In that text, which Darwin read
a little bit ago, the Apostle Paul tells us that God's reason
for saving us, the reason for his abundant grace and mercy
to us in Christ Jesus, is that in the ages to come, he might
show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus. Just as that rich man in hell
lifted up his eyes and saw Lazarus afar off in Abraham's bosom,
somehow or other, those who are forever damned in hell will be
able to clearly see the blessedness of God's elect in heaven. Those
who despised God's grace will forever be tormented by the realization
of what grace has done for God's elect. Now, in Revelation chapter
14, John sees the whole company of God's elect, the whole great
multitude, given here under the number 144,000, gathered around
the throne of God. There they are in glory. Now,
he describes them for us in verses 4 and 5. This is how John beheld
them. This is how he saw them. 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 firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found
no guile. for they are without fault before
the throne of God. Now these are the characteristics
of those men and women whom John saw around the throne of God.
These characteristics describe all who are or shall be the heirs
of eternal life. It is as though John, by divine
inspiration, anticipates that glorious day when God will show
to wandering worlds the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness
toward us in Christ Jesus. Here the Holy Spirit, by John's
pen, holds up all the hosts of God's elect, and he says, look
what grace has done. Look what grace has done. Now
that's the title of my message this evening. Want us to survey
these glorified Saints around the throne and as we do as though
we were already among them Let us say to ourselves and to all
will hear all who will hear look what grace has done Look here
Look around See what grace has done for God's elect. It's my
prayer that all who are here this evening All who hear my
voice this hour will be in that number gathered around the throne
of God. You who hear me will be there
where they are held up before the throne of God and before
wandering worlds as trophies of God's grace in that day when
he makes up his jewels. You cannot avoid observing as
you read this text and others like it That in heaven, everybody,
everybody there, everybody there ascribes the whole work of salvation
to the free and sovereign grace of God in Jesus Christ the Lord. Not one word that I have ever
found in the scriptures. sets forth anyone in heaven,
angels, men, or God, as giving any tribute, any praise, any
honor, any exaltation to man. And there's a reason for that.
Man doesn't deserve any. You and I don't deserve any.
We are sinners. Christ is the Savior. We are
fallen. Christ has lifted us up. We were
perishing. Christ has redeemed us. We were
doomed. Christ has ransomed us. We were
lost. Christ has found us. We were
undone. Christ has made us whole. Therefore,
Christ alone receives all the praise, all the honor, and all
the glory. And I'm telling you, that we
will learn from our hearts to give him all the praise, or we'll
never be numbered among these who are gathered around the throne.
Now, in these two verses, John describes for us five distinct
characteristics, five distinct works of grace experienced and
enjoyed by all who are found in heaven's glory and bliss around
the throne of God. Number one, those whom John saw
before the throne are all chaste virgins before the Lord. Look at the verse. These are
they which were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. Now, this description of the
Lord's people declares two things about the character of God's
saints in heaven. Number one, they were not defiled
with women. Boy, what does that mean? Well,
the words do not speak of sexual purity as opposed to sexual impurity,
and the words do not speak of celibacy as opposed to marriage. That's contrary to the context
in which they're found. John is describing the spiritual
purity, the spiritual chastity of God's elect. Actually, he
is telling us that all who enter heaven have been preserved by
the grace of God from the damning corruptions of false religion. Read the 13th chapter again.
In the 13th chapter, he's talking about men and women being engulfed
in false religion, being deceived and being overcome. And the Lord
God here holds up His elect. And He says, these are the fellas,
these are the women, these are the men who were not defiled
with women. That is, they were not defiled
with the great whore or any of her daughters. As you read through
this book, you cannot help observing that the Lord God describes all
false religion under this term, the great whore. It includes
Rome, yes, but it includes all of Rome's offspring as well.
These are those who have not defiled themselves with the great
whore of false religion or any of her daughters. While the people
of the earth had been made drunk with the wine of their fornication,
committing gross acts of idolatry, superstition and will worship. God's elect were not. Idolatry
is spiritual fornication. It's called such throughout the
scriptures. But God's elect have been preserved from it by his
almighty grace. Now, turn over, if you will,
to that passage in second Thessalonians. Let's look at it one more time.
