Would you turn back to Revelation
chapter 14? While you're turning there tonight,
I'm going to be speaking from Proverbs chapter four, where
we're exhorted. Keep your heart with all diligence. For out of it are the issues
of life. And when is the last time you
took a good look and a watch over your heart. Keep your heart
with all diligence. Also, I asked Wilma to put out some CDs
by the message Brother Crabtree brought Wednesday night. He brought
a message that I found to be a great blessing. And if you
didn't get to hear it, I'd like for you to hear that message.
He actually dealt with hell in such a way that was actually
edifying. And I can't remember the last time I heard a message
where I heard something about hell and I was edified by it.
I mean, scared, yes, but it was a great blessing. So there's
some copies of that out in the foyer. I've entitled this message. Are you in the one hundred forty
four thousand? Are you in the 144,000. Now, this 144,000 is first mentioned
in Revelation chapter 7. And then John again speaks, and
he says in verse 1 of chapter 14, And I looked, and lo, a lamb
stood on the mount Zion, and with him an hundred forty and
four thousand. That's who was with him. 144,000 having his father's name written
in their foreheads. Are you in the 144,000? Is that a literal number? It's a big number. But in the
grand scheme of things, it's really not that big. You know,
that's probably about half the size of Lexington. 144,000 people, so that's not that many
in the grand scheme of things. Is this a literal number? Would this refer to the elect
of the elect? A group of super saints who,
through acts of obedience, reach this status of the 144,000. I remember one time someone came
to me and wanted to know if I would be in the 144,000. And I said
to them, well, I know you won't. And she was shocked. And I explained to her why she
was denying the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. And she got
upset and left and said, well, you won't need it. OK, well,
who are these 144,000? The scripture speaks of. Chapter 14 of the book of Revelation
is a continuation of the vision of chapter 13. Let's look at
chapter 13 together. And I stood upon the sand of
the sea and saw a beast rise up out of the sea. Having seven
heads and ten horns and upon his horns ten crowns and upon
his heads the name of blasphemy. Now this is describing false
worship. And the beast which I saw was
like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear,
and his mouth as the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him
power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his
heads as it were wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed.
And all the world wondered after the beast. They were so impressed,
and they worshipped the dragon, which gave power unto the beast.
And they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the
beast? Who is able to make war with
him? And there was given unto him
a mouth speaking great things, and blasphemies And power was
given unto him to continue forty and two months, and he opened
his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name and
his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given
unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. And power was given unto him
over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. Everybody is worshiping
him. And all that dwell upon the earth
shall worship him. whose names are not written in
the book of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now here we read of some whose
names were not written in the book of the Lamb slain. And every
single one of them, this is the non-elect, these are the ones
that Christ did not die for. These are the ones who give themselves
to the beast. Now, look down in verse 11. And I beheld another beast coming
up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb. He looked
just like a lamb, but he spake as a dragon. Now, here we see
this is the false gospel being preached at this time. He looked
like a lamb, but he spake as a dragon. Now what took place?
Verse 12, And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast
before him, and causeth the earth, and them which dwell therein
to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And
he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from
heaven on the earth in the sight of men. This literally took place.
They saw fire come down from heaven. This man must be of God.
Who could do this but somebody who was of God? Verse 14, And
he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of
those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast,
saying to them that dwell on the earth that they should make
an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword and
did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the
beast. And the image of the beast should both speak and cause that
as many as would not worship the image of the beast should
be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and
poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or
in their foreheads. And that no man might buy or
sell. You couldn't buy food. You couldn't sell food. You couldn't
buy or sell. You were in trouble. The only
ones who could buy or sell were the ones that had the mark or
the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here's wisdom. that him that hath understanding
count the number of the beast for it's the number of a man and his number is six hundred
three score and six six six six the number of a man Adam was
created on the sixth day six is the number of man Six, six,
six, man, man, man. Now what is man in his best state?
Altogether, vanity. Now this beast that seems so
fearsome and fierce, remember this, this is nothing more than
man. Failure upon failure upon failure
under God's thumb. This is not given to scare you.
