Turn with me to Revelation 7
where we left off this morning. The infinite mercy of Almighty
God who justly, justly would send and give a man exactly
what he wants. Man by nature has a desire to
believe a lie. That's what he wants. That's
what he wants. Therefore, Almighty God justly
will send a man strong delusion that he should
believe a lie and give him what he wants. Do you have any idea of the infinite
mercy of God that would not leave a man to himself and give him
what he wants? The Scriptures related this morning
that God Speaking of the angel in verse
2, the one that had, possesses the seal of the living God, cried
with a loud, powerful voice to the four angels. And he said,
Don't hurt the earth, the sea, or the trees till we've sealed
the servants of our God in their forehead. And verse 4, And it
says, And I heard the number of them which were sealed. And there were sealed 144,000
of all the tribes of the children of Israel, of the tribe of Judah
were sealed 12,000. The tribe of Reuben were sealed
12,000. The tribe of Gad were sealed
12,000. The tribe of Asher sealed 12,000. Nephilim, sealed 12,000 of the
tribe of Manassas, were sealed 12,000 of the tribe of Simeon,
sealed 12,000 of the tribe of Levi, were sealed 12,000 of the
tribe of Issachar, were sealed 12,000 of the tribe of Zebulun,
were sealed 12,000 of the tribe of Joseph, were sealed 12,000
of the tribe of Benjamin, were sealed 12,000 Now this is not to say that there
are only 144,000 exactly. But the revelation of this Scripture
is to say that there is a determinate number from the exact tribes
that Almighty God alone knows and has set his affection on. Now listen, all we've got to
do is go back and read the Scriptures, and we will then see that by
and large, the Jews had forsaken and disbelieved God. The Scripture says He came to
His own, and His own received Him not. But in spite of rebellion
against Almighty God, the Lord still has a people within, number
one, the nation of Israel that He has everlastingly loved. Now, what I'm going to show you
in just a Just a few moments, we're going to see first of all,
and this is what we're going to see in the verses that we
just read, that the Lord has a people, Jew and Gentile. The Scripture says, and we just
read these first four verses, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 5 of them. The Scripture says in Isaiah
10, 22, For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the
sea, yet a remnant of them shall return. The consumption decreed
shall overflow with righteousness." Now that last verse, that line
right there that I just quoted, the consumption decreed shall
overflow with righteousness, actually means this, even in
the worst of times. When there appears that there
is no hope The Lord has a people. When Elijah found himself in
what he thought was the worst position that he could be in,
when he thought that he was the last faithful Jew left, the Lord
told him in 1 Kings 19, I have left me 7,000 in Israel, all
the needs which have not bowed unto Baal in every
mouth which hath not kissed him." In Romans chapter 11, turn with
me there. Romans 11, verses 1 to 5. Now this is talking about God having a people. You say,
well, the Jews forsook Him. I know He did. I know they did.
Yeah, the Gentiles have too. Romans 11, chapter 1, I say then,
hath God cast away his people? God forbid. Now, you listen to
what Paul the Apostle says. This was Saul of Tarsus. He was
a Hebrew of the Hebrews. He was a Jew, a Jew. He said,
for I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe
of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people,
which he foreknew. What, or know ye not what the
Scripture said of Elijah, how he maketh intercession to God
against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets,
dig down thine altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my
life? But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved
to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to
the image of Baal. Even so then, at this present
time also, there is a remnant according to the election of
grace." Now we realize first of all, when we look at those
verses, what we just read in Revelation chapter 7, here is
the first thing I know. God has sealed a people from
the nation of Israel. By and large, as I said, they've
forsaken Him. There were some of those Pharisees
and Sadducees and they reviled Him, but God still has a people. But before we go into the next
verses, I want you to look at a couple of other thoughts concerning
the number of the 144,000. Whenever somebody says, who are
those 144,000? I'll tell you who they are. It's a number that only God knows
that speaks of a sealed people of Israel that God has everlastingly
loved. The writer John says, he says
in that fourth verse, and I heard the number of them which were
sealed. It doesn't say he saw them. He said he heard the number.
God Himself knows the number of His elect. He chose them.
And you can rest assured, though we know not the number of God's
remnant, He shall call them all out by the preaching of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord knows them. He knows
them. Why are we here tonight? Brother Scott was just praying.
