Alright, if you'll take your
Bibles and turn with me to Revelation. Revelation chapter 7. Revelation chapter 7, beginning
in verse 1, And after these things I saw four angels standing on
the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the
earth. that the wind should not blow
on the earth, nor the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another
angel ascending from the east, having a seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice
to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and
the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the
trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their
foreheads. And I heard the number of them
that were sealed, and there were sealed an hundred and forty and
four thousand, all the tribes of the children of Israel." The
title of my message this morning is, The Hundred and Forty-Four
Thousand, God's Sovereign Salvation. God's
sovereign salvation. Now, I want us to notice that
this chapter is not a division, but rather a continuance of the
things that went before. This is still part of the sixth
seal that is being opened by the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember
the Lord who was found worthy to open the book? and to execute
the salvation and all the providences of God written in the book of
God. Because He was slain to redeem His people by His blood,
He now opens the seals. That's what happened in chapter
4 and chapter 5 was the obtaining of the book of God's salvation.
And now He is worthy to open the book. And that's what the
loosing of these seals are. If you have a book and it is
sealed with a kingly seal, only the person who have the authority
to open it, could open it by pains of death. And Jesus Christ
is that Person. So who opens the Gospel to us?
Who reveals the Word of God to us? Only Jesus Christ. Only Jesus Christ. And so now
then, by prophetic vision, we see Him with the Book. God's
book of salvation in whom is all the names of God's elect.
These 144,000 that are written in this book. And it's sealed
and nobody can open it. And here he comes, a lamb slain. Because of His blood, because
of His perfect work, God says, I've accepted His offering. Therefore,
He is able to reveal and open salvation to men. And what's
the first thing that He opens? When He opened the first seal
in chapter 6, verse 2, He saw a white horse, and Him that sat
on Him had a bow and a crown, and He came forth conquering
and to conquer. This is a revelation of Christ. This is who it is.
When God opens salvation, that's the first thing you see, is Christ. And what does Christ do? He comes
with the gospel of grace and He conquers you. You see, I've
been conquered. I am conquered. I once was a
wandering sheep. I did not love the fold. I did
not love my father's voice. I loved the fart of rock. But
then I was arrested. I was conquered by the all-conquering
Savior. His arrow sunk deep into my soul
and convinced me of my sin. I fell under His feet and He
lifted me up and saved me. That's what it is to open that
first seal. But after that, He opens the
second, the third, and the fourth seal. These come these other
horses. You come the red horse of warfare. You see, these things are what
follow salvation. The world thinks salvation should
be easy. After one's saved, everything
should be good. No! God reveals that that's not
so. When a man is saved, he then
begins to war. He then begins to fight. First
of all, with himself. He has an inner warfare, a conflict. The new man who loves to serve
God and desires nothing but to be like Christ, and yet the old
man still weighs him down as a dead corpse about his neck. There's a warfare going on. A
warfare, the red horse of warfare that rages in the believer. Therefore,
Paul said to us, let us take on the whole armor of God, because
we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities
and powers, and rulers of darkness and high places. And the second
horse, which is the third seal, was the black horse, and that
was the horse of trials and difficulties, economic hardships and poverty. In general, most of God's people
are never rich, they're usually poor. That's one of the big disdains
that the Greeks and the Romans had against Christians, is they
were the scum of the earth. You see, Christians, God took
from the scum. That's what always God does.
He takes the lowest, the vilest, and He cleanses them to show
His glory and power to save the worst. And I tell you, we are not exempt
then from any kinds of trouble and difficulty. You remember
Job. He was rich. But in one day,
he lost everything. Yet where was Job's hope? Where
was Job's confidence? His wife said, curse God and
die! He said, no, shall we receive?