This is given to make you understand this is the religion of man and
it will come to nothing. But you notice there's a bunch
of people who were concerned about having the number of beasts.
All they were concerned about was the things of this earth.
They wanted to buy. They wanted to sell. They wanted
to make progress. And so they received his name
in their foreheads, their doctrine, their thinking in their hand,
their method, their methodology. They received the number of the
beast. Now, the vision is not over.
We have the great multitude to have the number of the beast.
Verse one. And I looked and lo, a lamb stood. on the Mount Zion and with him
and 144,000 having his father's name written in their foreheads. They did not receive the mark
of the beast. Now, when John looks into heaven
and sees heavenly worship, what does he see? a lamb, a lamb. This is the same lamb as the
lamb spoken of in Revelation 13, 8 that we just read of, the
lamb slain. from the foundation of the world.
This lamb that John saw was the same lamb that was slain before
time began and who represented those names that were written
in the book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. This is the same lamb of Revelation 5. Would you turn
with me there? And I saw in the right hand of
him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside. It was front and back. There
wasn't any room for another word. This is speaking of the decrees
of God, all of His decrees, all of His purposes. Verse 2, And
I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy
to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man
in heaven, nor on earth, neither under the earth, was able to
open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because
no man was found worthy. to open and to read the book,
neither to look thereon. And one of the elders said unto
me, Weep not, behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root
of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven
seals thereof. And I beheld, and lo, in the
midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in the midst
of the elders, stood a Lamb, as it had been slain." having
seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God
sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book
out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And
we've taken the book, the four and beasts and the four and twenty
elders fell down before the lamb, having every one of them harps
and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of the
saints. Now, when he saw this lamb, does that mean he saw something
with white wool and perhaps horns and blood was pouring out of
him? No. He saw the Lord Jesus Christ
enthroned in glory with the scars of his achievements as the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. This is the Lamb that's
spoken of in Revelation chapter 17. Would you turn with me there?
Verse 14. These shall make war with the
Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them. For he is Lord of lords,
and King of kings. Now this is the Lamb that John
spoke of when he said, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sins of the world. This is the Lamb that Abraham
spoke of when he and his son were walking up Mount Moriah,
and his son said, Father, behold, here's the wood, here's the fire,
but where's the lamb for a burnt sacrifice? And Abraham replied,
My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. Now this lamb is the lamb of
God's providing. And let me say this, for me or
you to be in that number of the 144,000, We're going to have to have something
to provide, and we can't provide it. But God did. He provided the Lamb. And He did this for Himself. He provides the Lamb for Himself. For God to have anything to do
with me or you, He first had to do something for Himself.
And He did this through the Lamb. The Lamb is the Lamb of God's
providing. God Himself is the Lamb. Now, notice it says back in our
text in Revelation 14. And I looked and lo, a lamb stood
on Mount Zion. Standing is the position of victory. And he stands on Mount Zion,
which is the church. Let me read you a passage of
scripture from Hebrews, chapter 12, verses 22 through 24, regarding
Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.
To an innumerable company of angels. To the general assembly
and church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.
There we have those names written again. And to God, the judge
of all, and the spirits of just men made perfect. And to Jesus,
the mediator of the new covenant. That's Mount Zion upon which
the Lamb stood in this posture of victory. And with him stood
the 144,000. And he didn't receive the mark of
the beast. And I think this is interesting. Look at verse 1
again. And I looked, and lo, a lamb
stood on the mount Zion with him and 144,000, having his father's
name written in their foreheads. Not the name of the beast, not
6-6, but their father's name. Look in Revelation 22. Verse 4. Verse 3, And there shall be no
more curse, but the throne of God and the Lamb shall be in
it, and His servants shall serve Him, and they shall see His face,
and His name, the name of the Lamb, shall be in their foreheads. Now, is that a contradiction?
It says in Revelation chapter 5 that the name of the Father
will be written on their foreheads. And here in Revelation 22, we
read that the name of the Lamb shall be written in their foreheads. In Isaiah 9, verse 6, we read,
His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. We bow the knee to Christ, the
second person of the Trinity, distinct from the Father, yet
co-equal to the extent that their names are interchangeable. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. When God the Father speaks to
God the Son, He says, Thy throne, O God, is forever. 144,000 with the lamb, with this name
on their foreheads. Now, this is a great number.
