With me again to Revelations
chapter 7. I preached the first part of
this message Sunday evening, and I tried to the best of my
ability, which is not very much, to show you what happens when
God awakens a believer out of sleep, when He gives him a new
nature, causes him to raise in the newness of life, and turns
the light on. That's what John loved to talk
about, when the light of Christ comes into the soul. And when
that happens, we begin to see things as they are, And things
are not what we thought they were. They're not what we thought
they were. He first sees himself a prisoner
of himself. Of himself. And of sin. And can't break free
from his bondage. He's chained. He's shackled by
his nature. And he cries with Paul, O wretched
man that I am, not that I was, that I am. Who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? And when he cries, God gives
him the answer. I thank God through our Lord
Jesus Christ. And secondly, he sees the wrath
of God all around him. John talked, he liked to talk
about what the believer knows. Because when God awakens that
man and gives him life for the first time, Larry, he knows.
I don't need somebody to confirm to me these things. God makes you to know. He makes you to know. And John
loved to talk about what we know. And he said, and we know that
we are of God and the whole world, life and wickedness. His eyes
is open to see the wrath of God. And he sees not robbers and murderers
involved in the death of Christ. But what he sees is self-righteous,
legalistic, traditional religion, arranging the death of the Savior. Rejected him from the time he
was born until the time that he died, hounding him, following
him everywhere he went, trying to cast doubt on his ministry
and doubt on his person. This was a man who had no sin. I can't fathom such a thing. I sat in my study and just tried
to get a picture in my head. I can't even imagine a man with
no sin. He didn't have an evil thought. You know how you react to things?
I mean, we're believers and we have the love of God in our heart
and we have a new nature. But boy, we don't react like
we do. I'll tell you, my temper goes
off and then I catch myself. Why do I do that? Why do I say
that? Why do I talk about God's providence? Why do I, why am I so disgusted
when it rains? Why am I so disgusted when I
don't get 50 hours, I only got 40? You react, I can't imagine. This man had no sin, did no sin. You couldn't, Satan came. We're
talking about a master of deception and tempted Christ with every
deceitful thing he knew. And our Lord said, he found nothing
in me. We're talking about a perfect
man. A perfect man. And you look, and who is this? Who is this mocking our Lord? this perfect man. Who is it laughing
at him and chiding at him and stripping the flesh from his
back, putting the crown of thorns on his head and the purple robe
and laughing at him, slapping him with the palms of their hands
and saying, prophesy. Come down from the cross if you
be the Christ. Who is this? It's religion. And I went to
great lengths the other night to show you that this religion
is the wrath of God. God gives men over. You read
it a while ago in Philippians, an evident token, evident token. That's exactly right, of their
perdition. They took a murderer, a man of
sedition, over the Christ of glory. And when the high priest condemned
him, they all joined in. And they began to spit on him
and cover his face, mock him, stood before him and slapped
him. I'm telling you this, this is the heart Will you hear me? This is the heart of false religion. So before you go buddying up,
you know this. This is the heart right here.
This is the heart. I know these guys, they sound
good, and they act friendly, and they do all them things,
but it's these men, these men who did these things, to a perfect
man. That's the heart of religion.
Everything, and know this, I'm going to give this to you for
free. Everything our Lord suffered, he suffered for our sins. And at the hands of God, wicked
men did the deed. But in the book of Acts, it said
they did what God's hand and God's counsel determined before
to be done. What are you saying, preacher?
I'm saying this. God slapped him. God spit in his face. God shoved
that crown of thorns down on his head and mocked his son on
the cross. I'm saying what God revealed
in His attitude toward our substitute, He will one day pour out on all
those who believe not on Him. And the beginning of it right
now is to give you over to yourself. It says in Proverbs 1, listen
to me, because I have called And you refused. I stretched
out my hand, and no man regarded. But you said it not, all my counsel,
and with none of my reproof. Now listen, I'll laugh at your
calamity. Ain't that what they did to him? I will mock when your fear cometh. When your fear cometh like a
desolation, and your destruction as a whirlwind, then will you
call on me, but I won't answer. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me?" No answer. No answer. You'll seek me. You'll seek me early, but you
won't find me. Here's what you're going to do.