Second Thessalonians two. I want you to see what I'm talking
about. You may think, well, Pastor,
you make too much of this thing of false religion. I can't possibly
make too much of it. I can't possibly warn you plainly
enough. I can't possibly be firm enough
or be clear enough in my denunciation of all things contrary to the
gospel of Christ. In this passage, Paul is talking
about the terrible apostasy that shall engulf the world before
Christ comes again. And that apostasy does not reveal
itself necessarily in horrible acts of vice, though that may
be included. Certainly we see that. He's talking
about horrible acts of false worship. Horrible false beliefs,
horrible false conceptions of God, of Christ, of the Spirit
of God and of salvation. Now the Apostle tells us here
in 2 Thessalonians 2 in verse 10, And with all deceivableness
of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they received
not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. Now look
at verse 11. Paul's talking about the false
religion. And he says, for this cause,
because men did not receive the love of the truth, for this cause
God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie,
that they all might be damned, who believed not the truth, but
had pleasure in unrighteousness. But, you see it? Why aren't you
deceived? Why on this earth aren't you
out worshipping somewhere at an idol? Why aren't you worshipping
somewhere tonight where men call upon God as though God were a
puny, helpless, defeated, frustrated fellow who needed your help?
Why aren't you in some place of will-worship rather than in
this place where God Almighty is worshipped, where God Almighty
is upheld in the honour of His character? Why? We are bound
to give thanks always to God for you. Brethren beloved of
the Lord because God has from the beginning chosen you God
chose you that's the only reason you and I are not engulfed with
the religion of this age Turn over to first John chapter 2
first John chapter 2 not only has God chosen us, but he sealed
us He's preserved us. He's anointed us lest we should
perish with the world first John 2 in verse 19 They went out from
us. My soul, how many they are! They
went out from us. They ran for a while, but they
got tired and stepped aside. They went out from us. They began
well. Boy, they looked good, but they
didn't last long. They went out from us. Why? They were not of us. For if they
had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us.
If they had been true, genuine, if they had been truly born of
God, they couldn't have gone out from us. But they went out
that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. What about us? We're going to
leave? Huh? What about you? You're going to leave as well?
What about me? Am I going to leave? Not if we're born of God. Why is it that we persevere through
thick and thin? Why is it that we stay? Why is
it we take the reproof and take the rebuke of the Word and grow
by it and stay with it and follow after the Lord? But ye have an
unction from the Holy One, an anointing, the Spirit of God. And you know all things. You
know all things. And that unction, that anointing,
it abides with you. This is what John is telling
us. Though persecuted by the beast and surrounded by the delusions
of the false prophet, though all others embrace the religion
of Antichrist and persecute those who do not, those men and women
did not become unfaithful to Christ. They were not turned
away from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus. being preserved
by the grace of God, they would not drink the wine of free will,
the liquor of good works, or the champagne of ritualism. They
wouldn't do it. They wouldn't do it. They would
not be enticed to the bed of the great whore. I will strongly encourage you
at your leisure to read Proverbs chapter 7 one more time and read
it in the light of that harlot being the religion of the age,
and it won't be hard to see it. It's right there. Enticing words,
decked out, beautifully arrayed, meet you on every corner and
by subtlety force you into the way of destruction. Not God's
elect. Not God's elect. They would not
be enticed, they could not be enticed into the bed of the great
whore with which all the world has been brought into the way
of destruction. These are they which have not
defiled themselves with the strange women of the world, have not
defiled themselves with the religion of the world. God's saints cannot
defile themselves with false religion. Now look at it, for
they are virgins. because they're virgins, they're
virgins. Grace has done a wonderful thing
for its objects. Grace has made all God's elect
chaste, pure, and undefiled in the sight of God. Are you born
of God? Now, listen to me. Listen to
me. If God will give me your ear and let me speak to your
heart, I've got some good news for you. Are you born of God? Born of God, redeemed by the
blood of Christ, justified by his grace, robed in his righteousness? And it does not matter what you
have been. Men and women, hear me. It does
not matter what you've been, where you've been, what you've
done. It doesn't matter. You chased virgins before God. Chased virgins before God. You mean, preacher, God won't
charge me with that horrible crime which has been tormenting
me all these years? Not if you're his, he won't.
