Let us turn to God's Word and
the chapter that we read in the book of the Revelation, the last
book of Holy Scripture, that revelation that was granted
to the Aged Apostle John. And our text is found here in
chapter 14 at verse 4. that I'll read from verse two,
so we can see the context again. Revelation 14, reading from verse
two. And I heard a voice from heaven,
says John, as the voice of many waters, as the voice of a great
thunder. And I heard the voice of harpers
harping with their harps, and they sung as it were a new song
before the throne and before the four beasts, or the four
living creatures, and the elders, and no man could learn that song
but the hundred and forty and four thousand which were redeemed
from the earth. These are they which were not
defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they which
follow the Lamb with us wherever He goeth, These were redeemed
from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And
in their mouth was found no guile, for they are without faults before
the throne of God." John is describing something of the characteristics
of those who stand upon Mount Zion together with the Lamb,
the 144 thousand and as I said I want us really
to consider what he said concerning this company in verse 4 and there
you will observe that we have according to the punctuation
in our authorized version a verse containing some three sentences
and each sentence begins with the word these Concerning this
great company then, the 144,000, these are they which were not
defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they which
follow the Lamb with us whoever He goeth. These were redeemed
from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. Really, our text is found in
that last sentence, in the first clause of the sentence. He says
here, concerning them, these were redeemed, or as the margin
says, these were bought from among men. They are God's possession. They are the possession of the
Lamb because they have been bought, they have been purchased. They
have been redeemed. Now, we might ask, to whom was
that redemption price paid? Some would say that that price
was paid to Satan. But that is not the truth. Although
Satan is the prince of the power of the air, that is, the great
force that is operative in this fallen world. We're told how
the whole world lies in wickedness or lies in the wicked one. He is the prince of the power
of the air. But Satan really has no rights. Satan is a fallen angel. He's a usurper. the price doesn't have to be
paid to Satan at all to whom then is it that this price is
paid? the price has to be paid to God
himself God's law, God's justice demands such a payment such a
ransom because God's holy law must be satisfied it is that
law that Those of the 144,000, that law is what they have transgressed,
they are breakers of the law. And the law declares quite plainly
that the soul that sinneth it shall die. And the wages of sin
is death. Now that was made so plain to
Adam, to Eve, there in the Garden of Eden concerning disobedience. when God gave command concerning
that tree of the knowledge of good and evil he said they were
not to eat of it in the day that they eat us thereof they shall
surely die the consequence of disobedience to God and how this
world is full of those who are the transgressors of that holy
Lord of God we all sin in Adam the father of the rice we all
have received from Him a fallen nature. We were conceived in
sin, we were shaped in iniquity. We have all sinned in our own
persons. And each of us, we have sinned
even this day. And we are those who have even
sinned during the course of this service of divine worship. And remember what Paul says,
we know that what thing soever the law saith, it saith to them
who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all
the world become guilty before God. We are all guilty sinners,
transgressors of the law of God. We owe the law a great debt.
As the Apostle says to the Galatians, we are those who are debtors
to do the whole law. And it is to that Lord of God,
it is to God as He has revealed Himself, His holiness and His
justice and His righteousness, in that law that this price has
to be paid in order for the redemption of these people, which were redeemed,
it says in verse 3, from the earth. Or as we have it in our
text, these were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits
unto God and to the Lamb. Always transgressors. How solemn
our situation is. What a sad condition we find
ourselves in. As many as are of the works of
the Lord, it says, are under the curse. For curse is every
one that continueth not in all things written in the book of
the law to do them." We have to continue all our days obeying
that law of God. And John says, "...whosoever
shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is
guilty of all." If we were those who had just sinned once, We're
still condemned, we're still those who are with great debt
to the law of God. And this is the great wonder
of course that that ransom price has been paid to God's justice
and he's been paid by God himself in the person of his only begotten
son. As we're told in Galatians chapter
4, when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his
Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that
were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons. Christ came to satisfy the law,
to pay the debts, to to give that great ransom price. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written,
Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Oh, to whom is the
ransom paid? It is paid to God. And God himself
has paid the ransom price to himself. This is the wonder of
the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. What do we read here in the text? These words in verse four, redeemed
from among men. This is the thing that I really
want us to take up, redeemed from among men. If we turn back a few chapters
in chapter 5 and verse 9 we find a very similar statement. It
says there, He has redeemed us to God by His blood out of every
