The Lamb and the 144,000 Following Him

Transcript

GR 2033
03/04/2018
The Lamb & the 144,000 Following Him
Revelation 14:1-5
Gil Rugh

We’re going to the Book of Revelation in your bibles. We’re going to Revelation chapter 14 but if you would start with Revelation chapter 1. Just a reminder, Revelation chapter 1 is an important book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. It began in verse 4 after the introductory verses. “John to the seven churches who are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is, who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits before the throne, and from Jesus Christ.” Remember this is a message from the Triune God; all three Persons comprise the one true and living God mentioned here in these verses. It’s “from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness,” verse five, “the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood--that’s foundational to everything going on in the Book of Revelation.

He is the Savior. He has provided salvation as we have sung, by His death on the cross. It took His death to pay the penalty for our sin. He loved us. He provided, by His death, release from our sins when we turn from our sin and believe in Him. It took His death. He’s made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father. There’s a future kingdom coming, that’s where the Book of Revelation is moving toward. We’ll get to that in chapter 20 and following, the kingdom that will be established, and we will be part of that kingdom. Verse seven, “Behold, He is coming with the clouds,
every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.”

What God is doing in the Book of Revelation is unfolding the closing chapter of earth’s history. It moves towards the appointed conclusion of a kingdom over which Christ will reign and all believers will reign with Him. You come to chapter 14. We’ve moved through a series of judgments; remember these take place in the last seven years, prior to the return of Christ to this earth, to establish His kingdom. As we move through the series of judgments they are sequential, they move one after another, seven seals, seven trumpets, then we took a break.

Chapters 10 thru chapter 14 are part of that break to fill in material, things that take place in the middle of that seven-year period that are important for us to understand what is taking place. Remember, this last seven-year period, the seventieth week of Daniel primarily focuses on the nation Israel. It is that last period-of-time in the 490 years that Daniel 9 talked about that God had planned and determined for His people Israel, so we’re just in that last seven-year period. Israel is the focus. It doesn’t mean that other nations aren’t affected and impacted, they are. It doesn’t mean other people won’t be saved, they will be, but it is primarily a focus on Israel.

In chapter 11, we saw that the temple would be rebuilt by the time we get to the middle of those seven years. There will be two witnesses who have shared their testimony, who have prophesized as God’s representatives during the first three and a half years and then they are executed they give their life.

Chapter 12 talked about a war in heaven where Satan and his angels lose their access to heaven. He is cast down to earth and He begins to wage an all-out campaign to destroy the nation Israel, because God promised that, ultimately, His Son would reign over a kingdom on this earth with the nation Israel as the key people. The devil has a goal to destroy Israel because if there is no Israel, there can be no fulfillment of God’s promises. God loses. Of course, that can’t happen but Satan is relentless in that pursuit.

Chapter 13 introduced us to two key figures we saw as the first beast out of the sea and the second beast out of the earth. The first beast is the one we call the Antichrist, the little horn of Daniel. He’s the political ruler; he’s also a religious figure as we saw. The second beast in verse 11 of chapter 13 is called several times in the Book of Revelation, the false prophet. His ministry and work is to direct the worship of the world to the Antichrist and we saw key things there. He does mighty miracles to convince the world that the Antichrist is God in the flesh, he is the true Christ and then he causes all the worshipers of the Antichrist to be marked on their forehead or their hand with the number 666. There’ll be no buying, there’ll be no selling and there’ll be no involvement in any kind of commercial activity, unless you have been marked in that way. It’s going to be a time of terrible persecution for anyone who places their faith in Christ but particularly for the nation Israel.

It seems rather gloomy but when we come to chapter 14, as part of this break, we are going to be carried to the end of this seven-year period. So instead of making us wait until we work through the rest of these chapters, we’re given a preview of what is going to take place and a reminder. As awful as things are, it looks like the world is being destroyed through the disasters God is bringing, and then you add to that the persecutions of everyone who will not worship the Antichrist, and “it is a time,” Jesus said, “if He didn’t put an end to it after seven years, no one would survive.” There wouldn’t be a person left alive on the face of the earth. We’ve already seen billions of people die. Hard for us to grasp this suffering and death on a level not seen before. It seems like the devil and the Antichrist are winning. He controls the world. You can’t function in the world without acknowledging you worship him and receiving the mark but chapter 14 puts it into perspective.

