A Message For All People
Revelation 14:6-13
February 19, 2017

As you know we are in the middle of this
Parenthetical section of the book of the Revelation.

It is a section meant to illustrate the fact that Christ reigns and that there is not a thing the enemy can do to stop it.
• We’ve already seen the Child Satan couldn’t stop
• We’ve already seen the Battle Satan couldn’t win
• We’ve already seen the Woman Satan couldn’t kill
• And we are currently looking at the Throne Satan can’t keep

Satan has fallen to earth and done his best to set up his earthly kingdom.
• He has placed his own kingly puppet on the throne
• And he has empowered the false prophet to run the press for him
• He is also succeeding in killing off all those who worship God while he temporarily takes care of those who will worship him

For all intents and purposes it appears like Satan is winning.

This is why John has continually called for Perseverance and Wisdom.
Just because it looks like Satan is winning and just because it is easier to follow him doesn’t mean that is what a person should do.

• Instead a person should be wise enough to know better than to trade eternity
for immediate comfort,
• And they should be willing to persevere through momentary affliction for the
sake of eternal blessing.

These are the things we are learning.

Last week we actually saw the Satan’s dominion is nearly over as the Lamb returned and was standing on Mt. Zion with His faithful standing beside Him.

And we spent a little time talking about why they were able to survive.

The next chronological event that is going to happen
Is the battle known as Armageddon.

If you want to take a sneak peak at chapter 19 I can show you the events.
TURN TO: Revelation 19:11-21

That is what is now about to happen.
And it is the event which is also described at the end of this chapter where we see the blood running up to the horses bridles for a distance of 200 miles.

I just tell you that so you can fill in the timeline and see where we are.
Chronologically speaking we are right at the end.

But before we get to that event, we have 8 verses that once again demonstrate to us the tremendous heart of God.

• Even now…
• Even here…
• In a world that is as opposed to God as at any time in history…
Before this final judgment comes we find God doing
What is so consistent with His nature.
God operates as a Savior.

These 8 verses almost serve as a pause within the pause.
The Lord Jesus has returned and He’s about to slay the wicked,
And yet before He does we get one last preaching of the gospel.

This passage does a tremendous job of helping us see just how far God’s mercy will go; and the answer is, right to the end.

Even as Jesus has returned as just about to slay the wicked,
Even then He is giving one last opportunity to repent and trust in Him.

Make no mistake, it is a merciful God whom we serve.
Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’”

So here we are, at the end, and let me show you the message that God has preached to the whole world.
#1 A MESSAGE OF SALVATION
Revelation 14:6-7

Here John says, “I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people;”

Now obviously we like the fact that
This angel is preaching the gospel to those on the earth,
But let me tell you some other things that I love about this verse.

We already know that we are dealing with the events of the end;
• And what we find is that even at the end…
• Even at times of great peril and deception…
• IT’S STILL THE SAME MESSAGE!

This angel is still preaching the “eternal gospel”.

If it was the message at the beginning
And it will be the message at the end,
Then it leaves little doubt to us what the message today should be.

The world may have changed a great bit from the days of Paul unto now,
But the message has never changed.

The message has always been the “eternal gospel”

Furthermore, I love the fact that this same message is preached “to every nation and tribe and tongue and people”

Why is that significant?
Because it reminds us that the gospel transcends all contexts and cultures.

There is enormous research done and pressure applied to churches today
About the need to be “culturally relevant”
Or to understand “the contextualization” of the hearer.

I just read a Facebook post this past week about how millennials are dropping out of church, and what things the church needs to do differently in order to reach them.

Today we have hipster churches
Cowboy churches
Country churches
Mega churches
Biker churches
Etc, etc, etc

But it is extremely encouraging to me to know that
The message of the gospel transcends all of that.

The apostles took this message of the gospel
Across hard cultural lines with distinct language barriers
And not one time did the message or the method ever change.

It didn’t matter if Paul was in Judea, Italy, Asia, Greece, Spain, or on the moon you find him always doing the exact same thing; he preached the gospel.

It is the single message which is always relevant to all people everywhere.

I’ve always particularly loved what Paul said to the people of Athens.
Acts 17:30-31 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

That is what you call a universally relevant message.
The gospel has always been, and will always be,
Perfectly relevant to all people of all nations at all times.

I love that even here at the end, it’s the same message.
Gives us great clarity in what must be preached doesn’t it?

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 ’tis true,
It satisfies my longings as nothing else would do.

I love to tell the story, ’tis pleasant to repeat,
What seems each time I tell it more wonderfully sweet;
I love to tell the story, for some have never heard
The message of salvation from God’s own holy Word.

I love to tell the story, for those who know it best
Seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest;
And when in scenes of glory I sing the new, new song,
’Twill be the old, old story that I have loved so long.

Here at the end the gospel still remains.

Well, what exactly is being preached by this angel?
(7) “and he said with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of water.”

The message here is a message
Which requires humanity to submit themselves fully to God.

That message has not changed since the dawn of time.

“Fear God”
• Which of course speaks of the reverence that He deserves.
• It is to recognize who His is in all His might and splendor.
• It is to call men away from their rebellion against their creator and to begin to consider exactly who He is and what He can do.

“and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come;”
• Giving God glory is the acknowledgment of what He deserves.

This angel first calls the earth to consider who they are dealing with
And then to ascribe to Him the credit or respect that He rightly deserves.

“worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.”
• Worship here implies submission to Him.

James taught us that it is more than just giving God the glory He deserves; even demons do that.

James 2:19 “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”

Even demons “fear God”, even demons “give Him glory”,
But that of course does not indicate that they are found pleasing to God,
For while they give Him credit, they REFUSE TO WORSHIP.

What then is this “worship” which we are commanded here to give?
Romans 12:1 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”

The first time the word “worship” is used in Scripture is found in:
Genesis 22:5 “Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.”

Abraham is there referencing the coming execution of his son Isaac.

Job gave us great insight as to what “worship” is.

On the day that Job lost all of his oxen, donkeys, sheep, camels, children, and all but 3 servants, here is how Job responded:

Job 1:20-21 “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

Worship then is when we recognize
Who God truly is and what God truly deserves
And then fully submit all that we have and all that we are and all that we hope into the full sovereign will and desire of this deserving God, for His pleasure and glory alone.