kindred and tongue and people and nation. It's interesting. It is evident from what we read
down here in the book of the Revelation that that ransom price
that the Lord Jesus Christ gave was not for all people. It's
quite evident there in chapter 5 and verse 9, it is those who
are out of. There are people who are separated
out of every kindred, out of every tongue, every language,
every people, every nation. And here you see in our text
tonight they are redeemed from among men. Who are they? Well,
here in this chapter they are referred to as the 144,000. As
John says in the opening verse of the chapter, I looked, and
lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount Zion, and with Him an hundred
forty and four thousand, having His Father's name written in
their foreheads. that those who have been marked
out by God the Father himself. And then we're told in verse
3, they sung as it were a new song before the throne and before
the four beasts and the elders and no man could learn that song
but the hundred and forty and four thousand which were redeemed
from the earth. Now remember concerning this
book How it is full of signs and symbols. It's apocalyptic language that
is being used. We're not to interpret and understand
it in that literal sense. 144,000 is a symbolic number
in the very first verse of the Revelation. We read that these
things were signified unto John. That's the way in which the revelation
came. It's full of signs and full of
symbols. And the number 144,000 is a perfect
number. 12 times 12, 144. And 144,000 It reminds us of the Old Testament,
it reminds us of the New Testament. We go back to chapter 7, and
we there have the same 144,000 mentioned. Verse 4 of chapter
7, I heard the number of them which were sealed, and there
were sealed 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel. and then we see in the following
verses that it is twelve thousand of each of the twelve tribes
the twelve sons of Jacob the twelve tribes of Israel that's
the Old Testament Church and when we come to the New Testament
we see how the Lord Jesus Christ chooses twelve of his disciples
and names them apostles And the church is built upon
that foundation of the apostles and prophets. Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone. That's the New Testament church.
Here we have God's church, Old Testament, New Testament 12.
and 12 times 12, it is a perfect number and it indicates to us
the whole company of the election of Christ from the Old Testament
dispensation and also from the New Testament dispensation. What do we read furthermore concerning
this blessed number? Why, it is a company that is
beyond reckoning. It's beyond reckoning. We go
back to chapter 7, after speaking of the 144,000, there at verse
4 following, verse 9, John 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 hands, and they cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation
to our God, which sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb."
Yes, they are a particular number of people because all of them
have been chosen by God, the one hundred and forty and four
thousand having the Father's name written in their foreheads.
They are the election of Christ. but their number cannot be reckoned. It's a multitude out of all the
nations of the earth. Oh, but here is the blessed truth
as we have it revealed to us in this scripture that the Lord
Jesus Christ came for this particular people and for none other. This
price that He has paid, this redemption It is a particular
redemption. And whilst we call ourselves
Baptists, we also confess that we are in that sense particular
Baptists. We believe that the atoning work
of the Lord Jesus was for a particular people, even as many as the Father
had given to Him in the Eternal Covenant. All those that were
chosen by the Father in eternity were put into the hands of the
Son that He might redeem them. And they are redeemed. Oh, they are redeemed. These
were redeemed, it says, from among men, being the firstfruits. unto God and to the Lamb. And again, this expression that
we find at the end of the verse reminds us of the Old Testament
and the New Testament. Concerning Israel in the Old
Testament, we read in Jeremiah 2.3 that Israel was holiness
unto the Lord and the firstfruits of His increase. That Old Testament
church was the firstfruits. And it's also the case with regards
to that church of the New Testament, James 1.18, of his own will,
begatios, with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits, or that those who belong then
unto the Lord. But let us come to the words
that I said I really wanted us to take up as our text, and the
theme that I want us to address tonight, here in this sentence,
the first part of the sentence at the end of this fourth verse,
these were redeemed from among men. First of all, they are those
who are redeemed from among profane men, called out of a world that lies in the wicked
one, a world that's full of profanity. There at the end of verse 3,
the 144,000 which were redeemed from the earth. O how men, as
fallen creatures, are so bound up with the things of the earth! How their affections are set
upon the things of time and of sense. The Apostle says, as is
the earthly such are they also that are of the earth. And as
men live their lives in this world, how their affections seem
to be set all together on those transitory things round about
them, how they make their idols. They don't make idols of silver
and of gold that they bow down to, but they, or they have their
idols, maybe it's their pursuits, maybe it's sports, their lives
are completely taken up, captivated by these things. Paul says as
much when he declares in Philippians 3, whose end is destruction,
whose God is their belly, whose glory is in their shame, who
mind earthly things. These who are minding earthly
things, they make a god of their belly, a god of their appetites.
Men have their idols in this world. And how God addresses
these profane people, we see it in the language of the prophets.
