Victory on the Mountain

Welcome to this week's message from the church at Chelsea Westover.

Our core values are vibrant worship, intimate fellowship, fulfilling service, and clear biblical truth.

We pray that this message changes your life.

Let's tune in to today's message and see what God has in store for you.

Turn with me in your Bibles this morning to Revelation chapter 14.

Revelation 14 · chapter mention

Let me remind you, you don't want to miss next Sunday, and you need to bring your neighbor, somebody with you, Rick Gage of Gold Tell Camps, and he's a great evangelist that's going to be here.

He will literally preach down the stars or preach down the, well, is that sheep rock maybe?

But whatever.

Ceiling tiles.

But you don't want to miss Rick.

You'll uh I want you to meet the guy where all our kids go every summer, and you'll see why they go there every summer.

Uh Rick and I go way, way, way back.

He is a college football player, played in Texas, and uh just a great man of God, loves the Lord, and great evangelist.

I'm telling you, he can draw the net like no one I've ever seen.

He is uh, you'll love it.

You'll love it.

I meant you'll fall in love with Rick and you'll know why I, Rick, takes the kids to go tell camp.

So I had Susan, we spent some of what about 10 years, wonderful summers with Rick.

We would do his camps every year for Liberty, and I would be the campus pastor one week.

He does like four camps every summer, but at least one or two of them I would be the campus pastor for him.

And uh I I that was some of the most enjoyable days, our whole family ministering together.

So you don't want to miss Rick, I'm just telling you.

We're fortunate to get him, really.

He just called me up and said, Look, I'm there.

Um and he had a church council.

Uh he was going to be preaching at one of the larger churches in this area.

I can't remember which one.

He said, But you know what?

I just want to come be with you.

I said, Well, if you come and you're preaching.

So uh you don't want to miss Rick Gage.

You will hear one of the purest evangelists.

And I know churches don't use use evangelists anymore.

I understand that.

But they should.

They should.

And uh you will hear the probably one of the best evangelists our Southern Baptist Convention has.

I mean that.

Now he he wouldn't say that, and he never pushes himself, but uh you don't want to miss Rick Gage next Sunday.

It's an honor.

And you know I don't give up my pulpit very often.

So uh you don't want to miss Rick, I promise you.

Do you have a worship guide?

If you do not have a worship guide, please raise your hand.

I want to make sure uh the hunter over there needs one.

All right.

Isn't that a blessing?

Amen.

Revelation chapter 14.

Revelation 14 · chapter mention

You know, you and I have been studying along with this amazing book, and we know that the last two chapters we've dealt with.

Chapter 12 introduced us really to who Satan was.

And last week we looked at who the Antichrist and the false prophet are, which literally are sanctioned by no other than Satan himself, just like God has his trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, Satan has his unholy trinity.

Satan, the Antichrist, and the false prophet.

So we see that Satan tries to duplicate everything.

And so we saw in those last two chapters how dark and discouraging and really depressing they were, to be honest with you.

In fact, I told Susan, the only thing I don't, I've never, this, you know, I'm going through Revelations chapter by chapter with you, and I'd never done that before.

And but sometimes you just get tired of hearing all the gory killing that's going on by Satan, and it seems like Satan's winning the whole time.

But aren't you glad in a few of the uh pauses in this chapter of 22, there's a fresh of heavenly breath air.

And God does that.

Even in life, you know, you you'll be getting beaten down, and then all of a sudden God will just step in and give you a breath of fresh air.

Heavenly fresh air.

And that's what he does in chapter 14.

He comes along and he says, now, now, he we've witnessed, he says, I can see God saying, we've witnessed here the depths of depravity as man abandons Christ and the creator to worship the devil and the false Christ.

Now this scene shows up.

It's kind of like a, you know what I love about how many of you love rainbows?

Don't you love rainbows?

When we were uh last summer, we were in uh this past summer, Susan and I, for our 35th anniversary, went to Kauai in Hawaii.

