Good morning. How's everybody? It's good to see you all. Glad Todd's doing okay. He's
not here, but will he be here tonight? Okay. Okay. Well, I told you all last time,
because I ran out of time, that I would go back over a couple
more things out of Revelation 14. So go ahead and be turning
back to Revelation 14, and hopefully we'll go through these last three
descriptions of what the believer is in Christ. Today, Revelation 14, 1 through
5, today I'd just like to go over the three items that were
left, which is that God's elect are redeemed from the earth,
And they are also they which follow the Lamb whithersoever
He goeth. And God's people have no guile,
and they are without fault before the throne of God. So let's go
ahead and read Revelation 14, 1-5. And I looked, and lo, a
Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him 140 and 4,000 having
his father's name written in their foreheads. And I heard
a voice from heaven as the voice of many waters and as the voice
of a great thunder. And I heard the voice of harpers
harping with their harps. And they sung as it were a new
song before the throne and before the four beasts and the elders. And no man could learn that song
but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed
from the earth. 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. And in their mouth was found
no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God." So just briefly to recap what
I went over last time. Last time we saw that the Lord
has a people that are described as being with Him. We are all
enemies by our nature, our sinful nature in Adam. But we were plucked
up like beggars off the dunghill, and we were set among princes,
and we were actually set among the prince of princes, which
is the Lord Jesus Christ. And the scriptures conclude that
all those who were saved in Christ and called by the gospel are
now and forevermore with Him. We are seated, the scriptures
say, we are seated with Him in heavenly places. And secondly,
we saw that the family name of our God has been put in us. This was having his father's
name written in their foreheads. God has put his family name in
the minds and the hearts of every sinner that he chose out of Adam's
fallen race. And so now we are children of
the Most High and of the household of faith. God's mark in you is
none other than Christ in you, the hope of glory. And if you
have Christ in you, then you are heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ. Christ is your life and he is
and his. Let me write. Let me say this
again. Christ is your life and his presence is your inheritance. Him actually being with you.
is the inheritance, is our inheritance. And thirdly, in verse 4, the scriptures call us virgins.
And if God has given you the faith to believe Him, then you're
a virgin in God's sight. You are someone that cannot be
moved away from the simplicity that's in Christ, and you cannot
be moved away from the hope that's in the gospel. You are someone,
if you're a virgin, if you're in Christ, then you are someone
that is constantly aware of your sin and of your need to be washed
clean in the blood of Christ. It's a constant awareness. As soon as we do something good,
we're aware that we need to be washed in the blood of Christ.
As soon as we do something evil, we're aware that we need to be
washed in the blood of Christ. So that's what we went basically
over last time. But before we go on, I'd like
to pray. Let's pray. Our Father, we pray this morning
that that you would get all the glory,
that Christ would be exalted. Lord, we pray that your people
would be comforted. Lord, that you would give us
strength for the battle. Father, we pray that we would
not be weary and well-doing. Lord, but that we would be made
to follow you wherever you go. To believe your word, whatever
you say. And to not look to ourselves. No matter how much we're tempted
to do so. Father, I pray that you would
bless your gospel today. Wherever it's preached. Lord,
we pray that you would save your people. We pray that you would
call sinners to yourself. We pray that your light would
shine in this world very brightly. Father, I ask that you would
not leave me to myself. Lord, I pray that you would cause
this message to be good news to each and everyone here. Lord,
if there's anyone here that has not tasted and seen that the
Lord is good. Lord, would you today be merciful
to that sinner and give them life? Father, we ask these things
in Christ's name. Amen. Before I get into these last
three descriptions of the believers, I just want to spend a few minutes
talking about the reality that we can't, that these aren't things
that we're going to feel. All through religion, it's always
been about feeling. It's always been about experiencing
what you hear, and it's in the flesh. And when the Lord gives
a sinner faith, these things are understood in the Spirit.
If God says that we're a new creature, that's in the Spirit. It's not in the flesh. The flesh is dying and it's already
dead and it's going to go into the grave. These things are spiritual
things and they require faith, the faith that God gives to understand
them. I want to take a moment and ask
you guys to turn to Mark chapter 9. And we're going to look briefly
at that the father whose son was
a demoniac and he brought him to Christ. And the Lord said,
if you believe that I'm able to do this, all things are possible
to them that believe. But I want to ask you a question
this morning. Has God made you to be a sinner?
This man that we're going to read about, he cried out, Lord,
I believe. His confession was one that I
believe, but I need help. I need help with my unbelief.