You're going to eat the fruit of your own way and be filled
with your own devices. The wrath of God on all those
who do not believe and will not believe. I gave you that story
in John 5 about that paralyzed man laying down there whose only
hope that was laying down there under the deception of religion
talking about an angel coming down and stirring the waters
And the first guy in, he's going to be made whole. And he's down
there with that little dab of religious nonsense, laying there
with nobody to put him in the water. And the water wouldn't
have done him any good if he'd went in. He'd just been wet and
paralyzed. And the Lord of Glory came along
and spoke to that man and made him whole. And those people were
so intent on waiting for angels and watching the troubled waters,
and hanging on to the foolishness of religion, but the Lord of
Glory stood in their midst, and they missed Him. And He spoke,
and they didn't hear Him. And He revealed His redemptive
glory, and nobody seen it, just that one man. How often is that
the case? Well, that's enough about judgment
and wrath. Let's move on to the next part
of this revelation. The next thing in this revelation
of Christ, and I went to great lengths to say this, that this
is a revelation in the heart of the believer. Christ being
revealed in his heart. And these are the things that
he sees. These are the things that he becomes aware of. And the next thing he sees is
the 144,000 of the 12 tribes of Israel. I've heard more about the 144,000
in the book of Revelations than anything else in the Bible when
I was growing up. But what on earth does the sons
of Jacob and all their descendants have to do with the revelation
of Christ to a Gentile? God separated this people beginning
with Abraham. beginning with a single man,
and God's covenant with him, and God's promises to him, and
God's seed in him. I read this to you the other
night from Romans 1, where Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ, for it's the power of God unto salvation to
everyone that believeth. Listen to the Jew first. to the Jew first? Oh yeah. Abraham, he was first. He was first. The gospel came first to the
Jew. It came by picture. It came by
allegory. Read the New Testament. These
two sons were an allegory. That's what he says, isn't it?
That's how it came. It came in picture and allegory
and type and figure. It was demonstrated throughout
their whole history. Everything in God's kingdom from
election to the coronation of the king. All seen in Israel. All seen in Israel. It's through
God's dealings with them, His covenants, His instructions,
His revelations. This is the foundation. God's
spiritual house is built on this foundation. Peter refers to Israel
in Acts chapter 4 verse 11 as builders. What's he talking about? They didn't have a clue who Christ
was, but they was laying the foundation. He said, the stone
which you builders set it not. God made him the head of the
corner. Read Stephen's sermon sometime in Acts chapter 7 and
listen to him point out. He goes through their whole history
pointing things out. Here's the foundation of the
Lord Jesus Christ and the foundation of true worship and the foundation
of everything that took place in the New Testament. And every
time God stated something and showed you something, you rejected
it. And you slain the prophets that showed before what they
showed. the coming of the just one. And they couldn't take it anymore.
And they took that preacher aside and stoned him. My friend, you
can write this down. Apart from the Old Testament,
we don't have a New Testament. My wife and I was looking at
some of her mother's things the other night, and she had two
New Testaments. And I said, I can remember when
they used to pass them out, those little New Testaments. The Gideons
would come to school. pass out those little New Testaments. You just got half a Bible. That's
what you got. You got to build it. And the
reason our generation can preach a universal atonement is because
they never read about the priest. Rather, the priest had the names
of the twelve tribes on his shoulder that he might bear them up before
God. He had the names of the twelve
tribes of Israel over his heart that he might bear them up before
the Lord on his heart. Israel. They preach a universal atonement
and a universal love and free will Israel because they're ignorant
of the foundation in the Old Testament. He's got no foundation. He's got no reasoning. Paul called it a veil over their
eyes. He said they're disveiled. They don't even see the Old Testament.
And he said it's still that way today. Christ came, manifested
who he was, did all the works of God. God confirmed who he
was by miracles and wonders and signs, which he did right in
the middle of them. We was talking about that the
other night. Somebody was talking to me about
it. The Lord raised that man up right there in their midst.
And they totally missed the miracle because they were too concerned
about this man carrying a bed on Sabbath day. No foundation. This was God's chosen people.