And uh we were out on this big catamaran going around the island, and it'd been raining and one of the prettiest rainbows I've ever seen over the mountain and over on the ocean, that blue, beautiful crystal water, and it just couldn't have gotten any better if Susan just hadn't thrown up on the catamaran.

But uh but guess what?

She was fine after that.

She's like nothing even happened.

I said, Go girl, you tough.

But uh, but as we're looking, as we're coming, actually after the end of the cruise, we're coming in, and we look at that beautiful rainbow.

When I was working on this, I thought, this is what God has done for us right here.

It's like a glorious rainbow after a fierce storm in chapters 12 and 13, and now all of a sudden, oh see, reminds us, hey, Satan's not in ultimately charge.

That he's still in charge.

So let's look at it.

It's awesome.

In fact, what we see, only God can take that which is horrible beyond words and turn it into something that is glorious.

Amen.

Only God can do that.

I think of Joseph when he told his brothers, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good in Genesis 50, 20.

So, right here in this passage, we're allowed to get a little glimpse of heavenly glory, and we're allowed to see the Lamb of God, and He's the theme of this book, and He is the center, and in fact, right here, He is center stage in these verses.

And it would be a blessing if you and I could figure out how that we could constantly keep Jesus Christ in the center stage of our life in our church.

Amen.

And that should be our ultimate goal.

And I think right here we're gonna be able to see the truths that applied in the uh evangelists' lives that if we apply in our life, we'll keep Jesus Christ, center stage in our life and in our church.

In fact, Paul put it this way: I am crucified with Christ.

Nevertheless I live, yet not I.

But Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2, 20.

So in these verses we meet again these hundred and forty-four thousand uh Jewish evangelists who were selected and sealed uh during the darkest days of the tribulation.

But they were selected and sealed in chapter 7.

They were persecuted by the Antichrist, no doubt about it, but yet they were preserved by God.

And we're gonna see how all this works.

Now, in this scene, we're gonna investigate today.

We're gonna look at uh how they withered this terrible, unbelievable storm.

And I want to show you the facts revealed in these verses this morning concerning these 144,000 evangelists that will help us.

Number one, get your pen out and let's go.

Title of the message Victory on the Mountain.

Victory on the mountain.

Number one, they are a rescued army.

What I love about this 144,000 evangelists is that they are a rescued army.

Verse one, look at it.

Then I looked, in fact, I'm gonna take out my iPhone and use my Bible.

Can you believe I'm doing that?

Sylvester, can you believe I'm doing that?

Then I looked, and behold, a lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 having his father's name written on their foreheads.

Now, first of all, I want you to understand that they are a protected army by God.

A, they are a protected army by God.

In fact, look at Revelation chapter 7, verse 3 and 4, to bring your attention back to when we were going through Revelation 7 and remember what they said about the 144,000.

Revelation 7:3

Very important you understand this.

Look what it says: saying, hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed, underline that word sealed, sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

And I heard the number of them which were sealed, that word again, a very important word, and there were sealed, there it is again, a hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

These men have been sealed by God and have been protected by God through the darkest days of tribulation.

Now, hundreds of millions, perhaps, even billions of people have been killed or will be killed.

But yet, no one, Satan in no way can touch these 144,000 until God, hey, has allowed them to finish his mission.

Yes, then they will kill the 144,000.

But there's a reason for that.

Because once the mission is done, they are gonna go home with God and they're gonna be on the mountain of victory in Mount Zion in heaven, and they're gonna have a shouting, singing time, and then they're gonna get ready and come back with God to set up his millennial reign.

So that's why they got to go home so they can come back to help him.

But it's exciting to see what happens here, and it's such a, ladies and gentlemen, if there's there's not a, I'm convinced now, there's not a clearer picture in the Bible that really shows you and me what happens to us when our mission is through with here on earth when what we do after it's through, what we do when we die.

That's why I got excited about this passage.

Many of us have loved ones that's gone on.

So you're gonna see, you're gonna see what happens with these 144,000 is exactly what is going to happen to us.

They have his name in their foreheads and they are untouchable until, hey, they finish their task.

