All right, let's open our Bibles
now back to the book of Revelation chapter 14 this time. Revelation chapter 14. The title of the message this
morning is The Lamb on the Mount. The Lamb on the Mount. Verse
one says, and I looked. This is John the Apostle on the
Isle of Patmos. being given this grand and great,
marvelous, glorious revelation of Christ. And he said, and I
looked, and lo, a lamb stood on the Mount Zion, and with him
144,000, having his father's name written in their foreheads.
As I said in the earlier message from Revelation 12, Revelation
is full of symbols and pictures and types that we find their
meaning within the pages of scripture, especially the Old Testament
itself. This book of Revelation is a
revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that means two things. Number one, it's a revelation
given to the Apostle John and to the churches from Christ himself. When John was on the Isle of
Patmos, the glorified Christ appeared before him and began
revealing himself in his glorified character in the last days, which
includes the days between his first coming and his second coming.
And not only is it from Jesus Christ, it is the revelation
of Jesus Christ, like the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. As our Lord taught His disciples,
these things are those things which testify of Him. There's
a lot of disagreement, debate, argument over what these symbols
and times and things mean. People get bogged down in that.
Many turn the book of Revelation and make it nothing more than
a science fiction book, I think. And they miss Christ. And that's
why I want to bring this message from this chapter. If you can
look at this passage and miss Christ, then you don't know Christ.
Look at what John says, I looked and lo, a lamb stood on the Mount
Sinai. We know who that lamb is. It
sets forth the Savior as the one and only Redeemer who sacrificed
himself for his church, the elect of God. Revelation 5 spoke of
him as the lamb slain, the lamb who is worthy. Worthy is the
Lamb that was slain. Christ is shown in so many different
facets of His character. In Revelation 5, He's shown as
the Lion of the tribe of Judah. That's His power. And He's also
the Lamb that was slain. Back here in Revelation 13, it
says He's the Lamb slain from or since the foundation of the
world. Either way, it's still the same Lamb who was set up
from everlasting, from before the foundation of the world,
And this principle that is brought forth in identifying him as the
Lamb is the gospel principles of substitution, satisfaction,
and imputation. That's what it's talking about.
This Lamb is a substitute. The principle of redemption,
the law of redemption, if you will, by blood, was set down
by God Almighty from the beginning. I believe it was established
clearly and plainly when God prophesied of the woman seed,
the Lord Jesus Christ in his humanity, God in human flesh,
who would come to this earth. And that the way that he would
bring about the salvation of his people was a redemption by
blood. And God showed that forth when
he established the sacrificial system of worship in Genesis
chapter 3 and verse 21. And as Adam and Eve had sought
to hide their shame, their nakedness, by their own works, symbolized
in the fig leaf aprons that they made, God took those fig leaf
aprons off. Because that symbol of man's
attempts to save himself and hide his shame and cover his
nakedness by his works will not work at all. And what God did,
as recorded there in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 21, is that
he slew an animal and made them coats of skin. Now if you slay
an animal, there's going to be blood. Why did he slay an animal? He was showing in picture and
type how salvation, redemption, is accomplished through the blood
of a God-appointed, qualified, and willing substitute, the picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, which beareth away
the sin of the world." God's people all over this world. Christ
was made sin as the Lamb, as the sin-bearer, the sin-offering.
Our sins were imputed, charged to Him. He became responsible
and accountable for the debt that his people owed to God's
law and justice. He was and he always has been,
always was and always will be the surety of his people as the
Lamb. And the coats of skin that came
out of that bloody death of that animal typified his righteousness
imputed, accounted, charged to us. So that we stand before God
in the very righteousness of God which cannot be contaminated
and cannot be changed or defiled. And here the Lamb is standing
on the mount. The blood of animals could not
accomplish our redemption. It took the blood of the Son
of God. It took the blood of the Son of God in human flesh
to put away all the sins of all his people. The Bible says the
blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. And as Christ
performed the duties of his surety ship on the cross of Calvary
as the Lamb, behold, the Lamb of God. And notice his position
here. It says the Lamb stood on Mount
Zion. We're told that when Christ finished
his work of redeeming his people, we're told this in several passages
of scripture, that he sat down on the right hand of the majesty
on high. What does that mean? That means his work was completely
finished. His work of redemption, his work
as Daniel put it in Daniel chapter 9 and verse 24, of finishing
the transgression, making an end of sin, establishing righteousness,
sealing up the vision and the prophecy, and opening the way
into the holiest of all, his work was completely finished.