I don't recall ever seeing 144,000 people at once. I think the most
I've ever seen was a football game in Tennessee. There was
108,000 people at that. And I was, maybe it's over 100.
And I remember it just seemed immense. But this is 144,000. a great number, but an exact
number, not 143,999, not 144,001, but 144,000. The number of God's
elect is an exact number that cannot be added to and it cannot be subtracted from. This is the same elect that Paul
spoke of when he said, who shall lay anything to the charge of
God's elect. And this is an exact number.
Those given to Christ before time began by the father, the
elect. It's a vast number. It's a large
number, but it's a number that can't be added to. And it's a
number that cannot be subtracted from. Now, look in verse two.
This is a description of how this 144,000 sounded in their
heavenly worship. Verse two. And I heard a voice from heaven.
As the voice of many waters. And what I thought about is,
have you ever been to Niagara Falls? The roar is deafening. It is so powerful it goes through
your bones. I mean, just the roar of the
mighty Niagara falling down and the noise of many waters. So this was a powerful and a
loud song and the voice of great thunder. What is more powerful
than thunder? I mean, it goes through your
soul when you hear it. Oh, the power of the sound of
many waters, the power of the sound of great thunder. But notice
it also said, I heard the voice of harpers harping with their
harps. What is sweeter than the voice
of a harp? And you think of the power of the gospel, it's the
sound of many waters. It's the sound of thunder, yet
the sweetness of it. There's a sweetness that it sounds
like harpers harping on their harps. Verse 3. And they sang,
as it were, a new song. This 144,000 member choir, they
sang, as it were, a new song before the song. Now, this song
actually is as old as eternity. As a matter of fact, it's a song
that never began to be. It's a song that's always been.
But when it's sung, it's always new and it's always fresh. Now, when it's old and stale,
we don't know the song. The song is always new. The song
is always fresh. Now, everybody likes music and
there's a number one hit, but how long does it stay number
one? Not very long. As a matter of fact, you get to the point
where it becomes irritating if you hear it too much. And you
get to the point where you don't even remember what it was. What
was number one five years ago? Anybody remember? I don't. Nobody
does. Now, these new songs become old. But this old, old song is always
new. And it's always powerful. And
it's always fresh. And, you know, we know the words
to this song when it says they sung a new song before the throne.
Turn back to Revelation chapter five again. Verse nine. And they sung a new song. Saying,
thou art worthy to take the book. Notice the lamb did not come
up and ask for the book. as co-equal with the Father,
the Lamb came and took the book." I love that. Thou art worthy
to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for thou was
slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every
kindred and tongue and people and nation, and has made us unto
our God, kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth.
Now, that's the song they're singing in heaven right now.
The new song. And we're singing it in a little
bit more feeble of a way right now, aren't we? The new song. He redeemed us. Now, notice it says in verse
three, and they sung as it were a new song before the throne
and before the four beasts and the elders. But look what it
says next. No man could learn that song. but the 144,000 which were redeemed
from the earth. Now, this song is not a song
you can learn. You can't practice and read and
memorize. No, this is not a song you can
learn. This is a song that you can only know if you're redeemed. Now, the redeemed know this song.
They rejoice in this song. They glory in this song. Nobody
else can even learn it. Only those who were redeemed
from the earth. Now, who are they? Well, it's
the elect. It's those the Lamb died for.