Before God is done, if I can put it that way, Christ will be reigning on the earth, the unbelievers will be suffering in an eternal hell, the earth ripe for judgment will have been harvested. That’s what chapter 14 brings before us. A reminder, a word of encouragement and for those going through the Tribulation that become believers, Jews that get saved, the 144,000 as we’ll see here in a moment, who are testifying for Christ, chapter 14 will be a reminder to those coming to faith that it will all turn out okay. The suffering is limited for a time. We all go through that if you’ve been a believer for a while. Sometimes there’s turmoil and trouble that comes into our lives and for a moment you pause and wonder, Lord, has something gone wrong, is this the way it’s supposed to be, and this is a time of suffering and difficulty and trial to one degree or another.

Sometimes our trials may seem small compared to other people’s trials but I have to live the life God’s given me. You have to live the life God’s given you. People in other parts of the world may be suffering a lot more for their faith than we do but all of us are called to be faithful. So we come into chapter 14 and a reminder that all that the devil does, the fury of the Antichrist, when all’s said and done, Jesus Christ will be on earth in Jerusalem to rule and reign forever. The wicked will be cast into an eternal hell; the earth will have been harvested for its wickedness. We’re going to look at the first five verses and that carries us into the millennium.

Look how chapter 14 opens up. “Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion.” That’s why we began by reading those verses in chapter 1 which prophesized the coming of Christ to set up a kingdom and He’s the One who has released us from our sins by His blood. Here we see Him as the Lamb and that picture of Him as the Lamb; He’s the One who was sacrificed.

We saw the false prophet, that false religious leader in chapter 13 verse 11, described as a lamb but he is false. He has the mouth of the dragon, the lamb-like look is just a disguise for him. He’s really the devil’s spokesman but now we have the true Lamb of God. Remember when John the Baptist introduced Christ to the nation Israel in John’s Gospel chapter 1 verse 29. “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” He’s the sacrificial Lamb of God. We’ll see that as we move down through the end of verse 3 in Revelation14, He purchased people, the word meaning redemption. It’ll be mentioned in verse 4, so here is the Lamb, the One who released us from our sins. The "the scroll” in chapter 5 “that had the seven seals” that could bring this final phase of God’s plan to completion with the establishing of God’s kingdom because He, is the Lamb. The Lamb that paid the penalty for our sin so we could be released from our sins by His blood.

Come back to chapter 5. I just referred to the verse but you ought to see it in this context where this seven-sealed scroll is presented in heaven. Who is worthy to open it? No one is worthy and John weeps because the purposes and plans of God cannot be brought to fruition, if this scroll is not unfolded to bring it to its appointed climax. Verse 3, “then no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the book or look into it; and John began to weep greatly.” Then verse five, he’s told to “Stop weeping, behold the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome to open the book and its seven seals,” and “I saw between the throne the Lamb standing.”

Isn’t it interesting, in verse five Christ is “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” and then He is “the Lamb” in verse six, the Lion and the Lamb together in one. “When He had taken the book, the scroll they sang a song to Him,” verse nine “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” It’s your intention that they become a kingdom and that kingdom is where we will arrive in chapter 20 and following. They will reign upon the earth and repeatedly through these chapters, Christ is referred to as the Lamb because there is no salvation apart from the sacrifice and there is only one sacrifice, Jesus Christ. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, in order that whosoever believes in Him might not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Back in chapter 14 verse 1, “I looked and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion.” I take it this is a reference to the literal Mount Zion. Mount Zion is where the temple is, the Temple Mount, where Jerusalem is and sometimes in the Old Testament, it’s even used to refer more broadly to Judah, like we would refer to Washington, since it is the capitol and center, but here He’s referring to the literal mount where Jerusalem is and the temple. Christ is seen standing on Mount Zion. The picture is, we are ready for the kingdom, the millennium that we will have in chapter 20.