It is quite literally us giving God everything.
Because we understand that He deserves everything.

Furthermore, worship is the only suitable response
Of a person who truly fears God and desires to glorify Him.

If you don’t give God worship then you don’t really fear Him
And you don’t really think He deserves glory.

SO THE ANGEL HERE is calling all the earth to
Not only recognize God and what He deserves,
But then to fully submit their lives to His control.

WHY IS THAT SUCH A BIG DEAL?
Because you are aware of the cost of making this type of decision.

Have we not read what happens to those
who refuse the beast and choose to worship God?
They are martyred.

But God is calling for worship regardless of the difficulty.
And that too is a reality all men must get past.

When God calls for worship He does so with the understanding
That worshiping Him may in fact be costly.

• Listen to Jesus repeatedly tell us to count the cost…
• Listen to Him declare that it may bring division in your family…
• Listen to Him tell us that the whole world may hate us…

Nowhere in the Bible did God promise that
If you worship Him everything in this life will go well for you.
(In fact many times He promises that it won’t)

God knows that suffering is the fate of those who worship Him
And yet He calls for it anyway.

EVEN IN OUR DAY
• God knows all about the dangers of Islam
• God knows all about the feminist movement
• God knows all about the gay and lesbian movement
• God knows all about the push for tolerance

But that doesn’t change the command to submit all that you are to Him.
The command is to worship Him anyway.

THAT MESSAGE HAS NEVER CHANGED AND IT NEVER WILL.
Here, during earth’s final hour, God is still preaching salvation.

A message of salvation
#2 A MESSAGE OF JUDGMENT
Revelation 14:8

Here we have another angel who preaches “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality.”

• This is a message announcing the fate of the wicked world system.
• This is a message announcing the fate of the kingdom of Satan.
• Incidentally this reality is also the subject of Revelation 17 & 18.

It is a message preached here to show the world that
The kingdom they have been trusting in
Is a kingdom which will not endure.

1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.”

This system won’t last forever.
2 Peter 3:7 “But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”

This whole world and its system will not survive.

To that Jesus even asked:
Matthew 16:26-27 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”

SO…
• To everyone who has rushed after the beast…
• To everyone who thought he was winning…
• To everyone who has thus far done everything they can to gain the world…

This angel is announcing that they should stop and forsake that pursuit.
YOU WON’T WIN!
BABYLON WILL FALL!

Even at this final hour God is still pleading with sinners
Who are determined to go down with the ship.

A message of salvation, a message of judgment
#3 A MESSAGE OF TORMENT
Revelation 14:9-11

If those first two message weren’t enough
Then this one should really shake you to the core.

“If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and who receives the mark of his name.”

Let that sink in.

We have already established that God is demonstrating great mercy here;
BUT DO NOT ALLOW THE PRESENCE OF HIS MERCY
TO CAUSE YOU TO DOUBT THE CERTAINTY OF HIS JUDGMENT.

God is merciful to all who repent of their sin and worship Him.
For all those who refuse to repent…they receive torment.

And this angel even goes to great lengths to describe that torment to us.

They “will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger;”

God’s wrath mixed in full strength distributed in the cup of His anger.
It sounds terrible.

Here God announces that there will be no diluting His wrath.
Sinners will receive it in its full un-mixed reality.
This will not be one of those “This hurts Me more than it hurts you” moments.

AND THAT’S NOT ALL…
This angel says that those who receive this wrath “will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.”

I remind you again that Satan is not in charge in hell; Jesus is.

Someone would ask, “Why would Jesus watch such a thing?”
• Why would He just to sit there as sinners are being tormented with fire?
• How could He watch?

I’ll tell you how, because He is holy!

Remember the parable of the vineyard?
The one about the men who rented the vineyard but who never produced the fruit and eventually beat the slaves and killed the son who was the heir?

Let me remind you how that parable ended:
Luke 19:27 “But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.”

When Paul said that every knee would bow to Jesus, he wasn’t joking.
But many knees will bow to Him from the agonies of hell.

And in His fury He will not only pour out judgment,
But will satisfy His righteous indignation
As He watches them in torment.

Does that surprise you?
Did you think Jesus wasn’t offended by sin?
Did you think it really didn’t bother Him?
IT DOES…

Because of His great wrath, God is going to torment men in His presence.

AND THAT IS NOT ALL…
(11) “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever;”

So how long does this torment last?
FOREVER!

Everyone who enters hell gets a life sentence without parole,
And that is especially harsh considering even the worms don’t die in hell.

There is no end to this.

We’ve all read that story in Luke 16 about the rich man who went to Hades and was tormented in the flame.

That guy is still there.
2,000 years later and he’s still in agony in that flame.
Rejecting God is no laughing matter.

AND THAT IS NOT ALL…
“they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

That means there are no breaks…
There are no moments of reprieve…

NOW I REALIZE that speaking of such a God who would punish sinners in this way for all eternity is not popular sentiment today,
But that does not change the fact that this is who God is.

GOD’S MERCY IS SEEN IN THE FACT THAT
Before this judgment becomes reality
He is crying out relentlessly to all those who are on the earth
To forsake the beast, and to forsake the world,
And to worship Him with all their heart.

And I think this is worth addressing a little deeper.
I can say that the focus of this message is the unredeemed, but I think we probably need to look at that a little more directly.

I want to ask you, who this message is being preached to.
• It’s easy to say that it is to those who had not yielded their lives to Christ.
• But I think it would have also been to those who had taken the mark of the beast.

And I do want to address that just a second
To make sure we understand and defend the integrity of the gospel.

So let’s cut to it: If we say that those angels are addressing those who have taken the mark of the beast
THEN WE MUST BE SAYING THAT SALVATION IS POSSIBLE FOR THEM.

Is that true?
Can you still be saved after you take the mark?

Now many would say, and they certainly have grounds, that the answer is an emphatic “NO”
• Since verse 9 seems to make it clear that if anyone takes that mark he will drink of God’s wrath.

There certainly seems to be a definite certainty there.

But if that is true then we have to ask,
“Who are those angels preaching to?”

