Meanwhile on Mount Zion...

Lead Vocalist (Joel)

Welcome & Announcements (Mike K)

Good morning family!

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Announcements:

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Now please take a moment of silence to prepare your heart for worship.

Call to Worship (Psalm 24:7-10)

Prayer of Praise (Veronica Espinoza)

O Worship the King

My Worth Is Not In What I Own

Prayer of Confession (Colin Smith), Dishonesty

Assurance of Pardon (Colossians 3:9-11)

Steadfast Love

I Am Not My Own

Scripture Reading (Revelation 14:1-5)—page 1227 in the black Bibles

Pastoral Prayer (Mike K)

Prayer for PBC—Help us be pure

Prayer for kingdom partner—Temple Baptist Church (Wes Taylor)

Prayer for US—For Laborers and Workplace Integrity (Labor Day Week)

Prayer for the world—Pakistan

Pray for the sermon

SERMON

Welcome Shiloh, Maddox, and Shay to “big church”

Christians are sometimes criticized for being “so heavenly minded they’re no earthly good.”

The charge is that we spend so much time thinking about heaven that we neglect the world in front of us.

We become spectators waiting for Jesus to return rather than servants faithfully working until He does.

Sometimes, perhaps, that criticism is deserved.

Christians can use heaven as an excuse for passivity.

But, by and large, the problem is not that Christians are too heavenly minded.

The truth is, most of us don’t think about heaven enough. Or when we do, we think about it wrongly.

In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis argued that believers who think rightly about heaven do the most earthly good.

“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you will get neither.” [1]

Lewis’s point is not that Christians should care less about this world.

His point is that we will live most faithfully in this world when we think rightly about the next.

That’s the message of Revelation 14.

We are nearing the end of the fourth cycle in the book of Revelation.

SHOW SEVEN CYCLES IMAGE

Chapter 13 showed us what is happening on earth while we wait for Jesus to return: the dragon rages, the beasts rule, and the saints suffer.

All of that is real—but it isn’t the whole picture.

So the Spirit lifts our eyes to heaven to show us what awaits everyone who belongs to the Lamb.

This vision is not meant to help us escape life on earth, but to help us faithfully endure it.

We faithfully live in this world by thinking rightly about the next.

That’s the Big idea I hope to show you from God’s Word this morning.

In five short verses, the scene shifts from the troubles on earth to the truth about heaven.

I want you to notice Three Promises About Heaven that will help us live faithfully until we get there.

Verse 1 promises us Unfailing Preservation,

Verses 2-3 promise us Unending Praise,

And verses 4-5 promise Unblemished Perfection.

These promises belong only to those who have turned from their sins and trusted in Jesus. If you are not a Christian, they can become yours—but it does not happen automatically. You must repent and believe in King Jesus, who died for sinners and rose again. Would you trust Him today?

And if you already belong to Jesus, these five verses show you the glorious future He has promised you.

If we belong to Jesus, we are promised…

1) Unfailing PRESERVATION (1)

Revelation 14:1—Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.

Don’t miss the contrast with chapter 13 here.

The beast marked his followers with his name. But here the followers of Jesus bear the names of the Lamb and His Father.

Everyone eventually starts to look like what they worship.

Now before I can show you the promise of heaven in this verse, we need to tackle the most obvious question: who are the 144,000?

We were first introduced to this group in Revelation 7, but since that was over two months ago and some of you may not have been here, let’s review what we said then.

Here’s the bottom line: As Thomas Schreiner writes: “The 144,000 symbolically represent all Christians throughout history, both Jews and Gentiles.” [2]

But don’t take my word or Schreiner’s word for it.

Here are two reasons this seems to be the best interpretation:

First, the 144,000 are described with language that applies to all Christians.

Verse 1 says they have the name of God written on their foreheads.

And yet, at the end of the book, we’re told this will be true of all believers...

Revelation 22:4—They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.

Verse 3 says they have been redeemed from the earth.

