{"id":18992,"date":"2019-06-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-23T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/revelation-043-three-essentials\/"},"modified":"2019-06-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-06-23T05:00:00","slug":"revelation-043-three-essentials","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/revelation-043-three-essentials\/","title":{"rendered":"Revelation 043 – Three Essentials"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[111],"series_event":[490],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18992","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-revelation","series_event-revelation","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Revelation 043 - Three Essentials","sermon_date":"20190623","sermon_month":"6","sermon_year":"2019","sermon_notes":6829,"sermon_slides":6830,"sermon_mp3":6835,"sermon_id":"62319354382560","series_or_event":490,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":111,"chapter_and_verse":"14:1-7","sermon_transcript":"Dr. Andy Woods\n\nThree Essentials 6-23-19\n\nRevelation 14:1-7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 43\n\nLet\u2019s take our Bibles and open them to the Book of Revelation, chapter 14. As you\u2019re turning there, \u00a0I just want to acknowledge a couple of things that took place last week.\u00a0 The first is the passing of Ursula Kemp, who was a member of Sugar Land Bible Church and long before she became connected with Sugar Land Bible Church she had what I could best describe as a trans\u00adgenerational ministry in this city.\u00a0 In fact, many people have come to this church shocked to discover Ursula Kemp came here and talked about how they were ministered to her in her home; she taught children in her home for years when they were but kids.\u00a0 And so we all loved Ursula, we appreciate Ursula, but she\u2019s in a better place because \u201cabsent from the body is to be\u201d what? \u201cpresent with the Lord.\u201d\u00a0 You should have gotten something in your inbox related to the memorial service, funeral that\u2019s going to be held this week, not here but at another location.\n\nAnd also please be in prayer for our youth who are traveling to the Answers in Genesis Noah\u2019s Ark.\u00a0 Have you guys heard of that, Noah\u2019s Ark\u2026 where is that, Kentucky, Cincinnati, somewhere?\u00a0 They\u2019re having fun at any rate.\u00a0 But I think that\u2019s a healthy thing because we\u2019re communicating to our youth that Genesis 1-11 is actual history, there really was a Garden of Eden, there really was a Adam, there really was a flood, there really was a ark that saved eight people.\u00a0 And so, it\u2019s sort of a place where you can go and learn about the science and all of that associated with that historical event.\u00a0 But just pray for traveling mercies and that the Lord would deepen the convictions of our youth, that they need not shrink away from the Bible or be embarrassed by the Bible; everything the Bible says is true.\u00a0 Amen!\n\nLet\u2019s take our Bibles and turn in them to the Book of Revelation, chapter 14. And as we\u2019re doing that my slides say \u201cAngelology,\u201d you guys don\u2019t want to hear that probably because we covered that earlier.\u00a0 So, let\u2019s go over to Revelation 14.\u00a0 The title of our message this morning is Three Essentials.\u00a0 What is life all about?\u00a0 If someone has lived a wise life or a good life what exactly does that mean?\u00a0 And I think in our passage this morning we\u2019re going to see three essentials that really make up a life well lived.\n\nBut the context of all of these things is Revelation 14, the tribulation judgments, particularly the manifestation of trumpet seven; once that trumpet is sounded there\u2019s a legal transfer happening; the kingdom of this world is becoming the kingdom of our Christ, of our God and His Christ.\u00a0 And what is happening in the Book of Revelation is the ownership of the world is being transferred legally from Satan\u2019s grasp back to the grasp of God and He will install His Son, Jesus Christ, to reign on the earth.\u00a0 And the high point in the Book is that coming reign of Jesus which is described in Revelation 20.\n\nBut before that reign can happen the usurper of the earth has to be evicted.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what\u2019s happening with these various judgments.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why Revelation 11:15 says, \u201cThe kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our LORD and of His Christ.\u201d And let me tell you something, Satan doesn\u2019t like it, he doesn\u2019t want to be evicted.\u00a0\u00a0 And so what we see described in Revelation 12-14 is what I would think is really the last stand of Satan.\u00a0 This is his last attempt really to assert his own will over that of the Creator and hold on in terms of the countermove to the eviction process that\u2019s happening.\u00a0 And we saw in chapter 12 how Satan tried to blot the nation, the nation of Israel through which the kingdom will come.\u00a0 What a great way to stop the manifestation of the kingdom than to destroy the instrument through which the kingdom will come, the nation of Israel, chapter 12.\n\nAnd then from there we moved into chapter 13 where we got an in-depth description of the two human beings that Satan will use during this terrible time period.\u00a0 Those are the two beasts; the first beast, the antichrist being what we would call a political ruler. The second beast or the false prophet being what we would call a religious ruler, and how the Bible just difficulties massive amounts of information about these two people that Satan will be using mightily in his last stand.\n\nAnd Satan\u2019s attempt to assert authority over the earth in a counter move against God is so radical and it\u2019s so severe that if you were just to have chapter 13 in your Bible by itself you would become very despondent because it looks an awful lot like Satan has the upper hand.\u00a0 It looks an awful lot like Satan is winning.\u00a0 Do you ever feel that way in your life, evil always seems to triumph; evil always seems to get its way?\u00a0 And if you live your life with that point of view you become very hopeless, lacking hope, in the Christian life that things can ever get better.\u00a0 And so we are people that desperately need hope.\n\nAnd that\u2019s why we have chapter 14 which follows chapter 13.\u00a0 Chapter 14 is at the darkest time in human history.\u00a0 God is still very much in control, everything that\u2019s happening is being orchestrated towards His predetermined plan.\u00a0 And that\u2019s how to interpret events in your own life.\u00a0 Things can get very difficult, things can get very dark, things can become very frustrating but there\u2019s always that glimmer of hope.\u00a0 And if that glimmer of hope ever disappears we become very despondent.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And we are people that desperately need hope so what we have in chapter 14 are six scenes of hope.\n\nWe know a scene is changing many times because John will say \u201cI saw,\u201d and something new happens.\u00a0 Or it will say an angel, or another angel did this or that and that\u2019s also a clue that the scenery is changing.\u00a0 And so, by my count there are six scenes of hope here.\u00a0 Number one, the destiny of the 144,000, verses 1-5.\u00a0 Number two, as bad as it gets, an angel is proclaiming the gospel all over the earth, verses 6-7.\u00a0 Number three, the height of the antichrist\u2019s empire, the zenith of it, Babylon, is destined to be destroyed, verse 8.\u00a0 Number four, what about all of those who have aligned themselves with the beast and the beast\u2019s system?\u00a0 Their doom is described, verses 9-12.\n\nNumber five, what about people that die during the time period?\u00a0 There will be many martyrs.\u00a0 What we learn in verse 13 is actually when a person dies a great favor has been done for them because absent from the body is to be what?\u00a0 Present with the Lord.