Good at the hand of God and not evil. So believer, expect warfare,
expect trouble. Don't lean on prosperity. Every
one of us in this room are very prosperous. I want you to know
that. You are fed better than 99% of the world's population. You are fed better. So don't
think you're really impoverished yet. But don't think that because
you're a Christian that you're going to maintain this. You don't
have a right to prosperity. If God gives it, good. But that's
what that horse pictures. The third horse was pale. It
was death. And this shows us that every
believer must face death. Even though we've been conquered
by Christ, this body will die. It will grow old and it will
die. Some of you who are older, you
recognize this more than the younger. This life is fast. It's fleeting. Death is coming. And you see it more clearly now.
than you saw it before. But be of good cheer. God says
this, Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection,
over which the second death hath no power. Now I know the first
death, it hath power over us. We will die, but the second death
hath no power. That's what this horse is, it's
showing us that believers will get sick, they will suffer, and
they will die. Now then, he opens the 5th seal
in verse 9 of chapter 6, and he says, And he opened the 5th
seal, and he saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain
for the word of God and the testimony which they hailed. Here then is the end and fulfillment
of all God's promise to His saints. Everyone that dies in faith in
Christ, listen, you are under the altar. What does that mean? We don't
have altars, do we? So it's kind of hard for us to
picture, but the Old Testament saints knew exactly what this
meant. That big brazen altar outside the temple was made of
brass. And they were to take those sacrifices,
those animals, and they were slain over that altar. And that altar was full of blood. And then they burned it. They
burned that sacrifice on that altar. When they burned the sacrifice,
what happened to the sacrifice? Burned up. What happened to the
altar? Nothing. You do not see Jesus
Christ is our altar. He is the sacrifice on the altar,
and He is the altar, and where are we? We are under the altar. So where does the justice of
God land? It landed on the sacrifice upon
the altar, and it didn't come on us. That's a picture of it.
He's our refuge. He's the refuge of His people. And so everyone that is in Christ
realize this, we have a refuge that goes before us, that goes
behind us, that surrounds us. It is the altar, it is Jesus
Christ. And when we die, we are still
under the mediatorship of Christ. We are always there. Those that
have gone on before us, where are they? Where are our friends
and our family that have gone on? Believers that are gone?
They're there! They're under the altar, even
now, waiting. waiting. And listen what they're
crying. They're crying something. He says this, they cry with a
loud voice, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not
judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
Now, listen, the word martyr simply means witness. Do you
realize that every believer is a martyr? Even though we've not
had our physical blood slain, we all gladly die. We are crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, we live. You see,
we gladly forfeit this life. He who would keep his life shall
lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall
find it. Isn't that what it is? The whole
life of the believer is sacrifice. The whole life of the believer
is to put off, to mortify the deeds of the flesh and live in
service to God. And so then every believer then
is a martyr and what is our cry? This cry is not for revenge. I want you to know that. This
cry in heaven is not for revenge but rather for the honor of God.
They're crying for God's honor because God promised this. Vengeance
is mine. I will repay. So what are they saying? Lord,
honor your word. Honor Your Word. Repay Your vengeance
upon them. And notice this, they were given
white robes and every one of them. And it was said of them
that they should rest for a little season until their fellow servants
and all their brethren should be killed and they should be
fulfilled. Now, what is this? God says,
you just wait. I'm going to have judgment. It's
coming. But just wait. You have other brethren that
must Be brought in. Must be brought in. And then
he opens that sixth seal, and that's where we're at now. The
sixth seal shows divine judgment that is to come. Earthquakes
and fire and darkening of the sun, and I tell you, God will
come in judgment upon wicked men. All those outside of Christ,
God will judge. God will judge them. But even as we suffer in this
life, believer, we know this, that vengeance is not ours, it
belongs to God. And know this, all the persecution
that this world puts on you, God ordained it. You know that? Everything God
has done to you is ordained. I want you to see it because
it needs to be for your comfort. Go to chapter 2. Look at this
church of Smyrna. Look what Christ says about their
suffering. He says the angel in the church of Smyrna write
these things, say it, the first and the last, he which was dead
is alive. I know thy works and thy tribulation and thy poverty,
but thou art rich. And I know the blasphemy of them
which say they are Jews and are not, but of the synagogue of
Satan. Fear none of those things which
thou shalt suffer." Did you get that? Fear none of those things
which thou shalt suffer. In other words, they hadn't suffered
them yet, but Christ said, you are going to suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast
some of you in prison. that you may be tried. And you
shall have tribulation ten days, rather ten prophetic days, ten
years. Be thou faithful even unto death,
and I will give thee a crown of life." The Lord said, you
will suffer and you will die for me. And I'm not going to come and
rescue you. be faithful unto death. You see, even our trials are
ordained of God. But know this, everyone outside
of Christ, all who are opposed to us, all who cause our pain
in this life, will suffer for it in the next. Now then, still
in the sixth seal, we go to our text, and after these things,
He saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth,
holding the four winds of heaven, that they should not blow upon
the earth nor the sea. So now then you see, judgment
is out of this sixth seal, and it appears as though God is going
to immediately come and judge. I imagine John is just seeing
those angels and said, OK, it's coming. It's coming. It's right
at the precipice. We're ready. It's coming and
God's going to take us home and judge the wicked. But something happens. Something unexpected. In verse
2, I saw another angel. ascending from the east, having
a seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice
to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth.