It’s this startling striking contrast, where at the end of chapter 13 we have the Antichrist reigning, having set himself in the temple as God, declaring that he’s God, there’s an image that must be worshiped, everybody must be sealed with his number and now, we get a preview of the end. What a striking contrast! The Lamb who has accomplished redemption by His death is standing on Mount Zion, so a preview that won’t be realized until chapter 20, but it puts things in proper perspective, in context after the terrible things of chapter 13. Just a reminder, you know I tell you I like to read the last chapter of my books first and the Lord knows some people don’t have that wisdom, so He moved part of the last chapter up to chapter 14 so you would read the last chapter before we get there. The Lamb was standing on Mount Zion.

Come back to Psalms 2. We don’t have time to look at all the passages of such a reference but Mount Zion is where Jerusalem is. In chapter 2, we have that great Messianic psalm that you know if you get discouraged by the news, read Psalms 2. “Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD, against His Anointed.” You know, no matter what’s going on in the world, God is sovereign. “He who sits in the heavens laughs,” the Lord scoffs at them. Remember that God said through the prophets, the nations of the earth are like a speck of dust on the scale. They don’t move it. We watch the news and say, oh my, what’s happening what’s going to happen, how will this turn out? Don’t worry about it, we’ve read the last chapter. You know how it all turns out. Christ will be standing on Mount Zion to establish His kingdom. Well, I don’t know, things are really getting bad. Don’t worry about it they are going to get a lot worse.

Praise the Lord that we’re part of the Church and we will leave in the rapture before the worst but we’re here for verse six. “But as for me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain.” It’s God’s holy mountain, Zion. It belongs to Him. He has set it apart for His people, Israel. It will be the place from, which His Son, the King of the Jews will reign. “I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD; He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.’ ‘Ask of Me, I will give the nations as Your inheritance the very ends of the earth for Your possession.’” He would be established, installed on Zion, God’s holy mountain, a mountain set apart for God and that’s what we’re seeing in chapter 14, in a preview.

The actual unfolding in time will not take place until chapter 20 but a reminder, all the raging of the most powerful ruler that has ever arisen among mankind is doomed to fail because only the God-Man, the Redeemer will bring redemption.

You ought to stop in Isaiah on your way back. Isaiah is just a little bit past the Psalms, the first of the large prophetic books after you leave Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, you hit Isaiah chapter 2 and note this is the word of the LORD to Isaiah in verse 2 of chapter 2. “Now it will come about in the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains.” A mountain becomes a symbol of a kingdom and the kingdom’s capitol that’s at Mount Zion in Jerusalem, will be the capitol of the world, so it will be the chief of the mountains. All other kingdoms and nations will be subject to the King who rules from Jerusalem.

Then verse three, “many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob’” and now they’ll be taught and learn and that’s when verse four says, they won’t need instruments of war anymore. Not possible, even though the United Nations has verse four on their building that can’t happen, until the Prince of Peace, the ruler that God has appointed comes, so just a couple of passages. I take it when Jews are reading in the tribulation, Revelation 14 it will be a great encouragement to them. When any believer is reading it and they see the number of the mark--this is, where we are-- they read chapter 14 and be encouraged.

Christ is not alone, as you come back to Revelation 14, on Mount Zion. “I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand.” Now if you just picked up the Book of Revelation and decided to open up and read it and you started with chapter 14 you might wonder who are the 144,000, but if you had read the earlier chapters there’s no confusion here. The 144,000 have His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads, so they have the name of the Lamb, who is Christ and God the Father on their foreheads.