Not if you're his, he never. never chaste virgins. Grace has made the people of
God chaste, pure, undefiled in his sight. We who are naturally
as vile and corruptible as all the other children of Adam, By
grace have had our sins removed and all the consequences of sin
removed from us so that God looks upon all his elect as chaste
virgins in Christ Jesus. Let me show you some scriptures.
Turn over to first Corinthians six. First Corinthians six, verse
nine. Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Who are they? Fornicators,
idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, abusers of themselves with mankind,
thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners. And that's
what you were, David Coleman and Don Fortner. That's what
we that's what we were and are by nature. All of us. This corruption,
you see, is not just a corruption of deed. It's not just a corruption
in the act. It's a corruption of heart and
of nature. But you're washed. But you're
sanctified, you're you're justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
and by the spirit of our God. Chaste virgins turn over to the
book of Hosea. Hosea chapter 2, you know the
story. Gomer, she had been married by
Hosea. She'd been wed to him. But Gomer
was a harlot. She was just a common prostitute.
She was a street girl. And she soon left Hosea and her
lovely family. And she went back to the streets.
And Hosea found her. And look at what he says concerning
her. Now, Gomer's a picture of us. Gomer's a picture of us. He says in verse 18, In that
day I will make a covenant with them. with the beast of the field,
and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things
of the ground. And I will break the bow and the sword and the
battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely."
He's talking, buddy, about you and me. He's talking about God's
elect. He's, I want to make everything good for them. Everything. In
verse 19, and I will betroth thee unto me forever. That's good. Here's something
better. I will betroth thee unto me in
righteousness and in justice, in righteousness and in judgment. That is, I'll betroth you unto
me in perfect righteousness, in perfect justice, according
to my own holy character. Look at it again. And in lovingkindness
and in mercies, I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness. In faithfulness. And thou shalt know the Lord.
The Lord God takes Unfaithful, corrupt, defiled, sinful, abominable,
wretched, filthy, condemned, hell-deserving, unbelieving,
helpless, vile sinners like us, and makes us his own chaste virgin
in faithfulness unto him. In faithfulness, so that we're
not defiled with women. not defiled with the religion
of the world. Why, we can't leave Him for that
trash. We've been down that road. We
know where it goes. We've experienced its bitterness.
We know that self-righteousness is empty, a vain delusion, just
the decking of a harlot and nothing more. No beauty and no substance
in it. The Lord God's delivered us from
it. Now we cannot go back. He makes us faithful. If we're
His, Look over in the book of the Song of Solomon. The Song
of Solomon. Let me just show you how the
Lord Jesus looks upon and speaks of His church. Song of Solomon,
chapter 2, verse 10. Here's Christ speaking to you
and me. My beloved spake, and said unto
me, rise up, my love, my fair one, come away. You mean he looks
on me that way? That's who he's talking to. Rise
up, my love, my fair one, come away with me. Look in chapter
5 and verse 1. I am come into my garden, my
sister, my spouse. I've gathered my myrrh with my
spice. I've eaten my honeycomb with
my honey. I've drunk wine with my milk. Oh, eat, friends, drink,
yea, drink abundantly. Oh, beloved. Now look in verse
seven. I'm sorry, I've got the wrong
passage here. In verse 4 of chapter 6, I'm sorry,
here it is. Verse 4 of chapter 6. Thou art
beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah. Comely as Jerusalem, terrible
as an army with batters. Verse 9. My dove, my undefiled. Undefiled? Me, undefiled in the sight of
our God. Undefiled before him because
his grace has made us so. Undefiled because his beauty
has been put upon us. He said, Thou wast exceedingly
beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom, and thy renown
went among the heathen for thy beauty, for it was a perfect
beauty through my comeliness which I had put upon thee, saith
the Lord God. God's church, all his saints,
are comparable to virgins for many reasons. They're compared
to virgins because we are betrothed and espoused to Christ as our
husband by our own voluntary profession. Just like the Lord
Jesus was betrothed and espoused to us because of his own voluntary
will from old eternity, we now by profession, by converting
grace, being born of his spirit, willingly, voluntarily have betrothed
ourselves unto him. We have said, yes, I will follow
you. Yes, I will be wed to you. Yes, I will be married unto you. Oh, with all my heart, I'll give
myself to you. That's what it is to be betrothed
to Christ. We're just awaiting the wedding
day. We're just awaiting the wedding day. We've been betrothed
unto him willingly, voluntarily. We long for the day when finally
he shall indeed have our hearts entirely given to him. Like chaste virgins, all believers
love Christ and cleave only unto him. Man gets married. I wonder who'll be next. Carla
and Mark, the youngest ones here. I'll take you for an example. Mark married that girl. By my instruction and direction
under God, he made a vow to cleave only unto her, only to her. That means, honey, you've got
my heart. And she willingly, voluntarily made a vow, just
of the same kind, to cleave only unto Him until the dead. Until
the dead. That means, honey, you've got
my heart. You've got my heart. And if you've
got my heart, you've got everything. The children of God cleave only
to Christ. Oh, beloved, you've got my heart. You've got my heart. And if you've
got my heart, you've got everything. You see what I'm talking about?
