144,000: The Unwavering Followers of the Lamb

But we're in Revelation chapter 14, and we're in verse 4 is where we left off

Revelation 14 · chapter mention

in the second part of verse 4, that B part that you kind of would say,

and we're going to pick up there.

We're talking about the characteristics of the 144,000.

And as it says in chapter 14, verse 4, B there, it says, these are the ones

who follow the Lamb wherever he goes.

So we're talking about a characteristic tonight. we're picking back up with partisanship.

And the 144,000 are further characterized as the ones, again,

who follow the Lamb wherever he goes.

Now, they will be partisans to the party of the Lamb, right?

Not Democrat, not Republican, but the party of the Lamb.

You know, the Oxford Dictionary actually defines a partisan as one who takes

part or sides with another, an inherent or supporter of a party, a person or a cause,

a devoted or zealous supporter,

one who supports his party through thick and thin,

a blind, prejudiced, unreasoning, or fanatical adherent.

Now that can can reach that fanatical point, can't it?

But the triumphant 144,000, I want y'all to get this tonight,

will be completely loyal to the lamb. Who's the lamb?

Jesus, right? No matter what the cost, by the way, no matter what the cost.

And so it's such loyal, devoted followers that Jesus seeks. Does he not?

In Matthew chapter 16, verse 24, he said these words.

Matthew 16:24

Jesus said, if anyone wishes to come after me, he must what?

He must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

And that word deny really means to refuse to associate with any longer.

In other words, Jesus is saying, if anybody wishes to come after me,

he must refuse to associate with his old self any longer and take up his cross

where he has died to self, right?

And follow me. And he advised the rich young ruler, if you remember,

and those of you that have been with us some have been able to attend for the

way of the master evangelism training.

He advised the rich young ruler that if you wish to be complete.

Go and sell all your possessions and give to the poor and you will have treasure

in heaven and come, what?

Follow me. That's in Matthew chapter 19, verse 21. that account.

Matthew 19:21

And Jesus told that the unbelieving Jews, that they were not his sheep.

Noting this, he said this in John 10, he said, my sheep hear my what?

My voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

That's John 10, 27. And Paul, if you remember, he actually declared himself

to be a follower of Jesus.

First Corinthians 11, 1. And while in his first epistle,

John reminded his readers that the one who says he abides in him ought himself

to walk in the same manner as he walked. That's 1 John 2, verse 6.

1 John 2:6

So in other words, that means follow Jesus, right?

Follow Jesus. So get that, their partisanship here, the 144,000,

they're sold out to Christ.

They follow Christ no matter what the cost. I don't know about you,

but I think we need people today. I know we need people today in our churches

that are sold out to Christ, no matter what the cost, amen?

No matter what the cost. Well, let's look at chapter 14, really that latter

part of verse 4. it says, these have been purchased from among men as first

fruits to God and to who? The Lamb.

In redemptive language, it's reminiscent of all the way back in chapter 5,

verse 9, John really explains that the 144,000 here have been purchased from among men.

But while all believers, that's all of us sitting here tonight,

have been purchased by God, we're taught that all throughout the scriptures, right?

All throughout the scriptures, the 144,000 were purchased for a special purpose.

And they'll be redeemed, as it says here in this passage, first fruits to God and to the Lamb.

Now, you probably already thought of this, you know this from your study in

the past, but in the Old Testament, the first fruits or the first part of a

crop to be harvested were offered to God. We learned that back in Deuteronomy chapter 26.

Deuteronomy 26 · chapter mention

They're to be used in his service. We saw that in Deuteronomy 18.

And the 144,000, like the firstfruits offering, they will be set apart for divine service.

And as we already noted, remember the number 144,000, it does not symbolize

all the tribulation saints.

Now you have some groups out there that say, you know, it's only 144,000 are

going to be saved, right? That's not what he's talking about here at all.

That's not even in the Bible at all. We already noted this did not symbolize

all the tribulation saints at all, but it rather it designates a group of Jewish evangelists.

And the purpose of their lives here in the tribulation time will be to serve

the Lord by what? What are they going to be doing the whole time?

I already gave you a hint, Jewish evangelists, what are they going to be doing?

Presenting the gospel. They're proclaiming the gospel to the lost,

the perishing, the Christ-rejecting world.

You remember all this stuff that's happening in the tribulation that we've studied,

all this tragedy, all these people dying,

all the calamity, they're going to be preaching salvation, but still they're

people that they just shake their fist. They don't believe.

They don't believe. And it's also possible here to view the 144,000 as first

fruits in the sense that they represent the first of many others who will be saved here in this time.

So Paul used the term in that sense when he noted that, if you remember,

the household of Stephanas were the first fruits of Achaia.

