Take your Bibles and turn with
me to Revelation chapter 14. Revelation chapter 14. You're looking at verses 1 through 3
this morning. The title of the message is,
The Lamb and His Worshipers. The Lamb and His Worshippers. on Mount Sinai, and with him
140,000 and 4,000 having his father's name written in their
foreheads." Now, this vision of the Apostle John was one that
is said to take place on Mount Sinai, not that mountain over
there in Jerusalem, as some would suppose. Not that place where
the Jews had the manifestation of God at one time. The place
where Abraham offered his son to God. It was a place where
Solomon built the temple and housed the ark of God. Sinai
was a place where God dwelt in mercy and where the blood of
the atonement was made for sin. But this temple was destroyed.
The ark is gone. And the oblations have ceased
forever, and the veil has been torn, and the presence of the
Lord is no longer in that one particular mountain. This sign
is not a sign of earth, but in heaven. This is a vision given
to the Apostle John for us. For us who are believers in Christ,
that we may see into heaven's portals this morning, that we
may see the full accomplished work of the risen Lord Jesus
Christ, this Mount Zion is none other than heaven where Jesus
sits enthroned, where Jesus sits as the victor over sin, death,
and hell. And we who believe in Jesus Christ,
we, as the Apostle tells us in Hebrews chapter 12, are come
to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, to an innumerable
company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn,
to Jesus, to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant. Where Jesus
is, is where Mount Zion is. That's where Mount Zion is, is
wherever the Lord Jesus is. Believer in Christ, let us this
morning have our minds and hearts totally fixed on this vision. Have our hearts fixed on what
is set before us as we peer into heaven this morning, into the
holy mountain of God, and by grace of the Holy Spirit, May
God Himself give us wisdom and faith to see these glorious things
that He has for us. To see what our brother John
saw, so that we might be comforted. Do you need comfort? Assurance? God knows we do. This is why
he sends men to preach the gospel. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith the Lord. Say ye to the righteous, it is
well with him. These are comforting things.
And this vision by the Holy Spirit will be a comfort this morning
to open our hearts. May we see our end. If we just look a little down
the road, we're going to start to be afraid. If we look halfway,
we're going to be afraid. Look all the way to the end.
Don't look halfway. Look all the way and see the
end of every believer in Christ. This morning, by God's grace,
let us see these four things I want us to see this morning.
First of all, the object of heaven's worship. What is the object of
heaven's worship? Second of all, the worshipers
in heaven. Who are they? Third, what is
the song of the worshipers? And lastly, I want us to see
the newness of this song. The newness of this song. So
first of all, the object of heaven's worship. John says, I looked
and lo, a lamb stood in heaven. First of all, we who are saved
are saved by the Lamb of God. The Lamb of God. The center and
object of worship in heaven is none other than the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is the center focus of all
worship. The Lamb of God that taketh away
the sins of the world. Notice that Jesus, as He appears
in this text, does not appear as one of His titles. We know
that the Lord Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. This is
a title that belongs to Him. And He is the Lion of the tribe
of Judah. And surely to all His enemies,
this is the manifestation He will take with them. The Scripture
says in Psalm 50, verse 22, Now consider this, ye that forget
God, lest I tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver. To those who think God to be
much like man. To those who hold the opinion
that God is unjust, that God will accept men's works as penance
for salvation. to all men who suppose God will
overlook their sins and not punish their sins, He will come as the
Lion of the tribe of Judah and He will tear them to pieces for
all eternity. This is a certainty. We who heard the gospel of Jesus