He said, bless the preaching. Bless it to His honor. God's
got a people. and He's going to call them out.
But I want you to notice one other thing. John said, I heard
that number. I heard the number was a specific
number representative of all the exact number that God knows. But I want you to notice that
of the twelve tribes mentioned, there appears to be a difference.
If you'd go back and look at the names of the tribes of Israel
back in the Old Testament, The tribes that are mentioned in
Revelation 7 and the names that are given back in the Old Testament,
there is a difference. The tribe of Dan back in the
Old Testament was not mentioned. I mean, his mention here was
not mentioned there. Manassas here is named. Now the Spirit of God gives no
reason for that difference in the name of one of the tribes.
But we can rest assured of this one thing. Dan, number one, was
a tribe in the Old Testament. Go back and read it. It is just
a matter of history. There was a tribe called the
tribe of Dan. Now this tribe had all of the
same privileges that any other tribe had, but they were not
named in the ones that were sealed. in the book of Revelation. Turn
with me to Romans chapter 9. How can we explain this or how
can we reconcile this? Well, I'm not going to reconcile
it. I'm going to tell you that the
Scripture says in Revelation 7 that the tribe of Dan was not
mentioned. The tribe of Manassas was. The
tribe of Dan wasn't. In Romans chapter 9, and we'll
let the Word of God answer for itself. Romans 9, verses 1 to
8, I say the truth in Christ. I lie not, my conscience also,
bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost. Paul says, I have a great
heaviness and a continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish
that myself were accursed from Christ, from my brethren, my
kinsmen, he said, according to the flesh. who are Israelites,
to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants,
and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises,
whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh,
Christ came, who is over all. God blessed forever. Amen. Not
as though the word of God hath taken none effect, for they are
not all Israel which are of Israel, neither because of they Neither
because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children,
but in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are
the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God,
but the children of the promise are accounted for the seed."
Someone can say, how can there be a tribe that is not listed
in those that are sealed of the 144,000? How can that be? God Almighty does as He will
in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and no man stays His hand. No man questions Him. But to
continue the vision that John had of the seal back in Revelation
chapter 7, looking in verse 9, it says, 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 hand,
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, Worship
God saying, Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be unto our God
forever and ever. Amen. Now here we see John saw
something else. He saw out of all of the other
nations, tribes and tongues, he saw the Gentile elect. Again, that's what Brother Scott
just read about. God Almighty has a people out
of all places, all nations. And here's the Gentile elect
with the Jewish elect. The church of the Lord God Himself
is one church. One. Jew and Gentile. Song of Solomon 6.9 says, My
dove, my undefiled, is but one. She's the only one of her mother.
She's the choice one of her that bear her. John sees the whole
church, Jew and Gentile. Non-Jew, no Gentile. They are
one. They are the people of God. A
Jew thought at one time that there was no possible way a Gentile
could be saved. Only the Jews. John saw that
here is all the nations, kindreds, and tribes, a great multitude
which no man can number, but God can. God knows. As a general rule, I do understand. You take today, in a given time,
a hundred years ago, two hundred years ago, any one particular
time or place, there is, as far as the number of people in the
world, there would be just a small remnant. Just a small one. Completely, my mind cannot comprehend. I think about, let's take the
state we live in, West Virginia. You think about this, how many
places do you know where the Gospel is preached in West Virginia?