If I want to know something about the character and attributes
of God, all I have to do is read about God revealing Himself to
Israel. Listen to this in Romans 9. It said in Romans chapter
9 and verse 10, when Rebekah had conceived by one, even Isaac,
the children being not yet born, neither having done any good
or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might
stand. That is, that it might be established
forever. He said the elder is going to
serve the younger. And brother, that's the way it
is. That's the way it is. God established it. Where did
he do it? Way back yonder in Isaac. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. Paul said, does that seem wrong
to you? You got a problem with that? Is God unrighteous in his dealings
with these two sons? God forbid. How's Paul going
to prove it? Verse 15, for he saith to Moses,
God revealed this in the Old Testament to Moses, I'll be merciful
to whom I will be merciful and I'll have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. That's the foundation. The believer
comes to see his building is built on the foundation of the
apostles and prophets. Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone. And when he comes to see that
natural Israel is just a typical people and that God has a chosen
people in Christ, as many as the stars are in the sky and
the sands of the seashore, then he can go on to the next part
of the vision and he can see the multitude. But if you can't see yourself
in the 144,000 You can't stand in multitude.
That's just so. It's just so. Paul said, I would
not have you ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise
in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel
until the fullness of the Gentiles come in. And so all Israel shall
be saved. All right, after this, Revelation
chapter 7 verse 9. 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 cried
with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon
the throne, and unto the Lamb, and all the angels stood round
about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and
fell down before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
saying, Amen. Blessing, and glory, and wisdom,
and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might be to unto
our God forever and ever. Amen. What a sight to see. A vast, numberless multitude
all standing in the same row. Every one of them. All dressed
the same. All standing there for the same
reason. All standing there on the same
foundation. And all sang with one voice. salvation to our God who sitteth
upon the throne and unto the Lamb. But what does this multitude
standing before the throne of God have to do with the revelation
of Christ in my heart? I'm going to keep calling you
back here because it's not going to mean a thing unless you can
see it here. What's that mean? What's that
have to do with the revelation of Christ in me? Let me give
you five things, just briefly. Number one, the revelation of
Christ in me assures me that wherever the Lamb is, the multitude
is sure to follow. That's what it tells me. As far
back as you can trace the Lamb, you'll find the favor and blessing
of God. Way back yonder in the garden,
a man down there cowering in his fig leaf aprons and God comes
down in the cool of the day and slays a lamb and covers their
nakedness. At the altar of Abel, God approves
the lamb and rejects the works of men's hands. You can just
come on down through time. Here's Abraham on the mountain
with a knife drawn and the son of God's promise laying on the
altar. And a hand drawn and coming down,
and God stays his hand. He said, for God will provide
himself a lamb for a burnt offering. Down yonder in Egypt, there it
is in the thick darkness, a darkness that could be felt. And God sends
a messenger with the message of the lamb. And they put the
blood on the doorpost, and God passes over them. And God teaches
them how to worship. How does he do that? Puts the
lamb on the altar. I'm telling you, you find the
lamb. Starts out in Genesis, all the
way through Malachi. Follow the lamb. And wherever
you find the lamb, you find the blessings and favor and benefits
of God. They're sure to follow. He said,
they said, if thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. He said, I told
you. And here's why you don't hear
me. My sheep hear my voice. And I know them. And they follow
me. And I'm going to give unto them
everlasting life, and they'll never perish. How come? Because nobody can pluck them
out of my hand. You find the lamb, there's the
multitude. That's what the believer comes
to know. First thing, there it is. I'm in the lamb. I'm in the
lamb. The multitude's going to follow
because they're one. They're one with the lamb. One with him. God took old Abraham, called
him out of his father's house, called him out of idolatry, called
him out of false religion. And he called that old man out,
and he took him out, just him and God. And God said, look up,
Abraham. Wait. How many stars is up there? Can you count them? Consider
the sands of the seashore. Can you fathom the number of
the grains? That's how your seed's going
to be. That's how your seed's going to be. And then over in
Hebrews it said, We're in God willing more abundantly to show
unto the heirs of promise the immutability, the unchangeableness
of his counsel, confirmed it with an oath. that by two immutable
things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we have a strong
consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope
set before us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul,
both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within
the veil, whether the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus,
made a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. I'm going
to anchor my soul right there. Wherever you find the lamb, you're
going to find a multitude. Number two, the second thing
I see in this great multitude standing before the throne, they're
all standing. Bless your heart, ain't none
of them cowered down over in the corner. Ain't none of them
over there slinking around wrecks in the shadows. They're standing
face to face with the living God. He said, nobody can look
on me and live. There they are. There they are,