Christ, is that not how we first heard of Him? If you go back to Revelation
chapter 5, flip over a couple of pages, notice the declaration
of the gospel being presented here in verse 5. John was weeping because there
was nobody worthy to open the book. And one of the elders said,
Weep not, behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root
of David, hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seals
thereof. Jesus, as a mighty conqueror
over his foes, surely destroyed all of his enemies. He triumphed over them like a
young lion would easily pounce upon a weak prey. But notice
what the apostle saw when he turned at the word of the other believers. The apostles
said, and I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and the
four beasts, in the midst of the elders, stood a what? A lamb. A lamb as it had been
slain. This image that Jesus bears,
that of the lamb, He bears this image Because this is how he
has defeated the enemies of God, as a lamb. In the image of a lamb. Jesus
came into this world, not as an earthly king or monarch. He did not come as royalty, although
he deserved every bit of it, being the son of David. Yet He
came as the meekest and lowest of men. He came as a Lamb so that He
might in humility obey the law of God. Jesus came and offered
Himself as a Lamb as a sacrifice for sin. And as a Lamb, He obtained
the righteousness of God and atonement for His people. And
now that he is risen from the dead, he has taken with him the
humanity that he robed himself in. He took the humanity of his
body with him to heaven. And there is a Lamb right now
on the throne of God. His name is Jesus Christ, the
Son of God and the Son of Man. A Lamb. He is now in heaven. And He is a victorious Lamb,
the Lamb of God who has forever removed the sins of His people. In past ancient times, when a
mighty conqueror would come in and conquer a city, on the yearly
anniversary of that conquest, If he was a mighty military man,
he would not don robes or crowns or wreaths, but he would take
the very armor that he conquered the city with, and he would put
that very armor with all of its scratches, all of its cuts on
himself, and he would parade through the city in that armor
that he used to be victorious. Even so has the mighty Conqueror,
Jesus Christ, donned the Lamb's robe. It's the same humility,
it's the same humanity by which He accomplished salvation. He
now appears in heaven as a Lamb's slave. He still, to this day,
the Lord Jesus Christ in His glorified body, bears the marks
of crucifixion. Remember, He had told His disciples,
He said, Behold My hands and My feet. Thrust your hand into
My side and see that it is Me. He still bears the marks. We have been saved by Lamb. And
we who have been saved by Lamb, have we not come to a Lamb? Is this not the same character
by which we believed? Remember when you heard His voice
say, come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and
I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn
of Me, for I am what? Me. and lowly in heart, and you
shall find rest unto your souls." Did we not come to a Lamb? Did
we not come to the meek and lowly Savior? You bet. Is there anything more meek than
a Lamb? Can you think of one thing that is more gentle than
a Lamb? Have you ever had a bunny? And
it looked so cuddly? So cute? You grab ahold of a
bunny and you see how cuddly and cute they are when they start
biting your hand off. No. There's nothing that's more
meek than a lamb. You know what the defense mechanism
of a lamb is? Is to lay down. Just to lay down. If they're
being attacked, they don't run. They don't bite. They lay down. They're gentle. They're passive. They're so meek. Listen to me. They're so meek
that a child would not be afraid to come to one. Even so, the Lord Jesus Christ,
come to Him. He is meek and lowly as a lamb. Gentle to all who would come
to Him for rest. You'll find rest with Him. You'll
find peace with Him. Behold the Lamb of God and believe
on Him. And all who come to the meek
and lowly in heart shall find rest." Rest from the law. Rest from trying. How many people have you heard
say, well, are you a Christian? Well, I'm trying to be. Oh, so
you're not. Immediately, I know if they're
trying to be, they've not found the lamb, they've not known the
lamb because they're still trying. I'm not trying. The lamb has been victorious.