Come back to chapter 7. If you’ve been here, you’ll remember this. In chapter 7, the judgments are withheld, in verse 4; “I heard the number of those who were sealed since the judgment has to be held back because of” verse 3, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants,” the slaves, “of our God on their foreheads. And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel.” Now we’re told they are sealed on their foreheads. If you keep a finger there and come back to chapter 14 verse 1 we read, “the one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads,” so we know what the seal is, they have God’s name on them. Now it may not be a visible sign but one that is indicative and marks them as preserved. They will not be harmed or killed by the destructions that are coming that would include the natural disasters, if we call them that, where God is using the turmoil, earthquakes and those kinds of things. They won’t accidently get killed, that’s why back in chapter 7 verse 3, “don’t harm the earth or the sea or the trees,” all these things that are going to impact the earth will not harm these individuals, they are marked by God, “as protected.”

In chapter 7, we’re told they’re “from every tribe of Israel” and I don’t think there is any excuse for misunderstanding this. If you don’t understand what He means by every tribe of the sons of Israel, He walks you through them. “From the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad” and He goes through the twelve tribes, so He’s talking about Israelites, an equal number from every tribe that were sealed to preserve them, keep them safe, through the disasters that are being poured out.

So when we get to chapter 14 and we’re ready for the millennium, Christ standing on Mount Zion to establish His kingdom, who is there with Him? One hundred and forty-four thousand are standing there as well, because they have His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. They’re the ones sealed in chapter 7. This is not really that difficult, you know we just take it as it’s presented here. I take it this means they have arrived safely. They have been preserved through the kingdom. I understand this means they weren’t killed by the Antichrist either, no Israelites resurrected, but I take it these have been preserved to form a nucleus for the nation Israel and as we’ll see, these 144,000.

He doesn’t go through every tribe here again. Can you believe it? I read a commentary and not just a loony commentary? This is one that gets respected even though it doesn’t interpret things real well. That said, well they don’t repeat 12,000 from every tribe here, so that doesn’t mean He’s talking about Israel. If God had to repeat everything that He just said, again, we’d have so many books comprising our bible that we’d never get done, but he’s serious. What he really want to do is say, this really is the Church and all God’s people and this just indicates we don’t take the 144,000 as a literal number. It’s a literal 144,000 and, as we’ll see in a moment, they’re just men and we’ll talk more about that in the context when we get there but we have the 144,000.

So, a word of encouragement. When God seals them they arrive, that’s an encouragement to me. I won’t be here and for all believers, even those who die, all believers are sealed by God. We’ll talk about that, time permitting in a little bit; we’re going to get there. Now we may not get there without passing through physical death, but the promise of God is all those that He seals will ultimately be there, but here, the 144,000 have been preserved. You know, they’ve come through everything. They’re sort of like the three friends of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego in Daniel chapter 3. Remember, Nebuchadnezzar threw them into the furnace. The fires raging and they’re walking through the furnace having a conversation. They come out, their garments weren’t burned they didn’t even smell like fire. That’s what is going on, the world is being destroyed, persecution is going on but God’s hand is on them to preserve them and keep them and they arrive on Mount Zion with Christ.

This causes celebration in heaven. Again, this is a preview. Many-many, many-many years ago just after talky films, when I’d go to a movie and I didn’t go very often, they did previews in those days. Now some of you are old enough, I can tell. If you went to a movie, you remember previews where they ran the preview of the coming ones—that’s what we’re getting here, a preview of what is coming and so when you get the preview of the kingdom to be established you get the preview of all heaven celebrating. We’ll get to more of this when we get to chapter 19 and they’re ready for Christ to return to earth, to Mount Zion, then there’s celebration going on in heaven.

So here in verse two, “I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters, like the sound of loud thunder.” We’ve seen this in Revelation when you get this overwhelming booming voice indicating something of great significance. Here, this is just like the sound of—some of you have been to the ocean, the waves roar in or the sound of really loud thunder, the booms but then you’re told, and the voice, which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, so this isn’t an irritating kind of sound. This has a melodious—but it fills things with the sound like we sometimes say, this sound system, it fills the room with the sound. As the picture here, heaven is filled with the sound of the harpist, but it is just in the background like the roaring of the waters or loud thunder. This beautiful melodious sound of those playing on the harps, and they sang a new song before the throne and before the living creatures and the elders.