He said, Don't hurt it! Don't hurt it. Don't bring judgment
until. There's a time that judgment
is coming. But until that time, when is that time? Until the
servants of God are sealed. You see, judgment will not come. God withholds judgment until
every one of His people are sealed. This word seal means stamp or
mark. If anybody knows anything about
cattle, you know if a man owns some cows, he seals them with
a brand. He brands them with his own name. They're his. They're his. And so this angel that is descending
from the east is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord
Jesus Christ. And He has come. He withholds
the judgment of God for one purpose. To save His people from their
sins. Listen to this. The gospel can
be defined in a very simple phrase. Salvation is of the Lord. If you want to know anything
about the Gospel, you should begin there. Salvation is of
the Lord. David sang this song, the salvation
of the righteous is of the Lord. Salvation in its planning, salvation
in its purchase, salvation in its performance, and salvation
in its preservation, and salvation in its perfection are all of
God. You have an architect that wants
to build a building. What does he first do? He plans
it. He puts it out on paper. Then he purchases it. He buys the material necessary
to build it. Then he performs it. He builds
it. Then he sustains it. He keeps
it until it's done completely. This is the work of salvation.
It is all the work of God. The salvation of sinners is completely
solely the work of God from beginning to end. God therefore gives this
salvation to whomsoever He will. Scripture is plain. Salvation
belongs to God. It's His. And He gives it to whomsoever
He will. And the judgment of God upon
sinners will not be unleashed until the very last one of God's
elect are called and quickened to life and faith in Christ.
which is here pictured by the seal of the living God. Christ
is the angel of the covenant and He ascends from the east,
speaking of His resurrection, and He says, stop, I have a people,
I must bring those people, I must seal them with this seal, and
judgment will not come till they're done. In Malachi 3, in verse 1, it
says, "...the Lord whom you seek shall come suddenly to his temple,
even the messenger of the covenant." And you listen, Jesus has come.
Even as God swore He would come, He has come. And He has fulfilled
all the obligations, all the obligations of the covenant of
grace. He has obtained righteousness.
He has obtained redemption by His blood and paid in full the
sins of all those He has chosen. And now that he has risen and
ascended to heaven, and seated on the right hand of God, he
has come by his Spirit to set his seal on men." I tell you the joy of this cannot
be fully expressed. That God is completely satisfied. Completely satisfied with Christ. He is completely, fully satisfied. Then with all those He has sealed."
Sealed. I'm going to give you an illustration
of a seal. In Exodus, when you had the Passover, the Lord said, take the blood
of the lamb and put it on the doorposts and on the lentil. And that blood shall be a seal
for you." That word seal is one used by God. He said, it will
be a seal, a mark. And when I see the blood, I will
pass over you. You see how important that seal
was? The seal of the blood. And even so has Christ sealed
His elect. He seals His elect with His blood. And there is therefore now no
condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. If you've got
that seal of blood on you, then there is no condemnation for
you. So then I should ask you, have
you been sealed? Without this seal, The justice
of God will fall on you. Without this seal, He will not
pass over you. Do you have this seal? What is
this? Go to Ephesians. Go to Ephesians
chapter 1. The apostle mentions again this
seal. Apostle Paul. He shows us when a person is
sealed and how they know they are sealed. Ephesians 1. The first six verses speak of God's
election. The next few verses down to verse
12 speak of Christ's redemption. But in verse 13, it speaks of
our experience. "...in whom you also trusted."
In Christ you've trusted. "...after that you heard the
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation." We see the means
by which a person believes is the preaching of the gospel.
And by this they hear the word and believe. "...in whom also after that you
believed, you were..." What? Sealed. Sealed with the Holy
Spirit of promise which is the down payment for the inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of
His glory. Oh, to be sealed by Christ. is to be bought, to be bought, to be purchased. You know, I mentioned they did,
we do this with cattle, we brand them. But in this day, they did
this with men. They bought and sold men. And
when a man was bought, and paid for, it was only then could he
receive the brand of his master. You are looking at one such slave
who has been bought and sealed with the master's brand. And
you know what? I'm not disgruntled about it.