\u00a0 It was somewhat painful to my wife and myself to visit Ursula this last week or the week before, just prior to her death, and even though she has proof read many of my papers, although we were very good strong companions in terms of theology, talking about theology with each other constantly, it was painful to observe that the, in the room, really didn\u2019t recognize who we were.\u00a0 And it\u2019s such a wonderful thing to have the perspective of the Bible that the moment she passed is the moment the Lord brought His angels to escort her to heaven.\u00a0 She\u2019s in a far better place now.\u00a0 And so death actually is doing someone a favor, verse 13.\n\nAnd then finally God is not unaware of the evil that\u2019s happening on the earth.\u00a0 In fact, He\u2019s going to bring a great judgment harvest at the battle of Armageddon, verses 14-16 where the blood of the evildoers will flow as high as the horses\u2019 bridles for 200 miles\u2026 payday someday!\u00a0 God is aware of all of the evil that\u2019s happening in our world.\n\nAnd then these statements are what we would call proleptic in the sense that they haven\u2019t yet transpired in our sequence as we\u2019ve studied the Book of Revelation but they eventually will come because God is still in control.\u00a0 Amen!\u00a0 So let\u2019s see if we can work through some of these\u00a0 scenes this morning; I\u2019m not sure how far we\u2019ll get.\n\nBut notice verses 1-5, the destiny of the 144,000.\u00a0 We have their appearance, verse 1; their song, verses 2-3, and then you move into verses 4 and 5 and you have some tremendous information about their sanctification, and there what we\u2019re talking about is their walk with the Lord. And if I look at their walk with the Lord I say oh, Lord, I just would love to have a walk with you like these 144,000.\n\nBut notice, if you will, their appearance, they show up there in verse 1 in Revelation 14 and notice what it says.\u00a0 It says, \u201cThen I looked, and behold, the Lamb was<\/em> standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.\u2019:\u00a0 Now who are these 144,000?\u00a0 We\u2019ve already been introduced to them, haven\u2019t we, in Revelation 7.\u00a0 These are those who were sealed by God, the mark of the Holy Spirit was placed upon them and they were used of God, and continue to be used of God to spread the gospel throughout the whole world during the tribulation period.\u00a0\u00a0 We refer to them as the 144,000 Jewish evangelist; 12,000 descending from each of the twelve tribes.\n\nAnd it\u2019s interesting that it describes them here proleptically futuristically standing on Mt. Zion.\u00a0 Now it\u2019s interesting to me that there are probably two major views on what this means, \u201cstanding on Mount Zion.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 One commentator goes one way and one commentator goes the other way.\u00a0 So let me give you the two views.\n\nThe first view is that this Mount Zion is millennial Mount Zion; it\u2019s the Mount Zion that will exist during the thousand-year kingdom. We know that such a place exists; you\u2019ll see it in Isaiah 2:3. During the thousand-year reign of Christ the law of the Lord will go forth from where?\u00a0 Zion, and \u201cthe word of the LORD from Jerusalem,\u201d Jerusalem being a synonym for Mount Zion. [Isaiah 2:3, \u201cMany peoples will come and say, \u2018Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.\u2019 The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.\u201d]\u00a0 And so many people say these 144,000 survive the tribulation period and there they are in the millennial kingdom praising Jesus Christ and praising the Lamb.\n\nAnother viewpoint though is that Mount Zion here is not an earthly Mount Zion but it\u2019s a heavenly Mount Zion.\u00a0 And it\u2019s interesting that when you study the Book of Revelation whenever there is an earthly entity in God, a temple, a tabernacle, Mount Zion, those same things exist already in heaven.\u00a0 We know of a heavenly Mount Zion from Hebrews 12:22. It says, \u201cBut you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels,\u201d so one view says the hope is that the 144,000 survive the tribulation period and they\u2019re there with Jesus in the millennial kingdom.\u00a0 Another view says no, the 144,000 are now in heaven with Jesus Christ.\u00a0 I, if I had to pick between the two views I guess I would pick the later view because when\u00a0 you go down to verse 3 it sort of describes this scenery a little bit, doesn\u2019t it.\n\nIt says, [Revelation 14:3] \u201cThey sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders and no one could learn the song except the 144, 000 who had been redeemed from the earth.\u201d\u00a0 Verse 1 says, \u201cThey\u2019re with the Lamb.\u201d\u00a0 [Revelation 14:1, \u201cThen I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144, 000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.\u201d]\n\nAnd isn\u2019t it interesting that as you go through the Book of Revelation the Lamb (Jesus) is in heaven.\u00a0 Revelation 3:21, Jesus says to the church at Laodicea, \u201cHe who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.\u201d Where is Jesus right now?\u00a0 He\u2019s on the Father\u2019s throne in heaven.\n\nVerse 3 goes on and it mentions four living creatures and twenty-four elders and as you go through the Book of Revelation these folks were always in heaven.\u00a0 [Revelation 14:3, \u201cAnd they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been purchased from the earth.\u201d]\u00a0 And so since that\u2019s part of the scenery I guess I would have to say that the 144,000 are in the presence of the Lord at a heavenly Mount Zion.\n\nIt is interesting that Ezekiel 9:4-5 mentions marks on people and if they\u2019re given a mark they\u2019re survivors.\u00a0 \u201cEzekiel 9:4-5, \u201cThe LORD said to him, \u201cGo through the midst of the city, even<\/em> through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.\u201d [5] But to the others He said in my hearing, \u201cGo through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare.\u201d]\n\nWe see a similar mark placed on the 144,000.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think the mark indicates that they live forever, what I think it indicates is they continue to live until their task is completed.\u00a0 At some point they\u2019ve reached their destiny in terms of their task of blanketing the world with the gospel.\u00a0 And God, at that time, allows them to depart and to get into heaven.\u00a0 But it\u2019s very interesting to note, how did they get into heaven?\u00a0 We\u2019re not told but there\u2019s a pretty good likelihood that they were martyred and got into heaven that way.\u00a0 And you say well how was that a victory?\u00a0 It\u2019s a victory because no matter what happens to the child of God heaven is waiting.\u00a0 That\u2019s something that the devil can never snatch; it\u2019s something that the devil can never take away and in fact Jesus came into the world to remove from us the fear of death, which has placed men and women in bondage all of their lives, Hebrews 2:15.\u00a0 [Hebrews 2:15, \u201cand might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.\u201d]\n\nAnd what we learn is that you know what?\u00a0 Death is not something to be afraid of.\u00a0 For the child of God or for the believer death is not the end; death is the beginning.\u00a0 Death is just a transfer, if you will.\u00a0 And so these 144,000 certainly may have been killed by the beast because of their evangelistic activity but as the Bible says, \u201cabsent from the body is to be\u201d what, \u201cpresent with the Lord.\u201d\n\n[2 Corinthians 5:8, \u201cWe are confident, I say<\/em>, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.\u201d]\n\nIn fact, Paul not only said that in 2 Corinthians 5:8 but in Philippians 1:21-23 he says, \u201cFor me to live is Christ and to die is\u201d what? \u201cgain.