Chaste virgins, betrothed unto Christ, cleaving only to him,
loving him above all others. With singleness of heart, we
love him because he first loved us. And with devotion of love,
we adhere to Christ alone because he holds our hearts in love.
Like virgins adorned for their wedding, God's saints are clothed
with the righteousness of Christ. Our beauty and our comeliness
is the beauty and comeliness of our Lord. The gay attire which
we wear are the garments of salvation. It is that fine linen, clean
and white, which Christ made for us and grace has put upon
us. Like chaste virgins, God's elect
are chaste and pure. Grace has made them so. They
believe and their doctrine is the pure doctrine of the gospel.
Their doctrine is the pure doctrine of Christ. They will not receive
another and they will not embrace another. Our worship, our worship
is the chaste worship of Christ alone. We value, we cherish,
we treasure the worship of Christ and we endeavor with all we have
within us to make our worship of him according to his own word. The believer's manner of life
is molded after the holy example of Christ, desiring to honor
him in life, in all things. This is what grace has done for
us. Grace takes the filthy and makes it pure. Grace takes the wretched and
makes it lovely. Grace takes the heart of the
fornicator, adulterer and idolater, makes it faithful. Grace takes
the naked and clothes them. Grace takes the godless and makes
him godly. Grace takes the defiled and makes
him undefiled. Grace takes the harlot and makes
a virgin. Oh to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be. Let thy goodness like a fetter
bind my wandering heart to thee. Secondly, all of those whom John
saw in heaven are described here as followers of the Lamb. These
are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. It appears
that John looked, and he saw that heavenly multitude in heaven,
and he said, well, I know those fellows. I know those fellows. That's old Brother Browning.
That's Brother Hubert. That's Brother Ponser. I know those fellows. Those are
the folks who down here on earth are following the Lamb. These
are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. He recognized
God's saints by the characteristic of God's saints. They're Christ's
sheep. They follow Him. Look in John
chapter 10. John chapter 10. This is how
our Lord describes His people. Somebody asked Brother Darwin,
he was telling me back there in the study, Do you think you can
look into a man's heart? No. No. I can't look into a man's
heart. But I want to tell you this,
if his heart is under the rule of Christ, he follows the shepherd.
That's right. He just follows the shepherd.
All God's saints do. Look in John 10, verse 4. And when he putteth forth his
own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him. They
follow him. Verse 5. And the stranger will
they not follow? They won't follow a stranger.
They won't do it. They won't do it. You won't find
his sheep following a stranger. But they will flee from him,
for they know not the voice of strangers. I'll give you an illustration
of that. Some time back I was down at
Brother Oscar Bailey's farm. He doesn't raise sheep. Apparently
it works with cattle as well. Oscar told me, he said, why don't
you go over there and call those cows. He had them all in a pen. I walked over there and I called
him. Talked to him. Come on, come on, come on. Looked
up at me and off they went. Wasn't about to come to me. They
didn't know my voice. They weren't familiar with me.
Oscar said, go back to the truck. So I stepped back to the truck
and Oscar walked up there and he said, here they come. Every one of them. They knew
his voice. They knew his voice. And that's
the way with God's sheep. They know not the voice of strangers. It scares them to death. Scares
them to death. No, we won't follow him. He'll
lead us to the slaughter. He'll take us to the packing
house. We won't follow him. They follow the shepherd. Look
in verse 27. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow
me. God's elect are followers of
Christ. They do not follow men. They
follow Christ. They do not follow their noses.