And let me just remind you that Satan marks his people.

Remember Revelation 13, 16, the mark and the, hey, what was this mark?

Six, six, six.

In the tribulation, he will mark them with the mark of the beast.

Hey, but today, how does he mark?

By the way, he marks his, hey, his children now.

He marks, hey, his army now.

And you know how he does it?

He does it through sin.

He does it through that unbelievable word, sin.

He marks their, he marks our bodies, our hearts, uh, and even our minds with the scars of sin.

Satan marks all of those who follow him.

That's why he tells us, Paul says, for the wages of sin is what?

Death.

That's why he says in James 1.19, when lust has conceived, hey, hey, it brings forth sin.

And then when sin is finished, it brings forth what?

Death.

James 1.19.

That's his ultimate goal.

He scars our bodies so that he can ultimately destroy us.

But aren't you glad God, on the other hand, seals his people?

He places his seal upon them and labels them as his own possession.

Look at Titus 2.14.

Whoo! I love this verse.

Titus says, hey, who gave himself for us, Jesus gave himself for us, that we might, hey, that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people.

Zealous of good works.

Peter says that we are a peculiar people.

Amen.

Why?

Zealous.

Zealous of good works.

That means, ladies and gentlemen, you ought to be excited about what God is doing in your life, in your heart.

I'm telling you what, I don't believe that you can be spirit-filled and be a dead Christian.

Hello, I'm just not going to agree with that.

Somebody said, well, we don't have to jump up and have a spell like you do.

I didn't say you did.

But bless God, you can smile like the hey, glory of God's on you or something.

You don't have to go, I'm a Christian.

Yeah, I am.

Oh, give me a break.

There's nothing dead about Jesus.

There's nothing dead about the Holy Spirit of God.

Do you know when I read my Bible, whoo, everywhere the spirit showed up, people that are dead came alive.

Amen.

You can't be spirit-filled and be dead.

Can't be it.

No way.

It doesn't compute.

So we see the unbelievable, unbelievable.

He says in Ephesians 4 30, don't grieve the Holy Spirit.

In other words, don't have sin in your life.

Hey, do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were what?

There's that word.

Remember?

He said that the 144,000, three different times in those two verses in Revelation 7, 3 and 4 was sealed, sealed.

He says, hey, you can't grieve the Holy Spirit of God whereby you're sealed for the day of redemption.

So you and I are sealed by God.

We are his own possession.

The Spirit of God took up residence in my heart, your heart, and he sealed, hey, hey, whoo, here's what I thought about.

Hey, he sealed us, and he, hey, sealed Satan out.

We're sealed in, Satan sealed out.

Amen.

Is that not good?

And I thought, that's it.

And I really believe that with all my heart.

He sealed us in and he sealed Satan out.

Notice the second thing.

Not only do we see that we are protected by God, but number two, they are preserved by God.

The 144,000.

When these men arrived on the Mount Zion after they had come home, there is just as many with them when they arrived as, hey, they were sealed back in 100, I meant back in Revelation 7.

In other words, in Revelation 7, 144,000 are sealed.

And when guess what?

And when they all show up on Mount Zion in heaven, there's not a hundred, hey, there's not a hundred and forty-three thousand nine hundred and ninety nine.

There's a hundred and forty-four thousand.

God does not lose any of his children.

Can I get an amen?

Give Jesus a clap offering for that.

God does not lose any.

None.

And that is true with us right here.

True for all God's sakes, according to his word.

We've been sealed until the day of redemption, and we're also told that Jesus will not lose one single person.

Look at John 6.

I thought you'd enjoy this.

Look at John 6, 37 through 40.

All that the Jesus is speaking.

He says, All that the Father gives me will come to me.

Now watch this.

And the one who comes to me, look, look, I will by no means, hey, means cast out.

Wow.

For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of my father who sent me.

And this is the will of the Father who sent me.

That of all he has given me, watch.

Uh-oh, uh-oh.

Hey, I should lose what?

Nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.

Is that not awesome?