And that's what I just want to bring out briefly. Has God made
you to be a sinner by faith? And did you know that it takes
the same faith to believe that you're a sinner that it does
to believe that you're a saint? It's the same confession. to
believe that we're saved in Christ, we also believe that we're sinners
in Adam. I can't trust what I feel, but
I can trust the Word of God. I can trust what God says. Faith
completes, once faith completes its victory over the world in
us, It will be turned to sight and we will be with Christ in
our experience. But now, now we read these things
and we just enter into them by faith, but then by sight. So right now, it takes as much
faith to trust Christ as it does to not trust ourselves. It takes
faith to cry, help thou my unbelief. Let's start in verse 20 of Mark
chapter 9. And they brought unto Jesus,
and they brought him unto the Lord, unto Jesus. And when he
saw him, this demon-possessed child, straightway the Spirit
tear him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed foaming. And he asked his father, How
long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said of a child,
And oftentimes it hath cast him into the fire and into the waters
to destroy him. But if thou can do anything,
have compassion on us and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou
canst believe, if you have faith to believe, all things are possible
to him that believeth. And straightway the father of
the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief. Lord, I believe. I thought about
this confession. Can I say that? Am I allowed
to just tell the Lord, I believe you. I believe what you say. And the answer to that is yes.
If the Lord has given you faith, then you can look at what the
Lord says about you and what the Lord says about His Son,
and you can say, I believe. But there's going to be this
other part that's always going to be there. Lord, help thou
my unbelief. And that is what Paul described
as that warfare in the flesh. It's a constant battle. And unless the Lord help us,
we always fail. And so we ask the Lord to help
us. The faith that God gives is perfect. We're not perfect, but the faith
that God gives is perfect. Notice he didn't say, Lord, help
me believe. Because a believer believes.
That's what a believer is made to do. That's what the Spirit
of God in us does. It causes us to believe what
He says. And I pray that He would cause
us to believe what He says. And that He would cause us also
to ask Him for help with our unbelief. Will we ever be rid of our unbelief? The answer is yes. Yes. When faith is turned to sight
and the Lord calls us home, we will be rid of unbelief forever.
Notice that the father of this child, he called his unbelief
his. He owned it. He said, this is
what I bring to the table. I bring my unbelief. Lord, would
you help me? When we cry to the Lord to help
our unbelief, He sees that cry as one that is full of faith. And when the Lord sees the faith
that He gives being exercised, He always hears and He always
answers. Okay, so let's go back to Revelation
14. I just wanted to say that. I guess it was on my mind. I
hope you all understand what I'm trying to say. We must have
faith. And we must not try to look at
what God describes us to be in Christ, and see that I don't
see this in myself, in the flesh, and doubt God. That's what I'm
getting at here. I say these things obviously
because this is my experience every day. This is my experience
as I wake up, and as I go to sleep. Lord, help thou my unbelief. Okay, so let's look in faith
to these last three descriptions of God's elect. And again, I
pray that we will receive this testimony of who we are in Christ
with the faith that He gives. And may we from our hearts give
unto the Lord the glory that's due unto His name. So the first
point is that they are redeemed from the earth unto God. And you find this in two places. In verse 3, We'll read it. And they sung, as it were, a
new song before the throne and before the four beasts and the
elders. And no man could learn that song
but the hundred and forty and four thousand which were redeemed
from the earth. And then if you go in verse four,
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." In Psalm
49.8, God declares that the redemption of our souls is precious. God
calls the redeeming work of Christ on the cross a precious work. His blood is precious blood.
Go ahead and turn over to 1 Peter 1. And let's read verses 18 through
21. This verse describes the preciousness
of the blood of Christ and what it accomplished. 1 Peter 1 verse 18, For as much
as you know that you are not redeemed, with corruptible things,
such as silver and gold from your vain conversation, received
by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of
Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily
was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest
in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God,
that raised him up from the dead and gave him glory, that your
faith and hope might be in God. It is not our works, it is not
our worth, and it's not our merit that satisfy God's offended justice. It's not anything that we produce
of ourselves. It is the blood of Christ. It's the blood of the everlasting
covenant. It's the blood which God promised
to provide. in Christ the lamb that has satisfied
God's wrath against sin. And I think about how the Lord
promised with that ram that was caught in the thicket, the Lord
will provide a lamb. And Christ is that lamb that
God provided. And notice in verse 21, there's
a reference here to the resurrection, who by Him do believe in God
that raised Him up from the dead. And this, the resurrection of
Christ, it should settle everything in our minds. It means the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ, it was that moment in time the time of the resurrection,
that God chose to reveal just how perfectly satisfied He was
with the obedient and the substitutionary death of Christ. God raising
Christ from the dead showed that Christ indeed did what He
came to do. And the Father saw what He did,
and He raised Him up from the dead as a testimony to the whole
world that salvation has been accomplished in the death of
Christ. This matter of redemption, it's
inexhaustible. And all eternity won't be long
enough to tell the story of our great Redeemer. Okay, I'm moving right along
now. Okay, point two. These are they which follow the
Lamb, withersoever he goeth. You see that back here in Revelation
14, I believe it's verse four. Sorry about this frog in my throat. Verse four, these are they which
were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are
they which follow the Lamb, whithersoever he goeth. And I believe that
what this means is that it shows that Christ is our substitute.