You say, “Well those who haven’t taken the mark, but who aren’t following Jesus either.”

So the message would be then
To those who somehow have managed to stay in limbo?
Somehow this group of people found the strength to resist the cry of the beast,
But have also managed to reject the call of salvation from Christ.

The problem with that is that we already learned that the only people who don’t take the mark are those who are the elect; chosen of God.

Remember?
Revelation 13:7-8 “It 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. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.”

That verse seems to remove any notion that
There will be any group that remains just in undecided limbo.
And frankly since no one can buy food without the mark it is hard to believe that anyone who is not committed to Jesus would refuse the mark based on some sort of moral ground. The cost is just too high.

Beyond that, verse 6 makes it clear that these angels are preaching “to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people;”

I think those who have taken the mark must be included in this.

The point I am making is this.
The only people who those angels could possibly be speaking to are those who have the mark.

So preacher, “Do you really think that people who have taken the mark can still be saved?”

Well, this is why I’m bringing it up.
I think this presents us an opportunity to clarify the gospel.

Let me ask you: What sin have you ever found in Scripture to be so horrific that God wouldn’t save someone out of if they repented?

• Are we saying that pagan worshipers can’t be saved? (Abraham was)
• Are we saying that Christian persecutors can’t be saved? (Paul was)
• Are we saying that Satan worshipers can’t be saved?

The only type of sinner who is listed as “unpardonable” in Scripture
Is one who refused to trust in Christ.
They can’t be saved because they have rejected the only means of salvation.

I bring this up because I want you to understand
The redemptive scope of the gospel and the mercy of God.

Now look, I’M NOT SAYING that there will even be one person who has taken the mark who will actually repent.
Scripture doesn’t say that any will.

I’m just saying that if they would repent of that sin, and remove that mark, and place their faith in Jesus,
I have no reason to believe that Christ would not forgive and save them.

That is the gospel, and it is a tremendous testimony to the mercy of God.

And I think then the call here from these angels becomes even clearer.
“You don’t want to enter eternity with that mark on your forehead.”
You’d better remove it and remove it now!

A message of salvation, a message of judgment, a message of torment
#4 A MESSAGE OF ENCOURAGEMENT
Revelation 14:12-13

FIRST God addresses those who have refused the beast,
And SECOND He addresses those who may be considering it.

First, to the faithful is that familiar message:
(12) “Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.”

After revealing the truth about God’s judgment,
John once again reminds why endurance is so important.
You don’t want to give up on Christ right before the judgment.
You’ve come so far, you’ve endured so much, hang on!

Hebrews 10:32-39 “But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY. BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”

I think that is the same message here.
It is a reminder to persevere and to keep trusting.

Certainly this next message is very encouraging to the redeemed,
But I think this voice is ALSO ADDRESSING THOSE
Who are considering the option.
• Those who are presently counting the cost of leaving the beast and following
Christ.
• No food, No provision, Certain martyrdom

You know they’d be caught in limbo here,
Many of you remember the struggle.

To those people God gives a wonderful and encouraging word.

(13) “And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!” ‘Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.”

It is true that if you cling to Christ you may die.
But if you die you are blessed!

Why?
Because you instantly leave a world of pain and suffering
And immediately enter a life of rest and reward!

Death has never been anything to fear for a believer.

Philippians 1:21-24 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.”

1 Corinthians 15:53-57 “For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

2 Corinthians 5:1-2 “For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven,”

And that is the point of the heavenly voice here.
If you are debating whether or not to stick with Christ…
If you are debating whether or not to leave the beast…

Let me unequivocally tell you what to do!
RUN TO CHRIST!

If you stick with Christ you get death here and rest for all eternity.
If you stick with the beast you get life here and torment for all eternity.

That is the sermon being preached as Christ returns,
But as we already said, that is also the message being preached today.

Indeed that message is the eternal gospel message.
And it applies to us today.

What is it that would keep you from submitting to Christ and becoming a fully submissive worshiper of God?

What is that thing holding you back?

Well is that thing worth being tormented for all eternity?

Listen to this message which is for all those who live on the earth.
Leave the grip of the enemy
And submit yourself to worship the true God of heaven.

Acts 17:30-31 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”

The Coming Priestly King
Zechariah 6:9-15
February 12, 2017

Well obviously you’ve already noticed that I messed up in a royal way.
• A few weeks ago, there was a lady who listens on line ask me if I had posted the sermon Zechariah 6:9-15 yet.
• I started looking and realized that I had skipped the passage entirely, and I cannot tell you how it happened.

But, I wanted to finish the flow of chapters 7 and 8
Before I came back this text, so that is what we’re doing tonight.

Fortunately for our study this is a passage
That stands alone in the book of Zechariah.

• We already saw that the first 5 ½ chapters go together as they constitute Zechariah’s night visions.

• And we learned that chapters 7 and 8 go together as they address the issue of the delegation who came to seek God’s favor.

• But these 7 verses standalone unique to themselves which helps us overcome my mistake much easier than it could have been.

In order to introduce this segment I want to read to you John Calvin’s intro to this passage because I think he gives some really good insight to the culture of the day and to the necessity of this sermon.

Calvin writes:
“This vision was given to Zechariah that he might inspire weak minds with better hope; for the Jews found that they were hardly pressed on every side by their neighbors, inasmuch as enemies rose up against them before and behind so that there was no end to their troubles. Hence they who had returned from exile thought themselves wretched in such a state of things. They might indeed have lived in quietness among the Babylonians, and they had become accustomed to that kind of life, so that exile was not so very grievous to them. Thus then the favor of God was turned into loathing, and was almost hated by them; for they thought it better to be deprived of their country, than to be daily exposed to new assaults. And further, the possession of the land was not itself desirable, except with references to the hope given them; that is, because God had promised by his Prophets that the kingdom of David would again be made glorious, and also that the grandeur and glory of the temple would be greater than ever before. When the Jews found themselves continually harassed by their enemies, they thought that all had been promised was in vain. There is therefore no doubt but that many complaints and many clamors were everywhere raised. Hence that they might cease thus to murmur against God, this vision was given to the Prophet, in which he is bid to take silver and gold from four men, and to make two crowns to be set on the head of Joshua the high priest. The design was to make the Jews feel assured, that the state of the people would be as safe as it was formerly, when the kingly office and the priesthood flourished; for these were the chief ornaments, of the two eyes, as it were, of the body – the priest, a mediator between God and men – and the king, sustaining the person of God in governing the people.”
(Calvin, John [Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets, volume fifth, Zechariah and Malachi; Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2005] page 152)