Very striking statement that we find in the book of the prophet
Jeremiah, there in chapter 22 and verse 29. He cries out, O
earth, earth, earth! hear the word of the Lord. How
men are without excuse, God comes and God speaks, his word God
has given to men, this revelation of himself, and not only a particular
revelation that we have here in scripture, but we know there
is that general revelation, God's line going out into all the world,
the invisible things of God from the creation of the world being
clearly seen and understood by the things of the mind. His power,
His Godhood. Men are without excuse. And God
speaks and God calls to those who are so earthbound in their
thoughts, in their feelings, in their appetites. But what
is the mark of those who are the election of Christ, those
who are of this blessed company? What of those who are the 144,000
they redeem from the earth? We have to examine ourselves,
do we not? And prove ourselves, know ourselves. We are to make our calling and
our election sure. We can know whether or not we
belong to this 144,000. Are we those who make an idol
of the things of this life? We live our lives here upon the
earth as if there is never going to be a tomorrow. There's no
never-ending eternity. The Apostle says, while we look
not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen.
For the things which are seen are temple, but the unseen things
are eternal. Oh, are we aware of those eternal
things? Are we those who are different
then? separated from the men of the world, the profane. The Lord Jesus says to his own
disciples, if he were of the world, the world would love his
own. But because you are not of the world, but I have chosen
you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. And the
world despises those who are different, those who are separate.
and that's the life of the 144,000 the price has been paid for their
redemption they are bought, they are not their own or they are
bought with a price that to glorify God in their body, in their spirits
which are God's John says, love not the world neither the things
that are in the world if any man love the world the love of
the Father is not in him for all that is in the world the
lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of
life He is not of the Father but He is of the world and the
world passeth away and the last thereof. We have these constant exhortations
and encouragements to live as those who are the redeemed. You
know the pattern of the Apostle as he writes his various epistles.
He normally deals with the most profound of doctrinal truth in
the former part, and then when we come to the latter part of
the epistle, he shows how that truth, that doctrine as it has
been rightly embraced and believed will affect the man's way of
living. In Romans, for example, the first eleven chapters are
really doctrinal. And there we have unfolded the
great doctrine in particular of justification and justification
by faith and other related truths but then we come to chapter 12
and that really marks the beginning of the practical part of the
epistle and how Paul gives exhortation in those following chapters I beseech
you therefore he says And the word therefore is significant
because he is deducing certain things from what he has said
in the previous chapters. In the light of all this great
doctrinal truth, if you really are one who is in possession
of that justifying faith, If your righteousness is altogether
in Christ, and that was Paul's own desire, to be found in Christ,
not having his own righteousness which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God, by faith. Well, if we are those who know
anything of being justified, By faith, if we are those who
have such a faith, Paul says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service, and be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed. by the renewing of your mind
that you may prove what is a good and acceptable and perfect will
of God. Or here is your calling, don't
be like the profane men and women of the world. If ye be risen with Christ, seek
those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection on things
above, not on things of the earth, nor are we those who bear this
mark then, redeemed from among men, redeemed from the earth,
delivered from all these earthbound thoughts, earthbound affections,
but It's not only redemption from the profane world, it's
also redemption from the professing world. You see, there is a separation
also from those who are mere professors of religion, those
who are empty professors. We know that there is a false
church and we see that quite clearly in this book of the Revelation. We see it in this very verse,
verse 4 of this 14th chapter. Look at the opening sentence. These, that is 144,000, these
are they which were not defiled with women for they are virgins. What does that mean? Remember
what we've said already concerning the book, how the book is symbolic. And there's a key to what is
being said here in the scripture itself. And we must always interpret
scripture in the light of scripture. This is the best interpreter
of the Bible. What the old writers used to
call the analogy of faith. We have a dark portion of scripture,
we wonder what it means, how do we understand it? Well, this
is why the cross-references in our margins can often be quite
useful. We bring to light another scripture
that contains greater light. We bring that to bear on this
particular dark statement. Here we read, concerning the
144,000, these are they who are not defiled with women, for they
are virgins. Now turn back to what Paul says
in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, and there at the second verse
writing to the church at Corinth he says I am jealous over you
with a godly jealousy for I have espoused you to one husband that
I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ that I fear
lest by any means as the serpent be godly through his subtlety
so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in
Christ He has espoused them, he says, as a chaste virgin to
Christ. For the believer, spiritually,
is one espoused, married to the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And this is what we have here. Paul, when he's writing to that
Corinthian church, is aware of those false apostles who've come
in with their false teaching. And he's concerned they're being
corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. There is a
corrupt Christianity. There is a false church. And
you know, this is certainly revealed to John here in Revelation, in
chapter 17. What does John say? Verse three, he carried me away
in the spirits into the wilderness and I saw a woman sit upon a
scarlet colored beast full of names of blasphemy having seven
heads and ten horns and the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet
color and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls having
a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness
of her fornication and upon her forehead was a name written Mystery. Babylon the Great, the mother
of harlots and abominations of the earth. And I saw the woman
drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of
the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered
with great admiration. Now, it is true that there were
many martyrs at the hands of pagan Rome. The great Roman Empire,
oh, it persecuted Christians. Many were martyred for their
faith at that time and John, of course, is writing in the
days of the Roman Empire. But there's nothing mysterious
about paganism persecuting the Christians. But here is a mystery.