Now again people, when you don’t take the bible just as it says—we have Christ standing on Mount Zion with 144,000, so that’s on earth here. Now we’re told this melodious sound is coming from heaven, sounding from heaven. Now some take this to say, “well then He mustn’t really be on physical Mount Zion because the voice is from heaven.” Well He’s standing on Mount Zion and then they tell you what’s going on in heaven. Just turn over to chapter 19. We’re getting ready for Christ to come back to earth here and just note how chapter 19 opens up. “After these things, I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, ‘Hallelujah! Salvation glory and power belong to our God.’” Verse three the second time, “Hallelujah!” Down at the end of verse 4, “Amen, Hallelujah!” A voice from the throne, “Give praise to God.”

I think when Christ is ready to come and when He comes, there will be celebration in heaven. We, as a member of the church, the bride of Christ, where chapter 19 is going--you know what? We’re going to be going up there, celebrating, this is what we’ve been looking for. It’s great to go to heaven but you know what we’ve been anticipating? “All creation is groaning until the time,” Romans 8, “when we return with Christ and He stands on Mount Zion and the kingdom is established.” Of course, there’s celebration in heaven, so when Christ is standing on Mount Zion, the 144,000 with him, you have this new song back in chapter 14 verse 3 and “no one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been purchased from the earth.” These 144,000 learn this song because they’re among the redeemed. Now this is to benefit them, this is a song coming from heaven so it would come from those already in heaven, probably martyrs celebrating. It’s sung before the four living creatures and the elders, but now it’s one that the 144,000 who have faithfully served the Lord, as we’ll see in these closing verses of this section, now, they can join in this song.

Turn over to chapter 15 to jump ahead because chapter 15 leads us into the last judgments, the last seven judgments, which are bowl judgments. You’ll note verse 3, we don’t want to read it for time but we’re in heaven. They “sang the song of Moses, the bondservant of God, the song of the Lamb, saying, ‘Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations!’” and so on, so you’ll see the connection here of things going on and there’s great impact, we’ll see it when we get into chapter 15. The last trumpet sounded earlier but the judgments didn’t come out because we had to take this pause and now that we’re ready for time to begin to move along again, we’ll have this celebration, ready for the seven bowls and then we’ll climax with the return of Christ in chapter 19.

You come back to chapter 14 verse 3 the 144,000; note the end of verse 3, “who had been purchased from the earth” and we noted that word, “purchased” back in chapter 5 verse 9. “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe, tongue, people and nation.” That word, “purchased,” we study words related to our salvation. This word would be translated “redeemed,” agorazo, the Greek word, to purchase by paying the price. If you bought something in the market, you would redeem, you would pay the price necessary to have it as yours.

“The wages of sin is death.” Christ came and paid what was required for us to be set free. He set us free by His blood by dying to pay our penalty, which was death, so they had been purchased, redeemed from the earth. At the end of verse 4, we will get the same thing. These have been purchased, redeemed from among men. There’s no salvation in any other way. The redemption is only in Christ. He’s the one who died. Everything else, every other option comes from the devil. It’s a lie there is only one Savior. There is “only one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

You see the Pope has appointed another day to honor Mary. That’s paganism pure and simple; it’s a lie from the devil. There’s only one way to God. It’s not through Mary, it’s not through the saints, it’s not through the sacraments, it’s not through the priests. It’s only through Jesus Christ and Protestants are no better. There’s only one-way of salvation and that’s through the one Savior. That’s the point here, they’ve been purchased. That’s why we read chapter 1 of the Book of Revelation. Don’t miss this; “He’s released us from our sins by His blood.” If you’ve not placed your faith in Him, His death has not been credited to your account. You’re lost and on your way to the hell that He’ll talk about in the middle of chapter 14. There’s no other option, there are only two destinies. These have been purchased. It’s not because they are better, it’s not because they have earned salvation, it’s not because of anything else; it’s because they were purchased, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

I clipped out a song Franny Crosby wrote many years ago. “Redeemed--how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb! Redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child and forever I am.” That song that we sing, great truths. Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. There is no other redemption. “There is no other name given among men under heaven whereby we must be saved.” There’s only in Christ, so these have been redeemed, been purchased from the earth.