If I can summarize for you what Calvin said, it is this.
• The people had grown comfortable in Babylon and exile no longer seemed to be that difficult.
• However God revealed His favor to them in that He opened the door for them to return to the Promised Land.
• Those who returned, however did not find ease, but rather hardship.
• They were surrounded by enemies who hated them.
• They were living in an overgrown set of ruins.
• They were seeking to farm overgrown land which had been overrun by wild beast
• And therefore this evidence of God’s favor in their lives had actually become something they were unhappy about.
• Grumbling and murmuring had followed and people felt like the glorious promises of God regarding Israel and her land were a distant memory.

And it is to this backdrop that Calvin says
God gave this sermon to Zechariah.

It is a sermon meant to restore their hope in the future
And to restore their faith in the sovereign plan of God;
Namely that better things were yet to come.

And I think Calvin probably hit the nail on the head here.

I certainly understand the sentiment.
It would not be the first time God gave a promise to people
And asked them to go out and claim it in faith,
Only for those people to find hardships
Which caused them grow discontented
And even angry that God ever got their hopes up.

• We know of Abraham leaving Ur of the Chaldeans to go pursue that land which God would give him, only to find Abraham flee from that land during famine.

• We know of the children of Israel crying for deliverance from slavery only seeing them continually grumble against God because His deliverance wasn’t want they expected.

• And even in our lives, there are times when God opens doors for a ministry or mission and because it also comes with difficulties we actually grow to wish God had never singled us out.

So when Calvin says that
These people who had left their comfortable life in Babylon,
And found such hardship in Israel
Were prone to grumble and needed encouragement;
I don’t have any trouble believing him.

This message then is meant to give hope back to people
Who had grown weary in their voyage to claim the promises of God.

Beyond that, it is a tremendous vision for us
As it helps us to understand yet again
That Christ is and has always been the fulfillment of all our hopes.

There are 3 main points.
#1 A STRANGE CORONATION
Zechariah 6:9-11

This setting is a little difficult to discern
Because it deals with 4 guys who are not referenced anywhere else.

So we don’t really know who we are dealing with
Or even why we are dealing with them.

Here’s what we know:
They are men who have returned from living in Babylon.
• They are called “exiles” and God reveals that “they have arrived from
Babylon.”

We also know that the message that is revealed here is as much for them as it is for anyone
• Because when this crown gets finished it is ultimately placed in the temple as
“a reminder…to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah and Hen”

Calvin sees this as proof that these men
Had a specific issue of doubt and even discouragement.

That is to say that
• God called these men out specifically because He wanted them (more than
anyone) to quit their complaining and have hope.
• This crown was to be a specific reminder to them, and their punishment was
that they had to pay for it.

And I tend to agree with him.

I think we have here a group of grumblers.
We have here a group of people who are just really good at pointing out the leaks in the boat.

• We all love those people who are better at spotting problems than solutions.
• We all love those “glass half empty” people who are more than ready to explain to us why failure is inevitable.

That is not to say that it is wrong to be a person
who spots difficulty or who is a voice of reason,
But when you have a group of people who are doing what they are doing in obedience to God, being a discouraging voice is actually sinful.

And that is what it appears that these men were doing.

So God has a plan for them, and ultimately for all the people.

(10-11) “Take an offering from the exiles, from Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah; and you go the same day and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have arrived from Babylon. “Take silver and gold, make an ornate crown and set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.”

So here Zechariah takes silver and gold from these exiles
And uses it to make a crown.

The strange thing is what he does with that crown.
He is commanded to “set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.”

This is strange because these are offices that simply are not connected.
• God had commanded that the priests come from the tribe of Levi.
• God had specified that the kingly line was from the tribe of Judah.

Now we do have a couple of instances in the Old Testament
Where one man tried to occupy both offices and neither worked out well.

1 Samuel 13:8-14 “Now he waited seven days, according to the appointed time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, “Bring to me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. As soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him and to greet him. But Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “Because I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the appointed days, and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.” Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, for now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. “But now your kingdom shall not endure. The LORD has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”

2 Chronicles 26:16-21 “But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. Then Azariah the priest entered after him and with him eighty priests of the LORD, valiant men. They opposed Uzziah the king and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful and will have no honor from the LORD God.” But Uzziah, with a censer in his hand for burning incense, was enraged; and while he was enraged with the priests, the leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in the house of the LORD, beside the altar of incense. Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous on his forehead; and they hurried him out of there, and he himself also hastened to get out because the LORD had smitten him. King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death; and he lived in a separate house, being a leper, for he was cut off from the house of the LORD. And Jotham his son was over the king’s house judging the people of the land.”

I read you those to remind you that
This was a strange prophecy from Zechariah.

Yet here we have Zechariah placing a crown on the head of the priest.

The only Old Testament precedent for this sort of thing
Is found in the man Melchizedek.

Genesis 14:18-20 “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” He gave him a tenth of all.”

• Melchizedek, who preceded the Levitical priesthood and the Davidic line was
called both the King of Salem and the priest of God.

• You’ll recall that Abraham even validated this fact by paying tithes to him.

• Furthermore you will remember form our study of Hebrews that this
Melchizedek was a prophetic type of the coming Messiah.

Psalms 110:4 “The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”

So there was a precedent,
But not one which was very familiar to the Jews.

All they knew was that no king in Israel had ever successfully ventured into the priesthood and no priest in Israel had ever been crowned king.
THIS WAS STRANGE

A Strange Coronation
#2 A SPIRITUAL EXPLANATION
Zechariah 6:12-13

These verses then give us the explanation
As to the purpose of the drama which Zechariah just acted out.

Joshua is not going to be king in Israel.
Rather, Joshua is a prophetic picture of One who is coming.