Upon her forehead was a name written. Mystery. Oh, here is
the great mystery of iniquity. The false church And you're aware,
I'm sure, that our Protestant Reformers, our Puritans, were
so clear they understood what John was writing about. What
is apostate Christianity? It's headed up in the Church
of Rome. Rome is the great apostasy. Rome is that Babylon, the false
church. And it's mentioned here in this
chapter that we're considering, chapter 14, verse 8. In the chapter John is speaking
of the Great Judgment Day. And verse 8 he says, He followed
another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great
city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath
of her fornication. All these You are of the 144,000. They are separated. They have been bought. Bought with a price. Redeemed. From among men, not just profane
men, but professing men. Called out even from those who
profess that they are Christians. The false church. but it comes closer than that
we might say well we're not those who are attracted to that false
religion but they're also you see those who are called out
and separated from the formal church the hypocritical church we read
of some having the form of godliness but denying the power thereof
or are we those friends who have nothing more than the form? our religion really is pretense
something second-hand we've been scored in it we've always attended
chapel we have a form but what do we know of that blessed reality
when the apostle writes to the Thessalonians he reminds them
the The manner in which the gospel had come to them through his
preaching, our gospel came not unto you in word only, he says,
but in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. It made a difference. It came, not just at the lips
of Paul, but it came with that blessed unction of the Spirit
and it was made real. in their soul's experience. And
you see this is true of the 144,000, the election of grace. Look at
verse 5, in their mouth was found no guile. No guile, or to be
guileless, transparent, nothing of pretense, no hypocrisy, no
mere formalism. We're reminded of the words of
the Lord Jesus that he spoke to Nathanael, Behold an Israelite
indeed, in whom there is no guile. Are we those who are guileless?
We have a real religion. We have something in our heart
and it's been wrought by God himself. That's what we want.
Something that's wrought by the Spirit of God. What do we read
further? We have various marks given here
concerning these people. Look at what it says in the middle
of verse 4, "...these are they which follow the Lamb, whithersoever
he goeth." Are we those who are truly followers of the Lamb? Followers of the Lord Jesus? In John chapter 10, as you know,
Christ speaks of Himself there as the shepherd of the sheep.
And he tells us something of those who are his true sheep. What does he say? Verse 4 of
chapter 10 in John, When he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth
before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not
follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of
strangers. Or do you know the voice, the
voice of the Lord Jesus Christ? Again, later he says, verse 27,
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and
I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father which
gave them Me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck
them out of My Father's hand. I am My Father, I am One. You see these, who as we read
here in Revelation 14 at verse 1, have the Father's name written
in their foreheads, they are the same ones that follow the
Lamb with us wherever He goes. Do you know the voice of the
Lord Jesus? Have you heard the voice of the Lord Jesus? Has
He spoken? He does come, He speaks, does
He not, in the preaching of the world? Have you ever, under some
preacher, heard that voice? if not under the ministry of
the Word, when you've read the Scriptures, have you felt as
if the Lord Himself was there speaking to you? The Lord speaks
to His people. There's an application. We don't
just read the Word and feel nothing. We want the Lord to come and
speak to us. We want to bear this mark, the
mark of those who are His sheep. And here we have the contrast
in this 10th chapter of John. How does the chapter open? Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into
the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a
thief and a robber. There's only one way. We're not to go any other way.
I am the door, says Christ. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. O friends, are we those who bear the marks of the 144,000,
the marks of those who are the redeemed, redeemed from the earth
redeemed from among men. Not only from amongst profane
men who have no interest in religion at all, but also redeemed from
any association with the false church apostate Christianity.
Redeemed from a mere formal religion. Redeemed from all hypocrisy,
guileless. But then One more thing finally,
there is that sense in which these people are redeemed from
themselves, from sinful self. These were redeemed from among
men, yes, but there must be a separation also from self. Those words at
the end of verse 3, which were redeemed from the earth, What
are we by nature as we're born into this world? We're dead in
trespasses and sins. We're those who are of the earth.