\u00a0 [22]\u00a0\u00a0 But if I am<\/em> to live on<\/em> in the flesh, this will mean<\/em> fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. [23] But I am hard-pressed from both directions,<\/em> having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that<\/em> is very much better;\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My daughter and I in our housing tract where we live we just do a little walk at the end of the day, in the cool of the day and she sometimes will ask me questions and this week she asked me this question; she says well what is heaven like exactly?\u00a0 You know, it\u2019s amazing, you know that show, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader or something like that?\u00a0 It\u2019s amazing how kids can reveal how ignorant we are about things.\u00a0 I mean a kid asks about why is there bad things, why do bad things happen to good people, and where did Satan come from and can you explain the Trinity and these kinds of things.\n\nSo, what is heaven like exactly?\u00a0 Well I really didn\u2019t have a specific description in mind other than this verse, Philippians 1:23, where Paul says, \u201cto depart and be with Christ, for that<\/em> is very much better;\u201d I said whatever it is it\u2019s better, it\u2019s better than what we have here, and consequently it\u2019s not something to be fearful of.\n\nSo it\u2019s interesting to me that this grace is being bestowed upon these 144,000 amidst the darkness and the difficulty and the enslavement of the human race that we saw last week when men have to receive the mark on their right hand or their forehead simply to participate in the global economy.\u00a0 In fact, what does it say here at the end of verse 1? \u201c[Revelation 14:1, \u201cThen I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.\u201d] What God is saying to these 144,000 thousand is don\u2019t worry about the satanic marking system; God says I\u2019ve got a marking system of My own, My name, the name of the Father is written on your forehead.\n\nAnd this is not just true of the 144,000, it\u2019s true of you as well.\u00a0 The moment you trust that Jesus Christ is your personal Savior the mark of God was placed on you.\u00a0 Ephesians 1:13 says, \u201cWe were sealed with Him in the spirit of promise.\u201d\u00a0 [Ephesians 1:13, \u201cIn Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.\u201d]\u00a0 And can that mark ever disappear?\u00a0 Ephesians 4:30 says no because we are sealed unto the day of\u201d what? \u201cthe day of redemption.\u201d\u00a0 [Ephesians 4:30, \u201cDo not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.\u201d]\n\nWhen something is marked in the Bible it\u2019s someone saying that\u2019s something that belongs to me.\u00a0 That\u2019s my property.\u00a0 This is why Satan in the work of the beast and the mark of the beast is marking the whole human race in his last stand against God, he\u2019s saying these people belong to me. And yet we find this mark on the 144,000 where God says no Satan, these ones here don\u2019t belong to you, they belong to Me!\u00a0 And this mark is placed on every single child of God today even in the church age, Ephesians 1:13.\u00a0 And so no matter what happens to you in your life, good or bad, you\u2019re God\u2019s special possession.\u00a0 \u00a0You are God\u2019s special property and therefore even death itself is not something that the believer needs to be fearful of, because just like the 144,000 upon being martyred went to heavenly Mount Zion, the Bible is very clear that absent from the body is to be present with the LORD.\u201d\u00a0 2 Corinthians 5:8,\u00a0 [\u201cWe are confident, I say<\/em>, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.\u201d]\n\nWhat a way to live, understanding that Satan can only go so far and do so much; he can\u2019t distract from the fact that you belong to God and he certainly cannot interfere with your fast track unto divine glory.\u00a0 That\u2019s a done deal.\u00a0 And so with that we can praise the Lord.\u00a0\u00a0 And consequently that\u2019s what these 144,000 begin to do; they begin to praise the Lord.\n\nAnd we have a description here, moving away from their appearance to their song.\u00a0 They have a special song that they sing.\u00a0 Notice, if you will verse 2, it says, \u201cAnd I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was<\/em> like the sound<\/em> of harpists playing on their harps.\u201d\u00a0 You\u2019ll notice the repetition of \u201clike.\u201d\u00a0 John keeps saying as he\u2019s given this vision on the Isle of Patmos back in the first century, it was \u201clike,\u201d it was \u201clike,\u201d it was \u201clike,\u201d and he\u2019s using similes to describe a vision in which God simply said I\u2019m going to disclose this vision to you and I want you to write it down.\n\nIt mentions here the waters, verse 2, \u201cI heard a voice \u2026 like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder,\u201d and I\u2019m thinking of Psalm 29:3, which describes God\u2019s voice just that way.\u00a0 It says, \u201cThe voice of the LORD is upon the waters; The God of glory thunders, The LORD is over many waters.\u201d\u00a0 And it mentions here harpists and harps in heaven.\u00a0 Revelation 15:2 talks about musical instruments like harps and harpists in heaven. It says in Revelation 15:2, \u201cAnd I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God.\u201d\n\nAnd we get a description of their specific song there in verse 3, it says, \u201cAnd they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn from the song except the 144,000 who had been purchased from the earth.\u201d\u00a0 We start to get a description of their song.\u00a0 You know, it\u2019s kind of interesting to me how important music is to God.\u00a0 We just had a worship service in terms of music a little earlier, prior to the sermon.\u00a0 Unfortunately, a lot of time we kind of look at that, myself included, as just sort of a ritual to get through but the reality is music and musical instruments and singing and all of these kinds of things are very important to God.\u00a0 In fact, if you don\u2019t like to praise the Lord in song you probably won\u2019t be that happy in heaven and you probably won\u2019t be that happy hanging around these 144,00 who are singing this new song unto the Lord.\n\nThere\u2019s a verse in the Bible, it\u2019s one of these verses that kind of get tossed in there that we kind of skip over but it\u2019s dealing with the passion narratives and the Garden of Gethsemane experience and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and His betrayal and how all of those things were imminent in His life there towards the very end of His earthly life.\u00a0 And it says this is Matthew 26:30; it says, \u201cAfter singing a hymn, they went out to\u00a0the Mount of Olives.\u201d\u00a0 And before all of these prophesied events happened Jesus sort of pictures it this way, gathered together this little tiny group of disciples and together they sort of broke out into praise; they broke out into a hymn, they broke out into a song.\n\nAnd it shows you in the midst of the severity of those events that music and singing actually continues on.\u00a0 And the song is a new song that they sang and apparently, it\u2019s a song that\u2019s personal between Jesus and the 144,000.\u00a0 You know people will sometimes ask me questions, like what did they sing?\u00a0 And my answer is well how am I supposed to know, it\u2019s a personal song, it\u2019s a song between them and Christ.\u00a0 And that\u2019s who Jesus is, He\u2019s personal.\u00a0 He\u2019s not a generic God that just simply died for the sins of the world generically but He is a God that wants a personal relationship with people and different groups of people, even these 144,000 there\u2019s a song taking place that\u2019s only known to that group between them and Jesus Christ.\n\nI hope you see the Lord that way in your life.\u00a0 The Bible says in Matthew 10 that the very hairs on our head are numbered.\u00a0\u00a0 [Matthew 10:30, \u201cBut the very hairs of your head are all numbered.\u201d]\u00a0 That\u2019s how much God is intimately interested, not just in people as a whole but you as a person.