I didn't say that.

Jesus said that.

And if Jesus says he's not gonna lose nothing, guess what?

He's not gonna lose nothing.

Amen.

Nothing.

Not one.

Not one.

I love what he says in Ephesians 2, 6.

He says, He hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ.

Ladies and gentlemen, when you and I die to be absent from the body, it's to be present with the Lord.

Wow, what beautiful, unbelievable truth.

They're preserved by God.

My grandmother used to sing to me all the time, or she would be singing when she was laying on the bed.

When the road is caught up yonder, I'll be there.

How many of you grew up on that song?

When the road is called up yonder, I'll be there.

When the road is caught up yonder, not one single person won't be there.

They'll all be there.

When we sit at the at the Mary's feast of the Lamb, there will not be an empty seat.

We'll all be there.

What the joy and peace of understanding that.

By the way, you and I are preserved by God, you and I are protected by God.

Now watch the third thing.

They are presented to God.

They are presented to God.

We are told that these men meet on the, hey, they meet the lamb on Mount Zion.

Look at it, on Mount Zion.

I love what that says there.

And it's such a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful picture.

The lamb standing on Mount Zion.

And with him, again, 144,000.

They meet the lamb.

Look at it, up Mount Zion.

Now, this is an ancient name for the city of Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 5, 7, Psalms 48.2 tells us that.

Jerusalem is referred to, are you ready?

Is referred to as Mount Zion at least 21 times in the Word of God.

Now, some commentators, and if you've been studying the book of Revelation, you probably have read some commentators that have made this statement, and I can see where they could make that statement.

They've referred to John is referring here to the earthly city of Jerusalem.

They think we're that uh John is seeing a vision of the coming millennial when Jesus will rule on this earth for a thousand years.

I can see that a little bit.

Except I'm I I believe a biblicist stays really true to the text, and I'm not saying they're not true to the text, but sometimes we all are guilty of kind of reading into the text, but just what does the word say?

And I'll show you what I think.

I just happen to believe that they're seeing a heavenly vision.

That John was taken up to heaven, he's seeing a heavenly vision.

And watch, watch.

These men have served their time, they have fulfilled their mission, and they have been brought into the presence of the Almighty God, to be absent from the bodies, to be present with the Lord and look.

Look at verse three.

In verse three, he says, Are you ready?

They sang, as it were, a new song, underline that word.

That's going to be exciting here in a few minutes.

A new song before the what?

Before the throne.

Before the four living creatures and the elders, and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand, hey, who were redeemed from the earth.

And then when you look at verse five, and in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault, before, there's the word again, the phrase again, the throne of God.

So it's pretty obvious to me these men have been rescued out of the world, gone mad, and they are now home in the presence of the Father and the Lamb of God.

And I praise the Lord that there's a better place waiting on us as children of God.

There's a better place.

I'm not in that group that believes the earth right now is heaven.

God help us if it is.

Amen.

No, I don't believe that.

I had a guy tell me the other day, we're living in heaven right now.

This is as good as it's gonna get.

I said, Well, you know what?

I got news for you.

This is not as good as it's gonna get.

And secondly, it's gonna get worse.

He said, No, it can't get worse.

I said, Oh, my friend, it can, and it will.

You better buckle up.

So, what I'm trying to say, folks, listen to me.

We've got a better place waiting.

Now, think a minute.

Here's these 144,000.

Hey, they were in the worst of the worst times.

Nothing can compare with the tribulation, but they endured, God protected them, God preserved them, and then when it was time for them to come home, God brought home every one of them, didn't lose any of them.

And when they got there, they began to sing their song.

Every one of us have a song, and one day we're gonna go home, and when we go home, we're gonna get to sing our song that no one else can sing but you.

No one can sing your song but you.

No one can sing my song but me.

What a day that will be.

Woo! When my Jesus I shall see.

When he takes me by the hand and leads me to the promised land.

What a day, glorious day that will be.

Why, I'm gonna sing my song.

Hey, I can't sing down here.

Bless God, I'm gonna sing up there.