Earthly. The Lord Jesus himself in that
third chapter of John where he speaks of the great necessity
of the man being born again because we're born dead in trespasses
and sins. We must be born from above. There
must be a new birth. And the Lord says that which
is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit
is Spirit. How our fallen nature is so tied
to this earth. But where the Lord comes and
grants to the sinner that grace of regeneration, that great work
of the Spirit, that new birth, why then there's a new nature?
and that sinner is a partaker now of the divine nature, but
what a conflict! Paul says, the flesh lusteth
against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these
are contrary one to the other, and ye cannot do the thing that
ye would. Oh, how we want to be redeemed
from the earth, from our earthly self. We feel it, that conflict. And
certainly the Apostle Paul knew it as he makes a play writing
there in the seventh chapter of Romans, the good that I would
I do not, the evil that I would not, that I do. So clearly he was a wretched
man. Who could deliver him from the body of this death, this
earthbound body? There is a conflict. Those who
are followers of the Lamb, what does the Lord say? If any man
will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross
and follow me. For those who are followers of
the Lamb, that Lamb that was slain, we have to take up our
cross in following Him. What does that mean? It means
mortification. It means the putting death of
the old nature. I am crucified with Christ, says
Paul. Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.
The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith
of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. The
crucified life. That is, putting to death the
deeds of the body. And of course Paul Paul speaks
of it. I'm sure you're aware of that. We see it in the way he writes
in the 8th chapter of the Roman Epistle. And there,
writing at verse 13 in chapter 8, he says, If ye live after
the flesh ye shall die, but if ye through the Spirit do mortify,
that is, put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For
as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to
fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we
cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God." If we're the
children of God, we'll have that witness of the Spirit, and where
we have that witness of the Spirit, we will be those who through
the Spirit are seeking to mortify. the deeds of the flesh. Or we
can only do it by the Spirit. It's no easy thing. I've told
the tale before of that gracious minister James Hervley in the
18th century. He was somewhat frail in his
health. He was ministering there in Northamptonshire
and his physician advised that he should take the fresh air
and follow the ploughman, breathe in the fresh ploughed soil and
that's what he did, he would go out and he would follow the
ploughman and he was wont to follow a certain man who was
not in the established church however he was a minister in
the Church of England but he followed one, I think he was
attending the ministry of Philip Doddridge in Northampton and
Hervey was aware of that and he'd enter into conversation
with the with the ploughman as they walked along and he sought
to breathe in the good air and he asked the ploughman what do
you think the hardest thing in the Christian life is? and the
ploughman said well you're a man of God you're a minister of the
gospel surely you should answer that question not me And Herbie
said, well, he said, I think the most difficult thing of all
is self-denial. How we have to deny ourselves.
How we have to deny our sinful selves. How we have to deny the
deeds of the body. But then the ploughman was somewhat
emboldened and he said, I don't quite agree with that. He said
really the most difficult thing in our experience is not the
denial of sinful self, it's the denial of righteous self. Denial
of righteous self, how we think that we're something. We think
we have some righteousness. And all to deny that, to be a
zero, a nothing, a cipher. in the presence of God. This
is those who are the redeemed, you see. We're told here in the
end of verse 5, they are without fault before the throne of God.
But how are they faultless? It's nothing of themselves. It's
all the work of Him who is their Redeemer. It's all the work of
the Lord Jesus. We read later in chapter 19 concerning
this church, to her was granted that she should be clothed in
fine linen, clean and white and that fine linen is the righteousness
of Sabbath or it's the righteousness of the Lord Jesus when He came
to redeem His people those that the Father had given to Him in
that eternal covenant the 144,000 when He came to redeem them He
didn't only answer for them before the broken Lord of God When he
bore that punishment that was there just desertus transgressus,
more than that, for them he also obeys that law actively in his
life. He wove by his life a robe of
righteousness with which he clothes them, he's redeemed them. They're washed, they're cleansed
in his precious blood, but they're also clothed with that robe of
righteousness, those garments of salvation, or they sung them. They sung as it were a new song
before the throne and before the four beasts and the elders
and no man could learn that song but the 144,000 which were redeemed from the
earth. Are we those who want to sing the praises of Him who
is our Redeemer, Him who is our righteousness, Him who is all
our salvation. These are they which were not
defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they which
follow the Lamb, with us wherever He goeth. These were redeemed
from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. Amen.