They follow Christ. They hear his voice and they
follow him. They follow the example of Christ.
That's the rule of their lives. In John 13, our Lord said, I've
given you an example that you should do as I've done. That's
good enough. That's good enough. We don't
live under the yoke of Moses' law. It's a hard, rigorous, unbearable
yoke. We cannot live under that yoke.
It's too heavy, too great a burden for us to bear. But we live under
the yoke of Christ, and it's an easy, light yoke. We delight
to bear it. It's not grievous to us in the
least, following after our Lord. We follow His example, pattern
of His life, sermon in that by itself. What kind of an example
did Christ give? Look back, read the four Gospels.
Look how he lived. Here's the Son of God. I'm talking
about the God of glory. Takes those disciples in the
upper room. He picks up a basin of water.
He gets a towel, wraps it around himself. And he said, Merrill, pull off
your shoes, buddy. I'm going to wash your feet. What? I ain't going to stoop
to washing any man's feet. Christ did. What's it mean? I'm going to serve you with love
and humiliation and joy. I'm going to serve you doing
what's best for you. That's the people of God. They
follow Christ. Our Lord served his people with patient
care as well. Peter stands up and he says,
Lord, now you must be mistaken. If all these other folks around
here forsake you, I'll stand with you. Peter, son. That's all right. Hang on. I
prayed for you. You'll learn. You'll learn. God give me that
kind of patience with God's stumbling, straying, befuddled, weak, defiled
people. Patient care. Well, they ought
to do what I do. I'll do what Christ did. No. The believer. God, bite on my tongue that I
not speak a word against one of your children. Well, he's sure messed up. Fellas messed up, this one needs
my help. This one needs my care. Boy, he made a mess of that.
Yeah, I made a mess of a few things. The Lord Jesus redeemed
me. He forgave me. He covered my sin. Looks to me like I could do that
for another man, doesn't it? forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness. You know, one of the most shocking
things I see in myself is the tendency to look upon men with harshness particularly my brothers and
sisters in Christ, rather than forgiveness. My soul, if any
man, ought to be forgiving of any and all offenses. This man
ought to be. I've been forgiven so much, how
dare I not forgive another? Be you kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven
you. More than that, God's saints
follow Christ in all the duties, privileges, and responsibilities
of worship. I don't like that word duty.
I don't either, but it's still there. I don't like that matter
of responsibility. I don't either, but it's still
there. My duties and my responsibilities are my privilege, but brother,
I've got a duty. I've got a responsibility. I'm
married to that girl there. My soul, nearly 20 years. And
I've got some responsibilities. I mean, I just got some responsibilities.
Mark, 20 years ago, took the same vow you do. That makes me
responsible. Hey, well, I don't go by responsibility. Yeah, you better. You better. I'm responsible, responsible
to love her, responsible to care for her, responsible to provide
for her, responsible to protect her. Say, well, I don't want
you to do it if you don't want to. I want to. I want to. But it's still my responsibility.
And the Lord Jesus Christ. assumed a vow as our surety and
our substitute, which he became responsible, honor bound by his
own oath to fulfill. And he did it. Our Lord Jesus
with willing heart gave himself entirely to our redemption. And we with willing hearts and
excited spirits, being born of God, follow Christ in the worship
of God. We can't follow him perfectly.
But with sincere hearts we strive to worship and serve God as he
did. Like him, God's people live by
faith. Like him, God's people call upon
God in prayer. Like him, God's people find their
place in the house of God. Like him, God's people seek in
all things to glorify God. Like him, all the saints of Christ
follow Christ in voluntary submission to his ordinances. I have folks
every now and then kindly buck up about the ordinances of the
gospel, ones that don't buck up on a compromise. The Lord
Jesus was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. It was part
of his obedience as our substitute. And I'm telling you that all
who enlist under the banner of King Jesus, first thing they
do is they crawl in the water. That's just all there is to it.
Well, I won't be baptized. Oh, you will if you follow the
King. Yes, sir. You will if you follow the Master.