\u00a0 And in fact, I believe this, that if you were the only person on the face of the earth the death, burial and ascension of Jesus Christ would have happened none the less because God cares about you as a person.\u00a0 He wants a personal relationship with YOU!\u00a0\u00a0 And how do you have a personal relationship with anybody?\u00a0 Well, you\u2019ve got to keep communication open; if you stop communicating with each other you can\u2019t have a relationship with somebody.\u00a0 That\u2019s like saying oh, my best friend is so and so but we haven\u2019t talked in ten years.\u00a0 Well, you might want to rethink whether they\u2019re your best friend, because you can\u2019t have a friendship without communication.\n\nHow do you keep the chain of communication open between you and God?\u00a0 Well, one way is through prayer, that\u2019s you way of communicating to God.\u00a0 The second way is by staying in His Word, that\u2019s the primary way that God communicates to us.\u00a0 If your marriage is struggling and having problems and you go to a marriage counsellor, if that marriage counsellor is worth their salt at all they will ask you what are your channels of communication like in your marriage.\u00a0 Or have you been sort of walled off from each other, he\u2019s doing his thing, she\u2019s doing her thing, the two of you are never really interacting with each other, never really communicating with each other.\u00a0 We can get like that with God, can\u2019t we?\u00a0 Or we can get in one-way conversations where we do all the talking, we pray and pray and pray and never get into His Word and let Him talk to us.\u00a0 Or we let Him do all the talking, we study and study and study and never pray to Him.\n\nA healthy relationship involves two-way communication.\u00a0 And a healthy relationship always involves keeping close or short accounts.\u00a0 It\u2019s easy for us to offend the people we love; it\u2019s very easy for us to hurt the people that we love the most.\u00a0 And when we do that we just keep a very close short account and we say at the end of the day I\u2019m sorry I did this or I\u2019m sorry I did that and it\u2019s that kind of thing is not happening in any relationship a wedge develops and the two of you are driven apart.\n\nAnd that\u2019s how it is with the Lord, because we sin against the Lord, even as Christians.\u00a0 Amen!\u00a0 I didn\u2019t hear too loud of an \u201cAmen\u201d there, am I talking to the right crowd this morning?\u00a0 We sin against the Lord and we can alienate the Lord.\u00a0 And what do we do in those moments of sin? We, as 1 John 1:9 we confess our sins to Him.\u00a0 [1 John 1:9, \u201cIf we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 He is faithful and just to forgive us, He doesn\u2019t get us saved again, He restores fellowship which has been broken because of unconfessed sin.\u00a0 You know, Christianity is not that complicated; the personal relationship with the Lord is what the Lord wants and it\u2019s obviously what the Lord has here with this 144,000.\u00a0 There\u2019s a song that they\u2019re singing that\u2019s very personal between them and Jesus Christ.\n\nAnd then you ask yourself what are they singing for exactly?\u00a0 Why do we sing?\u00a0 Verse 3, it says, \u201cAnd they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand\u201d now as you get to the end of this verse you see the reason why they\u2019re singing, they \u201chad been purchased from the earth.\u201d\u00a0 What exactly is worship?\u00a0 Worship is a response to truth.\u00a0 You hear truth or read of truth in the Bible, which is so profound and life changing that the only thing you can really do as a person in response to that truth, as your heart wells up with gratitude is simply sing to the Lord, publicly praise the Lord, publicly worship the Lord.\n\nI mean, why are they singing this song?\u00a0 It\u2019s right there at the end of verse 3, because they \u201chad been purchased,\u201d they had been redeemed.\u00a0 What does that mean they \u201chad been purchased\u201d?\u00a0 Someone paid a price.\u00a0 Well why did someone have to pay a price for them?\u00a0 Because they were in a state of enslavement a price was paid which liberated them from bondage; they were praising the Lord on account of that and don\u2019t we have the same thing?\u00a0 I mean, aren\u2019t we sitting here today in freedom from sin and guilt and damnation and hell and eternal retribution because Jesus Christ, the second member of the Godhead paid the purchase price for us?\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that a theological and positional reality?\u00a0 Do we really understand what we have?\u00a0 I mean, if we understood that why aren\u2019t we people of praise?\u00a0 Why aren\u2019t we people of worship?\u00a0 Why aren\u2019t we people that just sort of explode into audible and verbal gratitude for what the Lord has done.\u00a0 And so these 100,440 in heavenly Mount Zion sort of served for us as a role model of what true worship is, which is simply a response to truth.\n\nAnd then you move down into verses 4-5 and you see the walk they had with the Lord.\u00a0 I call this their sanctification or their progressive sanctification. I think there\u2019s at least five things here.\u00a0 First of all, notice their virginity.\u00a0 Look, if you will, at verse 4, Revelation 14:4, it says, \u201cThese are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste.\u00a0 These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes.\u00a0 These are those who have been purchased from among men as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.\u00a0 Verse 5, \u201cAnd no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless.\u201d\u00a0 What a convicting walk of the Lord these 144,000 had.\u00a0 I look at that and I say Lord, in Your providence and in Your grace can you make me just like this.\n\nBut notice some of the scriptures, their virginity not \u201cdefiled with women.\u201d\u00a0 Now most of the Bible commentators that you will read at this point will go over to 1 Corinthians 7:25-35 and they\u2019ll talk about the advantages of the single state.\u00a0[1 Corinthians 7:25, Now concerning virgins I have no command of the Lord, but I give an opinion as one who by the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy. [26] I think then that this is good in view of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is. [27] \u00a0<\/sup>Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. [28] \u00a0<\/sup>But if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you. [29] \u00a0<\/sup>But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none; [30] \u00a0<\/sup>and those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though \u00a0they did not possess; [31] \u00a0<\/sup>and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it; for the form of this world is passing away.\u00a0 [32] \u00a0<\/sup>But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; [33]\u00a0<\/sup>but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, [34]\u00a0<\/sup>and his interests<\/em> are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. [35]\u00a0<\/sup>This I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but [<\/sup>e<\/sup><\/u><\/a>]<\/sup>to promote what is appropriate and to secure<\/em> undistracted devotion to the Lord.\u201d]\n\nAnd it is true that marriage is a God ordained institution and there\u2019s no doubt about that and there are many blessings associated with marriage.\u00a0 But the other thing to understand is there\u2019s a lot of advantages associated with being a single person.\u00a0 When I was a single person I could do things for God that I cannot do as a married person, and vice versa.\u00a0 And I think so many times people that are single see themselves as deficient, why is everybody else married and I\u2019m not.\u00a0 Well the solution to that one is just go talk to all the married people and see how happy they are.\u00a0 The reality of the situation is God has you as a single person for this season in your life for a reason.\u00a0 Embrace that!