Faithful Messengers
Notes
Transcript
1 Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. 3 They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. 4 These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. 5 And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.
Introduction:
The various interpretations of this scene are for the most part determined allegorically.
Again, as I have said at the beginning of the series, we should interpret the Bible literally, except when the literal does not make sense.
If in the literal declaration, there are figurative allusions, then we interpret only that portion as a figurative part of speech rather than make the whole (whether verse or paragraph) figurative.
Some have seen Mount Zion as representing heaven or even the new Jerusalem. Why can’t it simply mean Mount Zion?
4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south. 5 Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee As you fled from the earthquake In the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come, And all the saints with You.
We also don’t have to guess as to who the 144,000 are for they were already mentioned in chapter seven.
12,000 from each of the twelve tribes of Israel.
There is a comparison being made in this passage: The unholy trinity of Chapter 13, with the dragon (satan), the first beast (Anti Christ), and the second Beast (False Prophet), are being compared to the Holy representation of the Lamb (Christ), the 144,000 (Prophetic messengers), with there father’s name (Father God) in their foreheads.
The 144,000 are a special selected group from the Israelites (not gentiles) in fulfillment of God’s promise to the Jews, which the apostle Paul refers to in -
25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
The 144,000 are further said to be without fault, chaste, undefiled with women.
Some have drawn conclusions to the Roman priesthood and insisted that this special group are the priest in that particular church.
I doubt it!
These attributes are what are referred to elsewhere in the New Testament, and are given to signify their dedication to Christ.
12 For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.”
2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
This entire scene, is to acknowledge the mercy and grace of God over His chosen people, despite their history.
It is a picture of redemption over a particular group chosen by God for a particular time.
And I am inclined to believe through scriptural evidence, that every one of us has been appointed for a particular purpose for this particular time!
Therefore, faithful messengers...
I. Have put God first in their lives.
I. Have put God first in their lives.
The definition of God first, means every decision and endeavor is measured against God’s will for one’s life.
We could ask ourselves questions like:
What is the purpose of my job?
Why do I live where I do?
How much is enough?
These questions help us to navigate through circumstances in our lives that focus on God first and not us!
My Utmost for His Highest July 5th—Don’t Calculate without God
Don’t calculate without God.
God seems to have a delightful way of upsetting the things we have calculated on without taking Him into account. We get into circumstances which were not chosen by God, and suddenly we find we have been calculating without God; He has not entered in as a living factor. The one thing that keeps us from the possibility of worrying is bringing God in as the greatest factor in all our calculations.
In our religion it is customary to put God first, but we are apt to think it is an impertinence to put Him first in the practical issues of our lives. If we imagine we have to put on our Sunday moods before we come near to God, we will never come near Him. We must come as we are.
Don’t calculate with the evil in view.
Does God really mean us to take no account of the evil? “Love … taketh no account of the evil.” Love is not ignorant of the existence of the evil, but it does not take it in as a calculating factor. Apart from God, we do reckon with evil; we calculate with it in view and work all reasonings from that standpoint.
Don’t calculate with the rainy day in view.
You cannot lay up for a rainy day if you are trusting Jesus Christ. Jesus said—“Let not your heart be troubled.” God will not keep your heart from being troubled. It is a command—“Let not …” Haul yourself up a hundred and one times a day in order to do it, until you get into the habit of putting God first and calculating with Him in view.
July 6th
Also, Faithful Messengers...
II. Have committed themselves to holiness.
II. Have committed themselves to holiness.
This never means perfection, nor can we think of attaining it in this life.
But, we can continually work to improve upon our morality and obedience to Christ in this life, which is also a sacrifice well pleasing to God.
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
You see, people get confused with the idea of sacrifice:
Some believe that they need to add to the sacrifice of Christ, with good works, which is clearly heresy.
Others, see the sacrifice of Christ sufficient for not only salvation but their practical sanctification.
In other words, since Christ has paid the entire debt, there is nothing else I should do.
But what does the Apostle say in
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!
So then we see that there is something required of us that has nothing to do with salvation, but is necessary for the happiness and wellbeing of the disciple of Christ!
The Apostle Peter says it this way -
15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
Conclusion:
We are the faithful messengers for this current dispensation!
We must put aside everything that diverts our attention away from the task at hand.
It doesn’t matter how many believe our report.
It doesn’t matter how many we convince.
It doesn’t matter how inconvenient it is.
What matters is that we are obedient to His call and carry it out in righteousness.
We cannot sit back and enjoy our cushy existence any longer!
We don’t need more political involvement, we need more spiritual involvement!
We are witnessing global changes of unprecedented proportion.
Christian persecution and intolerance is more prevalent now, and will become worse.
We will be more and more marginalized in society, and our values less and less appreciated.
And you could say, that it has been like this for some time, what’s new?
But I say, never before has it progressed so quickly!
We must stand in the gap!
We must be courageous!
We must work while it is day, for the might comes when no one will be able to!
It is time to get down to business, the business of our Lord!