Revelation 14:1-5 Have You Looked in the Mirror

Have You Looked in the Mirror Lately?

Revelation 14

We have finally finished chapter 13, after 4 weeks and now we are moving into chapter 14 and I’m not sure it will go any faster. One of the most difficult parts of reading through and especially preaching through the Revelation of Jesus Christ is that we have often been led to believe that we can go through this writing and see the schedule of events. Often we tend to believe that we can move through the book and see where we are or where we will be in the midst of certain events that occur in our world; almost like a step one, two, three. And to some degree we do see some of that but often along the way the revelation stops progressing forward and there is a pause to let our minds catch up and an opportunity for the revelation to give us an overview of coming events some encouragement. That is usually what those scenes of heaven and the heavenly throne room are and I think that is what we see here in chapter 14. We get to see events in generalities then later in the text we get to see them more specifically. So we have just been warned of the coming Antichrist and how he will arise out of chaos from a world gone awry promising to bring stability and salvation. And we learned about his False Prophet who will probably rise out of the religious community to bring stability and comfort as he inspires those whose names are not written in the Book of life of the Lamb to place their faith in the Antichrist for their salvation. They will both work counterfeit wonders convincing the people of the earth that the Antichrist is their messiah. There will be the requirement of all people to receive a mark on their forehead or right hand designating that they worship the Antichrist before they are allowed to do any kind of business transaction. We have been warned how the Dragon will be pouring out his wrath through the Antichrist on the redeemed of God and even though God’s redeemed are sealed for eternity some will be imprisoned and some will be killed. We talked about the mark of the Beast that will be on all who bowed to worship him and determined that it was something people will receive because they want to honor their god and savior the Beast. We also talked about what the number of his name meant and determined that we may have to plead ignorance now but when the time for the redeemed of God to recognize him it will become apparent what the number of his name was.

After all this turmoil and all of this future pain and suffering is revealed , in chapter 14 we get a chance to see some of the good stuff that is to come. Hopefully, in this chapter, we will answer some of our questions relating to the judgment on those who are opposed to God and the reward of those who are faithful to God as we preview what God has planned to bring to fulfillment what we read back in Revelation 11:15 The £kingdom of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” because that is where we are headed. Let’s pray then we will take a look into God’s Word.

We are only going to get through the first 5 verses of this chapter today but I want to go ahead and read the entire chapter this morning. Revelation 14:1-20 1Then 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.6 Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—7 saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”8 And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”9 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”12 Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ”“Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16 So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.17 Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.18 And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe.” 19 So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs.[1]

In this chapter there are six scenes and in the first five verses we find the first scene. The Lamb (we all know Who this is) is seen by John standing on Mount Zion with the redeemed of God. I looked up every time “the Lamb” was mentioned in Revelation and found that every time He is found to be in heaven. So what we see here is Jesus, the Lamb, standing on the heavenly Mount Zion. Zion is often referred to in the Old Testament as the place of deliverance and nothing describes deliverance better than heaven. Along with Jesus are His redeemed people. Back in chapter 7, before God released Satan to do his deeds on the earth He had an angel seal all of the people of God. They were designated as the 144,000. I know there is some controversy as to who these 144,000 are but I believe that they are all the redeemed of God who are on the earth when the terrible tribulation spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 24 takes place. If I am correct in that, and I believe I am, then what we see in heaven with the Lamb is all of those who were sealed, all 144,000 designating the complete number of the redeemed of God. We see here precisely the number that was sealed back in chapter 7 appearing in heaven with their Savior. No text in Scripture could more clearly teach the security of the true believer’s salvation than comparing the two passages in Revelation which present the 144,000 (chapters 7 and 14). If God will keep safe the tribulation believers that must endure the most furious satanic onslaughts of all time, then He will surely keep safe his people that have followed him during less desperate days like today.[2] So we get to see a vision of God’s people, the redeemed of God, who has faced the torment of the Devil, his Beast and his False Prophet standing with their Savior in heaven.

In chapter 13:4 we heard those who worshiped the beast proclaiming his greatness by saying “who is like the Beast and who can make war against him?” But now it appears that their worship of the Beast is nothing compared with the worship of the redeemed of God for their Savior. John describes the symphony of the worship as sounding like many waters, loud thunder and harps being played by harpists. I have camped beside a river during a thunderstorm and I have to say that the sound of the water you can hear between the claps of thunder is so calming in the midst of what seems like a war. The overall effect is to feel as if God is working in the middle of danger to preserve His own. But then if you were to add in the harps playing along with the water rushing and the thunder I can imagine a sense of calm and security even in the presence of danger. That is what these redeemed of God has experienced and they sing their new song that expresses that. Only the redeemed of God who have come through the great tribulation can understand the pain and the struggles they went through and the peace of the redemption that they received from the Lamb of God. Therefore only those redeemed through the tribulation will be able to learn this song. The elders who represent the rest of the church, the rest of the redeemed of God have not experienced the same tribulations so they cannot learn the song. The four living creatures that I believe represent all of God’s creation could not learn it even though creation was subject to the fall it only receives redemption when all of God’s people are redeemed. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 1:12 that even angels long to look into redemption because they have never and will never have to experience God’s grace first hand.

