Renew Group and Sermon Study Guide
Revelation 7:1-8November 17, 2013Trinity Evangelical Free Church
This guide is a tool to help you prepare for the sermon, and prepare to be an active help in the spiritually growth of those in your Renew Group. Please use it as a resource to prayerfully prepare to understand and apply the truth of God’s Word to yourself, your household, your brothers and sisters at Trinity, and those you are seeking to share the gospel with.
Prepare...
Before you come to hear the sermon:
●Please read the entirety of Revelation in one sitting
●Please read and re-read Revelation 7:1-17
Hear...
What follows is the sermon outline to help you as you hear the Word of God:
1.Invincibility
2.Review
a.Who can stand?
b.Will you stand?
3.The sealed saints
a.The four winds held back
b.Ezekiel 9 and Revelation 13:16-14:4
c.The invincibility of the sealed
i.What is the seal?
ii.When are believers sealed?
iii. Who are the sealed 144,000?
4.Numbered for war
Discuss...
Please use the following questions to review, discuss, and understand this week’s sermon in your Renew Group:
●Understanding that none of us has a perfect interpretation for every number and symbol in Revelation, discuss in your small group how you as a group will handle differing interpretations regarding the symbols and numbers in Revelation? How will you pray for the Spirit of God to guide and work in you as you discuss Revelation?
●What truth about God is present in Revelation 7? What truth concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ, the gospel, is revealed in Revelation 7? What good news of the gospel encourages your dependance on and faithfulness to Christ in Revelation 7?
●What connections are there between Revelation 6 and 7? When are these two chapters taking place?
●What word is repeated several times in 7:1-8? Who does John hear the angel say are the sealed ones in 7:3?
●Take a look at Ezekiel 9:1-6. What similarities exist between Ezekiel 9 and Revelation 7:1-8? Who is and who is not sealed in Ezekiel? How might this help us understand who is and isn’t sealed in Revelation 7?
●Who might the 144,000 be? How does Revelation 14:1-5 help us understand who the 144,000 are in Revelation 7?
●What is the point of the sealing? What does the sealing of God mean for believers? What might the seal refer to in the New Testament? When does God seal a person?
●Pastor Jeremy began the sermon by saying that the sealing in Revelation 7 refers to the security, even invincibility, of Christians as they go through tribulation. Discuss in your group what the Bible means by eternal security? How does your understanding of security align with Revelation where believers are tempted to compromise and persecuted on earth? What does the security actually look like if we go through such difficult trials?
Apply...
Please use the following questions to respond personally to and apply (so that we can be hearers and doers) the truths of the text:
●Revelation 7:1-8 is all about the eternal security of genuine believers. What is your security? Is Christ your only hope for spiritual and eternal security? Or, are you depending on health or wealth or people or favorable circumstances to provide a sense of security?
●We read in Revelation 6 and Matthew 24 that many Christians on earth will pay a steep price for faithfulness to Jesus, even losing their lives. How might Revelation 7 form your prayers for our brothers and sisters around the world who are being persecuted?
●How does Revelation 7 challenge your way of thinking? What patterns of thought need to be adjusted in your life to align with these truths? What does God want you to value and love in these verses?
●Revelation 7 is true for all who are in Christ. How does the truth of your security in Christ cause you to consider changes in your life? What is one action God is calling you to take because of the truth of Revelation 7? What are going to do tomorrow to implement? How can your group help?
Consider taking notes for how you can pray for your brothers and sisters in your group based on your discussion as each strives to apply the truth of God’s Word and seeks to share the gospel with those far from Christ.