Now verse four, “these are the ones who have not been defiled with women.” Oh those women, no that’s not what He’s talking about here. “These are the ones who have not been defiled with women they have kept themselves chaste.” We think, well is that bad? The bible honors marriage. God established marriage in the Garden of Eden with the first two people that He created, Adam and Eve. Marriage is honorable. It is the plan of God but it said these have not been defiled with women. Well in marriage, you’re not defiled in a sexual relationship but the point being made here is these have remained chaste, they have not been married. They have chosen to live a celibate life and they have been so gifted by God. The Scripture does indicate, even though marriage is the plan of God, it’s not His plan for every single individual and in times of certain distress, there are occasions where God says it’s better to be single.

Let’s look back in the Book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter 16. We call Jeremiah the weeping prophet. He had a difficult ministry, forty years of dealing with a stubborn and obstinate people but you’ll note what God says to Jeremiah in chapter 16 verse 1. “The word of the LORD also came to me,” Jeremiah, saying. “You shall not take a wife for yourself nor have sons or daughters in this place,” so here Jeremiah will live his life as a single celibate prophet, so die, with no children. The reason given, because there are all kinds of disasters going to overtake these people and being single as a prophet will enable Jeremiah to not be entangled. If you’re married, you have a wife; things go bad, persecution comes, suffering, diseases, you’re concerned for her you’re concerned for the children. Those obligations you have to fulfill properly to honor the Lord but Jeremiah’s going into the kind of situation where the Lord says My intention for you is to be single. There are times for that so it’s not that they didn’t defile themselves with women in the sense that it would have been wrong but it wasn’t God’s intention for them to be married, so they lead a celibate life.

Come over to First Corinthians chapter 7. Here Paul writes about God’s plan for marriage. The chapter opens up, “now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to touch a woman” and as you’re aware in the context not to touch a woman is not to have a sexual relationship with a woman. Paul says there’s benefit in that. That God has made provision but because of immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, each woman is to have her own husband and then that gives you obligations. Obligations come with marriage. Obligations to your spouse and responsibility to your husband, to your wife, and then he goes on to talk about that.

Now this is in the context like we started out. There are benefits if you’re not married. Why? I don’t have obligations to take care of a wife or children. That frees me up to devote myself more fully and completely to the Lord but he goes on to say marriage is God’s intention for some and if you have that desire for sexual fulfillment you should be married. You realize God’s sovereignty. In fact, He called celibacy a gift. Verse seven--Paul in verse 6, “I say this by way of concession, not a command. I’m not commanding you to get married, yet I wish all men were even as myself.” Paul was a single celibate man however; each man has his own gift. That’s the same word. We talk about, spiritual gifts, based on the word grace, charis, each one gifted by God. A celibate life is a gift of God, not so I can live a selfish life but so I am free from some of the obligations, which would come from marriage and thus I can devote myself to the Lord more completely.

That’s the argument, that’s the point here, so he says in verse 8 “to the unmarried, to the widows that it is good for them to remain as I.” But if you have that desire for the sexual, get married. Down in verse 17, “only as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this manner let him walk,” so you recognize what the Lord has for me. Oh, if I hadn’t gotten married, boy just think of what I could have done for the Lord. Now I have the baggage of marriage and a family. Well it’s what the Lord assigned for me, I wouldn’t desire anything else but the reality is there’re obligations.

Some of you have concerns, you know you have kids you have concerns for your kids. Then the kids grow up and get married then you have concerns—now you not only have your son or daughter you’re concerned about, you have their spouse and then they go and have kids and now you have grandkids to be concerned about and those things do occupy us.