(12-13) “Then say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the LORD. “Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the LORD, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.”‘

Look at Joshua and see a priest wearing the crown.
Now understand that you will someday see this again.

There is One coming who will in fact fill both offices.
His name is “Branch”

It’s not the only time this is mentioned.
Jeremiah 23:5-6 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. “In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The LORD our righteousness.’”

Jeremiah 33:14-16 “’Behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. ‘In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth. ‘In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the LORD is our righteousness.’”

Jeremiah also spoke of this coming “Branch”.
• Jeremiah saw Him as One who would reign as king on David’s throne.
• Jeremiah saw Him as One who would reign with righteousness.
• And Jeremiah saw Him as One who would be the source of righteousness for God’s people.

Isaiah also spoke of this “Branch”
Isaiah 11:1-5 “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.”

So in one sense we understand the name “Branch”
As we see this One being part of David’s tree.
He is a descendant of David, an heir to the throne, and thus a branch in David’s line.

But even that seems a little strange.
For if we know anything about Christ we know that He existed long before David.

Christ should be called the tree and David should be called the branch.

Why is it the other way around?
Isaiah 53:1-4 “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.”

On one hand He is called “Branch”
Because He is of the Davidic line,
But He is also merely called “Branch”
Because as such He is easily overlooked.

Zechariah gives another reason why He is called “Branch”.

“Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is;”

That is to say He will “sprout up”
He acts like a branch.

Again listen to what Isaiah said;
Isaiah 53:2 “For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.”

That is to say He sort of sprang up out of nowhere.
He branched out where you wouldn’t have expected Him.

And certainly that is true of Jesus.
• No one could believe that the Messiah would be a carpenter’s son raised in Nazareth.

So obviously Zechariah is talking about Jesus here.
“and He will build the temple of the LORD.”

WHAT?
• I thought Zerubbabel was building the temple?
• Beyond that, I don’t remember Jesus building any temple when He came.

Some take this to mean that Jesus will build a Millennial temple from which to reign, but I think that is also missing the point.

Consider the conversation that Jesus had with the Woman At The Well.
John 4:19-24 “The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Jesus did not build a physical temple, but He did build a spiritual one.
He cut through the superficial ceremonial worship of the Jews
And instituted true worship of the Father.

Jesus came in and cut to the heart.
He looked through their giving and fasting and praying
And pushed for true devotion of the heart.

He is the King who will restore true worship.

And that is why Zechariah continues.
(13) “Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the LORD, and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.”‘

Because it is He who institutes true worship,
He not only serves as King, but also as Priest.

And think about Christ for a second.
• It wasn’t that Jesus showed up and demanded a crown, nor did He demand to
be priest.
• He didn’t do like Uzziah and force His way into the temple to assume the role
of priest.

But…
This “Branch” who seemingly came out of nowhere,
Did more to lead Israel into true worship
Than any other who ever came before Him.

Thus, He didn’t receive the title because of His lineage,
He earned the title because of His work.

He was a king by birth, He was priest by merit.

In Him God saw One who could
Faithfully and sufficiently occupy both offices.

“Thus, He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.”

That is to say that after Him there will no longer be a distinction.

And of course this was the whole point of the writer of Hebrews.
TURN TO: HEBREWS 10

(1-4) You will remember the absolute ineffectiveness of the former priests
(5-7) You see the perception and decision of Christ to give God what He truly wanted (obedience)
(8-10) He offered the perfect sacrifice to God (His own holy life)
(11-14) He did what no priest before Him could do, He perfected the people

This supreme act earned Christ the right to be our priest.

And that is what Zechariah is pointing to.
There is One coming who will be a king and priest extraordinaire!

He may not be the guy you’d initially notice,
But He will most certainly be the One who gets the job done.

He will “build”
He will “sit”
He will “rule”
All the “honor” will absolutely be His.

He is coming!
That is what this symbolic event was meant to reveal.

So we have A Strange Coronation, A Spiritual Explanation
#3 A SOUVENIR FOR CONFIRMATION
Zechariah 6:14-15

God is very specific to Zechariah what to do with this crown.
“Now the crown will become a reminder in the temple of the LORD”

This crown will serve the same purpose as so many other relics in the Old Testament.
• You had the Ark of the Covenant
• You had the jar of manna
• You had Aaron’s staff that budded
• You had the 10 Commandments
• You had Joshua’s rock pile
• And so on…

This is yet another souvenir
To be kept in the temple as a perpetual reminder.

When you walk in this temple and you see this crown
You are supposed to remember that the “Branch” is on His way.

And when He comes He will rule
And He will bring in true worship like no one ever before.

Specifically this reminder was for:
“Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah and Hen the son of Zephaniah.”

These men were the ones who had been a voice of discouragement,
Perhaps a voice of pessimism among the people.

• Maybe the temple was unimpressive…
• Maybe the Promised Land was too difficult…
• Maybe the struggles were overwhelming…

Whatever the issue these men had been a voice of negativity
So God singles them out first of all as the men who needed the reminder.

This land might be difficult and this temple might be unimpressive.
This nation might seem like a shadow of what it once was.
But that will all change when the real king arrives.

When He gets here righteousness and worship and glory
Will return like never before.

Then Zechariah gives another and almost strange piece of information.

(15) “Those who are far off will come and build the temple of the LORD.”

What?
I thought He said the “Branch” was going to build it.
What gives?

The Branch is going to rebuild the true temple of praise,
Here we find out who will be a part of it,
And it’s not just Israel.

Even “those who are far off” (as in Gentiles)
Will be a part of this new time of worship.

Isn’t that what Jesus told that woman at the well?
John 4:21-24 “Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

It’s not just a Jewish thing
The worship this king will institute will be the worship of the nations.
It was a foreshadow of the coming church.

“Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.”
• Which is Zechariah’s way of putting everything He has into verifying this prophecy. It is his way of saying, “If this doesn’t happen then I’m not a prophet!”

“And it will take place if you completely obey the LORD your God.”

Does that mean the promise is conditional?
No, this King is coming whether they obey or not.
What is conditional is whether or not they enjoy it.

This king is coming and He will reign
And He will lead to true worship,
But the only way you will participate in it is through obedience.