He said that in John 19 and verse 3. It is finished. You see, salvation
is the result of a completed work on the cross of Calvary.
and our justification before God, our being not guilty, our
being declared righteous is the result of what Christ accomplished
on Calvary. And we stand in Him. And so he
sat down, his work was completely finished, the debt of our sins
was fully paid, righteousness by which God is just to justify
the ungodly was established, But here, he's revealed as standing. He stood on the Mount Zion. Now what is Mount Zion? Well,
Mount Zion is his church. It's his people. I believe we
could go all through the scripture and prove that, but just let
me show you one passage. Turn to Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews
chapter 12. In the book of Hebrews chapter
12, when the Holy Spirit is showing us the greater glory of the New
Covenant and the Gospel Age as opposed to the Old Covenant,
Mount Sinai and its laws and its thunderings. And as Paul
had written about it in 2 Corinthians 3 as the ministration of death,
the ministration of condemnation, and he said in light of the glory
of the New Covenant in Christ and salvation eternally and spiritually
in Christ, that had no glory at all. At verse 22 of Hebrews
chapter 12, in comparing the greater glory of the new covenant,
the gospel in Christ as fulfilled in Christ, he says, but you are
come, that is believers, that's who he's talking about here.
He's talking about those whom God chose from the foundation
of the world whom Christ redeemed on the cross as the lamb. He
says, you are come unto Mount Sinai. and unto the city of the
living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." That's a spiritual position. Mount Zion, the city of the living
God, the heavenly Jerusalem. What is that? That's the church,
which Christ redeemed with his own precious blood to an innumerable
company of angels to the general assembly and church of the firstborn. The church wherein Christ has
the preeminence. And it says, which are written
in heaven to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of just
men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant.
See what he's talking about? And to the blood of sprinkling,
that which speaketh better things than that of Abel. Remember,
Abel brought a lamb. But now Abel's lamb could not
take away sin. You know, Abel knew that. Book
of Hebrews chapter 11 tells us that. Abel knew that the blood
of a earthly animal could not bear waste. Abel brought that
lamb according to God's commandments to typify his true salvation
in the promised Messiah who was to come, the lamb who was to
come. So what we have here in Revelation
14 is the lamb standing on Mount Sinai. He's standing as the head
of the church in victory standing to protect and preserve and receive
his church unto himself. He's already finished the work
of redemption. He's already established righteousness. He's already put away sin. He's
already paid the debt, you see. Now he's standing in victory.
This is the victory of Christ and his church over Satan, the
dragon, over the world, the flesh, and the devil, the false prophet
who tries to imitate the Lamb. Christ stands because he has
the preeminence in the salvation of his church. And it says, and
with him, over here in Revelation 14, and 144,000. Now you'll have
all kinds of different ideas about who the 144,000 is. I believe it's a symbolic number.
Look back at Revelation chapter seven. In Revelation chapter seven,
and look at verse nine. Here he speaks of a number. He
says, in this I beheld and lo a great multitude which no man
could number. Of all nations, kindreds, people
and tongues, that's languages, stood before the throne and before
the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands. Now who is that? That's the people
of God. That's the children of God. That's the redeemed of the
Lord. That's the elect. That's spiritual Israel. That's
Mount Zion. That's the church. It's believers,
those who've been born again by the Spirit. And they stand
there clothed in white robes. What is that? That's the imputed
righteousness of Christ. It's not their own works. And
what do they have? They have palms in their hands.