I'm happy to be sealed. I'm happy to be bought with a
price, the precious blood. Now then, in this chapter, these
ones that are sealed, John hears something. Look at verse 4. These
ones that are sealed. He said, I heard the number of
them that were sealed. And there were sealed 144,000
of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Men have taken this number and
twisted and maligned this book so evil, with evil things. These 144,000, we know this,
that they are sealed. Everyone that is sealed of the
Spirit is the elect of God. Now, does that mean that there's
only 144,000 that's going to be saved? Don't laugh. Some people believe that. Until
their church got to 144,000 members, and then they found out they
were in trouble. Then they started changing it. No, it's not. It is a definite number to illustrate
an indefinite multitude of people. It's to show us that the elect
of God are a definite number, a perfect number, a number known
only to God. I don't know how many elect there
are, but I know this, there are a lot of them. There'll be more than just 144,000,
but this is just a definite number to show an indefinite number
of elect, a perfect number. You know, numbers in Revelation
are prophetic. Twelve is a prophetic number. It speaks of the wholeness of
God's church. You think about there are twelve
apostles, there were twelve tribes of Israel. These numbers mean
something. And you have 12 times 12. Well,
you take 12 of the Old Testament and 12 of the New Testament,
guess what? You get 24 elders, chapter 1. All the Old Testament
saints, all the New Testament saints. And here, it's expounded
to show the multiplicity of them, that there's going to be millions
and millions of them. It's a fixed number, yet it's
known only to God. But in verse 9, we see that it's
not just a number so small as 144. Look at verse 9. And then
I beheld and lo a great multitude which no man can number. So these
people of 144, they represent a multitude that no man can number.
A large, vast group. Now then, I'm going to give you
five things here about these 144. Five things quickly about
these 144,000 that John mentions. First of all, I want you to see,
as we've just seen, they are the elect of God. They are a
definite number of elect. In Ephesians chapter 1, God tells
us that He chose us before the foundation of the world. that
we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ.
That's that planning I was talking about. The Lord planned salvation. He planned it for a specific
number of people. One preacher asked Charles Spurgeon,
he said, Sir, if God has an elect people that he will save, then
why preach? And Spurgeon said, Well, if you
would kindly point out the elect, I'll only preach to them. See,
I don't know who they are. That's not my business. My business
is to know God's salvation is perfect. It's not lacking or
missing anything. And not one of those elect will
be lost. Not one. Why? Because God's salvation
is perfect. His plan is perfect. And in the
performance of this plan, Jesus Christ died specifically and
only for them. That's the second point. These
144,000, they are all sealed and redeemed. Look at this in your text. Go
over to chapter 14 because this is
another place that these 144 are described. Go to chapter
14. In verse 1, he looks at the lamb
stood on the mount and the 144,000. Now then, they began to sing
a song that they only knew. And this is what they were given,
a new song, before the throne and before the beast and the
elders, which no man could learn that song but the 144,000, which
were redeemed. So all of these 144,000, they are redeemed. Redeemed. Now, you listen very carefully.
If the Lord Jesus Christ died for all men without exception,
I tell you this, without equivocation, then there is no hell. If He redeemed them, no one will
go to hell. But we know that flies in the
face of Scripture. It flies in the face of our experience.
We know this to be true, that all that Christ redeemed are
redeemed. He said it was finished. He said
the work was done. It was complete. And nothing
was left for man to do. And this third thing about these
144,000, listen. They all believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. They all are sealed with the
Holy Spirit. Just as I told you that the Holy
Spirit is the seal. You that believe are sealed. Every one of these are sealed
with faith Faith all of these believe on the Lord Jesus Christ I Want you to hear this as well
election is not salvation It's to salvation 2 Thessalonians 2 and verse 13
says, ìWe are always bound to give thanks to you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation.î Just as the architectís plan is not the building,
is it? The plan is not the building.
The building is the building. The purchasing of the building
is not the building, just as the redemption is not salvation.