And of course we saw that play out precisely in Jesus’ day.
• Those who submitted to Christ enjoyed the worship and priesthood of this great King.
• Those who refused to submit were excluded from the blessing.

BUT WHAT IS THE POINT HERE?
We have some who are looking at the present circumstances
And the current difficulties and are losing hope.
They are discouraged and are discouraging others.

The danger of course is that a lack of hope leads to a lack of obedience.
If you lose hope that God will make it worthwhile
Then you lose your incentive to continue to obey.

So God gives a vision of hope here to let them know that
Their decision to leave Babylon and return is not in vain.

Yes, the current struggle is real, but it is also only temporary.
The King is on His way and His reign will be worth it.
You need to press on, so that when He comes you can fully enjoy it.

Calvin summarized it like this:
“We now then see what was shown to the Prophet, – that though the Jews were then exposed to many evils, to reproaches and wrongs, yet Christ would come to restore all things to a perfect order, that he would be not only a king but also a priest; and further, that his beginning would be obscure and despised by the world, and yet that he would attain without any earthly helps his own elevation; and, lastly, that his own proper office would be to build a temple to God…As the temple, then, begun at that time to be built, had but little splendor and glory connected with it, and could hardly be expected to become a better or more adorned building, the Prophet reiterates this promise, He, he shall build the temple of Jehovah; by which he means, “Let not your eyes remain fixed on this temple, for to look at it weakens your faith and almost disheartens you; but hope for another temple which ye see not now, for a priest and a king shall at length come to build a better and a more excellent temple.” (ibid, pg. 159)

Don’t look at what you see now,
Look beyond to the promise in the future
And let that motivate your hope and your obedience.

That’s a message we cling to isn’t it?
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

• We look past the struggles of today and look to the promise of a greater day.
• We see that the king is on His way and His return will certainly usher in the true worship.
• And if we remain faithful to Him, it will be a day which we will greatly enjoy.

Don’t let your little temple cause you to be discouraged.
The real temple and the real worship is on its way!

Victory In Jesus
Revelation 14:1-5
February 12, 2017

As you know we are currently in the middle of a parenthetical section
Here in the book of the Revelation.

In Chapter 11 we read:
Revelation 11:15-18 “Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. “And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”

The sounding of the seventh trumpet brought with it a heavenly declaration
That, regardless of how hard the enemy tried,
Nothing could stop Christ from reigning on the earth
And from destroying those who oppose Him.

And it is that declaration which has been more fully illustrated
Here in this parenthetical section of Revelation 12-14

Chapter 12 showed us:
• The Child Satan Couldn’t Stop
• The Battle Satan Couldn’t Win
• The Woman Satan Couldn’t Kill

We are currently looking at the 4th reality which is:
The Throne Satan Couldn’t Keep

As we studied through chapter 13 we saw Satan seek to set up His throne.

• We saw his puppet king known as antichrist rise to power, seemingly overcome death, and take the throne of the world.

• We then saw the rise of the false prophet whose sole purpose is to push the world to worship the antichrist.

• By the time we finished chapter 13 it appeared that Satan had a pretty firm grip on the throne of the world.

The antichrist is reigning, the false prophet is preaching
And everyone on the earth is required to put a highly visible mark
On their forehead indicating their allegiance to the antichrist.

If you don’t take the mark,
• Not only are you cut off from the ability to buy food,
• But you are also instantly revealed as a follower of Christ,
• And are martyred since God has temporarily granted the antichrist that right.

That being said, it really looks like Satan has a firm grip on things.

In fact, the message of the world endorses that view.
Revelation 13:4 “they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?”

Revelation 13:8 “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.”

If you ask the world, it looks like Satan has seized full control.

But as I said, this is a throne which Satan cannot keep.
Namely because it is not his throne.

Psalms 2:4-6 “He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

Isaiah 24:23 “Then the moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed, For the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, And His glory will be before His elders.”

It has already been determined by God
That regardless of the rage and efforts of the enemy,
He does not get to keep the throne of the earth.
That throne belongs to King Jesus.

Which is why, as we watched the rise and reign of the antichrist,
We also learned the importance of Perseverance and Wisdom.

It would be a most foolish thing to forsake Jesus or to worship the beast
Since the Bible promises that his reign won’t last.

And it is that reality which is revealed to us in chapter 14 of this interlude.

Let’s look at these first 5 verses together this morning. (3 main points)
#1 WHAT JOHN SAW
Revelation 14:1

The things which were seen in chapter 13 were quite disturbing.

There wasn’t much good to be seen there,
But in just a flash things sure pick up!

“Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion”

It is the second coming.
It is the rightful king, come to take His rightful throne.

• Satan has been busy
• The antichrist has been brutal
• The false prophet has been blasphemous
And their time is about to be over.
King Jesus returns!

Now, this passage is more specifically focused on in ch. 19,
Here the FOCUS is more on those who are standing with Him.

“and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.”

You remember who these are.
• They are the 144,000 of the tribes of Israel whom God sealed as His own and made off limits from the judgments of the tribulation.
• These are the ones whom we said were sealed for the purpose of spreading the gospel throughout this 7 year period of tribulation.

Now we find that at the end of this period they are all still accounted for.
They have survived, they have endured, they have remained.
• Throughout all the judgments…
• Throughout all the tribulations…
• Throughout all the persecutions…
• Throughout all the martyrdoms…
• Throughout all the trials…

These men would not be intimidated by the threats of Satan,
They stayed the course.

And please don’t assume it was easy for them.
It is true they couldn’t be killed, but that doesn’t mean they were loved.

You’ve never been killed for the gospel either,
But that doesn’t mean evangelism is easy for you does it?

It was unthinkably hard what these men endured, and yet they endured it.

The focus of these 5 verses seems to be HOW THEY ENDURED.
And first we must give credit to the Lamb who sealed them.

They are a tremendous testimony to the security of salvation.
• Baptists for years have sort of cryptically called it “Once Saved, Always Saved”. That’s true, but it’s a bad way to say it.

• Calvinists typically refer to it as “The Perseverance of the Saints” indicating that those who are real will in fact persevere to the end. That’s also true, but again not the best way to say it.