And yet, isn’t that true of all Christians?

Paul tells the entire Corinthian church, “You were bought with a price.” [3]

Every Christian has been purchased by the blood of the Lamb.

Here’s a second reason I think the 144,000 is a symbolic reference to all of God’s people…

Like most numbers in the book of Revelation, the number 144,000 is symbolic.

Throughout Revelation, twelve represents the people of God: twelve tribes, twelve apostles, twenty-four elders, twelve gates, and twelve foundations.

So 144,000—twelve times twelve times one thousand—is not a head count. It is a symbolic picture of the complete people of God across every age.

If you want more reasons to believe the 144,000 is a reference to all of God’s people, go to the website and listen to the sermon I preached on Revelation 7.

Now let’s think for a moment about WHY John includes the 144,000 again here in chapter 14...

In this section of Revelation, we are introduced to seven signs of cosmic conflict.

SHOW SEVEN SIGNS IMAGE

We’ve seen a woman, a dragon, a child, a beast from the sea, and a beast from the earth.

Putting all this together, life between the clouds is a dark and bloody affair.

Satan is raging. The beasts are ruling. The enemy appears to be winning.

And in the middle of a conflict like that it’s tempting to wonder if God’s people are going to make it.

But notice: every single one of God’s people makes it safely home.

John doesn’t see 129,600 souls on Mount Zion. That would be a 90% success rate, which is pretty good!

And he doesn’t see 143,999. [4]

Not one of God’s precious people will perish.

Charles Spurgeon puts it like this: “If one dear saint of God had perished, so might all; if one of the covenant ones be lost, so may all be; . . . If God hath loved me once, then He will love me forever.” [5]

Christian, I know you sometimes wonder if that’s really true.

Some of you, even if you never talk about it, quietly wonder whether you’re going to make it to the end.

And if it were up to you, you wouldn’t. But it isn’t up to you.

Jesus is the One who preserves His people! Listen to what He says in…

John 10:27–29—“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

Do you believe this Christian? Or are you always waiting for the other shoe to drop? Wondering if this time—finally!—Christ will reject you?

If you believe that heaven is a promise of unfailing preservation, you can get up when you fall. You can hold on when you suffer. Because you know that Jesus is holding on to you.

And because Jesus is holding on to you, you don’t have to live cautiously trying to preserve yourself. You can obey when obedience is costly. You can speak when faithfulness is unpopular. You can keep serving when suffering makes you want to quit. Your future is secure in the hands of Jesus.

This promise is not permission to stop following Jesus; it is power to keep following Him.

Let us labor for the Master from the dawn till setting sun;

let us talk of all His wondrous love and care.

Then when all of life is over, and our work on earth is done,

and the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there. [6]

We keep laboring for the Master, we keep talking about His love, we keep working for His glory and others’ good because we’re confident that He will preserve us in the end.

We faithfully live in this world by thinking rightly about the next.

Thinking rightly about heaven means believing the promise of unfailing preservation.

But also, it means believing the promise of...

2) Unending PRAISE (2-3)

Revelation 14:2–3—And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.

Perhaps these verses are to blame for one of the common misconceptions about heaven: the idea that heaven is a boring place where all we do is float on clouds and play harps.

But even though these verses do talk about harps and singing in heaven, that doesn’t mean that’s all we do there.

We should understand these verses in contrast to chapter 13.

There, the world marvels at the beast and worships the dragon.

Here, the redeemed stand before God’s throne and sing to the Lamb.

Everyone worships. The only question is whether we will worship the beasts of this world or the Lamb who redeemed us.

Also, we should pay attention to the various ways John describes what he hears.

The praise of the redeemed is like the roar of many waters—overwhelming and unstoppable.

It is like loud thunder—powerful enough to shake heaven.

But it is also like harpists playing their harps—ordered, skillful, and beautiful.

The praise of heaven is not weak, reluctant, or halfhearted. It is powerful and beautiful because the redeemed finally see the Lamb as He truly is.