\u00a0 Don\u2019t feel like you\u2019re somehow less of a person or you\u2019ve missed the will of God because there are things you can do as a single person that you can\u2019t do as a married person.\n\nYou know, when I was single I could completely, in an unhindered way, give myself totally to the study of the Word of God which I really can\u2019t do as a married person.\u00a0 And I really wasn\u2019t all that concerned about my apartment or what it looked like; if you walked into that place you would think it was like a fraternity house but I thought it was great, I really did.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t have all of the fancy accoutrements and fancy furniture and I didn\u2019t have to work hard to pay all the bills for all these things, I could just be with the Lord and I could study with the Lord and then I met my wife and she came over and I said isn\u2019t this great!\u00a0 And she said no it\u2019s not\u2026. [laughter] and so things began to change for the better, I\u2019m not complaining, for the better.\n\nBut the fact of the matter is I was able to do certain things as a single person that I can\u2019t do as a married person.\u00a0\u00a0 And there are certain things you can do as a married person that you can\u2019t do as a single person.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why in 1 Corinthians 7 what does Paul say? \u00a0He says, \u201cbe content in whatever circumstance you\u2019re in.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 And so this may be a reference to these 144,000, the ministry that they had because they weren\u2019t encumbered by the marriage and family which brings a natural division, Paul says 1 Corinthians 7. \u00a0So that may be the explanation here related to their virginity.\n\nBut let me give you another possibility; this may not be an either\/or but a both\/and.\u00a0 Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11:2-3, to the Corinthians, \u201cFor I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as<\/em> a pure virgin. [3] But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion<\/em> to Christ.\u201d\u00a0 You know, as Paul was talking about the Corinthians relationship to the Lord in his early stages he describes it as spiritual virginity, purity!\u00a0 And so we are the bride of Christ, are we now?\u00a0 And so as we walk out our lives as the bride of Christ we begin to be separated from the things of the world; we become pure spiritually, tactically speaking, much like a virgin. So is this talking about their physical virginity?\u00a0 Possibly.\u00a0 Is it talking about their spiritual virginity?\u00a0 Possibly, but whatever the case is they were completely and holy consecrated and dedicated unto the Lord.\n\nNotice their loyalty.\u00a0 It\u2019s an amazing statement here about their loyalty to Jesus.\u00a0 Verse 4, it says, \u201cThese are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste.\u201d\u00a0 It says, \u201cThese are<\/em> the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes.\u201d\u00a0 I have to tell you that as I was reading this this week it was somewhat convicting. I mean, does that mean do I follow Jesus wher\u00adever He goes.\u00a0 I have to say that many times I\u2019m very quick to assert my own will over the will of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 And this is the difference that the Bible draws between being saved or justified and becoming a disciple of Christ.\u00a0 You know, the whole confusion related to Lordship salvation, we\u2019ve talked about that many times at this church, it\u2019s sort of related to people trying to merge the two together.\u00a0 The fact of the matter is they are two different things.\u00a0 Being saved by work of grace, by faith alone is completely different than the walk of discipleship.\n\nCharlie Bing in this chart sums it up.\u00a0 Justification is received through faith.\u00a0 Discipleship is costly; it\u2019s entered into through commitment and obedience by the Spirit\u2019s enablement.\u00a0 Justification is not by works but discipleship you\u2019ve got to cooperate with the Lord under His power.\u00a0 Justification is instant; discipleship, wow, that\u2019s a life-long process.\u00a0 Justification is justification, discipleship we call progressive sanctification.\u00a0 In justification Jesus paid the price.\u00a0 But as you become a disciple what you learn is there are things that the Lord wants you to give up.\u00a0 There are things in your hand that you\u2019re holding onto tightly that the Lord touches those hands and says that belongs to Me, give that up!\u00a0 Now I\u2019ve discovered that the more I yield unto God He replaces them with something better over the course of time.\u00a0 But there are things where I\u2019m always holding onto and the Lord says no, that needs to be yielded to me under My power.\u00a0 And so we begin to pay a price, in a sense, in disciple\u00adship.\n\nJustification is trusting in Jesus as Savior. Discipleship is following Jesus as Lord.\u00a0 Justification occurs when you believe the gospel.\u00a0 Discipleship starts to happen when you take the commands of God given to the Christian and you begin to obey those commands under His power on a moment by moment basis.\u00a0 Justification is the satisfaction of one condition\u2026 to believe!\u00a0 Discipleship there are multiple conditions.\u00a0 Justification is experienced by all Christians but discipleship is experienced by some.\u00a0 Justification results in eternal life; discipleship results in rewards, authority and fruitfulness in this life.\u00a0 [Adapted from http:\/\/www.gracelife.org\/resources\/gracenotes.asp?id=23<\/a>]\n\nAnd I don\u2019t think in modern day evangelicalism we distinguish those enough and consequently people merge the two together and they hold out unto the Law what looks like a works-oriented gospel when in reality the whole controversy can be resolved simply by recognizing these two tenses of salvation.\u00a0 And these 144,000 Jewish evangelists had grown in their relationship to the Lord to the point where they were disciples of the Lord, even unto death.\u00a0 And consequently, they follow the Lord wherever He goes.\u201d\u00a0 David Hocking, in his commentary on the Book of Revelation, which I\u2019m enjoying, says this, concerning the 144,000.\u00a0 He says, \u201c<\/em>They are willing to go anywhere the Lord wanted them to go and to do whatever He wanted them to do. What marvelous examples they are to all of us who seek to follow our Lord Jesus Christ!\u201d <\/em>\u00a0[David Hocking, The Book of Revelation: Understanding the Future <\/em>(Tustin, CA: Hope For Today Publications, 2014), 437.]\n\nWe move away from their virginity and their loyalty and we get a snapshot here of their redemption.\u00a0 Notice also verse 4, towards the end of the verse, it says: \u201cThese have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 They\u2019ve been purchased from among men, we talked about what that means, but here another phrase is introduced, the end of verse 4, they were purchased as firstfruits.\u00a0 What does that mean?\u00a0 It\u2019s going back to Jewish harvest imagery where firstfruits came in in terms of the harvest or the crop and that was always a happy time because if the firstfruits came in it was sort of a guarantee that what else is going to come in later?\u00a0 The rest of the crop.\n\nAnd consequently these 144,000 are called firstfruits redeemed unto the Lord.\u00a0 Why are they called firstfruits?\u00a0 Because God wants to use them to save other people.\u00a0 He wants to use them as His instruments to bless other people.\u00a0 He wants their initial experience of salvation to be used as it comes out of their mouth as a testimony to other people and consequently other people will get saved.\u00a0 What a great description of the 144,000 because in Revelation 7 we learn that the 144,000 are redeemed, verses 1-8, and then the second part of the chapter then they learn why they are redeemed.\u00a0 They\u2019re not just redeemed for themselves, they\u2019re redeemed for the purpose of being a blessing to somebody else.