You'll own Him. You'll confess Him in public
baptism. And sprinkling a little water
won't do. You're going to have to get plum under the water because that's
what He commands. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. the Lord's table. I was discussing this with a
friend this week. You know, most people preach about and talk
about the Lord's Supper as though it's something that God's people
just tremble in fear to receive. And, oh, we dare not receive
it. Joey, we're commanded to receive it. Our Lord said, let
a man examine himself and then eat. He didn't say examine yourself
and don't eat. He said examine yourself and
eat. And as often as you eat this bread and drink this wine,
do it in remembrance of me. The believer also follows Christ's
word, the direction of his spirit, the path of his providence, in
all things seeking to do the will of God with a willing heart. Moreover all who are born of
God follow the lamb in the place where the lamb is preached You'll not find God's people
in just any church you won't do it You won't find them sitting
under just any ministry or supporting just any ministry. They've got
fine-tuned ears They always listen for certain things David, Judy,
Diane, Faith, all play the piano. I took a few lessons myself. Found out these hands weren't
made for tickling the ivories. But I learned something. Everything
on that keyboard works off of middle C. Everything does. Am
I correct? Everything works off middle C.
First thing that old lady did, teaching me about piano, she
said, now this is middle C. Hit it. Just sit there and hit
middle C. Everything works off middle C.
Everything does. And I'm telling you that in the
book of God, everything works off the middle C. Christ and
Him crucified. And God's people always listen
for it. And if they don't hear it, they're not going to be around
long. If they don't hear it, the message doesn't suit them.
It's a clanging sound. Just a sound of a gong in their
ears. It's offensive. It grates at
them. It's unbearable. They won't hear it. More than
that, they've got sensitive palates. They love the taste of free grace,
but they can't stomach free will. And no matter how much you camouflage
free will, they're not going to eat at that hog trough. They're
sheep. They feed upon the delicacy of
God's free grace. And you can be sure of this.
All who are born of Christ will follow Christ the Lamb all the
way to glory. Every one of them will. Not one
will draw back to perdition. Boy, what happened to old Brother
Joe? Brother Joe's not a brother. That's what happened to him.
Oh, but I remember. No, if he'd been one of his sheep,
he'd still be following him. He'd still be walking in the
way. They follow Christ persevering to the end, all his sheep do. They follow him through fire
and through water, through burning desert, and through freezing
night. They follow him through the slough
of despond and up the hill of difficulty. Every believer follows
Christ all the way home. They all do. Who are these people
gathered around the throne? They're followers of the Lamb.
The Lamb sought them, and the Lamb caught them, and the Lamb
bought them, and the Lamb brought them to himself, and the Lamb
keeps them. He put us in the way and he keeps
us in the way. He brings us at last safe into
heaven's eternal glory. All of God's saints are followers,
followers of the Lamb, followers of the Lamb. Thirdly, John shows
us that all who are in heaven are there because they were redeemed
by the precious blood of the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. These were redeemed. Now, if
you have a marginal reference, notice what it says. These were
bought, purchased from among men, being the first fruits unto
God and to the Lamb. Now, John tells us plainly that
these men and women were bought by an act of special, particular,
effectual redemption. All were fallen, but not all
were bought. All were guilty, but not all
were bought. The text does not say these were
redeemed along with the men of the earth. Of course not. It
says these were redeemed from among men. Do you see that? Look right there under his nose.
These were redeemed from among men. All who were redeemed are
seen in heaven. None of those who were not redeemed
are with the Lamb in glory, and none of those who were redeemed
are not with the Lamb in glory. Christ redeemed us by paying
a price. We were held hostage under the
curse of the law. And the price demanded by God's
law and justice, the price demanded by God's offended justice is
the blood of an innocent sacrifice of infinite merit. And Christ
paid the price. Now, when you pay the price for
something, you purchase it and it now becomes yours. It belongs
to you. When you pay the price for it
and carry it home with you, that means you have purchased it and
you've taken it out from under the dominion of the former possessor. Now, we were held in bondage,
not to Satan, but to the law of God. And Christ Jesus paid
the price of our ransom from the hands of God's offended justice,
and he carried us home. He bought us. He bought us. More
than that. Christ's work of redemption was
an effectually accomplished ransom of all for whom he died. Christ
hath, I can't stress it enough, he hath, past tense, redeemed
us. Not just he provided redemption,
not just he made redemption possible. Dale, when a man makes something
possible, That means there's something else lacking. There's
something else to be done. Christ didn't make it possible
for us to be saved. He didn't make it possible for
us to be justified. He didn't make it possible for
us to be redeemed. He has redeemed! He has saved! He has justified! There's nothing left for us to
fulfill. And this redemption was done for a particular people.