As far as we know, just a few, a very few. How many people do
you think lives in this state? I don't know. Bunch. Compared
to all the people that live in this state, how many believers
do you think they are? Compared to how many people are
in this state? Well, as far as we know, just a handful. Just a remnant. According to
the election of grace. Someone might say, do you mean
to tell me that you honestly believe that there's just a small
handful of people in this whole state that you consider to be
believers, that's absolutely right. That's exactly what I
believe. I believe that any man, any woman
that believes not the message of Almighty God concerning the
Lord Jesus Christ in whom all of His people were chosen, those
alone for whom He died, those alone whom the Spirit of God
will call out They only, they only are God's elect. You believe
that? Yes, I do. Yes, I do. If I didn't
believe that, I wouldn't be here tonight. But compared to all of time,
the Scripture says that John said he saw a great multitude
which no man could number. As I've said before, I believe. that the vast majority of this
number will be made up out of children that died, young children,
out of every nation and kindred and tribe and tongue, places
where no man would ever believe there could ever possibly be
any of God's elect. But of all these nations, some
in every kindred, every time, every period, the Lord knows
The Lord Jesus Christ said in John 6, 37, All that the Father
hath given me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. And John said, I look, and here
was that number that no man could number of these nations and these
kindreds and these people and tongues, and they stood before
the throne and before the Lamb. lasting safety and pleasure of
God's redeemed, sealed servants. I was thinking a few weeks ago
when I was in Franklin and preached the funeral of that little baby,
a small baby, and I told the folks that was there, I said,
you take this little infant. I believe that based on this
Scripture, Scripture bears witness of the mercy and grace of Almighty
God to show mercy to these little ones. And here, this little one
will stand before the throne of God and see with perfect vision,
perfect sight. He stood before the throne and
before the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their
hands, They had overcome by the blood of the Lamb and were robed
in His righteousness, which is the only way they could stand
before God. They had in their hands these
palms, these emblems of victory, of uprightness and faithfulness. Song of Solomon 7-7 says, This
thy stature, speaking of the church, this is the way you stand
as a palm tree upright before God. John 12, 12 and 13 says,
on the next day, it says, much people that were come to the
feast when they heard that the Jews were coming, that Jesus
was coming to Jerusalem, they took branches of palm trees and
went forth to meet Him and cried, Hosanna, blessed is the King
of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. And these that
stood before Him, the Scripture says, and they cried with a loud
voice. Their praise to the Lord was
this. salvation to our God which sitteth
upon the throne and unto the Lamb." Salvation belongs to God
Himself. Unto the triune God, the three
in one, God the Father who chose a people in the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son, and sent Him to be the propitiation, the satisfaction,
for all of them. God the Son, who was the sweet-smelling
savor of offering before the Father. And God the Spirit, the
Holy Ghost, who quickens and seals the redeemed. And under
the Lamb, it says, the God-Man, the Mediator between God and
man. John said, I saw, and there was
his 144th, of every tribe And of all the nations, a number
that no man could number, they were numberless. They were all
there. How many will be there? All that
the Father has given to the Son. They'll all be there. And all
the angels, in verse 11, stood round about the throne. I want
to stop just a minute, just remind you of something. In the next
chapter, we're going to get into the trumpets that's going to
be in the judgments of God that's going to be spewed out. And when
we start dealing with that, I want you to remember these that God
has sealed and kept and preserved and acknowledged and gave reason
for their being sealed because of the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Here's the grand protection of
all those that He's loved And whatever comes, whatever happens
in this world from this point forward, you remember, these
are they that have been sealed by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
These angels, in verse 11, stood round about the throne, and the
elders and the four beasts, and they fell before the throne,
their faces. They worshiped God. Here the Scripture says even
the angels participate and rejoice with the redeemed of the Lord. sevenfold praise that is descriptive
of God's glory and their happiness. And this is what they say in
verse 12. Amen. So be it. Blessing for
God Himself is blessed in Himself and in the salvation of His people. He's the foundation of blessing. And secondly, glory. That's the
second word. in that song of praise. For He
is the glory of His people. Thirdly, wisdom. For Christ Himself
is both the wisdom of God displayed. You talk about wise. Hear the
Lord Jesus Christ set forth. Oh, what infinite wisdom! Man
would have never thought. How can God be just? How can
God be just and justify a sinner? How can a holy God be just and
deal with sin justly and have mercy? How can that be, Gary?
One way. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Substitute,
the God, the Redeemer, the Propitiation. And these angels join in this
singing And that's one word they say. Wisdomful. How wise. Infinitely wise. And then they
say in thanksgiving, for in all things, and in all things, and
for all things, heaven gives thanks unto Him who sits upon
the throne. How could we thank Him? How do you say thank you? We
can say it, but oh, how little. We're thankful. How little if
we could but see what He has redeemed us from and kept us
from and purchased us to. Oh, how thankful. And then they
said, in honor. Honor. God Himself has brought
honor to Himself as the mighty God in the destruction of all
of His foes. Hell in the grave, what honor!