\u00a0 And what a harvest that is when you get into the second part of Revelation, chapter 7 verses 9-17.\u00a0 Verses 9-17 of chapter 7, the great harvest could not become a reality unless the first-fruits were brought in, in the early part of the chapter, Revelation 7:1-8.\n\nWhy are these 144,000 called the firstfruits?\u00a0 Because God is going to use them to bless other people.\u00a0 And not only did God use them to bless the Gentiles, He\u2019s going to use them to plant seeds so that the rest of the nation of Israel, in unbelief, will get saved , because in Romans 11:25-26 we learn that it\u2019s not just the 144,000 Jews that are saved.\u00a0 God\u2019s end game is that the whole nation could get saved.\u00a0 It says, Romans 11:25, \u201cFor I do not want you brethren to be uninformed of this mystery so that you will not be wise in your own estimation that a partial happening has happened to Israel until\u2026\u201d\u00a0 \u201cUNTIL the fullness of the Gentiles has come in,\u201d Romans 11:26, \u201cand so all Israel will be saved just as it is written.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 I want to use you to reap a greater harvest down the road; that\u2019s why they\u2019re called the firstfruits.\n\nZechariah 12:10, of the conversion of the bulk of the nation later on says this, \u201c\"I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will grieve bitterly over him as one grieves for a firstborn son.\u201d\u00a0 You know, the day is going to come in the tribulation period where the whole nation of Israel just begins to uncontrollably sob and weep, much like Joseph\u2019s brothers did when they betrayed Joseph and were later reunited with him.\u00a0 The nation of Israel has done the exact same kind of thing; it\u2019s betrayed Christ but now they\u2019re reunited with the truth of the gospel in the tribulation period itself, towards the end of it, and it\u2019s an emotional experience.\u00a0 I mean, the tears begin to flow much like you would mourn or cry or emote over the death of your own firstborn.\n\nAnd there are bigger things on the horizon for Israel, other than these 144,000 and that\u2019s why they\u2019re called here the \u201cfirstfruits of the harvest.\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019m not one of the 144,000 because I\u2019m not in the tribulation and I\u2019m certainly not, as far as I know, a physical descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but there\u2019s a parallel for us.\u00a0 I wonder many times when I hear the testimonies of other Christians of the difficulty that they went through to get saved, how they got saved very late in life after all kinds of problems and difficulties that come into their lives.\u00a0 And here I am at the age of 16 getting saved and protected from all of that.\u00a0 In fact, my parents just celebrated their 61st<\/sup> I think it is, wedding anniversary.\u00a0 My parents have been married longer than I\u2019ve been alive.\u00a0\u00a0 And you look at the state of marriage today and you don\u2019t see really stability in marriage.\u00a0 Why is it that I came from a home that was stable and others didn\u2019t?\u00a0 Why is it that God planted seeds in my life so early and it didn\u2019t happen to other people?\u00a0 Have you ever wondered that about yourself? Does that describe you?\n\nIt could be this, that God wants to use you for a purpose.\u00a0 I mean, the reason God has lavished His grace upon you is He\u2019s always known how He\u2019s going to use you to bless somebody else.\u00a0 It\u2019s not all about us, we think the universe revolves around us most of the time, don\u2019t we?\u00a0 The holy trinity consists of me, myself and I.\u00a0 It\u2019s my salvation, my redemption, and certainly a lot of that; personal salvation is to be celebrated.\u00a0 But here\u2019s the deal, it was never just for you.\u00a0 It was always so God could take your life and mold it and shape it in such a way because He knew the people that would be coming down the pipe later that would need what you have to say.\u00a0 And this is what happened to the 144,000 evangelists and this is what happens, I believe to us.\u00a0 Don\u2019t look at salvation as just something about yourself.\u00a0 God blesses you to be a blessing to other people.\u00a0 You are, in a certain sense, a first fruit just as these 144,000 are firstfruits under the Lord.\n\nAnd look at the integrity of these people, verse 5, \u201cAnd no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless.\u201d\u00a0 You know, the whole concept of lying, the whole concept of deception, the whole concept of doublespeak, such a thing is really outside of the character of God, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Didn\u2019t Jesus say in John 14:6, \u201cI am the <\/u>way, the <\/u>truth, the<\/u> life, no man comes to the Father but through Me.\u201d\u00a0 You know when lies are in our mouths or deception is in our mouths, or double speak, we\u2019re really not emulating the character of God.\u00a0 And notice the innocence of these 144,000; they are \u201cblameless.\u201d\u00a0 Does that mean perfect?\u00a0 It can\u2019t mean perfect because Romans 3:23 says, \u201cFor all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.\u201d\u00a0 But what it means is a lifestyle that\u2019s not sinless but sins less.\n\nThat\u2019s the walk of a disciple.\u00a0 It\u2019s the type of lifestyle you look when you appoint someone as a leader in a church for example.\u00a0 1 Timothy 3:2 says, \u201cAn overseer, then, must be above reproach,\u201d a perfection?\u00a0 Impossible, no one is, but someone who is not sinless but is sinning less and is growing.\u00a0 So, you have this tremendous description of these 144,000, their virginity, their loyalty, their redemption, their integrity, and their innocence.\u00a0 And we have to move into verses 6 and 7 because that\u2019s where I got the title of the sermon from, verses 6 and 7.\n\nSo, let\u2019s just do verse 6 and 7 and with these we will conclude.\u00a0 We move from a first scene of hope, the destiny of the 144,000, to a second scene of hope, the proclamation of the eternal gospel.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it amazing to realize that in this very difficult time in human history with the human race in enslave\u00adment the gospel is still going out.\u00a0 So, we notice its proclamation, verse 6, it\u2019s emphasis, verse 7.\u00a0 Let\u2019s take a look at its proclamation, its eternality, its proclaimer and audience, and its universality.\n\nNotice verse 6, a second scene of hope begins to be described here, \u201cAnd I saw another angel\u201d that\u2019s a clue, \u201cflying in midair, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people;\u201d eternal gospel, what does that mean?\u00a0 There\u2019s a lot of confusion on this; a lot of people want to come up with this idea that it\u2019s some kind of different gospel.\u00a0 Frankly I don\u2019t think the gospel is different because I don\u2019t think the gospel ever changed.\u00a0 Revelation 13:8 of the gospel of Jesus Christ calls Him the Lamb, Revelation 13:8 is translated in the NKJV at least, \u201cthe lamb slain from the\u201d what? \u201cfoundation of the earth.\u201d\n\nThis is always the plan of God, to bring into existence the gospel which means good news.\u00a0 It was the gospel that was announced in Genesis 3:15, \u201cI will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise you on the head and you shall bruise him on the heal.\u201d\u00a0 It was always known that there was coming one into the world who would take the serpent\u2019s head and crush it.\u00a0 This was the very gospel that was believed by Abram.\u00a0 Genesis 15:6, or Abram says, \u201cThen he believed in the LORD, and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.\u201d\u00a0 Abram received the transferred righteousness of Jesus Christ simply because he believed in the Lord.\u00a0 That\u2019s what the angel is trumpeting.