible Paul did for spent in seven they do the same thing giving themselves holy to the work of God to spread the gospel in the short time they have on planet earth now notice the result of their ministry in chapter seven verses nine through fourteen because 144,000 Jews are not the only ones that will be saved in the tribulation time after he introduces these 144,000 chapter seven verse nine he says after this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation tribe people and language standing before the throne and in front of the lamb they were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands and they cried out and allowed voice salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb many mentions the angels and living creatures worshiping in the same way and I look at verse 13 then one of the elders asked me though these in white robes who are they and where did they come from I answered sir you know and he said these are they who have come out of the great tribulation they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb so here's this great multitude of people who are saved out of the tribulation time and they get saved I believe because of the because of the context here introducing 144,000 who are sealed to take the gospel all the world they're saved through their ministry and there's such a great multitude of them you can't number them so there are going to be lots of people saved in fact those evangelists 144,000 evangelists will be so committed to their work they will do what the church has not been able to do in 2000 years and that is get the gospel to every tribe every language every people group because people from every people group will get saved by the tribulation time that's what this is saying so here's my point in times up a lot of people are going to get saved during the tribulation time people don't get saved without first of all the conviction of the spirit and the regeneration of the spirit we've seen already theologically that's impossible you can't get saved on your own it is a work of God that is done through the spirit of God convicting you of your sin that's what he sent to do John 16 he convicts us of our sin righteousness of judgment and then he births us in the God's family he regenerates us these people are not going to get saved by their works they get saved by the blood of the lamb just like we do so the Holy Spirit in order for them to be regenerated has to be doing the same thing he's doing now convicting those sin regenerating them so if people are going to get saved in the in the tribulation time and they will buy the millions then the Holy Spirit's not to be very active in convicting of sin and regenerating you say when a how do you know that the Holy Spirit's really doing that and here for I wish we had 10 more minutes we'll have to do this next week there is a whole group of people that are specifically identified as being saved through the work of the Holy Spirit at the end of the tribulation time and it's the whole Jewish nation we'll look at it next week Romans 11 Zachariah 12 and Zachariah 13 very clearly talks about the role of the Holy Spirit in turning the nation of Israel to their Messiah when they see him coming at the second coming so there's a whole bunch of people right there at the end of the tribulation that are clearly spoken of as being given a spirit of of supplication of grace to call out to the Lord so we'll see that next week okay let's pray father we thank you for your word and the beauty of your word thank you father that it is such a joy to study and to learn more about what you have in store or we thank you that even though the spirit will be removed in his restraining influence when we are taken to heaven he will still be working in many other ways through the tribulation time and on through the millennium thank you that as as God he is himself is not restrained and we thank you that even with us now we have his his power his help every day thank you for the great gift of your spirit in Jesus name amen