Christ Jesus redeemed us from among men. from among men, out
of every kindred, nation, tribe, and tongue." Now, John specifically
tells us that this redeemed multitude in heaven was bought from among
men because they're God's elect. Well, Don, where'd you get that?
Well, look at the next phrase. These are they which were redeemed
from among men, being, or because they were, the firstfruits unto
God and to the Lamb. In other words, these people
belong to God because God made a separation of them. The firstfruits
were for the Lord. As such, they were set apart
from men in general. What does not belong to the firstfruits
is not of the Lord. It is not for the Lord. It does
not belong to the Lord. It's not elect. That's what we're
told here. Now, you know what the firstfruits
were in the Old Testament. Israel brought the firstfruits
to the Lord. The firstfruits belong to Him.
Let's say Oscar Bailey's got his crop in for the fall and
he comes to the temple of God. He's Oscar Bailey Stain. And
he comes to the temple and he brings the firstfruits to the
high priest. and to the temple of God. Now
that firstfruits belongs to him. First of everything belongs to
him. You take it to the temple. You give it to God. Now the priest
doesn't say a word to you about all the rest of the cattle, the
tobacco, the corn, anything else. That belongs to you. You can
do whatever you want to with it. You can store it up. You
can burn it. You can throw it away. You can
distribute it. You can give it away. But the firstfruits belongs
to God. Now this is exactly what I'm
saying. In this chapter, God's elect are the firstfruits. They
are redeemed. They are the called. They are
gathered around the throne. All the rest were cast into the
winepress of the wrath of God as useless things. Read the chapter. That which is not redeemed must
be destroyed. Turn over to Exodus 13. I'll
show you. Exodus chapter 13. Exodus chapter 13 and verse 13 And every firstling of an ass
shalt thou redeem with a lame Pretty good description for us
every firstling of an ass a filthy useless stubborn beast shalt
thou redeem with a lame and If thou wilt not redeem it Then
thou shalt break his neck. What do you do with an ass that's
not redeemed? You kill it. You kill it. That's all. You
kill it. Either redeem it or kill it.
And I'm telling you that the Lord God has redeemed the firstfruits
of the earth and all the rest he shall destroy. Grace has redeemed
us. Redemption is the work of grace
alone. All who were chosen of God were
redeemed by God, called by God, and shall be glorified by God.
Fourthly, John tells us here that all who enter heaven are
without guile. I can't spend a lot of time on
this. In their mouth was found no guile. Grace made them honest, sincere
worshipers of God. They're not liars. They're not deceivers. They're
not hypocrites. Behold Nathanael, an Israelite
indeed, one in whom is no guile. No guile. In the Old Testament, the idols
of the false religionists, Idolatries were called lying vanities. Well,
among the saints, there was found no idolatry, superstition, false
doctrine, or will worship. They did not speak lies and hypocrisy
as the followers of Antichrist, pretending to be what they knew
they were not. You watch these fellows on television. They said they got an Ipanema
smile. That was a long time ago. They got a Colgate smile, you
know. Oh, everything's so good, so rosy, so cheery. You smile,
happy, happy. Oh, we love you. We love ourselves. We love everybody. We love Jesus
and Jesus loves you and everything just hunky dory, you know. They're lying. They're lying. Ain't nobody that happy. Ain't
nobody that happy. If you're happy all the time,
you're crazy. You're crazy. Not intended that man be happy
all the time. God didn't make this world for
your happiness. He made it for your good and
his glory. Nobody's happy all the time. Sometimes, fella gets
a little angry. Yeah, sometimes they do. Sometimes
fella gets a little down. Sometimes fella weeps. Sometimes
fella laments. Sometimes fella mourns, if he's
honest. If he's honest. I remember Wes, your dad, a few
years ago, Jack Shanks and I were up in Michigan preaching, and
they were from a straight, straight, just the exact opposite of what
I've been talking about. They were from a straight, straight-laced
Dutch Reformed or Netherlands Reformed church. There, nobody's
ever happy. Everybody's straight-faced, sober,
never pack a joke, never laugh. A while back, Jack and I were
sitting together around the table, and your dad walked in. First
time I'd ever seen him. He told me later, he said, I
couldn't believe you two preachers sitting there having a good time.