Redemption is not salvation. Redemption obtains our salvation. It obtains our righteousness
and our atonement, but it's not salvation. Salvation comes to
the sinner only through faith in Christ. Without faith, it's
impossible to please God. Faith. Now this faith is not
a mere work of man, but rather it is a work of God. This is
the work of God Jesus said that you should believe on Him. So
faith is not a mere decision, it's not a mere act of the will.
Faith is a revelation of God. It is a new creation. It is life from the dead. Faith
is resting only in Christ. That's not a natural reaction. Faith is not common among men.
Faith is something only God gives. And when God gives faith, it
endures throughout life. In these 144, they are sealed
and sealed with faith. Look at this in chapter 14 again. Well, let me see. No, I'm sorry, chapter 7, verse
14. And He said unto them, He said, Who are these? That's
verse 13. And one of the elders answered
to me saying, What are these that are arrayed in white robes,
and whence come they? And he said, Sir, thou knowest.
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. Did you get that? They washed
their robes. This is the act of faith. Do you not willingly bathe in
the blood of Christ? You see, salvation is not dragging
a person to Christ. It's not. It's giving him a new nature
that is willing to come to Christ. That's what it is. See, I'm willing
to come to Christ. I want to come to Christ. I do. But see, that's a new nature.
That's new. That's something God makes in
us. No man is ever forced to believe in Christ, but in the
day of His power, we are made willing to believe. And in doing
so, we willingly wash our robes and make them white. And fourthly,
those 144,000, they follow Christ. They follow Christ. This is their
song. salvation unto our God which
sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb. And the angels stood
round about the throne, and the elders of four beasts fell down
before the throne with their faces, and worshipped God." You
see, all of these 144,000, they follow Christ and worship God. Jesus said, My sheep hear My
voice, and I know them. and they follow me." The faith of the believer is
not a one-time event, not a one-time decision, not a one-time religious
act, but faith in Christ is the law of the believer's heart. We are not saved by grace to
return then to law, but saved by grace only to follow Christ
by faith. And what is this act of faith?
Do you realize what we're doing here is an act of faith? I know you're not here for the
entertainment value. You're not here for excitement. No. You're here because Christ
promised to be here. Isn't that why you're here? Otherwise,
there's no reason to be here. Christ promised to be here. And
where He is, guess what? So are every one of those that
are sealed by Him. They desire to be in His presence. They desire to hear a word from
Him. That's what I do. I want you
to hear Him. I don't want you to hear me,
hear Him. This is His Word. This is not
my Word. They follow Christ and they gladly
sacrifice everything in this world. He that hateth not his
father, and his mother, and his sister, and his brother, and
yea, his own life also, cannot be my disciple. Okay? You bet. I cast them off for
Him. Willingly, gladly. Why? Because they are nothing but
chains and shackles. He's freedom. He's joy. He's peace. He's comfort. He's
eternal life. And all these are nothing but
drags. They just drag you down. So we gladly forsake all these
things. And you know those who follow Christ, these 144,000,
they witness. Why do you still remain in this
world? Why is it that judgment has not
come and fallen yet? Because God still has others
to seal. And what means does He desire
to use to seal them? Preaching the gospel. Witnessing
the gospel. And that's what this church is
to be about. Witnessing of Christ. And lastly,
these 144,000 All of them will be saved. All of them will be saved. John says, "...there was a great
multitude which no man can number. They all had white robes. They
all were accepted before the throne of God. They all believed
the gospel. They all worshipped God, and
not one of them was absent." That's good news, Scott. As good
news, not one of us will be absent. You see, because salvation is
all of Him, it's perfect until its full completion. How do you know this? How can
I be so confident? There's so many troubles, so
many trials, so many difficulties. My faith is so weak. My body
is so weak. How can I know I'm going to make
it? Because salvation is not dependent on you. Oh, okay. Yes, I like that. You bet I do. Salvation is completely
the work of God from start to finish. All of these 144,000 shall worship
God forever and ever and shall sing a song. And you know what?
Nobody knows this song but them. I like that in chapter 14. They
were taught a song that nobody else knows. Here it is. Salvations of the Lord. Christ is all. Christ is all. Christ is all in all. Worthy
is the Lamb that was slain to redeem us to God out of every
nation, kindred, tongue, tribe, and people. And He will hold
on to judgment until the last one is brought in. And then we'll
get to chapter 8. May God bless it to you. Let's
stand and be dismissed in prayer.