standing before the throne of God. Now listen to this. Therefore, Paul said, being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom also we have access by faith. into this grace wherein
we what? Stand. Omnipotent, sovereign,
electing grace. Standing before the throne. That
angel of the covenant, he arranges his providence and he sends his
messengers out and by the miracle of grace he stays the wrath of
God, he pushes aside your religious ambitions and nature and conceptions
and all this idolatry that you have in your head and that nature
of evil and he pushes it aside. And he arranges it in such a
way that his messenger and you cross paths. And he speaks life
to your soul. And he shows you that one time
you were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works. But now he reconciles in the
body of his flesh through death, and he presents you before the
throne, listen, holy, unblameable, unreprovable in his sight. Sparkless, Paul said before the
presence of his glory. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? God justified. That's why the
stamp was justified, Paul said, freely by His grace through the
redemption that's in Christ Jesus. Romans 3, listen to this, verse
25. Whom God hath set forth to be
a propitiation through faith in His blood to declare His righteousness
for the remission of sins that are past. back there under that
Jewish economy, to declare, I'll say it this time, His righteousness,
that He might be just and justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
And they all stood before the throne. The whole outfit. All right, now watch this. Number
three. What's this multitude? standing before the throne of
God had to do with the revelation of Christ in my heart. Well, I looked at that picture
and I saw the multitude, this vast, numberless multitude. They were standing and he was
sitting. And I looked at that for a long
time. Paul said, this man, this man, this God-man, mediator,
this man, this fulfillment of all the Old Testament shadows
and types and patterns, figures for the time then present, this
man, this high priest after the order of Melchizedek, this man
of whom the volume of the book is written, This man, who took
not on him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham, this
man, after he'd offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down. What's he doing? Expecting. He's expecting till all his enemies
become his footstool. It is the sitting Christ that
allows the multitude to stand. Our standing is because of His
sitting. And then fourthly, when I see
this awesome multitude before the throne, I know this in my
heart and I see it in my heart, God is exceeding more abundantly
gracious than we give Him credit for. In the body of the Lamb and in
the heart of God is oceans and rivers and seas of mercy. Infinite in its scope and in
its depth. And you can write this down and
you remember this as long as you live. Love is measured by
what it's willing to give. God so loved that He gave. He gave. God commendeth, recommends
His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. John said, herein is love, not
that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to
be the propitiation for our sins. The old hymn said, crown Him
the Lord of heaven. enthroned in the worlds above.
Crown him the king to whom is given the wondrous name of love. Crown him with many crowns as thrones before him fall. Crown
him, ye kings, with many crowns, for he is king of all." All right,
here's the last thing. When I look at that great multitude,
standing before the throne of God, that vast multitude. I see this. All God's people
are one. They're all one. We're not spokes
in a wheel. We're the wheel, the whole wheel. They're one. He didn't see a
huge multitude and a little group. He didn't see a series of little
groups. He saw one multitude. One multitude. They was all dressed
the same. They all had the same confession.
All came up out of the same trouble. All washed in the same blood.
They all shared the same benefits. And John said, they went out
from us, but they weren't of us. If they'd been of us, they
had no doubt. would have continued with us.
But they went out that they might be made manifest that they were
not of us. We have one Lord, one faith,
and one baptism. All God's people are one. Turn
with me to Ephesians chapter 2 and I'll close with this reading. All God's people are one. One multitude. One God on the
throne. All of them, Lindsay, standing
before Him. All with the same confession.
Salvation unto our God. In Ephesians chapter 2, verse
11, He said, Wherefore, you that are seated with Him
in the heavenlies. That's who He's talking to. Wherefore,
you who have been given the gift of faith and are the true workmanship
of God, wherefore, remember that you being in time past Gentiles,
that's what we were, heathens, heathen idolaters, Gentiles in
the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by them which are called circumcision
in the flesh made with hands. And that at that time you were
without Christ being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and
strangers from the covenants of promise having no hope and
without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus ye who
were sometimes afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
For he is our peace who hath made both one, and hath broken
down the middle wall of petition between us, having abolished
in his flesh the enmity even the law of commandments contained
in ordinances, for to make in himself twain one new man, so
making peace, and that he might reconcile both unto God in one
body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. and came
and preached peace to you that were far off and to them that
were nigh. For through him we both have
access by one spirit unto the Father. Now, therefore, you're
no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the
saints and of the household of God and are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone in whom all the building fitly framed together
groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are
builted together for a habitation of God through the Spirit. And
then let me read this verse in Revelation 7.15. I told you this is where this
message started. Therefore are they before the
throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple,
and he that sitteth upon the throne shall dwell among them. Amen.