Amen.

There's a better place.

John 14.

Listen to what Jesus says about this place.

Let not your heart be troubled.

If you can't get excited right here, you hear this at funerals all the time.

Let not your heart be troubled.

By the way, this is not a funeral verse, it's a shout verse.

Let not your heart be troubled.

You believed in God, also believed in me, for in my father's house of many matches.

If it were not so, I would have told you I'd go to prepare a place for you.

Hey, hey, just like he's not gonna lose any of us, he's gonna prepare a place for each of us.

Amen, each of us.

Hey, hey, in my father's house of many matches, if it were not so, I would have told you that he says that I, and here's the other thing I love.

If I go and prepare a place for you, what?

I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am you may be also.

Wow.

Wow.

Ladies and gentlemen, and when we get to Revelations 21 and 22, it's all about heaven.

You don't want to miss that day.

It's all about heaven.

A few weeks, we'll be there.

All about heaven.

So we see.

We see what happens when you die.

When you're, hey, when your time's up.

You know, my mind tries to think about that place.

And I wrote this to myself, but one day, his eyes will see his glory.

One day, these eyes will see my loved ones.

My friends that have gone on before me.

I'll get to see my little baby that was born dead.

These eyes will see.

These feet will walk on the streets of gold.

I can only imagine what it will be like when we stand before him.

Yes.

The ears will hear the sweet songs of Zion that we see here.

They will hear the sweetest sound to ever fall upon them.

They will hear the Savior say the greatest words ever we could ever hear, and we ever will hear when we get to heaven.

Well done.

Thou good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord.

Matthew 25.

Isn't that precious?

Isn't that precious?

Just think all the ones that have gone before us.

They heard those words the moment they got there.

I believe that with all my heart.

What a tremendous, unbelievable thing.

Look at the second thing.

Not only were these 144,000 rescued, but they are not only a rescued army, look at it.

They are a rejoicing army.

Verses 2 and 3.

Verse 2, we see a new setting.

These men have been rescued from the terrors of the world, from the terrors of tribulation.

Do you realize when we die, we have a new setting?

We enter the circle of God.

We enter the family of God.

And you know, we we can comprehend what that's gonna be like.

But I know that, hey, we encircled today with the cloud of witnesses.

I know that to be a fact.

That's what the Bible says.

And one day we'll be a part of that cloud of witnesses.

We'll be with them.

Wow! I got to thinking about this.

These guys had witnessed death and destruction at an unprecedented level.

Many of us have experienced death at an unbelievable level.

I lost my wife.

She died in my arms.

I watched my little baby boy born dead.

I've seen a lot of horrible things when it comes to people dying.

But I got good news.

We're gonna see them again.

Old grave, where's thy victory?

We're gonna see them again.

So all the horrible death, I meant, I meant the cities ran thick with the blood of all these martyrs that they saw prior to them being killed.

They saw the worst of the worst.

They saw worse than anything you could have seen during World War II with the killing of the six million Jews.

It's worse than that.

But here, ha ha, look at it.

Here, hey, they're home.

And we see right here, heaven is filled with the sounds of their worship and their praises.

Oh, look at it.

Heaven is filled with joy because of the presence of the Lamb.

In thy presence is the fullness of joy at his right hand.

There's pleasures forevermore.

They're there.

Folks, if you don't hear anything, listen, you're only a pilgrim passing through, and you only are here for a short time.

You're going home.

I'm just a pilgrim.

I'm not an earth dweller.

Remember last week?

I'm not, you're either an earth dweller or a pilgrim.

I'm a pilgrim.

I'm just passing through.

What a contrast here between the world and heaven.

The world is a world filled with pain, sorrow, tears, defeat, destruction, desolation, depression.

All this.

In fact, Revelation 21:4, look at what it says.

Revelation 21:4

Here's the difference.

Satan's come to kill, steal, and destroy.

Satan brings desolation, he brings destruction, he brings depression, he brings death, he brings drugs, he brings pornography, he brings all this garbage.