And I come to him and he gives me life and we who have come
to the land, is it not that we still come to the land? Believer, let us keep this vision
in mind when we come to prayer. When you come to Jesus, do you
come in formality? You know, some people have books
of prayer. They have big, thick books of prayers that they read
from. Would you come to a friend that way? You would not. You wouldn't come
with a list of things for a friend. And yet, our Lord says, I'm your
friend. When we come boldly before the
throne, we come with reverence and godly fear, but never terror. We come with reverence knowing
our friend is king. You think about Esther when she
came to the king. She came in reverence, even though
that was her husband. She came in reverence. And how
did he treat her? He reeled forth that scepter
as quickly as he could. He said, come up here. You come
up here and sit down and talk with me. Our Lord Jesus Christ, is He
not more meek than that heathen king? Yes. Behold, there stood a lamb. Pray to Christ as one that is
familiar, a familiar friend, not in irreverence, but in love,
and he shall grant thee the desires of thine heart." Isn't that just impossible to
believe? It is without grace. But when
we come, He does grant us our prayers. We focus so much on
what He says no, we never focus on what He said yes to. Believe
me, He said yes more times than He said no. And even when we
asked for things and we didn't get exactly what we wanted, we
got better than what we asked for. Better. This is the testimony of everyone
who prays and speaks to him. He will hear us. And God will answer our prayers,
and when we worship God, we worship the Lamb. Today, right now, we
are worshiping the Lamb. Is he not the center of this
worship? Is he not the center of my message? Is He not the
focus of all that is right and good with this message that I
am preaching that is so weak and feeble? But He is altogether
lovely. He is altogether lovely. We worship
the Lamb. Behold, even in heaven the Lamb
is the object of worship. How much more should He not be
the worship among men? If he is the object of eternal
praise of the angels and glorious saints in heaven, how much more
should he be the praise and worship of us who are here bound in this
mortal flesh? He should be altogether our praise
in our worship. John, when he beheld, he did
not say, look, behold the streets of gold. Hey, look, there's a family reunion. I'm going to go meet my mom and
dad. He said no such a thing. He said, look, behold, the lamb.
Behold, the lamb in heaven. Just why is it like fingernails
on a chalkboard when people say, oh, I just can't wait to see
so and so? Who cares about so and so? I
want the lamb. I want to see Christ! I want
to see His hands and His feet. I want to touch Him. I want to
grab Him. I want to hold Him. I will. I will. With mine own
eyes, I will see Him, and not another. Right now, I'm looking
through the eyes of faith, and I see by the eyes of John who
saw this, but I know this, one day I'll see Him for myself.
I'll see Him for myself. He didn't say, look, behold the
crowns. No. Behold the Lamb. Heaven is heaven because Jesus
is there. If Jesus was not in heaven, it
would be hell. And if Jesus was in hell, I'd
rather be there. That would be heaven. Wherever
He is, is heaven. Jesus is the object of eternal
worship in heaven. Let us who believe, continue
to make him the object of our praise on earth. Behold, look,
look, the Lamb. The Lamb. Number two, the worshipers. The worshipers. Oh, let me make
this, let me make this, how important is his worship here? If his worship
is altogether center in heaven, how much more important is his
worship here? Jesus Christ should never be
part of our life. He should be our life. His worship
should never be a part of our life. His worship should be our
life. Secondly, the worship. Notice
this. Go back to your text. Look at
this in verse 14. And lo, it looked, and a lamb
stood in Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty and four
thousand. I want us to see this first of
all. It's a certain number. It's a certain number. Have you
ever tried to win one of those contests where you guess how
many jelly beans are in a jar? I never win. And I don't win
with this either. I'm not going to guess how many
the Lord has saved. But I know this, just as there
is a certain number of jelly beans in there, I know this,
there is a certain number that God will save. I know this. It is a certain
number, 144,000. These are the elect of the Father,
the redeemed of Christ, and the called of the Holy Spirit. It is a number
that represents all of the saints of God from all times. Now, you
occasionally run into a fool who will say, see, 144,000. There's
only supposed to be 144,000. Ask that idiot, does he suppose
that Jesus is going to be in a body of a beast, a lamb? Is he really going to be in a
lamb's body? No. This is a spiritual number. This number shows that there
is a certain number that God has purposed to save. That number
is not known to us. It is known only to God. Jesus
said, I know my sheep and am known of mine. He knows his sheep. He knows who they are. And the
Scriptures leave no room for this doubt. No room for doubt.
In Romans 9 it says, For the children not yet being born,
neither having done good or evil, that the purpose of God, according
to election, might stand, not of works, but him that calleth.