Couldn't believe you actually enjoy life. You mean it's all
right to laugh? Yeah, it's all right. It's all
right. Don't want to laugh all the time, but now and then it's
OK. Laughter does the heart good. Darryl McClung and I were together,
and your dad said to us, he said, you fellows really enjoy each
other, don't you? Yeah, yeah, I enjoy my friends. That's all
right. We're not hypocrites. We're not
deceivers. We don't pretend to be what we're
not. A fellow told me the other day,
he said, I can't tell you what good it
does me to have you deal honestly with your own experiences and
the evil of your own heart He said, I didn't realize anybody
had those problems but me. That's because everybody else
fakes it. Just fake it. Yeah, your heart's corrupt and
mine's corrupt. Maybe we can help each other.
Maybe we can do some good for one another. But God's people
aren't deceivers. There's not guile in them. Oh, there is by nature. But grace
has made them new. They're not deceivers. They're
not hypocrites. They don't live a lie. They're
not giving up with the rest of the world to believe a lie, but
rather they worship God with sincerity, with openness, with
truthfulness. It's what I am. Take it or leave
it. I've been around fellas that
pretend and pretend and pretend. There's a problem with trying
to fake it. After a while you forget who
you've been faking it around. There's a problem with it bigger
than that. You can't fake it with Almighty God. You can't
do it. You can't do it. Somebody said
to me the other, oh, it's been a month or two ago. Said, I've been living a lie
all my life. Oh, my soul, no wonder this world's
crazy. Religion has made folks deceitful.
They say, this is what you ought to be. Now, if you aren't that
way, at least act like it. Try to live a lie. Living a lie
will drive you insane. God's people are men and women
who are open. Just open. That's all. Just open. Open with
one another and open before God. Israelites indeed. Grace has
made them so. They draw near to God, not only
in word, but in sincerity and in truth with believing hearts."
Now look at this last thing. John shows us that all the saints
of God in heaven are without fault before the throne of God. Without fault. In themselves,
by nature, we have many faults. Matter of fact, we're nothing
but faults. Wrinkles and blemishes, that's all but in Christ by God's
grace Without fault without fault He chose us for that purpose
in Ephesians 1 the Apostle says God's chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without
blame before him Now that's something we can't
do That's something we can't do. We can't make ourselves holy
and blameless before God. Now, we can do a pretty good
job at making ourselves without blame before each other because
we're also blameworthy. But we can't make ourselves without
blame before God. But Christ, by His grace, has
made us holy and without blame. He loved us. Listen to this.
You don't need to turn there. In Ephesians chapter 5, The Lord
Jesus loved us and died for us, shed his blood to redeem us,
so that he might sanctify his church, cleanse it with the washing
of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a
glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or anything like it,
but that it should be holy and without blemish. The Apostle
Paul tells us that in the last day, God's purpose in election
And Christ's purpose in redemption shall be accomplished. And you
that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through
death to present you holy, and unblameable, and unreprovable
in his sight." David Coleman, holy, unblameable. Unreprovable in God's sight. That's grace. That's grace. That's all. Just pure, free,
unmerited, spotless, sovereign grace. Holy. Unreprovable. Unreprovable by
God Himself. Unreprovable. Unblameable in
God's sight. Why? because Christ has washed
away our sins and Christ has robed us in his righteousness
and at last Christ Jesus shall deliver us from this body of
death and corruption and raise us up in a body made like unto
his glorious body and grace will complete its work look what grace
has done All these things God has done
for us. These are they which were not
defiled with women, for they are virgins. Grace did it. These
are they which follow the Lamb, whithersoever he goeth. Grace
made us. These are they which were redeemed
from among men, being the firstfruits of God and the Lamb. Grace made
it. And in their mouth was found
no guile. Grace did it. And they are without
fault before the throne of God. What do you say? By the grace
of God, I am what I am. That's all. To God be the glory,
great things he hath done. Amen.