If the tribulation breaks out, remember Jesus said, “Woe to those who are pregnant” when this tribulation breaks out, why? Because that just brings an added problem. You know it’s going to be hard for you to flee, to hide to deal with the deprivation when you’re carrying a child. It’s just the reality of it, so these 144,000 sealed by God have been gifted by Him to serve a celibate life like the apostle Paul, so they could devote their time and attention and that’s where Paul goes in chapter 7, free from concerns about other things.

Come back to chapter 14. Jesus said this as well in Matthew chapter 19 verse 12 when He was talking about answering questions about marriage. The disciples asked. “He said, ‘There are those who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.’” They’ve chosen to lead a celibate life to be freer for serving the Lord. That ultimately is a 144,000 or a manifestation of that. They are totally dedicated to the Lord and His service, so we’re told in verse 4 “these are the ones who have not been defiled with woman,” back in chapter 14 of Revelation, they have kept themselves chaste. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. Now there is the sense that everyone is to follow Christ. “Take up your cross and follow me,” Jesus said, but if you don’t have a wife and children for which you are responsible, you are free from some of those responsibilities and you can follow Him without that concern. I mean it is rather obvious.

A picture here. They follow the Lamb wherever He goes, so through the Tribulation, however the Lord leads them, they have been faithful in following Him and they will continue to follow Him now in the kingdom. Verse 4 makes clear that we’re talking about men here. These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, so the 144,000 from each tribe are 12,000 men from each tribe. Celibate men, I take it, set apart, they will probably…..remember the two witnesses were martyred in the middle of the Tribulation in chapter 11 but now God has a 144,000, and I take it their prime ministry will be to Jews because remember the fullness of the Gentiles ended with the rapture of the Church.

Now we resume God’s program with the nation Israel focusing His work of salvation on them. It doesn’t mean there won’t be many Gentiles saved but the focus is to bring the nation Israel, so these 144,000 will need special protection between the disasters falling and then the all-out attempt of the devil to destroy the Jews. You have 144,000 men. To carry it further they’re standing here at the beginning of the kingdom, why would they be preserved, why 12,000 from every tribe if they’re just going to be evangelists during the tribulation or whatever. I think they will form the nucleus for the repopulating of the Jewish community in the millennium. They will take wives so guarantees the Jews and it will guarantee the representation of every tribe in Israel.

Otherwise, people would say, “well it won’t matter if every tribe is represented as long as they’re descendants of Abraham.” Maybe there’ll only be six tribes or four tribes but the nation will grow out of that and that’s what matters. No, what matters to God is the 12 tribes. It’s Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the 12 sons of Jacob, which form the 12 tribes. I don’t think this means these are the only Jews that will be saved. Many of them will be martyred. There may be more Jews saved than I think there will be in light of the judgment of the Jews that will go into the millennium but these 12,000 men from each tribe guarantee each tribe having representation and so each tribe will grow and populate the kingdom.

“These have been,” at the end of verse 4, been “purchased from among men from among men again purchased redeemed from among men.” Christ provided a salvation that could save every person. He died for the sins of the world but His death is only applied to the account of those who place their faith in Him. How sad it is people are going to die and go to hell because they’d rather pay their own penalty than accept the payment of the penalty by Christ. We get to that when we get to the middle of chapter 14.

You know, they’ve been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and the Lamb. That to me indicates that they may well be at the center of repopulating the Jewish community. They’re the first fruits, they indicate the coming harvest. There will be a blossoming of the nation Israel. To have these 12,000 men from every tribe taking a wife would indicate that some of these Jewish women they take as wives became believers and have survived the tribulation. There may be other men but these will be those first fruits to God and to the land. The work of redemption brings in a kingdom for Israel.