But one day, Revelation 21:4.

Revelation 21:4

God's gonna wipe away all the tears.

Wipe away every tear from their eyes.

There should be no more death.

There should be no more sorrow.

There should be no more pain.

For the former things are passed away.

Think about that.

Think about that.

No more death, no more sorrow, no more pain.

The world is marred with disease and death and scourgement and depression.

They will not be found in heaven.

This world's in the grip of sin and Satan.

Both will be, and then you know what?

Hey, we're in the grip right now.

This world in tribulation is in the grip of sin and Satan.

But I don't think I have it up there.

Jason, can you go to just go one chapter over if you're in your Bibles?

Go to Revelation 22.

Oh, yes, Revelation 22, 3 and 4.

And watch this.

Go to Revelation 22.

What a beautiful picture here.

Look at verse 3 and 4.

Hey, we will no longer be in the grip of Satan and sin.

Listen to what John says.

I can't wait when we get to these Revelation 21, 22.

Oh, the last two messages are going to be unbelievable.

And look at what he says.

And there shall be no more curse.

No longer will there be a curse upon anything.

Listen to me.

No more curse.

For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him.

And look at verse 4.

They just see his face.

Uh-oh.

Remember the mark?

The 144,000 on their forehead, and his name shall be on their foreheads.

And then there should be no more night there.

There should no land.

But what I'm saying is, folks, look, look, look, look, what a powerful insight right here.

The contrast is beautiful.

This world is perishing.

But this world, hey, will not endure.

But God's world will endure for an eternity.

This world will pass away, but we will live forever.

Love not this world, neither the things that are in the world.

If any man love the world, love the Father is not in him.

Watch.

For all that is of the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world, and the world passes away.

But those that do the will of God abide forever.

1 John 2, 17 and 18.

Wow.

Love it.

Love it.

Now are you ready?

Told you.

There's a new setting, but look at verse 3.

Hey, when we get back to verse 3, we see there's a new song.

They sang as it were a new song.

144,000 are overcome with joy because they are in the presence of God and the Lamb and they're overwhelmed.

They burst into a song.

Hey, they sing a song that is unique to them.

It is a new song, and no one is qualified to sing it but them.

No one but them.

Why?

Because no one's gone through what they've gone through.

No one's been used like they've been used.

Do you realize if you don't get excited about what I'm about to teach you now, you just need to get saved.

I'm sorry.

I might have been a little blunt.

But listen to me.

When you get saved, you have a new song.

And no one has that song but you.

No one can duplicate you.

You say, well, I'm just a little nobody.

No, you are a somebody.

Everybody in God's family is a somebody.

You're nobody.

Thank you, Lord.

You're nobody in the world of Satan because you're nothing more than a number.

But you are a somebody in the family of God because He knows your name.

Amen.

And he knows your name because He's heard you sing your song.

A new song.

In fact, are you ready for this?

There is a new song, and no one is qualified to sing it by them.

But look at the word learn in verse 3.

Manthana.

Manthano is really the way you pronounce it.

Manthano.

It's a verb.

And here's what it means: to increase one's knowledge.

But the application means, and I wrote this down, it's so important.

To learn by use and practice.

See, knowledge, you can know a lot of things.

But until you practice what you know, you don't understand what you know.

And see, when you practice what you know, then you know what you practice.

And when you know what you practice, it's called wisdom.

See, you can have knowledge and not have wisdom.

But you can't have wisdom without knowledge.

But wisdom is knowledge practice.

Somebody say that's good.

And don't ask me to repeat it.

I couldn't.

Amen.

But notice right here.

It means to understand.

No one can understand their song because no one has their experience.

Now, are you ready for this?

Oh, I saw I did this worse.

A new song is mentioned seven times in the Old Testament.

And it is always used as a means to praise the Lord for some great, amazing thing that he's done.

Look at Psalms, I believe we have it up there, 98 verse 1.

Psalms 98, verse 1.

Psalms 98:1

Sing to the Lord.

Read it with me, church.

I want you to read this one.