Everywhere that God's elect go, Christ has gone before. Everywhere
that God's elect go, Christ is before them. leading them all
the way. God put his chosen elect people
in Christ before the foundation of the world, and he was willingly
made to be our substitute in all things. Wherever he went,
we went. Whatever he did, we did. And
wherever he goes, we go. Like Ruth, we say, entreat me
not to leave thee. or to return from following after
thee. For whither thou goest, I will
go, and where thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my
people, and thy God my God. Where thou diest, will I die,
and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me. The Lord
do so to me and more also, if ought but death part thee and
me." And this is the believer's union with Christ. This is Him,
this is us with Him, and this is Him with us. Go ahead and
turn over to John 10. I want to show you again where
the Lord, our Shepherd, who gathers His sheep and leads them. John
10, we're gonna read verses one through five. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth
up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber, But he
that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice, and
he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when
he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the
sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger will
they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the
voice of strangers." A hireling is someone that calls
the sheep and then leaves the sheep. Christ is not a hireling. Christ went into the sheepfold
and what I believe this to mean is Christ came under the law
in order to redeem them that were under the law. The sheepfold
to me seems to be a place that we can't leave on our own. It's
being held in by a porter. Okay? And when Christ came, the
porter opened. Christ went into the sheepfold
and Christ led His own sheep out. And I believe that this is explained
here in verse 15 if you look over John 10 verse 15. This is how the Lord went into
the sheepfold. and saved His sheep. As the Father
knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life
for the sheep." That's how the Lord brought His sheep out from
under the law. That's how we were redeemed from
the hand of justice. We were redeemed by Christ giving
His life in substitution for the life of His elect. Christ delivered His elect by
being made sin for them. This sheepfold represents being
dead in sin and how that Christ, our mighty substitute, battled
our sin in His own nature on the cross until He said, it is
finished. But our Lord was not left in
the grave. The Father raised Him up. declaring His righteousness,
but not only His, God the Father was declaring every sinner that
Christ purchased with His own blood to be perfectly righteous
also. When Christ was raised from the
dead, so were every one of God's elect. Every child of God that was chosen
from eternity came out of the grave with Christ our substitute
that day. And here we see the strength
of Christ, because with a strong hand hath the Lord bought thee,
and brought thee out of Egypt. That's how salvation was described
in the Old Testament, when the Lord brought the Israelites out
of Egypt. It says that they were brought
out with a strong hand, and Christ's hand is strong. Simply put, to
follow the Lamb, means that you place all your eggs in this one
basket, that Christ is all that you have, and that He's all that
you need, and that He's all that you want. If this describes you,
then you indeed follow the Lamb, whithersoever He goeth. And lastly,
go ahead and turn back to Revelation 14, Verse 5, And in their mouth was
found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne
of God. How is it that God being omniscient,
that God knowing all things and God seeing all things, how is
it that he can look and not see any guile in his people? How is it that he can look and
see his people perfectly justified, perfectly righteous in his sight? And the answer to that is the
blood of Christ. the blood of Christ sufficiently
washed away all the sin of God's elect." I think also that if
we understand the meaning of this word, guile, the Lord might
shed some light on the difference between what the true gospel
is and man's cheap, worthless imitation of the gospel. And
this word, guile, it means to trap by deceit. to trap by deceit. When I look at religion, that
is what I see. When I see the religion of myself,
I see a religion of the flesh that tries to trap people by
deceit. And that's what all these churches
out here that don't preach the gospel, that's what they do.
They come up with ways to trap people. to get them in and to
trap them, and they use deceit to do so. But we have no guile
because Christ has no guile. Peter says that Christ did no
sin, neither was guile found in His mouth. And He did all
things open and honestly. And how different is that from
the way of man who constantly uses deceit and cunning in all
that he does, especially in the matters of religion. Man's religion seeks to trap
God. using the deceit of salvation
by works. That's all salvation by works
is. It's man's attempt to try to
trap God into doing something for him, to saving him for whatever
man wants. They use deceit to try to trap
God into that. But a saved man has no guile,
for he has been created in Christ Jesus unto good works, not works
of guile. which God hath prepared that
we should walk in them. And those who have no guile are
without fault before the throne of God." And I just want to say
in the last minute here, the scriptures say here, "...and
in their mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before
the throne of God." There's a teaching in our day that says that God
has has justified His people, but it's only legal. And you're
really not justified. God did a legal transaction,
and He just counts that to your account. But here we read that
they, not your justification, but actually you, the child of
God, is without fault before the throne of God. And I'm going to end there. Thank
you.