And He did it. Absolutely in justice. And power! That's the next word. Power,
because all power is given unto the Son. And might. You know,
I read that, I thought, in those last two words right there. Power and might. When I first read it, it sounded
like pretty much the same thing. But this word might right here
is appointment. appointment, for He is the chosen
and appointed Redeemer of His people. And then the closing
words, verses 13 to the end of the chapter, are given for great
instruction and comfort to the people of God. One of the elders
answered, saying unto me, Let me just bring something out that
may come to your mind because it came to mine. When I first
read that, I thought to myself, the 144,000 I know speaks of God's mercy
to the Jewish nations. Then out of every kindred tribe
and tongue, there's the Gentiles who then is speaking. Well, this
elder, is as he was. I thought, how can this be? It's
almost like a contradiction. But it's not. One of the elders,
one of the redeemed, he stood up and he said, he says, What
are these which are arrayed in white robes? In which came they? And I, that is, John, said unto
him, Sir, thou knowest. And here the elder answers, the
very question that he asked. 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." In John
16.33, the Lord Jesus Christ said, in this world you shall
have tribulation. The word tribulation there is
pressure and anguish. Now I know that in this world
the believer goes through trials and testings, testings of his
faith, trials of your faith. But let me tell you the greatest
tribulation that there would be. Now you talk about great
tribulation. This is tribulation. This is
great pressure to leave this world. and not believe God, to
leave this world in rebellion before Almighty God. Now, you
talk about tribulation. Now, that is tribulation. Who
are these? Who are these that are arrayed
in white ropes? And whence came they? He says,
These are they that came out of great tribulation. Great tribulation from whether
it be open persecution of the world to the plagues of my own
heart. Great tribulation. Paul says
in Acts 14.22, we must through much tribulation enter into the
Kingdom of God. Whatever the Lord has providentially
ordered for you, for the trying of your faith in tribulation,
Romans 5.3, Paul says, We glory in the tribulation, in the trials,
knowing that tribulation worketh patience. They have washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Now this,
of course, speaks of their standing before God in the holiness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever we go through, whatever
path Almighty God has chosen for His people. In this world
right here, we're going through great tribulation, great trials,
great pressures. But the greatest is to be left
in unbelief. And these, the Scripture says,
they came out of it. Came out of it. How? God sealed them. God kept them. God protected them. Kept them
from their sales. What have they done? He says,
they came out of great tribulation, washed their robes and made them,
now this is strange to our thinking, made them white in the blood
of the Lamb. I'll tell you this. which stain,
blood produces a stain that not many things will take it out.
But even great tribulation doesn't perfect a sinner. The blood of
Christ does. And the blessing of coming out
of great tribulation and having their robes washed white in the
blood of the Lamb. See, that's what they've done.
Now think of what he said. They came out of great tribulation. Unbelief. Born in sin. Born in rebellion against God.
It came out of that. And their robes were washed white
in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, the Scripture says,
they are before the throne of God. And we are told what they
are doing. It says in verse 15, Therefore
are they before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and
night. in His temple. Now, exactly what
this service is, what it consists of, we are not told. Scripture
says they serve Him day and night in His temple. Obviously, we
would have to possess the faculties, the ability of the redeemed in
glory to speak particularly of what they're doing in serving
Him. But let me say just in a thought, in part, and you that believe,
let me ask you if it's so with you. There have been at times,
and I will say this, sadly to say, it's fleeting moments. But there are times when, and
I'll just share just a moment with you. There are times, and
it's just like that, just gone. But there are times when it appears
as though to me I may be reading something or someone may say
something of the Lord Jesus Christ and His mercy and grace toward
me. And just for a moment, for a
fleeting moment, I think, I think I almost entered into it just
a moment, Brother Scott, just for a moment. I thought, God! And then before I know it,
it's like there are moments, even when
our hearts right now are plagued with the presence of sin, that
we rejoice. We rejoice truly for a fleeting
moment and have in our heart truly a heart just kind of leaning
in that direction, not really in service toward Him. And just
thoughts of honor toward Him just for a moment. Oh, I think
how horrible is that to have to admit that just for a moment
I think there are times when my heart would be made tender,
truly tender. But imagine in what we know now
by faith. But then, the presence of sin
is gone. They see perfectly by sight. They behold Him and they know
Him as their known. And they see Him with perfect
vision of sight and know what He has done. Oh, we shall have His perpetual
company. Here they stand before the throne
of God and they serve Him day and night in His temple. And
He that sits on the throne shall dwell with them. I am convinced, absolutely I'm
convinced, that the Lord Jesus Christ is in this place. I'm convinced of that. I'm convinced
that where two or three are gathered together in His name, He said,
I am in the midst of you. I know that's so. David, I know
that's so. But just consider knowing that
it's so. how hard my heart is that I don't
just thank Him as I ought to. What
an honored guest that He would be here, that He would come. Scripture says that they that
have washed their robes what came out of great tribulation,
came out of rebellion, they were sealed, sealed by the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself. They were distinguished who they
are, and this is why they're sealed. The imputed righteousness
of Christ. They're ratified. This is who
they are, and this is why they are. They stand before God Almighty. They've come out of great tribulation.