This is you worth reading.

Sing.

The victory.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

Sing to the Lord a new song.

For he has done what kind of things?

What kind of things?

You know what that word means?

It means beyond comprehension.

He does so much you can't contain it.

Wow! In his right hand.

You know why you don't ever have to worry about being lost or fallen from God?

Because you're not holding on to him.

He's holding on to you.

You can let go, but he's not gonna let go.

I told a guy that the other day we were sharing with him.

He said, Boy, I never thought about that.

I said, you can try to let go of God all you want to, but he's not gonna let go of you.

Not if you're saved.

Now I'll tell you what he's gonna do if you don't get right.

He's gonna take you to the woodshed.

I'm telling you, I've been to the woodshed.

Papa used to take me to the woodshed every once in a while when I act up in church.

And I tell you, he'd do all the preaching and I'd do all the shouting.

But it wasn't, it was a shouting of me getting my yeah.

I'm an abused child.

And I'm not belittling those that are really abused.

I should don't please don't take that.

My my mama and papa, my daddy believed in spanking.

And we looked at that a few weeks ago.

Corporal punishment used rightly is God ordained.

Amen.

So we see this.

There was a day when the Lord saved my soul, and when he did, he put a new song in my heart.

Go to all right, Sylvester.

Buckle up, baby.

Psalms 40.

Look at Psalm 40.

Go to Psalm 40.

You need to mark that what it's on your outline.

Psalms 40, verses uh 1 through 3, and look at what it says.

Oh my soul.

Oh my soul.

Go to Psalm.

Let me get there myself.

Psalms 40.

I love this thing.

It goes quick.

Well, it goes quick if you get in the right place.

Don't laugh at me, Sylvester.

Psalms 40.

Watch this.

Verse 1.

I waited patiently for the Lord.

I waited patiently for the Lord.

And he inclined to me.

There we go.

And he inclined to me.

Hey, he turned to me.

He heard my cry.

Are you ready?

And then he lifted me out of the pit.

He heard my cry, brought me up out of a horrible pit, a slimy pit.

He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the muck, the mud, and the mine, and he set my feet on solid ground and steadfast.

Hey, and stead in me as I walked along, he has given me a new tongue to sing a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see what he has done and be amazed.

They will put their trust in the Lord.

That's what I'm talking about, folks.

When you and I get saved, he brings us out of that pit of despair, destruction, drugs, alcohol, pornography, divorce, all the destructive vices of Satan.

He takes us out of them and he puts us on a solid rock.

Jesus Christ, who is our solid rock.

And he says, nothing can harm you, nothing can defeat you.

You're all one in Christ.

All that you've been going through and gone through and will go through, just remember when you get down that all you gotta do is put your eyes fixed on him.

My eyes are fixed on thee, oh God.

And the Lord is my trust.

Psalms 141, verse 8.

Psalms 141:8

And he'll hey, he's holding on to you.

And he jerks you right up and puts you back on the rock.

Now that's what happened when you got saved.

Right there.

There it is.

Psalms 40, verses 1 through 3.

Psalms 40:1–3

There it is.

When you and I got saved.

I went down that day singing the song of the broken-hearted sinner.

But are you ready?

But I came up singing, amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now I'm found.

I was blind, but now I see.

Now that's a new song.

And if you have never sung that song, you got to get saved today.

Today.

Today.

Right now.

And you know, ever since I gotten saved, he's been adding verses to my life ever since.

I love Colossians.

I didn't put Colossians 3 4.

I just thought of it.

Let the word of God dwell in you richly in all wisdom.

Knowledge.

In fact, in fact, Jason, can you can you throw that up there?

Colossians 3:16.

Colossians 3:16

This is it.

This is what happened after you got saved.

The word of God became so real you started putting it in your heart and let the word of God dwell in me richly in all wisdom teaching.

And admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

Making melody to your heart.

Singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

That's what Psalms 41 through 3 is right there.

I don't know about you, but when I got saved, hey, my music changed.

Hello.

My conversation changed.