What is that? That's worship. You remember when Christ entered
Jerusalem, they cried, Hosanna, which means save, Lord, save
us now, else we perish. They're worshiping, that's what
they're doing. But how many is it? A multitude which no man
can number. But now over here he says it's 144,000. People
say, well, that's different. I don't believe it is. I believe
it's a symbolic number of the people of God, his church. God
knows the exact number, but here they're symbolized under the
number 144,000. Now why is that? That's the complete number of
God's elect people redeemed by the blood of Christ and called
into the fold of God. Well, think about it. What is
that number a multiple of? Well, it's 12 times 12 times
1,000. In the Old Testament, the entire
population of the people of God was represented and symbolized
by the 12 patriarchs, the 12 tribes of Israel. Remember the
high priest when he went into the tabernacle in the temple? He had 12 names on his breastplate
and 12 names, six on one amulet and six on the other. symbolizing
who he was going into the holiest of all for with the blood of
the lamb. And then in the New Testament, they're represented
by the 12 apostles, the church being built upon the doctrine
of the prophets and the apostles. And you put them together, you
have the complete number of the people of God times 1,000, which
in the Hebrew is a symbol of an infinite number. In the Hebrew
culture and language, that's what a thousand was. It wasn't
just a literal thousand years. Like, for example, when Peter
wrote that in the eyes of the Lord a day is like a thousand
years and a thousand years like a day. It's an infinite number.
God knows the exact number. But to us, it's a number that
no man can, a multitude that no man can number. It's the entire
people of God. But look back at Revelation 14.
He says, here's how they're identified. Now, this is the key right here.
Whatever you believe about the 140 and 4,000, here's the key. It says, and they having his
father's name written in their foreheads. Now, does that mean
they're gonna have a literal tattoo in their head? Something
like, no. Look back at Revelation 7 again.
How do you know who they are? Who are the people of God? Look
at verse one of Revelation 7. He says here, 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 on the sea, nor on any tree. What he's
talking about is the wrath of God being held back in check
until God releases it. And he says in verse two, I saw
another angel ascending from the east, having the 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. Now he's got a seal. What's
a seal? It's an identification mark.
That's what this is, a seal. You remember when they used to
seal letters with those little wax things, that was an identification
mark. Or when a king of a country had
the king's seal. that identified and gave it authority
of the king. Here's what he said, verse three.
Hurt not the earth, neither the sea nor the trees, till we have
sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. A seal in
their foreheads. And I heard the number of them
which were sealed, and there were sealed 140 and 4,000 of
all the tribes of the children of Israel. I believe he's talking
about spiritual. What is a seal? Well, the forehead
in the Bible represents the mind. In fact, the first time the word
forehead is even used is back in the book of Exodus when Moses
is being given instructions on the garments of the high priest
and he's to have a mitre, a turban that was to be placed upon his
head and there was to be a plate of gold that was to go over his
forehead and on that plate of gold was to be engraved holiness
unto the Lord. And you know what that symbolized?
It symbolized this, that every time that that high priest put
on those garments and performed the duties of priesthood, he's
to have in his mind and on his heart holiness unto the Lord. This is all about God. That's
what he was to thank. In other words, he wouldn't be
thinking about his shortcomings, his misgivings, his sins. He
wouldn't be thinking about the people. He was to be thinking
about the holiness and justice of God. And that's why he brought
the blood of the Lamb. If that's all you have on your
mind, God's holiness, God's justice, even God's mercy and grace, I'll
tell you what, if you come like you should, you'll come with
the blood of the Lamb. And that's what he was to have on his mind.
Back here in Revelation 13, it talks about the mark of the beast.
666, and you know what people do with
that. Anything from credit cards to barcodes, whatever, I don't
know. That's not what it is. That mark was to go on their
forehead or on their right hand. The forehead represents the mind,
the heart. In the Hebrew world, you didn't
separate the mind and the heart. In other words, that false doctrine
of the beast, the false prophet and the beast, salvation by works
and the will of man, was to be on their minds, and it identified
that, or on their right hand, which represent their works,
their efforts, their life. But on the minds and hearts of
God's people, they had a seal, not just a mark. They had a seal,
and it's a seal of security. It's a seal of the Lamb of God
standing on the mountain. It's the seal of the gospel of
God's grace in Christ. It's sealed into their minds
and their hearts, holiness under the Lord. If you've got nothing
but holiness on your mind, truly, in a saving way, you'll see God's
mercy and God's grace and God's love in Christ and him alone,
crucified on that cross as the Lamb. finishing the work that
God gave him to do. And that's how this 140 and 4,000
are identified. The church of the living God.