Here's this world in great tribulation, in rebellion against God Almighty,
and they've come out The rose has been washed white in the
blood of the Lamb. They stand before God's throne
and they serve Him joyfully, joyfully, day and night, night
and day, forever and ever and ever. And He that sits on the
throne shall dwell among them. And the Scripture says in verse
16, they shall hunger no more. Neither thirst any more, neither
shall the sun light them, or any heat, for the Lamb which
is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, shall lead them
unto living fountains of water, and God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes." I don't know. I cannot imagine. I don't know because I don't
know how to relate to it. I don't know what it will be
like. to never feel the presence of sin. My heart is so hard. I am so cold that sin that dwells
in my flesh, I can stand here and in one thought, I know this,
by the grace of God, I am what I am. Give me a mind. a mind marked that serves Him.
It serves Him. That's what Paul said. He said,
with my flesh, I serve the law of sin. But he said, with my
mind, that new mind, that new creation, that new creature,
he said, I serve the law of God. And there's a battle that goes
on all the time. These serve Him day and night. Never wavering. Never staggering. Never. The
presence of sin is with me when the Lord Jesus Christ was in
the garden, knowing that he would drink the cup being made sin,
he sweat, as it were, great drops of blood. And he said, Father,
if there be any way that this cup could pass from me, nevertheless,
not my will, but Thine be done. He hung on that cross and he
cried out, My God, my God, Why have you forsaken me? I'll tell
you why. Sin was found. He was made sin. And God's just. I don't know what it's like.
I don't know. I cannot imagine. But I can read
in these Scriptures, and I can tell you this, the indescribable
promise to God's people. All of grace. They never hunger
anymore. They never thirst anymore. They
never hurt anymore. They'll never feel pain anymore.
They'll never know what it's like to not realize the indescribable
presence of Almighty God in mercy and grace. Honor. In Isaiah 33-24, the Scripture
says, "...and the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick. The
people that dwell therein shall be forgiven of their iniquity."
Never know. For the Lamb, verse 17, which
is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, lead them into
living fountains of water, and God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes." There's a special beauty in closing when we see
the Spirit of God referring to the Lord Jesus Christ in that
last verse right there as the Lamb. It speaks. of the decree of God the Father
to send the Son in our nature to redeem the people. And He
gives honor to the Father when He is called the Lamb. The Father
is honored. It reminds us of the glory of
the Spirit of God that taught John the Baptist when he said,
the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world, but
especially do we see the preciousness of Him that shall forever feed
our souls as we feast upon Him, upon His blood and righteousness
through His broken body as He leads us, teaches us unto living
fountains of water. Someone says, what is that? I
don't know. I do not know. But I can tell
you this, eye has not seen, ears never heard, never has it ever
entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those
that love Him, that He's called out of great tribulation. We
shall forever be refreshed with ever-flowing water of His grace
and His love, and will know it. From the fountain Himself will
forever be refreshed, never thirst. And He shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes, and there will be no occasion for the effects
of sin's corruption." Because they're gone. They're all gone. Put away by the blood of the
Lamb. Now I tell you this, if that's
not a chapter that sets the stage for judgment to be poured out
on this earth and to realize that in Him, God Almighty has
sealed and protected them. He told them, I will never leave
you. I will never forsake you. As
we get into that next chapter through the end of this book,
you remember this. These are a sealed people that
God Almighty is going to keep, protect, and bring to Himself. Who are these? These came out
of great tribulation. And they have washed their robes
white in the blood of the Lamb. Alright, Gary.