No one else can understand or enter in to this song. You see,
this is special. God's going to have to do something
for you, for you to learn this song. Otherwise, you'll never
learn it. You'll never see the sweetness
or the power of it unless God in his mercy is pleased to do
something for you and you see the glory of the land and you
learn the song. Now, these people are described. Who are the 144,000? Am I one
of them? They're described in verses four
and five. And I can find out if I'm in
this group. by this description he gives of the redeemed, the
144,000. So look what it says about them
first in verse 4. These are they which were not
defiled with women, for they are virgins. Here's the first thing about
the 144,000. They're virgins. They've not been defiled with
women. Now, is this speaking of celibacy? Is this speaking of a group of
people who are so dedicated they've decided to be celibate and to
just dedicate their life totally to God and never enter into a
relationship with a woman in marriage because of their dedication? Is this what this is? These virgins? Well, turn to First Timothy,
chapter four. Hold your finger there. I want you to look at
this with me. Now the Spirit, chapter 4, verse
1, 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 1, now the Spirit speaketh expressly
that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith,
giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. speaking lies in hypocrisy, having
their conscience seared with a hot iron. And here's what they
do. They forbid to marry. And they
command to abstain from meat, which God had created to be received
with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. Now,
these people who abstain from marriage and abstain from certain
meats, oh, that seems so dedicated to God. Paul calls it the doctrine
of devils, satanic doctrine. So when he's speaking of these
people as being virgins, he's not talking about people who
have given a vow to celibacy. These are people who have been
seduced by the devil and are preaching the devil's message. Now, that's the language of Scripture.
That's the language of Scripture. So who are these virgins? Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
11. If I'm in the 144,000, I'm one
of these virgins. Verse 2. For I am jealous over you, Paul
says, with a godly jealousy. For I have espoused you to one
husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But here's what I'm afraid of.
Lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety,
through his deceit, so your mind should be corrupted from the
simplicity, the simplicity, the singleness, the onlyness that
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when he's talking about
virgins, he's talking about people who have some understanding of
the simplicity that's in Christ. Now, simple as opposed to double.
Simple as opposed to compound. Simple. All alone. Now, I have a simple hope. And that hope is Christ only. It's not Christ and anything. It's Christ only. I have a simple
reason for believing my sins are forgiven. Not because of
anything I've done, but because He died and put Him away. I have a simple righteousness.
His only. I have a simple ground of assurance.
Him. Nothing else. I'm not assured
because of something in me. I'm assured because of Him. I have a simple hope. Now, I
have a hope that when I stand before God, I'm going to be accepted. And let me tell you what that
hope is. Christ only. The simplicity that's in Christ. Now, these people are chaste
virgins. They look to Christ only. Now, where do you fit in that
group? Are you one of these people who you don't have anything other
than The Lord Jesus Christ is everything in your salvation.
That's the first mark. These people in this 144,000
are chaste virgins to Christ. Now turn back to our text in
Revelation 14. Verse four. These are they which follow
the Lamb, just like Matthew did when the Lord said, follow me. He was sitting there at the receipt
of customs. He left all and followed the Lord Jesus Christ. These
people who are in the 144,000 follow the Lamb whithersoever
he goeth. Now, with regard to everybody
else, They may begin to follow the Lamb, but something gets
in the way. And they quit following Him.
They may have began with, but they don't continue. Now the
144,000 follow Him whether so ever He goeth. Even if they have
to swim to hell, they'll do that following the Lamb of God. They follow Him whether so ever
He goeth. I think of When our Lord was
preaching in John chapter 6, and he looked at that crowd who
was murmuring at what he said, he said, ìThatís why I said to
you, you canít come to me. You canít come to me, except
if weíre giving you of my Father.î And the scripture says, ìFrom
that time, many of his disciples went back and walked no more
with him.î And then he looked at the twelve while all these
people were filing away. And I think it's so powerful
that he didn't say that. Maybe you didn't understand me.
Let me let me rephrase that. No, he watched him leave. He
watched him leave and he looked at the twelve and he said, you
fellows won't leave, too. Will you also go away? You know,
Lord's not going to have any unwilling disciples. He's not
going to do it. Will you also go away? And Peter
answered, as the spokesman for all of God's elect, when he said,
To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ,
the Son of the living God. The 144,000 follow the Lamb whithersoever
he goeth. They don't follow to a point.
They don't become distracted. They don't become enamored with
the things of this world. They follow Him all the way through. Now, let's go on reading. Verse
4. These were redeemed from among
men, being the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb. These are the ones who were redeemed. Now, please listen to me very
carefully right now. Why make a point? Why make an issue of
the fact that Christ did not redeem all men? Why make a point
of that? He didn't, according to Scripture.