\n\nNow having said all of that I think there\u2019s a kingdom nuance here because when the gospel is offered in the end times with the prospect of the bulk of the nation of Israel embracing it the kingdom and its manifestation is right around the corner.\u00a0 John the Baptist said this in Matthew 3:2, \u201cRepent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,\u201d which was a special offer given to the nation of Israel in the first century that if they enthroned Christ on Christ\u2019s terms the kingdom would come.\u00a0 This was preached by Jesus, Matthew 4:17. It was offered initially to Israel, Matthew 10:5-7, \u201cDo not go in the way of the Gentiles\u201d when Jesus sent out the twelve to preach, \u201cdo not enter any city of the Samaritans but rather go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and as you go preach, saying, \u2018The kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d\u00a0 This was preached by John, it was preached by Jesus, it was preached by the twelve, it was preached by the seventy and it was turned down by the nation, Matthew 12.\n\n[Matthew 4:17, \u201cFrom that time Jesus began to preach and say, \u201cRepent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Matthew 10:5-7, These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: \u201cDo not]<\/sup>go in the<\/em> way of the<\/em> Gentiles, and do not enter any<\/em> city of the Samaritans; [6] but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. [7] And as you go, preach, saying, \u2018The kingdom of heaven ]<\/sup>is at hand.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Matthew 12:24, \u201cBut when the Pharisees heard this, they said, \"This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.\u201d]\n\nMatthew 12:24 is really the hinge where they attributed Christ\u2019s miracles to Beelzebub and that unique offer was pulled off the table for the nation, the kingdom was not going to come in that generation.\u00a0 The kingdom was going to be proclaimed; the kingdom was going to be postponed.\u00a0 Now does that mean the gospel stopped being preached?\u00a0 Acts 16:31, the Philippian jailor asked, \u201cWhat must I do to be saved,\u201d and what was the response?\u00a0 \u201cRepent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand\u2026\u201d\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t say that, it says, \u201cBelieve in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your house\u00adhold.\u201d\u2019\u00a0 In other words, the opportunity for a nation to receive it and consequently the manifestation of the kingdom now offer is gone but the gospel of personal individual salvation kept being preached in the Book of Acts.\n\nAnd that\u2019s what is being preached here by this angel but it\u2019s a little bit different here because Jesus said \u201cthe gospel of the\u201d what?\u00a0 \u201ckingdom shall be preached to the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.\u201d\u00a0 [Matthew 24:14]\u00a0\u00a0 All of a sudden now the kingdom is back on the table.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because now you have the potentiality of the whole nation, the crux of the nation, the remnant of the nation to all embrace it and once that happens the kingdom will come.\u00a0 So it\u2019s the same gospel but now it\u2019s a little bit different as once again the nation as a whole has the potential to receive it, meaning that the kingdom, the millennial kingdom is at hand or right around the corner.\u00a0 That\u2019s what we mean by its eternality.\n\nNotice its proclaimer and its audience.\u00a0 Who is preaching this gospel?\u00a0 It says in verse an angel.\u00a0 \u201cAnd I saw another angel flying in mid heaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people;\u201d [Revelation 14:7]\u00a0\u00a0 So this gospel is being preached by an angel in the tribulation period to the earth dwellers in the tribulation period.\n\nNow this is very interesting to me because normally the gospel is preached by people.\u00a0 Why does God use people to preach the gospel?\u00a0 Who better to preach the gospel than those who have what?\u00a0 Experienced the salvation offered by the gospel.\u00a0 Human beings are the very best proclaimers of the gospel, those who have received it.\u00a0 Angels typically don\u2019t preach the gospel because the plan of salvation is not open to angels.\u00a0 But here it looks to me as if God is so desirous for humanity in Satan\u2019s last stand to receive salvation that He sets aside His normal way of doing things and actually allows an angel himself to get into the act.\u00a0 God is pulling out all the stops and allowing the gospel to be spread over the entire face of the earth.\u00a0 You know, there\u2019s a lot of people today talking about how angels are delivering the gospel to people.\u00a0 A lot of testimonies you hear about people in foreign lands how an angel gave them the gospel.\n\nTo be frank with you, as much as I\u2019m in favor of people getting saved I\u2019m somewhat standoffish about those testimonies because it\u2019s not the normal operating procedure of God in the present age.\u00a0 Those that proclaim the gospel are those who have received the benefits of the gospel.\u00a0 And that rule, as far as I can tell, really doesn\u2019t change until following the church age after the rapture of the church, the 70th<\/sup> week of Daniel has started and God now sets aside His normal way of doing things and allows an angel to preach the gospel because that\u2019s how much God loves humanity.\u00a0 And look who this gospel goes to; I mean, it goes all over the world, verse 6, as this angel is proclaiming it goes to every nation and tribe and people and tongue.\u00a0 And do a word study on those four nouns, Revelation 5:9, 7:9, 10:11, 11:9, 13:7, 17:15, and you\u2019ll see that those nouns together always indicate universality, indicates totality, it indicates everything.\n\n[Revelation 5:9, \u201cAnd they sang a new song, saying, \"Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Revelation 7:9, \u201cAfter these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; Revelation 10:11, \u201cAnd they said to me, \"You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.\"\u00a0\u00a0 Revelation 11:19, \u201cAnd the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm. Revelation 13:7, \u201cIt was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him.\u201d Revelation 17:15, \u201cAnd he said to me, \u2018The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.\u201d\u2019]\n\nWhy is God allowing the gospel by an angel to go out everywhere?\u00a0 Because 2 Peter 3:9 says, \u201cThe Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for\u201d what?\u00a0 \u201call<\/u> to come to repentance.\u201d\n\nAnd then the last part of this the emphasis on the gospel.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got to sneak this in, this is where the title of the sermon came from.\u00a0 What\u2019s he emphasizing here?\u00a0 You know, if you lived out in your life these three things you\u2019ve lived a heck of a life in God.\u00a0 These are the three essentials.\u00a0 You\u2019ll see them there in verse chapter 14, verse 7. What does it say, \u201cand he said with a loud voice,\u201d not a silent voice, \u201ca loud voice,\u201d number 1.\u00a0 Number 2, \u201cFear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come;\u201d number 3, \u201cworship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.\u201d\n\nWhat are the three essentials of life?\u00a0 Number one, \u201cFear God.\u201d\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that the trouble with humanity, we don\u2019t fear God and yet Proverbs 1:7 says \u201cThe fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.\u201d\u00a0 Knowledge starts with a healthy respect or fear of God.\u00a0 Psalm 14:1 says, \u201cThe fool has said in his heart there is no God.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s why people are so foolish today and confused; they dismiss what\u2019s necessary to become knowledgeable and wise, \u201cthe fear of the Lord.\u201d\n\nNumber two, glorify God.\u00a0 Why did the handwriting on the wall chapter happen?