What it really is, is “The Preservation of the Saints”.
Namely that the God who chose us and who saved us
Has promised to preserve us no matter the conflict.
Jude 24-25 “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”

John 10:27-29 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, 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.”

Romans 8:35-39 “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

2 Corinthians 2:14 “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.”

And those are just the tip of the ice burg.
• It is the reality that those whom God foreknows, He also predestines
• And those whom God predestines, He also calls
• And those whom God calls, He also justifies
• And those whom God justifies, He also glorifies

And He loses NONE throughout that process.
John 6:39-40 “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

You get the idea.
• It did not matter how bad the persecution became.
• It did not matter how many died at their side.
GOD CAUSED THESE TO SURVIVE AND REMAIN FAITHFUL

And to that I remind you that
Christ does exactly that same thing for all of His children.

We are all sealed by Christ.
Ephesians 1:13-14 “In 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, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

Ephesians 4:30 “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

1 Peter 1:5 “[we] are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

This victory is first and foremost a victory in Jesus.
These men were standing because God caused them to stand.

What John Saw
#2 WHAT JOHN HEARD
Revelation 14:2-3

Next John turns to what he heard and he describes it four ways.
“a voice from heaven”
“like the sound of many waters”
“like the sound of loud thunder”
“like the sound of harpists”

The obvious understanding is that John heard a massive choir.
It was a booming and powerful song which echoed from the heavens.

Then John tells of what they were singing.
(3) “And 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 who had been purchased from the earth.”

John just says it was “a new song”
Indicating that it is a song that has never been sung before.

It is a song indicating an event that has never occurred.
And that makes perfect sense to us,
Since we are now dealing with the earthly reign of God’s king.

John goes on to say that “no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand”

The unredeemed of earth could not grasp what was going on.
• It was a song that made no sense to them.
• They couldn’t grasp it
• They couldn’t comprehend it
• To them it had no meaning

But those on the earth who are the redeemed…
Those who had been purchased understood it fine.

While no one can speak with certainty as to the content of the song,
I do think the book of the Revelation gives us some insight.

The book of the Revelation does reveal to us two songs
Which heaven will sing in an around the time of Christ’s return.

Revelation 15:1-4 “Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished. And 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. And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU, FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED.”
(obviously that is not a “new song” since Moses sang it)
But it does show us the focus of those in heaven

Revelation 19:1-6 “After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER.” And a second time they said, “Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER.” And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” And a voice came from the throne, saying, “Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.” Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.”

I’m not saying that either of those was the song John heard,
But I think they both give us insight
At least to the mood of heaven during this time.

The song sung here was a song of victory.
This a song that has yet to be sung on earth,
And when it is sung it will only be fully comprehended by the redeemed.

SO WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS CLEAR.
• After the greatest time of peril the world will ever know…
• 3 ½ years of terrible deception and persecution and martyrdom…

WE SEE 144,000 ARISE VICTORIOUS
AND ARE STANDING WITH KING JESUS AT HIS RETURN.
Even heaven seems to be applauding these men as they worship the King.

OUR QUESTION IS: HOW DID THEY DO IT?
And the first answer was clear…they were sealed by Christ.

But if you’ll notice John is interested in more than just that.
John would never be one to just say “Let go and let God”
As if there were absolutely no human requirement here.

If you’ve read John’s epistles then you know that while John most certainly believes in the sovereign prerogative of God,
John also heavily believes in the responsibility of man.

(not the free will of man, but the responsibility of man)
John knows that it matters how we live after we are redeemed.
That is also part of a life of victory,
And that is what John most certainly wants to look at next.

Apart from the fact that Christ sealed these men, how was it that they lived which allowed them to have such victory during such a perilous time?

What he Saw, What he Heard
#3 WHAT JOHN PERCEIVED
Revelation 14:4-5

There is no doubt that seeing these 144,000 standing with Christ,
Having overcome the threats of Satan that John is impressed.

He sees in these men an example to follow.
He sees in these men a blueprint for victorious Christian living.

Can I remind you that the Christian life is all about victory?
1 John 5:4-5 “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

1 Corinthians 15:57 “but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

2 Corinthians 2:14 “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.”

• No I don’t mean that you win every sporting event you enter
• No I don’t mean you win the lottery so that you can be rich.
• No I don’t mean you avoid every hardship or any such thing.

Christian victory is when a person remains faithful to Christ
Despite the temptation, despite the tribulation,
Despite the difficulty, and despite the deception.

True victory is to have overcome this world
And to be able to stand in triumph with Christ at His coming.

Certainly the 144,000 had that type of victory.
John wants you to see why.

There are 4 realities that characterized the lives of these men,
And it is these 4 which allowed them to emerge victorious
After the 3 ½ years of the reign of antichrist.

1) WHAT THEY FLED (4a)
“These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste.”

• Now of course this doesn’t mean women are evil…
• Nor does it mean that these men abandoned marriage…
• And it doesn’t mean that this was the only sin they were tempted with…

This specific temptation is used because
It is perhaps the strongest temptation our world faces.
(we can be certain they faced all sorts of temptations, but this would have been the strongest, and if they can overcome this one, they can overcome any of them)

We know what it is to live in a society motivated by sexual gratification.
Our society is consumed with it.
In the 60’s our country went through the sexual revolution
And all manner of immorality has been sought and celebrated ever since.

To the point that
• We have an uncontrollable pornography industry
• We have an absolutely immoral music and movie industry (they sell sex)
• We now have men declaring to be women and women declaring to be men.
• We have people fighting to legalize gay marriage.
• We recently had a group of women march on the capital demanding the right to
abort their babies.

All of that is because of sexual temptation and the desire to fulfill it.

It is a real and severe temptation.

And yet these men resisted it.
They made a conscious decision to keep “themselves chaste”.
They avoided it.

They took Paul’s advice when he said,
1 Corinthians 6:18-20 “Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

And so we learn that one of the first reasons they were victorious
Was because they chose to flee from things which were dangerous.

Consider what Paul told Timothy.
1 Timothy 6:11-14 “But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,”

Paul there actually spoke to Timothy about greed (which is also an intense temptation) but you understand his path to victory.