Look at it in verse 2. He says, and I heard a voice.
This is Revelation 14. He said, I heard a voice from
heaven as the voice of many waters, which represents the manifold
blessings and graces of God in Christ. and as the voice of a
great thunder, which represents the power and authority of God.
This is not just a pronouncement of love without authority. So many preachers today, they
talk about the love of God just as an empty emotion. They talk
about God's wrath as if it's God throwing a temper tantrum
or something like that. But that's not what God's love
or God's wrath is. God's love has the authority
of the Lamb behind it. Herein is love. Not that we love
God. See, God's love is not a response
to our love to Him. We don't love Him by nature.
God's love is not a response to our will. No, sir. If that's what it is, then you
believe salvation because you're better than somebody else. No,
God's love is totally from his sovereign, sovereign choice and
will of his own. Herein is love, not that we love
God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation,
that's the lamb, the sin bearing sacrifice that brought satisfaction
and issued in righteousness that's imputed to his people. And in that propitiation for
our sins, This is authority. In verse two he says, and I heard
with the voice of harpers harping with their harps. That's worship
again. Somebody said that's the string music of the redeemed
soul. And then look at verse three. He said, and they sung as it
were a new song before the throne and before the four beasts and
the elders. Now these were persons who were
brought forth earlier in the book of Revelation, especially
Revelation 5, this represents the four beasts are four messengers. The word beast there is living
creatures. You know in the book of Revelation,
you gotta look at this word now, the word beast sometimes means
an untamed wild animal, like a lion seeking to devour whom
he will. That would be like the beast
that rose up out of the sea and the beast that rose up out of
the earth. But when it talks about the four beasts surrounding
the throne of the Lamb, It's four living creatures. What's
that symbolic? It's the messengers of God, north,
south, east, and west, covering the earth with the gospel whereby
God gives life to dead sinners. We're begotten again by the word
of truth, born again by the spirit. From the death of Christ comes
the life of his creatures. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creation. And it says, and the elders there represent
the church. And he says, and no man could
learn that song, but the 140 and 4,000, which were redeemed
from the earth. Man by nature doesn't know that
song. First of all, it's a new song. Why is it new? Well, it's
new not as to time, but as to its nature and to its quality. It's the gospel of God's redeeming
grace through Christ, the Lamb of God. That's a message that's
older than creation. That's a message that was set
forth in the mind and purpose of God in eternity. It was given
to us in Christ Jesus before the world began, Paul wrote in
2 Timothy. It's a message of an everlasting
covenant of grace, an eternal covenant. It has no beginning
and no end. We can't explain eternity. It
gives us a headache even thinking about eternity. But it's true. God has no beginning and no end.
I've heard men say today that they believe that when a person
is born again, they have a new divine nature created in them. And I always tell them, I say,
well, now, first of all, if it's divine by nature, it cannot be
created. You can't create God. God has
no beginning and no end. Christ is the Alpha and the Omega.
But this message is the same as the nature of God himself
in Christ. So it's not new in time, it's
revealed newly in time. And I'll tell you what, every
time God's people hear it preached, it's new and fresh to us, isn't
it? We want to hear it again and again. But I'll tell you
really, I believe what he's getting at here as far as the new song.
It's new compared to the old song that we all sung by nature
in our false religion. The song of salvation by the
works and the will of man. The song of justification before
God through our own righteousness and our own efforts. That's the
old song that we sung before God gave us life and brought
us to a saving knowledge of our sins and a saving knowledge of
Christ. Then we began to sing a new song,
worthy is the lamb. that was slain. Give you an example
of it. Turn to Matthew chapter seven.