The elder shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. Does election offend you? It doesn't matter if it offends
people or not. They can't take it from their
Bibles. They cannot strip it. They cannot twist it. If they
do, they twist it to their own destruction. The people that hate the election
of God hate the God that elects. If a man hates election, he hates
salvation. That's just so. But the worshipers of the Lamb
love election. Why? Because election is always
unto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. Always! Without exception! God has chosen you unto salvation,
and it's always manifest the same way. Through sanctification
of the Holy Spirit, by the power of the Holy Spirit, through belief
of the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is always the same. It doesn't
change. Jesus the Lamb died for the elect. His blood was shed for the redeemed
and for their sins. The Christ, the Lamb of God,
thou shalt call His name Jesus. Why? For He shall save His 144,000. His people. Whatever number that represents,
it is a certain, definite number. Jesus said in his high priestly
prayers, thou has given him power over all flesh, that he should
give eternal life to who? To as many as thou has given
him. It is a certain number. And this
worshipers, this 144,000 are the redeemed from the earth. Look at that in your text. Look
at the last part. of this, it says, that song,
but no man can learn that song but the hundred and forty and
four thousand which were redeemed from the earth. And all that God purposed to
save, all that Christ redeemed shall be called by the Holy Spirit
and not one of them shall be missing. Not one. Praise God, it doesn't say around
or about 144,000. It doesn't say 143,999, nor does
it say 144,001. It is a certain number. Scripture says, therefore
it is of faith that by grace to the end the promise might
be sure. This is sure that all who believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ are in that number. Are in that number. It is by faith and that by grace
that it might be sure that the promises of God might be sure
to all the seed. This is a great comfort to us,
to the worshipers of God. What great assurance we have
that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ, that we will
be there in this crowd. Do you believe? If you do not believe, does this
matter of election discourage anyone from believing? No. No. If there were no elect, there
would be hope for no one. But because there is election,
there is hope for you. There is hope. Some may ask, how do you know
if you are elect? Believe on the Son of God. You say, I can't believe. will
beg Him to give you faith. Come to the Lamb who will give
you faith. Believe on Him. And those who
believe, know this, your election is certain, not because you believe. It's just an evidence. If you
believe, that's just an evidence of something greater that has
already happened. Something that God has already
done for you. If you do believe, I do believe. I now believe that Jesus died
for me. I know this. My election is certain. Not because of what I believe.
My election is not certain because I believe the five points of
Calvinism. My election is certain because
I believe in Jesus Christ. I know whom I have believed. and am persuaded that He is able
to keep that which I have committed." He is mighty to save. Mighty
to save. Sinner come by grace to Christ.
And notice this. It's free. It's free. It's amazing we have to use these
terms. Free grace. How else is grace going to be
given if it's not free? If it's not free, it's not grace.
Free grace to sinners. Pardon, mercy, redemption, hope,
eternal life to all who believe. It's free. Come as you are. Come with no hope. Come with no confidence in yourself.
Come with no goodness. Come as a wicked person as you
are, and you'll find life. You'll find hope. You'll find
all the things you can't ever find anywhere else. You'll find
it in Christ. And the worshipers notice this. These 144,000, they have their
father's name written in their foreheads. What does this mean? Well, this means that we have
the mind of Christ. We are branded his children. Right here, so everybody can
see it. It's not under the arm. It's not in under the clothes.