\u00a0 Why did God pull the curtains on Neo-Babylonia in 539 B.C. in Daniel 5?\u00a0 It\u2019s very simple, there was a man there named Belteshazzar.\u00a0 According to Daniel 5:23 he did not glorify God despite the fact that his very life and his breath were in the hands of God.\u00a0\u00a0 [Daniel 5:23, \u201cbut you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear or understand. But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and your ways, you have not glorified.\u201d]\n\nNumber one, fear God.\u00a0 Number 2, glorify God.\u00a0 Number 3, worship God.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that our purpose?\u00a0 David Hocking in his commentary on Revelation puts it this way.\u00a0 \u201cThe number one priority of every believer should be the worship and praise of Almighty God. We were created to worship the God who made us. The action of falling down on their faces\u201d referring to the twenty-four elders, Revelation 4, \u201cdemonstrates a clear understanding of God\u2018s greatness and the believer\u2019s humility before God.\u201d <\/em>\u00a0\u00a0[David Hocking, The Book of Revelation: Understanding the Future <\/em>(Tustin, CA: Hope For Today Publications, 2014), 390]\n\nAre you a worshipper of God?\u00a0 That\u2019s your purpose.\u00a0 Are you someone that glorifies God in everything they do?\u00a0 That\u2019s your purpose.\u00a0 Are you someone that has begun your life with a healthy respect of the principles and the precepts of God?\u00a0 I find in my life sometimes I\u2019m one of the three, two of the three, rarely am I ever three of the three and yet that\u2019s the calling of the Christian.\u00a0 These are the three essentials; this is what life is about.\u00a0 And as this gospel is being proclaimed its results\u00a0 are being advertised to the whole human race that this is what your existence is about,\u00a0 This is why you were born.\u00a0 This is why you were conceived.\n\nAnd we look here about glorifying God and worshipping God and you say well why does God get the glory?\u00a0 You see it there at the end of verse 7, it says, \u201cworship Him who\u201d what? \u201cmade the heavens and the earth and the sea and the springs of water.\u201d It doesn\u2019t matter what Charles Darwin said.\u00a0 God deserves glory on account of what He has made.\u00a0 Revelation 4:11 of God, says, \u201cWorthy are You, O LORD our God, to receive glory and honor and power for You created all things and because of\u00a0 Your will they existed and were created.\u201d\n\nYou look at a Picasso painting or Michael Angelo or you read a Shakespearean masterpiece and what\u2019s the natural ambition that you should have?\u00a0 You should want to praise the Creator of those words.\u00a0 And yet here\u2019s the human race, sitting in the universe, intricately designed by God, so intricately designed that there are seven billion people on the earth and no two of our fingerprints are identical.\u00a0 Every snowflake you examine under a microscope is different.\u00a0 And here we are orbiting around the sun and we\u2019re not so close to the sun that we burn up and we\u2019re not so far away from the sun that we freeze to death.\u00a0 And we\u2019re rotating around the sun at exactly the right distance to sustain life.\n\nGod has put all these things together and what does the human race do?\u00a0 Deny the existence of God, deny the rightful glory that He deserves.\u00a0 And this is what this angel is correcting.\u00a0 He\u2019s saying worship God because God has made and created the heavens and the earth and the sea and the springs of water.\u00a0 And just to get the point across you might remember the trumpet judgment where God started tampering with the ocean, Revelation 8:8-9.\u00a0\u00a0 [Revelation 8:8-9, \u201cThe second angel sounded, and something<\/em> like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood, [9] and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.\u201d]\n\nHe started tampering with the fresh water supply, Revelation 8:10-11. [Revelation 8:10-11, \u201cThe third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters. 11\u00a0<\/sup>The name of the star is called Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter.\u201d]\n\nWho gives God the right to do that?\u00a0 How day you God, interfere with the ocean!\u00a0 Or interfere with the fresh water supply!\u00a0 The fact of the matter is God has any right to interfere with anything He wants because He\u2019s the Creator.\u00a0 And in this day of Darwinism and naturalism and atheism, which no doubt are philosophies that will cover the whole world during the tribulation period itself, this angel flies to and fro giving the eternal gospel and reminding humanity of the basic essentials that God deserves glory because He has made all things.\u00a0 A simple truth and a simple reality.\n\nSo in the darkness of this time period the destiny of the 144,000 are sealed and the gospel is still being proclaimed.\u00a0 And speaking of the gospel, it\u2019s possible that you could be here and have never received it.\u00a0 \u201cGospel\u201d just means good news.\u00a0 It\u2019s not man\u2019s message to God, it\u2019s God\u2019s message to man.\u00a0 And the message is simply this, Jesus Christ bridged heaven and earth, sort of like Jacob\u2019s ladder bridging those two realms by becoming a human being and dying in our place.\u00a0 And His final words on the cross prior to His death were \u201cIt is finished!\u201d\u00a0 And He\u2019s indicated and validated who He claims to be through His bodily resurrection from the dead and He has entrusted to the church a very simple message that in any lost sinner will simply trust, not in their own works but the work which Jesus did for them in a nanosecond of faith.\u00a0 That\u2019s how simple the gospel is.\n\nWell, pastor, aren\u2019t you going to tell people they need to take up their cross and follow Him?\u00a0 That\u2019s not the gospel; that\u2019s the walk of discipleship which comes later.\u00a0 You\u2019re not saved because you took up your cross and followed Him; you\u2019re saved because He took up His cross. Amen!\u00a0 And you receive it as a gift which is by faith.\n\nAnd if you won\u2019t come that way you can\u2019t get saved.\u00a0 You say well your rules are pretty harsh.\u00a0 Number one, they\u2019re not my rules.\u00a0 I could have never come up with something like this.\u00a0 I mean, if it was up to me I would have made it so difficult and hard I would have thrown in all these other things.\u00a0 God doesn\u2019t do that.\n\nAnd so our exhortation to you is simply to hear the message of the gospel and respond to it by way of faith as a gift.\u00a0 The Book of Romans, chapter 4, verse 5 says, \u201cTo the one who does not work but believes,\u201d is that you?\u00a0 Are you no longer working but trusting in what He has done in this day.\n\nAnd you can do that right now in the quietness of your own heart and with your own mind as the Holy Spirit has come into the world to convict men and women of their need to do this as the Spirit convicts us of sin, righteousness and judgment.\u00a0 And it\u2019s just a reminder that we need to trust in Christ and Christ alone.\n\nAnd our exhortation to you is to do that in the quietness of your own mind and heart even where you\u2019re sitting.\u00a0 People may be listening to this on an archive or listening or watching through internet, social media, you can do it too, you can get the whole matter resolved right now simply by trusting the finished work of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 If it\u2019s something you need more explanation on I\u2019m available after the service to talk.\n\nShall we pray; Father, we\u2019re grateful for hope and in the darkest hour hope is still available through these 144,000 and your future for them and the ongoing proclamation of Your gospel.\u00a0 Help us to be good stewards of this this week, share these truths with others this week and walk out a walk of hope.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name and God\u2019s people said\u2026. Amen.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t