And maybe this will help you understand exactly what I'm talking
about. Here in the Sermon on the Mount,
the Lord Jesus Christ brings us a picture of judgment.
Beginning in verse 21. And he says this, he says, not
everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into
the kingdom of heaven. In other words, it's not just
saying, Lord, Lord. He says, but he that doeth the
will of my father, which is in heaven. Now he's already made
it clear what that means, to do the will of his father. It
means to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and follow him as
his disciple. That's salvation by grace. For
by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves
is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For
we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto, not because
of, unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we
should walk in. Now that's to do the will of the Father in
heaven. Now he says, many will say to me in that day, In other
words, here's a group standing before God, and it's almost like
he's saying, now what right do you have for me to open and let
you enter heaven? Well, many will say to me, think
of it this way, many will sing to me, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in thy name? That's their song. That's what's
in their mind. That's what's sealed in their
foreheads, their heart. and in thy name cast out devils,
and in thy name done many wonderful works." That's their song. That's
what they're proud of. That's what they think should
get them in the heaven. The fact that I preached in your name,
the fact that I've cast out devils, the fact that I've done many
wonderful works. And they said, we did it in your
name. You see, it's like people today, they say, I thank God.
Like that old Pharisee in Luke 18, I thank God I'm not like
other men. Oh, I didn't do this on my own.
I did it in your name. Well, what's the problem? He
says, and then when I profess unto them, I never knew you depart
from me, you that work iniquity. Now, what does that mean, iniquity?
It means it didn't measure up. It didn't balance out. It didn't
equal out to righteousness. Whatever they're singing, whatever
they're pleading, it doesn't measure up to righteousness.
That's what that means. Well, I preached in your name.
Well now, I can stand before you and say, I've preached in
Christ's name. Here's the key. Is that what makes me righteous
before God? No, sir. Is that my song? Cast out devils? That's something,
isn't it? Is that what makes a sinner righteous
before God? No. Done many wonderful works,
whatever they were. That covers just about everything,
doesn't it? Is that what makes a sinner righteous before God?
Is that what equals out, balances out the scales of righteousness?
No. Now what if they had said, worthy
is the lamb that was slain? I have no plea, but Christ died
for me. What right do you have to enter
heaven? The blood of Jesus Christ, the righteousness of Christ imputed
to me. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, not even preaching in his name, not even casting out
demons, not even doing many wonderful works. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name, on Christ the solid rock
I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.
And you remember the next thing he talks to him about is building
your house upon the sand or upon the rock. Look back at Revelation 14. What
song are you singing? Read that song in Revelation
5. Worthy is the Lamb, that was
slain. He's worthy. And no man can learn
that, that means understand it. Except the 144,000 which were
redeemed from there. In other words, how do we learn
that song? It's by the new birth. Christ
told Nicodemus, he said, You must be born again or you cannot
see, meaning understand, the kingdom of heaven. And who are
born again? All who are redeemed from the
earth. In other words, what he's telling us here is that the ground
of the new birth, the ground of understanding, the ground
of faith is not the human will, but the death of Christ on the
cross. All who are redeemed from the earth. Look at verse four,
he says, He says, these are they which were not defiled with women,
for they are virgins. These are they which follow the
Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among
men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb. Now what
does that mean? They weren't defiled with women.
Does that mean they were celibate all their life? No. He's talking
about a spiritual purity here. He's talking about spiritual
virginity. Let me show you, look at 2 Corinthians
chapter 11. In the context of revelation,
to not be defiled with women means to not be spiritually in
bed with those who know not, believe not, and love not Christ. He's called the great whore,
the great harlot, Babylon, which is a symbol of salvation by the
works and the will of man. And any who defile themselves
with that spiritual whore, that's what that is, are those who defile
themselves with women. Now what he's talking about is
those who die in unbelief. We know by nature we're all like
that. We're all sinners. We all believe salvation by works
in some form or fashion until God brings us to a saving knowledge
of our sin and brings us to Christ. But look here at 2 Corinthians
11, look at verse two. He says, for I am jealous over
you with godly jealousy. Paul talking to the church at
Corinth. For I have espoused you to one husband that I may
present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. pure in Christ, but
I fear less by any means as the serpent begot Eve through his
subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity
that is in Christ, the singleness of Christ. That all my salvation,
all my forgiveness, all my righteousness, all my eternal life and glory
is wrapped up singly in the glorious person and finished work of Christ.