No, it's not a secret relationship. It's right here. So everyone
can see. Everyone who is a worshiper of
Christ, we desire all men to know who we worship. We desire to witness to all men
and praise God. We have His law written in our
minds and on our hearts and we belong to the King. And notice this, about this 144,000,
these worshipers, that it's a large number. It's a large number. If you take
Twelve and twelve, it's 144. Twelve times twelve is 144. Twelve tribes of Israel in the
Old Testament. Twelve apostles in the New Testament. It's representative of both dispensations. But this 144 is not just 144,
it's 141,000. In another place, John said he saw thousands, 10,000
times 10,000 and thousands of thousands. This shows us the immensity of
this number that no man can number. Remember that God has His elect
from all nations, tribes, people and tongues. Think about this. Yes, God revealed Himself only
to Abraham in Ur of the Chaldees. How many infants died? in Ur
of the Chaldees? I don't know. I imagine a lot. Do you suppose
how many infants make up the multitudes of thousands that
are in heaven worshiping the Lamb? And they are from all walks
of life. All nations and kindreds. And
that's not including those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't know how many that is. But this number is accumulated
from all time. And not one seat will be vacant
in heaven. Not one. Let us not be so small minded
as to suppose that our small group is the only one. We always say that a remnant
is small, but I know this, in heaven there'll be more in heaven,
I believe, than in hell. Christ is victorious. The scripture says they shall
be as the sand of the sea and as the stars of the sky. There'll be more than we can
possibly imagine. I imagine if our local church had so many,
we would be just so boastful and proud. But I know this, that there will
be many in heaven. And thirdly, the song of the
saints. Think of the great number that
are singing this song. And notice this in verse 2, I
heard a voice from heaven as a voice of many waters, as a
voice of a great thunder. It's said that Niagara Falls
can be heard from a great distance away. Now imagine all of the
oceans at once being poured into one place, the great noise of
waters. When heaven has closed his doors
and all the redeemed are gathered and the 10,000 times 10,000 and
thousands of thousands are in one place in perfect body. in perfect minds, hearts set
on the Lamb of God. It's then we'll raise our voice
and we'll sing a song, and the song would be so loud that waves
would roll for eternity, praising and glorifying God, not with
one missed note, not with one missed harmony, but all would
sing in great swelling praise unto the Lamb. loudest of praise. What will be their song? Verse 3, And they sung it, as
it were, a new song before the throne and before the beasts
and the elders, that no man could learn that song but the hundred
and forty and four thousand which were redeemed from the earth. Why is it that no man could learn
it? Because then it's too late. It's too late. If you will not believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, if you are not taught to sing the song of
faith in Christ here on earth, you will not learn it after you
die. Heaven and hell are eternal. The angels in heaven will never
be able to learn this song. And those in hell could spend
ten million years there and never learn a single note of praise
and glory to the grace of God. This song of grace must be learned
here on earth. If it is not learned here, it
will never be learned at all. If you do not believe on Christ
now, you will never believe when you die. Our Lord Jesus Christ,
when the end is come, in Revelation 22, it says in verse 10, And he saith
unto me, Seal not up the sayings of the prophecy of this book,
for the time is at hand. that is unjust, let him be unjust
still. He that is filthy, let him be
filthy still. He that is righteous, let him
be righteous still. He that is holy, let him be holy
still. When this thing is all done,
the righteous will be righteous forever and the filthy will be
filthy forever. And notice this about the song
who are the righteous. This song is new. They sung,
as it were, a new song. Praise and worship here to the
body is taxing. When I am finished with this,
I am very tired. When I get done preaching, I
am tired because I give you everything that I have. And I'll tell you,
study is weary to the body. Prayer is weary to the body. Worship is weary to the body.
Loving one another is weary to the body. Yes, but then it will
no longer be a wearisome task. It will be a glorious task that
is new every morning. Because there is no more mornings.
This is it. One morning. One day. It's forever. There is no night there. No more
sorrow. No more tears. No more pain.
No more fears. It's all gone. All gone. And the only thing left is love. Love. Love. Love for Christ. Love for one another. Singing
this song together without burden, without being tired. One day. One day very soon. Praise God soon. We'll sing this song forever.
Worthy is the Lamb, to take the book and the loose, the seals
thereof, for Thou hast redeemed us from every nation and kindred
and tongue and tribe and people. Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is
the Lamb that redeemed us. the worship of heaven, the Lamb.
His worshipers, believers in Christ who come to the Lamb.
Their song is about the Lamb. And their song is new because
His mercies are new every morning. I'd like to just dismiss with
a hymn. We'll sing a hymn and then We're
going to be dismissed in prayer. Let's sing Amazing Grace. I believe that's 412, is it? What is it? 402? 402. 402. Everybody stand with me and sing. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now
who I am found. Was blind, but now I see. T'was grace that taught my heart
to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear! The hour I first believe. Through many dangers, toils and
snares, I have already come. His grace hath brought me safe
thus far, and grace will lead me home. And when this flesh and heart
shall fail and mortal life shall cease I shall possess within
the veil of life of joy and peace when we've been there ten thousand
years bright shining as the sun we've no O, less days to sing
God's praise than when we first begun. Amen. Cody, would you dismiss
us in prayer, please?