That was in 1 Corinthians 16. So the 144,000 may legitimately be viewed as the

first fruits of redeemed Israel, if you will.

And that's kind of foreshadowing the nation's salvation, if you remember, when Christ returns.

In fact, in Zechariah 12, verse 10, we hear these words.

Zechariah 12:10

It says that this foreshadowing the nation's salvation when Christ returns of

Israel says, in that day they will look on me whom they have pierced,

and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep

bitterly over him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.

On that day, church, Paul actually wrote,

for I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery,

so that you will not be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening

has happened to Israel, Paul said,

until the fullness of the Gentiles, that's you and me, right, has come in.

And this is what Paul says. He says, and so all Israel will be saved,

just as it is written, the deliverer will come from Zion. He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.

This is my covenant with them when I take away their sins. Wow.

Romans 11, 25 through 27 there.

But the 144,000 will exemplify the purpose, decisiveness, the dedication,

and the clarity of life goal that marks triumphant Christians.

I don't know about you, do you want to be a triumphant Christian?

Somebody who walks firm in the faith, who stands and identifies yourself with the Lamb.

You know, instead of identifying yourself with the world system,

you identify yourself with God's Word and with the Lamb, right?

And because I'm telling you, God's Word will stand the test of time and has stood the test of time.

Well, we also see another characteristic here of these 144,000,

and that's their precision.

Look at chapter 14, verse 5, the first part.

What does it say there? And no lie was found in their mouth.

And no lie was found in their mouth. See, the 144,000, guess what, church?

They're not going to propagate Satan's lies.

But what are they going to do instead? They will speak God's truth.

Oh, we need that in today's world, don't we?

I remember us discussing all the things that happened in Revelation and like,

how in the world, you know, how in the world would people not repent after all

this opportunity, all this grace shown,

still an opportunity to repent and put their faith in Christ alone.

And they still won't do it.

They still won't do it. And we talked about how all this falsehood,

we looked a couple of times ago when we were together about how they're going

to fall down and worship this image. They're going to fall in worship, right?

They're going to fall behind this leader and all this stuff.

And it's like, how in the world do we ever fall for that? But then we look around.

We talked about this. We look around in our world today.

Look at all the lies people fall for today.

Look at all the falsehood that spewed through our television sets every day.

And people latch on to it like it's the gospel.

And this verse is here in what the 144,000 is known to. Guess what?

They don't follow that propaganda stuff. They follow the lamb. They follow God's word.

That's how they're going to know what the truth is, right? That's how you're

going to know what the truth is.

The 144,000 are going to speak God's truth. They'll be like those of whom Zephaniah

actually wrote these words.

He said, the remnant of Israel will do no wrong and tell no lies,

nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths.

Brother Ronnie, I don't know about you, wouldn't that be great?

If people, that would be the testimony of the people at Eastwood Baptist Church from others.

Say there's no deceit found on their tongue. They tell the truth.

I may not like the truth. It may sting. It may hurt. I may actually get mad, but they tell the truth.

They tell the truth in love, right? They tell it with grace.

And the unbelieving world, y'all, is going to be consumed with false wonders, remember?

All the deception of wickedness, all that that you can think of is going to

be thrown. A deluding influence.

It's like, man, you know, everybody thinks like when the news jumps on board

and they say something's true, then it's true.

But we've already found out that ain't the case, right?

Man, we found out some of the biggest lies in history that we could see already

before our eyes were propagated through the media.

It's not a stretch at all to know that realize that one day,

man, people are going to be deceived.

They're going to fall in that sway of their culture.

They're going to eat it up, and they're going to believe what's false.

And here, those who reject the gospel will believe what's false.

It says that in 2 Thessalonians. I'll get it out in a minute.

Thessalonians 2, verses 9 through 11. But the 144,000 will accurately proclaim

the word of God without wavering.

They're going to be faithful to God. Remember? They're going to do it with precision.

They're not going to alter God's word at all. They'll be like their Lord,

of whom the Bible says he committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his

mouth. That's 1 Peter 2.22.

Now, as we think about this tonight, in all generations, triumphant Christians, guess what?

Are characterized by speaking the truth in love.

Ephesians 4.15. And laying aside falsehood, speaking truth.

We need that, like I said today, more than ever. More than ever.

I'll tell you something I appreciate

so much about people that have the character to speak the truth.

They don't try to blow smoke in your face, right?

And I tell you, I thank God that he sent me a wife that speaks the truth in love, right?

Because one thing about it, when people speak the truth in love,

you may love them, you may hate them, but one thing you know,

what they tell you is true, right? It's true. They're serious.

They do it out of a heart of love. And I'd rather know where I stood with God

than to be fed a pack of lies, right?

I'd rather know where I stand with my salvation than for somebody to tell me

that it's okay. I can come on into the kingdom even though I am homosexual and practicing it.