What we have seen thus far is that the redeemed of God who have gone through the great tribulation, some having been imprisoned and some having been martyred are all present in heaven with the Lamb who is their redeemer. Those who experienced the tribulation are singing a song that is so deafening that John describes it as the sound of many waters, so powerful that he described it as the voice of loud thunder and so tender that he described it as the sound of harps all going on at the same time yet each part distinguishable. A tribute if you will of praise and worship to the Lamb. No one can truly know this song save for those who experienced the great tribulation and the Lamb’s glorious salvation. After this in verses 4-5 we hear a description of those who are the redeemed of God. Let’s read those verses again. This is speaking of the redeemed of God 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. These verses do have some difficulty and it begins right off the bat in verse 4. To designate them as those who have not been defiled by women makes it appear as if they are all male. The redeemed of God are only male? But wait it also says that they are virgins. In the New Testament the word “virgin” always designates women who have never been sexually active in any way. So the redeemed of God are all women? What we have here is a single group that is referred to with sexual terminologies that cannot be applied to a mixed company of males and females. So this leads me to believe that John is using the language of sexual relations in a figurative manner. All through the Old Testament following other gods was described as adultery. You only need go to Hosea 1-3 to see this. Paul used the same language in 2 Corinthians 11:2-3 For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. Later in chapters 17-18 of the Revelation the great enemy of God’s people will be described as a prostitute. I believe John is describing the redeemed of God as being totally committed to the Lamb, Jesus Christ. If the Old Testament Israelites who followed the Baals were guilty of spiritual adultery then the New Testament saints who follow Christ fully are guilty of spiritual purity. The statement that they followed the Lamb wherever He went pretty well describes the spiritual purity of the redeemed of God. And a reward for following Him through the struggles of the tribulation is that they get to follow Him to heaven. To take this back to other Johanian statements; They did not love their lives to death (Revelation 12:11) and 1 John 2:15-1715Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

The first description we see of the redeemed of God is that they are spiritually pure. The second description we see is their spiritual position. They are redeemed from among men and they are the firstfruits of God and the Lamb. These redeemed of God are not superhuman, or even superchristian. They are simply men and women who had been redeemed and changed by the power of God through the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that resides in each of us. Because they were redeemed, changed by the Holy Spirit of God they are set apart for the use of God and God alone. That is what John is talking about when he describes them as the firstfruits of God and the Lamb. In the Old Testament the firstfruit was not always the very first grapes or the very first sheaf of wheat but it was a representative part of the entire harvest and it was dedicated fully to be used by God as an offering of thanksgiving. The redeemed of God is set aside for God to use as He sees fit for His own glory. The redeemed of God who come out of the tribulation are the firstfruit while the rest of the redeemed of God are the full harvest. We will come back to that thought a little further in the passage.

Finally the last description of the redeemed of God is that they are morally pure. In their mouths is found no deceit, they are without fault before the throne of God. This statement describing the redeemed of God makes it clear that God’s work of sanctification has been fruitful in their lives. That fact that no deceit was found in their mouth speaks to an overall moral purity. I have used this illustration before but what comes out of a tube of toothpaste when you squeeze it? Toothpaste is what comes out because that is what is in the tube. What comes out of our mouths is a very good indicator of what is in our hearts. John goes on to say that there was no fault in them before the throne of God. Why is that? Does that mean that they never ever told a lie after they became believers or that they never again sinned after their conversion? That is a big no to both questions. Folks because of the sanctification process begun in their conversion they now stand before the throne of God glorified being transformed fully by the work of Christ. They now stand before the throne of God complete.

Let’s pull out three things in these five verses to apply for us today.

Point 1 - If God will keep safe the tribulation believers that must endure the most furious satanic onslaughts of all time, then He will surely keep safe his people that have followed him during less desperate days like today. We can see a parallel to this in John 10:28-29 28And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. For those who have put their faith in Christ there is surety that He will accomplish to the end that which He started. Philippians 1:6 6being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Point 2 - Those who experienced the tribulation are singing a song that is so deafening that John describes it as the sound of many waters, so powerful that he described it as the voice of loud thunder and so tender that he described it as the sound of harps all going on at the same time yet each part distinguishable. A tribute if you will of praise and worship to the Lamb due to God amazing grace. Folks we often sing our songs of grace that if they corresponded to dinner would be treating them like warmed up leftovers. We look at the sacrifice of our Lord and the grace afforded us, which by definition we did not deserve, as a common thing. The writer of Hebrews warns us against this in Hebrews 10:28-31 28Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” £ £says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” £ 31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. The church must fall in love with the work of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross and honor and appreciate the grace that was given to us as a gift.

Point 3 – There is a description of the redeemed of God

The redeemed of God are totally committed to the Lamb, Jesus Christ. The statement that they followed the Lamb wherever He went pretty well describes the spiritual purity of the redeemed of God. They would not bow down to any other god even in the face of physical death.

They are simply men and women who had been redeemed and changed by the power of God through the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that resides in each of us. Because they were redeemed, changed by the Holy Spirit of God they are set apart for the use of God and God alone. That is what John is talking about when he describes them as the firstfruit of God and the Lamb.

They are spiritually pure, they are set aside to be used by God and they are morally pure. God’s work of sanctification has been fruitful in their lives. The fact that no deceit was found in their mouth speaks to an overall moral purity. Because of the sanctification process begun in their conversion they now stand before the throne of God glorified being transformed fully by the work of Christ.

So this morning you can be sure that if you are the redeemed of God He will fulfill His promise of salvation. As the redeemed of God you will be in love with Christ and His work of grace in your life and it will show in your life in that you will be spiritually pure, set aside for His work and His alone, and your life will express the moral purity of the redeemed of God. So how are you doing? Have you looked in the mirror lately? Let’s pray.

[1] The New King James Version. (1982). (Re 14:1–20). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[2] Easley, K. H. (1998). Revelation (Vol. 12, p. 246). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.