“No lie was found in their mouth and they are blameless,” so when it says “they follow the Lamb wherever He goes,” they have a history through that last three and a half years. No lie was found in their mouth and they’re blameless. No lie, you know lying is of the devil. Lying is one of those sins we don’t consider so serious. Murder, immorality, some of the big sins but you know what Christ said to Peter when Peter said, Oh, you won’t go to Jerusalem and die. Christ said to him, him what? “Get behind Me, Satan. Your mouth has become the mouth of the devil.” The devil’s putting words in your mouth. What you’re saying is a lie. It’s contrary to the purpose and plans of God. No lie was found in their mouth. The, focal lie that these 144,000 have opposed is the lie of the Antichrist and the false prophet.

Remember, “God will send a strong delusion that they should believe the lie,” pseudos in 2 Thessalonians 2 as we have here. No lie was found in their mouth. They were faithful to God. They were blameless. They held on to the truth and that should characterize us as God’s people. He’s the God who cannot lie. We serve Him. The devil is the liar. He was a liar from the beginning. Jesus said in John chapter eight and “you’re of your father the devil” He told the religious people. Lies murders, they all go together it’s the work of the devil. These, no lie was found in their mouth. They are blameless and Scripture says we are to “prove ourselves blameless in the midst of the darkness of this sinful world,” Philippians 2:15, Jude 24. We’re to be blameless; we’re to be children of truth, truth, truth.

All right, let’s summarize this we’re getting near the end. I’ve put some applications on this. These 144,000 are unique for a unique period-of-time in their service for the Lord but there are things that are true of them that are to be true of us.

For example, they were sealed by God but Scripture says “we are sealed by God and have His name written on us.” In that first verse, chapter 14 is the verse pertaining to them but Ephesians 1 said, “We have been sealed by God with the Holy Spirit.” In chapter 3 verse 12 addressing the church, Christ tells the overcomers that they have been sealed by Him, so we are also those who belong to God.

We will be with Christ in His kingdom and Ephesians chapter 1 verse 14 said, “We’re sealed for the day of redemption.” Chapter 3 verse 21 says, “Those sealed will be ruling and reigning with Him,” so the Church has a part there too. They don’t fill the same role at the same time as the 144,000 but there are things that we ought to be aware of here.

We have been purchased by God and belong to Him, so were, the 144,000. In First Corinthians 6 verses 19 and 20, “you’ve been bought with a price.” You’ve been purchased with a price. That price was the blood of Christ “therefore glorify God in your bodies.” Revelation chapter 21 verse seven talks about the redeemed were those purchased by God.

We are to follow the Lamb wherever He goes. Jesus’ call was, “take up your cross and follow me” so we’re saying commitment. For some, for most of us that means we’re married, we’re not in a time of tribulation, we won’t be in that time of tribulation but we’re to be following Him with that same tenacity and faithfulness. We get caught up and we think well this is not the same time. You know Peter uses this prophetic information in his second epistle to say this is to encourage us to holiness and godliness of life. We follow the Lamb wherever He goes.

We are to be characterized by truth. They were characterized--no lie was found in them. Ephesians 4, the verses I have say that we as redeemed people are to be “characterized by truth.”

We are to live blamelessly in an ungodly world and that’s Philippians 2. You know we’re to learn from these things, take them to heart. You know these 144,000 have to be faithful in the day in, which God places them. You and I have to be faithful in the day God places us. Sometimes I think, oh I want to be faithful to God in that situation but the issue for you, are you faithful to Him in the situation in which you have been placed.

Have you experienced His redemption and forgiveness? We have to be faithful where we are, in the situation in, which we are found and that will be true for us individually, that’s true for us as a church. Am I faithful today. Have you been faithful this week? Have I been faithful this week? Will we be characterized as those--no lies found with us? We’re blameless we are following the Lord. That’s been the path of our life and will be when we stand in His presence.

Let’s pray together: Thank You Lord for Your word for all You’ve done for us in Christ, that You’ve done the work of redemption. Only You could accomplish it, only Your Son could carry it out and You offer it to us as a free gift given to all who will believe in Him. Lord, I pray for any who are here who have not yet been redeemed by the blood of Christ. May this be the day of their redemption. For those of us who have, easy to become comfortable, lax and even conformed to the world, Lord pray that we would be faithful in following Christ in our service for Him. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.