That's not according to God's holy word. You see, if I speak the truth in love

and you speak the truth in love, we must proclaim the truth of God's word.

Yes, God's word said. We even have testimony in his word. Such were some of you.

But now you've been washed, you've been cleansed, you've been sanctified,

you've been purified, glorified, all that in Christ.

There'll be no practicing homosexuals in heaven. But guess what?

There'll be no practicing liars in heaven either.

We better remember that one.

They're not going to be there, God's Word says. You see, those who practice

or have a way of life of sin are not born again. They're not believers.

If your life, if my life is characterized constantly as a practice,

as a way of life, a walk of life of sin after sin after sin,

the Bible says you are not His.

Plain as day does it say that

if you know the lord that you never sin no it does not

but it is not your normal way of

life and when you do fall you repent and you get up and you put your eye on

the prize but if we get up and we say and we plan out hey today i sin and we

start planning on hey look you've misunderstood god's word you hadn't understood the gospel.

You hadn't become a new creation in Christ. See, that's the kind of people here

that we're talking about who speak the truth and love according to God's holy word.

That's who these 144,000 evangelists will be.

They'll know the vital importance here of accurately handling the word of truth.

They'll be diligent to present themselves approved to God as workmen who do not need to be ashamed.

2 Timothy 2.15 They'll never be guilty, in other words, of walking in craftiness

or adulterating the word of God.

Rather, by manifestation of truth, they'll commend themselves to every man's

conscience in the sight of God. Again, what does conscience mean?

Con means what? With. Science means what? Knowledge.

So every man has a conscience and they know with knowledge that whatever they're

doing is right or wrong, right?

And so when we stand with these 144,000, what we're told here,

and when we stand on God's word this way, church, we're not walking in craftiness

or adulterating the word of God. What's adulterating the word of God?

Well, we kind of gave an example earlier, I think, but look,

anytime that we pass seven, you know, look over sin, or we don't tell somebody

the truth about certain sin and about sin in general, or we try to tell somebody

that, hey, it's okay if you're like,

you know, you do this or you tell lies or you sleep around or whatever it is, we try to gloss over it.

That's adulterating the word of God. But when

we speak the truth and love and we don't have

any adulterating of it we don't

pollute it in other words with man's thinking

or or the cultural's thinking the culture's thinking

then we have that precision because guess what the word of god church is powerful

it is sharper than any two-edged sword because why because it's able to pierce

where that's it to it i mean our very soul our heart all of it's able to expose everything.

And then there's perfection. And let me explain that a little deeper.

But look there at chapter 14, verse 5 still. They are blameless.

They are blameless because they will trust in God's power, get this Eastwood,

and lead lives characterized, again, by praise, by purity,

by devoted loyalty, that partisanship we were talking about,

and singleness and purpose, us that precision, the 144,000 will be blameless.

Now, this does not, of course, mean that they will be sinless.

We learn about that all through God's word. A few examples, 1 Kings 8,

1 Kings 8:46

verse 46 tells us that everyone sins, okay?

And you can think of many other passages.

I mean, we have Job chapter 15, 14 through 16, Psalm 143 too.

Job 15 · chapter mention

But guess what? They will be sanctified. What does sanctified mean?

Set apart, right? Set apart. They'll be above reproach, leading godly lives before all who see them.

And like the 144,000, all Christians are called to holiness. Did you know that?

We're all called to be separated unto God, to be holy as he is holy.

And in Ephesians 1, 4, Paul actually wrote these words.

He said, he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we would

be holy and blameless before him. That's Colossians 1.22.

So to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul wrote, I betrothed you to one husband

so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.

2 Corinthians 11, Ephesians 5, 27. And Peter also, he exhorted the believers

and he said to like the Holy One who has called you,

like the Holy One who's called you, be holy yourselves in all your behavior

because it is written, you shall be holy for I am holy.

That's 1 Peter 1, 15 and 16.

So in fact, Jude, remember that book of Jude? Hey, Jude, right?

Reminded his readers that God is able to keep you from stumbling and to make

you stand in the presence of his glory, blameless with great joy. That's Jude 24.

So if you want to look at it this way, the 144,000 deserve a place in the hall

of fame of the Christian faith in Hebrews 11. They will lead holy lives.

They will minister effectively for God during history's darkest hour.

And their exemplary efforts, church, all of that will spearhead the greatest

spiritual awakening the world will ever see there.

As we look back in chapter 6 of Revelation 7, the inspired account of their

lives and ministry provides a pattern, though, of triumphant Christian living

for all believers to follow.

That includes you and me right here at Eastwood Baptist Church.

So what do you think? Wouldn't you love to have what's said about these 144,000

Jewish evangelists characterize your life?