Flee from those things and pursue Godly things.
• “Fight the good fight”
• “take hold of the eternal life”
• “keep the commandment…until the appearing of our Lord”

If you want to be victorious you must understand the danger of sin
And be willing to flee from temptation.

It is a foolish Christian who continues to put themselves in situations where temptation is heavy and expect that they will never stumble.

While we are called to resist and to even overcome temptation,
The BEST METHOD of overcoming it has always been to RUN FROM IT.

These men were victorious because they fled from sinful things.

What they Fled
2) WHERE THEY FOLLOWED (4b)
“These are the ones who follow they Lamb wherever He goes.”

They were committed to Jesus.
They stuck close to Jesus.
They were focused on Jesus.
They were passionate about Jesus.
THEY FOLLOWED HIM ANYWHERE.

They’d follow Him to the street, to their neighbor, into prison,
Even to the steps of the statue of the beast.

John Philips wrote:
“They allow now rivals, no refusals, and no restraint to mar their dedication to Him. Does He need someone to stand upon the steps of the Vatican and cry out against the marriage of Christendom to the Beast? There are 144,000 ready to go! Does the Lord need someone to beard the Beast at some high function of state and roundly denounce him, his policy, his statecraft, his religion, his economic boycott, his mark, his ministers, his alliance with Satan? There are 144,000 eager to go! Does the Lamb need evangelists to proclaim to the untold millions the gospel of the coming kingdom of God? To climb the highest Himalayas, to cross the desert sands, to blaze evangelistic trails through steaming jungles, or to mush huskies across wide arctic wastes? There are 144,000 ready to go! And though the Beast’s gestapo [sic] dog their footsteps and wreak upon their converts his direst vengeance, yet on they go undaunted and undeterred. That was the very spirit of their consecration as they followed the Lamb whithersoever He led them on earth, and their reward is in kind.”
Philips, John (Exploring Revelation, pg. 180-181),
Cited in: MacArthur, John [The MacArthur New Testament Commentary; Revelation 12-22; Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL, 2000] pg. 78)

The point is they had no half-hearted commitment.
They fully surrendered their lives to Christ.

And it should go without saying that
If you aren’t fully committed to your cause you will never be victorious.
(We certainly understand the needed dedication of an athlete to win,
How much more the necessary dedication of the believer!)
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

Do you grasp why they were victorious yet?

What they Fled, Where they Followed
3) WHO THEY’RE FOR (4c)
“These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb.”

And this is one that I really want to drive home to you
Because it is so important to the concept of victorious living.

Yes we see that these men were “purchased”
We understand the facts about their redemption.
We know God had chosen them and that He had paid the price of their redemption which was the blood of His Son.

What I want you to recognize here is WHY they were purchased.
“purchased among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb.”

I think this idea has gotten lost on the American church.

We are so bombarded with the prosperity gospel
And humanism and the idolatry of self
That most American Christians still think it is all about them.

Cut most Christians down the middle
And it is apparent that they think God works for them.

I mean let me ask you,
• Would you say you spend more time telling God what you want or asking God what He wants?

• And when you ask God what He wants is that accompanied with time in His word so that He might actually have the opportunity to show you what He wants?

Now no one would say it, but it is apparent
That most people seem to have this notion that
God is nothing more than OUR DIVINE SERVANT.
He’s OUR GENIE IN A BOTTLE.
He’s A MIRACLE WORKER AT OUR BECK AND CALL.

AND THAT IS NOT CHRISTIAN
(that is absolutely pagan)
• Christianity does not say that we own God, Christianity says that He owns us.

• Christianity says that we were purchased by God and for God.

• Christianity says that we were bought with the enormous price of the unblemished blood of God’s own Son.

• Christianity says that we are not God’s advisors, we are God’s slaves.

1 Corinthians 6:20 “For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

Listen to all the apostles refer to themselves as DOULOS (slave)
They knew what they were.

They had been purchased by God for service of God
To the end that God might be glorified.

May I submit to you that if you don’t grasp that in your life
You will never experience a life of victory.

See a person who thinks God is their personal servant
• Demands that God immediately fix their problems
• Is angry at God if He takes too long
• Will resist God’s will for their own gratification and demand God provide more of it.

But the slave of God who understands that the purpose of their being is to bring glory to God is totally the opposite.
• They know their trials are meant to glorify God
• They know they cannot submit to temptation because of their Master.
• They know they must follow because of their Master.

These 144,000 understood that.
They knew they had been purchased by God and for God
And that understanding helped them live lives of victory.

What they Fled, Where they Followed, Who they’re For
4) HOW THEY’RE FOUND (5)
“And no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless.”

This refers to their verdict after careful examination.

You know, how when the jury comes back and says “We find the defendant…”
Well look at how they are found… “blameless”

This speaks to the purity of their devotion.
• Their confession of Christ wasn’t merely external…
• Their religion wasn’t skin deep…
• Their commitment was just during fair weather…

Put these guys through scrutiny and we find that
They really did hate sin, they really did follow Christ,
And they really did understand it was all about God’s glory.

They remained committed to Christ, and it was a real commitment.
When you examine them they are “blameless”

And this is the idea.
Ephesians 1:3-4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.”

Ephesians 5:25-27 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”

Colossians 1:21-22 “And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach”

Everything Christ did, He did so that we might be
“holy and blameless and beyond reproach”

The idea was to make a pure and holy bride for Himself.
That is what these 144,000 understood.

And that is the key to the life of victory.
• When you understand that you were purchased by Christ and for Christ.
• When you understand that in purchasing you He also set out to purify you for
Himself alone.
• Then you begin to understand that your job is to follow Him and to forsake all
others and be committed to Him and glorify Him.

And that is a life that ends up standing with Christ when He returns.

SO LET ME ASK YOU…
• Do you think that standing with Christ when He returns is a good thing?
• Do you think singing the song of the redeemed will be worth it?

Well that decision isn’t made on the day Christ returns.
That decision is made today.
You make that decision when you decide to flee from sin.
You make that decision when you decide to follow Christ.
You make that decision when you decide it’s all about His glory
You make that decision when you walk blameless.

For 3 ½ years these 144,000 made that decision every day,
And on this final day it paid off.
FOLLOW THEIR EXAMPLE