But why make such an issue of that? Because if you listen to
me preach, you know I sure make an issue of it. Not every time
I preach there's some kind of reference to the fact that he
died for the elect. Why make an issue of this? Well, first,
because the Bible does. John points out, these are they
which were redeemed from among men. In that great heavenly song,
the new song, thou hast redeemed us out of every kindred, tongue,
people, and nation. I mean, even in the song in glory
right now, it's an issue. Why is it an issue? Well, the
Bible makes it an issue. But here's the main point, I
reckon. If he did redeem everybody, if
he did die for everybody, then he's a failure. He's a failure. He didn't do
what he intended to do. If he did redeem everybody, if
he paid for the sins of everybody, and yet some of those people
that he paid for their sins end up in hell, he's an unjust monster. There's nothing fair or just
or righteous about him. If he can send me to hell after
paying for my sins and satisfying God's justice and send me to
hell anyway, he is a monster. Those who preach that he died
for everybody and made salvation possible for everybody, they
are preaching a monster. That's what he is. But here's
the main reason. Here's the main reason. As God is my witness, the only
hope I have is that He died for me. That's the only hope I have. The only reason I'm going to
stand in glory singing this new song is because He died for me. And if you tell me that He can
die for me and I'm not lined up in hell anyway, you've taken
away the only hope I have. This is the only hope. That's
why these are fighting words in this sense. I mean, I'm willing
to die for his successful atonement of his elect. And this is who
the 144,000 are. The people that he redeemed.
The people that he died for. Now, let's go on looking at this
description of them. In verse 4, it says, These were
redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and
to the They're God's gift to Christ, and they're Christ's
gift to his Father through the firstfruits of the lamb. Now
look in verse 5, and this is true with regard to all of the
144,000, and in their mouth was found no guile. No guile. No deceit. They're honest. They're honest
about themselves. Every single one of them. They're
not going to put up some kind of religious front and some kind
of phony front trying to impress you with their religiosity. Every
single one of them know that in and of themselves, they're
nothing but sinners saved by the grace of God. And they won't
claim to be anything higher than that. Sinners saved by grace. They're transparent. They're
transparent. You know, I love being around
transparent people. That's the kind of people I like
the best. People always try to hold their cards real close to
the chest. You can't go, I don't want to be around them. Somebody
that's transparent. And that's how God's people are.
They're honest before God. They're honest with you about
what they are. They're honest concerning the character of God.
They're honest concerning the gospel. They tell the truth.
They tell the truth as to how God saved sinners. Every single
one of them. There isn't any that do not know
this. They tell the truth. They are without guile, without
deceit. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is
no guile. Now, this represents all of the
144,000. They are without guile in their
mouth. I love what Barnard used to say.
Honest people. Don't go to hell. Those are honest,
honest before God with what they are. And look at the final description
in verse five. For they are. What? Without fault. Without fault. before the very throne of God,
without fault. That means when God looks at
me, He sees someone without fault, holy, unblamable, and unreprovable
in God's sight. justified by the grace of God,
now on the end that's able to keep you from falling and to
present you faultless before His presence with exceeding glory. Now, here's who the 144,000 are. They're people that have been
justified. They're people whose sins have
been washed away by the blood of the Lamb. His righteousness
is given to them, and they now stand before God. without fault. Are you in the
144,000? Now, if this is the accurate
description of the 144,000, yes, I am. I'm one of them. Turn back to Revelation chapter
7. Now the 144,000 had already been
mentioned in the preceding part of this chapter. And we read
beginning in verse 13. And one of the elders answered,
saying unto me, What are these which were arrayed in white robes? And whence came they? And I said
unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are
they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore
are they before the throne of God and serve him day and night
in his temple. And he that sitteth on the throne
shall dwell among them, and they shall hunger no more, neither
shall Neither thirst any more, neither shall the sunlight on
them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the
midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto
living fountains of waters. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes." Are you in the 144,000? Well,
let's begin with that first point. Do you look to Christ only? And you can answer that question
right now. Are you somebody, when God sees you, you're a chaste
virgin to Christ? Well, if you are, you're in this
great group. Let's pray.