Have you ever watched a large group of kids singing at church, school, or VBS? Some of the kids are super excited to be on the stage, but they have no idea what they’re doing. Some of the kids—especially the older boys—look like they'd rather have a root canal. They are way too cool for this.

Those children illustrate two ways worship can go wrong.

Some people want emotional, heartfelt worship. They don’t care if the lyrics are true as long as the music moves them.

Others—and this may be the greater danger for churches like ours—care deeply that worship is true, but often sing that truth with cold and disengaged hearts.

Mature worship brings truth and love together.

Notice also that John says believers in heaven are singing a new song.

Earlier in the book, God’s people sang a new song and it was the song of redemption.

Revelation 5:9–10—And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the scroll and to open its seals, for You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and You have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”

What’s the new song? It’s rehearsing THE GOSPEL! The Good News that Jesus died in our place and rose from the dead so we could be saved!

Or, in the words of another great old hymn:

I love to tell the story of unseen things above,

of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love.

I love to tell the story because I know it's true.

it satisfies my longings as nothing else can do. . . .

And when in scenes of glory I sing the new, new song,

'twill be the old, old story that I have loved so long. [7]

The reason only believers can sing this song is because we’re the only ones who have experienced it. Angels can marvel at redemption, but they have never been redeemed. The unbelieving world may hear Christians sing about grace, but they don’t know what grace feels like. Only those who have been rescued from sin can truly sing the song of the redeemed.

Christian, how is your worship?

Maybe praising Jesus feels difficult for you right now.

Your mind wanders. Your heart feels cold. Pain has drained your strength. Grief has silenced your song. Shame tells you that you have no right to sing. Temptation seems more powerful than your desire for Christ.

These verses don’t tell us that real Christians always feel like singing. They are promising that one day every obstacle to praise will be removed.

No wandering minds. No cold hearts. No painful bodies. No addictive cravings. No lingering shame. No unanswered grief. We will see the Lamb as He truly is, and praise will rise naturally and joyfully from hearts finally made whole.

Until then, keep singing. Remind your soul that Jesus was slain and that He purchased you with His blood. We do not sing because life is always easy. We sing because the gospel is always true.

And the more deeply we learn to delight in Jesus now, the less power the beasts of this world will have over us. Their promises will look smaller, their threats will feel weaker, and their demands for worship will become easier to resist.

We faithfully live in this world by thinking rightly about the next.

Thinking rightly about heaven means believing the promise of unending praise.

But finally, it means believing the promise of...

3) Unblemished PERFECTION (4-5)

Revelation 14:4–5—It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.

Once again, before I can show you the promise of heaven in these verses, we need to figure out what is meant by these descriptions of the 144,000.

Why are they described as virgins?

Dispensationalists teach this is a future group of 144,000 virgin Jewish men who evangelize the lost before the end of the world.

But it’s far more plausible to understand this as a symbolic depiction of God’s people, the church.

The New Testament repeatedly depicts God’s people as the bride of Christ.

In those days, it was especially important for a bride to save herself for her husband on their wedding night.

The Apostle Paul helps us connect the dots when he says this to the Corinthian church…

2 Corinthians 11:2—… I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

God’s people shouldn’t be cheating around. We shouldn’t flirt with the world. We shouldn’t have eyes for anything smaller than Jesus. Our worship should be fixed on Him alone.

The idea that we are “firstfruits for God and the Lamb” communicates the same thing.

In the Old Testament, the firstfruits were a portion of the harvest set apart and devoted to God.

That is the emphasis here: Jesus has purchased His people from the world, and now we belong wholly to Him.

What about the description of the 144,000 as people who do not lie?

This does not mean that believers never lie—although we shouldn’t.

But we are people who are characterized by truth.

God’s people refuse to repeat the beast’s lies merely to fit in. We speak truth about God, truth about sin, truth about ourselves, and truth about the only Savior of sinners.

