The Character

I remember a few years ago when I was a Sophomore at Oakwood university down in Huntsville Alabama, I worked for a landscaping company

I loved my job but I had a bad boss. Nothing I did could please him.

It seemed like he lived to find fault with me and he constantly put me down. I could do nothing right and he would never be pleased.

Pretty soon this boss became my accuser and everybody knew it

We would have our own battle of Armageddon going on every day in the work place

He would always find some silly rule to accuse me of breaking

And I would always find some way of overcoming his accusations

One day as fate would have it I broke some rule that got him so offended that he fired me.

Well I knew I just had to find a way to get him back. So, I devised a plan

So, the next day I came to him and apologized profusely and begged for my job back

He said, yeah for sure you can have your job but you gonna have to apologize to all your other coworkers at our morning staff meeting and encourage them to not break the rules.

I said yes sir… no problem I’ll do whatever you want me to do

So I waited till around 11:00am for the staff meeting to begin.

And my boss began the meeting telling everybody about my situation and how I broke his rules and so he had to fire me.

And he encouraged everybody to work hard and not break his rules.

Then he said, “Now Peter has a few words to say”

So stood up and spoke appropriately about how sorry I was for breaking the rules

I encouraged all the staff to work hard and adhere to all the rules of the organization

I reminded them that the boss was a very good man and they should not rebel when he accuses them of faults and errors and reprimands them.

And then I said, in closing.... I’ve just got one more thing to say

“Ain’t nobody gonna fire me....I quit” and that room erupted with applause as I walked out with my dignity and my head held high.

I had overcome my accuser.

Have you ever had somebody accusing you day and night like I had? Have you ever wished you could overcome your accuser?

Remember how you felt like no matter what you did they would pounce on you with accusations?

Needless to say your relationship with that person turned into constant conflict. You could not do anything right.

You just couldn’t please this person.

You always lived under the gun.

And you started looking for a way to overcome your accuser.

You said, If only I could find way to rise above my accuser and escape these silly accusations then everything would be alright.

Well in Revelation 12:10 we read about another accuser

The text says, And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ; for the accuser of our brethren is cast down which accused them before our God day and night.

You see in Revelation 12 we see the accuser of the brethren in conflict with God’s people John calls him the Accuser of the brethren that accuses us before God day and night.

This conflict forms and forges the character of the overcomers described in Revelation 14:1-6

And that group of Christ followers become the angels or messengers preaching the 3 Angels message

These very ones described as overcomers in Revelation 14:1-6 go on to preach the three angels message in Revelation 14:6-12

Revelation 14:1-6 gives a clear description of their Character.

John says I looked and lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount Sion and with him an hundred and forty four thousand

Now we already learned from when we preached on Revelation 7 not to get caught up on this 144,000 because it is a symbolic number revealing that the Great Multitude John ultimately sees comprises people from every land and nation and culture and race and language group

And guess what they are all together with the Lamb, Jesus Christ on Mount Sion

Everybody, no matter where they come from, regardless of their background and their geo-political, socio economic status is standing on Mount Sion with the Lamb

The passage goes on to say that they have the Father’s name written in their foreheads.

Then in verse 3 they sung a new song that only these who God redeemed fro the earth through Jesus Christ could sing

Verse 4 says they were not defiled with women meaning they were not corrupted with false religious teachings and doctrines

And then the end of verse 4 says they followed the Lamb wherever he goes

And finally in verse 5 we read they did not have any guile in their mouth meaning they had no lie or trick or deceit in their mouth.

And finally in verse 6 we read for they are without fault (Blameless) before the throne of God

But how did they get this way?

How did they endure the daily accusations of the dragon or the devil described in Revelation 12 and finally end up here on Mount Sion with the Lamb blameless

Well let me just say this… All those who don’t end up here are with the beast in the previous chapter of Revelation 13.

Look at Revelation 13:16 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, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast

So here we see two groups of people following to powers

One group follows the beast and receives a mark and name of the beast

The second group follows the Lamb and receives the Mark and the name of the Lamb

A group in Revelation 13 following the beast and a group in Revelation 14 following the Lamb

What I find significant about the Beast in Verse is that the Dragon gave him his power, and his seat and great authority.

That same angry Dragon from verse 12 gave him his power, his seat and great authority

So you got an angry dragon and a prideful, boastful, blasphemous beast

And I declare that the only thing worse than being part of the group receiving the Mark of the Beast in Revelation 13 is to have the angry spirit and boastful attitude and devilish heart of the beast without his power, his seat or his great authority.

We don’t have to look very far to find angry dragonlike people, boastful and prideful beastly folks who have the nature and spirit and attitude of the dragon and the beast but they ain’t got no power, no seat and no authority. You see the devil ain’t gonna share his power with you when you’re in his kingdom

But Revelation 20:4-6 declares that those who are with the Lamb will reign with him 1000 years. We sit with him on his throne and we share in his power, reign and authority.

But I still want to know how do those following the Lamb develop that character talked about in Revelation 14:1-5

Standing with Jesus

Father’s name - God’s character in their minds

Singing a new son from their heart

Pure and undefiled

Following Jesus wherever he goes - obedient and faithful

and no guile in their mouth, no deception or falsehood and not parroting the lies of the beastly power

Thanks be to God I found the answer in that little verse in Revelation 12:11…And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.

Oh I’ve got to quit now.

But I declare there’s just something powerful about the blood of the Lamb

The blood does three things

1. It quenches the wrath of God

2. It cleanses a guilty conscience

3. It silences the accusations of the devil

But how:

It quenches the wrath of God because God is the one who says, “When I see the blood I will pass over”

It cleanses a guilty conscience because Hebrews 9:14 says, “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

And it silences the accusations of the devil because in Zechariah 3…He shewed me Joshua the high priest standing beforethe angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right had to resist him. And the Lord said unto Sata, The lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee. Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?

Verse 3 says, Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and sood before the angel

You see Satan uses the platform of our guilt to accuse us in the present moment and generate shame within us but the blood of Jesus puts God on our side against Satan.

Aren’t you glad today brothers and sisters we overcome the devil, the accuser of the brethren by blood of the Lamb and the testimony of a changed and transformed life in Jesus Christ.

And then in the context of that victorious, new character described in Revelation chapter 14:1-5 we go forth with the Three Angels message

Just look at it with me closely....It is the Gospel message in three distinct settings

And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation and kindred and tongue and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give him glory for the hour of his judgment is come and worship him that made heaven, and earth and the sea, and the fountains of waters,

That’s the Gospel in the setting of the judgment for wherever and whenever the gospel is preached it’s judgment hour. Will you accept it and be saved or reject it and be lost

Verse 8 says, “there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wind of the wrath of her fornication

That’s the gospel in the setting of the fallen system of Babylon made up of ego, pride and self-exaltation

And the third angel followed them saying with a loud voice, if any man worship the beast and his image and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy and in the presence of the Lamb

My brothers and my sisters we have marched our way through this Kingdom series.

And we conclude by saying that God reproduces his character in his people through the power of the blood of the Lamb and the testimony of Jesus Christ. And not only do God’s people preach this message but this message itself is a soul saving message calling men and women from all over the earth to surrender to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I invite you today to not only surrender your heart to this gospel of Jesus Christ but live it and tell it and preach it and show it everywhere you go.

I invite you to not only plead the blood of the Jesus over every aspect of your life but testify of the life giving power of the gospel

The gospel of Jesus Christ casts the glory of man in the dust.

Don’t be afraid to let everybody know that God’s kingdom is rising.

this series on “God’s Kingdom” We marched through