Satan wants to drag you away from that. He wants to complicate
it, confuse it, deny it, muddy it up, and bring you into bed
with false religion. What he's saying over here in
Revelation 14 in verse four, those who in the end are brought
before judgment in Christ, they who are not defiled, they're
pure, they're virgins. How do you know? They follow
the lamb wherever he goes. wherever he goes, whatever truth
it says about the land. They were redeemed, they were
bought from among men, and they're the first fruits unto God and
to the land. The first fruits belong to God,
they're his. We don't belong and own ourselves,
we're in the land. But now look at verse five. And
in their mouth was found no guile, that's deceit and hypocrisy,
for they are without fault before the throne of God. Now let me
conclude with this. That's a powerful statement there, isn't it? In
their mouth was found no guile, no lies, no hypocrisy, no deceit. Does that mean that they're perfectly
sinless in themselves then? Well, if it does, I've got to
tell you something. He's talking about a group of
people here that don't exist. Why is it that the Apostle Paul
had to had to admonish the Colossian believers to stop lying to each
other. I'll tell you why, because we
still have sin within us. The flesh, there's a warfare.
The Bible speaks, if you're saved, truly saved, born again, you
have a warfare between the flesh and the spirit within you, and
it's an everyday warfare. You have a desire to be like
Christ, but you have a desire to fulfill selfish ambitions
and desires too. And you have to fight it every
day. What does it mean there's no God? Well, he's talking about
one thing here now. He's talking about salvation.
Now, don't get me wrong, it's not right for any believers to
tell a lie. It's not right for anybody to
tell a lie. We should be people of truth, honest, decent people,
that's true. But that's not what he's talking
about here. He's talking about how God saves sinners. He's talking about how God is
just to justify the ungodly. When it comes to our salvation,
if we've been sealed in our foreheads, with the glorious name of our
Heavenly Father in Christ, brought to Christ the Lamb, and follow
Him. We know that salvation is of
the Lord and it's all of grace. And there's no deception there,
there's no guile there. David said it this way, blessed
is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, whose sins are
covered, blessed is the man in whom there is no guile. I have
no guile in this sense. I'm a sinner saved by the grace
of God, period. And then he says, they're without
fault before the throne of God. Think about that. How can me,
how can I and you, a sinner, stand before God without fault? There's only one way, and that's
in Christ, washed in his blood, clothed in his righteousness.
That's it. Now one day we will, in ourselves,
be perfectly conformed to him. That's when we're glorified.
That's what Paul was talking about in 1 Corinthians 15. He
said we shall all be changed in the twinkling of an eye. We'll
be given a new body, a sinless body, a spiritual body. I don't
even know what that's like. John said that too. He said in
1 John 3 and verse 2, it does not yet appear what we shall
be. We know we'll see him as he is. We'll be like him. I really
can't tell you a whole lot about that because the scripture doesn't
say a whole lot about it, but I know this. Right now we see
through a glass darkly, but then we'll know as we are known. But right now, let me tell you
something. The only way that I can tell you that God looks
at me and sees no fault is in his court of justice as I stand
before him washed in the blood of Christ and clothed in the
righteousness of Christ. And in that sense, I'm without
fault. Any sinner who's in Christ is without fault. God will not
charge us. The law books of God's justice
is wiped totally clean by the blood of the Son of God. He said, there's sins and iniquities
I will remember no more. What that literally means is
that God will not hold them against us. There is therefore now no
condemnation in Christ. And there's one hope of that,
one hope, not two, not three, one hope, and that's Christ and
Him crucified and risen again. No other hope. You see, this
is the blessing of the Lamb standing on the mount. This is the surety
and the certainty of the Lamb standing on the mount.