And the description of the 144,000 as following the Lamb wherever He goes is much easier to understand.

This is a basic description of a Christian.

What is a Christian? A follower of Jesus!

So how are you doing, Christian?

Have you been faithful to Jesus, or have you been giving yourself to other gods? No, you probably won’t bow down and worship a statue, but you’ll look to something else for comfort, security, acceptance, and happiness.

Do you speak the truth? Are you telling others the Good News about Jesus? Or are you tempted to hide the truth so it’s easier to fit in?

Are you faithfully following Jesus? Even when it hurts? Even when it means denying yourself and doing hard things?

If you’re like me, you fail far more often than you should.

How then can verse 5 describe you as “blameless”?

These verses describe what is already becoming true of every Christian and what will one day be perfectly true of every Christian.

We belong exclusively to Christ. We follow the Lamb.

We are learning to reject the lies of the beast and speak the truth. But none of us does these things perfectly yet.

That is why this description is both a calling and a promise: Christ is making us into this kind of people now, and one day He will complete the work.

If you belong to Christ, you will one day be in a blameless state of unblemished perfection.

Not because you grow to the point that you eventually stop sinning. But because God promises that when Christ returns He will perfect every single person He redeems.

The Apostle Paul puts it like this in…

Romans 8:29–30—For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.

If God saved you, He will perfect you!

Oh that day when freed from sinning, I shall see Thy lovely face

Full arrayed in blood-washed linen, how I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace

Come, my Lord, no longer tarry, bring Thy promises to pass

For I know Thy pow’r will keep me, till I’m home with Thee at last [8]

Once again, thinking rightly about heaven shouldn’t lead us to passivity here on earth. We should strive for holiness now because we understand what awaits us.

A Puritan pastor named Thomas Boston put it like this.

SHOW FOURFOLD STATE IMAGE

Before Adam and Eve fell, they were in a special state in the garden. They were able not to sin. Unfortunately they chose to sin.

As a result, all of us were born in a state of guilt. From birth we are not able to not sin. In other words, sin has permeated every aspect of our being.

But when you became a Christian, you were restored to a state of grace. Now we are able not to sin. We can resist it!

But when Christ returns, we will forever exist in a state of glory where we will be not able to sin. Christ will remove every trace of corruption from us. We will see His glory clearly, love Him completely, and never desire to sin again.

When you understand this, you are able to fight sin because you realize you’re in the state of grace. You can say no. You can grow! And your goal is to look more and more like Jesus until He returns!

We faithfully live in this world by thinking rightly about the next.

C.S. Lewis said the Christians who did the most for this world were the ones whose minds were most fixed on the next. Now you know why.

The Bible doesn’t give us promises of heaven so we can escape today and wait for tomorrow.

It gives us these promises so we have something to stand on today, while the dragon still rages and the beasts still rule.

Because you are promised unfailing preservation, you don't have to live cautiously, trying to save yourself. You can obey when it's costly and speak when it's unpopular.

Because you are promised unending praise, you don't have to wait for your heart to feel warm before you worship. You can sing the old, old story even on the days you don’t feel like, because the song was never about your feelings. It's about what Jesus has done.

And because you are promised unblemished perfection, you don't have to pretend you've already arrived. You can fight sin honestly, today, in the state of grace, because you know the state of glory is coming.

Revelation 13 asked one question of everyone on earth: who will you worship? The beast, or the Lamb?

Revelation 14 gives us the only right answer. Worship the Lamb!

If you have never turned from your sin and trusted in Jesus, none of these promises are yours yet — but they can be, today. Not by cleaning yourself up first. Not by working your way toward Mount Zion. Simply by turning to the Lamb who was slain, and letting Him call you His own.

And if you belong to Him already — go and think rightly about heaven this week. Not so you'll be less use to the world in front of you, but so you'll be more.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

All Glory Be To Christ

Benediction (1 Thess. 5:23-24)