You can't be cursing and saying you're a child of the king.

You may have one slip every once in a while, but it can't slip regularly.

Hello.

After I got saved, I'd start to say something, and it was almost like the Holy Spirit would just go.

Actually, I bit my tongue.

And if mama ever heard anything slip, whether you're saved or lost, here comes the soap.

I wouldn't say anything around her.

I didn't want that soap and castor oil.

She'd make you drink castor oil when you said something bad too.

She said, you need a cleaning.

Woo! That's good, preacher.

Number three.

Y'all didn't catch that, but that's okay.

You got it.

You just didn't want to talk about it.

Let's go on.

I know.

Number three.

I love you.

You know what?

When you get a new song, you can sing of his faithful.

Here's what I wrote to me.

When I got saved, I could start singing of his faithfulness, of his blessings, of his glory, of his goodness, of his grace, of his presence, of his provisions.

Amen.

I can sing because he's changed my life.

I can sing because I'm not the man I used to be.

I can sing because he's taken me out of the mud and put me on the rock.

I can sing because now I'm a child of the king.

Number three.

Not only were they a rescued army, a rejoicing army, but as I close this message, they were a redeemed.

Verse 5, 4 and 5 army.

They were a redeemed army.

Oh yeah.

What a beautiful picture here.

Look at what it says in verse 4 and 5.

These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins.

These are the ones who followed the Lamb wherever he goes.

These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb, and in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.

Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven.

And that starts the next paragraph.

But look, these 144,000 are a special group of people.

They represent the choices of God's servant.

I thought about that.

Do you realize when you and I get redeemed, we are God's choice servants?

Think about that.

You just didn't get saved.

You got saved for a purpose.

Do you understand that?

You don't just get saved and not go to hell.

Now that's a good reason to get saved.

But you get saved because God's got a purpose for you.

I'm telling you, you are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Marvelous are your are his words in you.

And if you are not fulfilling that purpose, you will be discouraged and defeated.

And that's what Satan, listen, here's his ploy.

The wiles of the devil.

Here's what he wants to do to you.

If he can't, hey, once you get saved, he can't take you to hell.

But he can do the next best thing, and that is to keep you from fulfilling God's purpose for your life.

Now, if you don't hear anything else, if you heard that, that can change your life as a Christian.

Let me repeat that one.

He can't take you to hell because, hey, you're redeemed.

And what did we just see?

Jesus is not going to lose one of us.

Can I get an amen?

So he has no power to take you to hell any longer, to ultimately destroy your soul.

But he can sure destroy your testimony and your witness by keeping you from fulfilling the purpose that God has choicely called you to do.

Choicely called you to do.

Now that's good.

I know I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing right now.

God sent me to Chelsea.

Didn't even know where Chelsea didn't even never heard of Chelsea.

In fact, when I knew when I knew God was sitting, I told, I looked at Susan, I said, where is Chelsea?

But I know I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to do.

And Satan has definitely, especially in this past year, tried to discourage me, defeat me, and to just keep me from knowing that God, hey, has a plan for me and a purpose for me.

And he'll try to discourage you, defeat you, and keep you from fulfilling that purpose.

And sometimes he'll be as sly as being able to say, oh, well, God's calling me to do this.

Let me help you.

Let me help you.

Let me help you.

Listen, God doesn't call you to do something else if you hadn't completed what he called you to do now.

Hello.

Yes, he is.

He's a God of order.

So halfway through you, something you decide, well, God's called.

God gets blamed for a lot of things that Satan does.

Hello.

These next two verses right here.

Describe these men.

What the Bible's about to tell us right here.

This is this is this is the meat of the message.

Well, all of it was me.

But it should be true for every one of us as saints.

Here it is.

Number one.

Look at verse 4.

They're spotless.

They're told that these men have maintained, look at it, their physical purity.

They have not fallen prey to the sins of the flesh that will mark the last days.

Actually, the sins of the flesh are running so rampant right now, sex and and drugs.

We're close, folks.

We're close to getting into those last days.

We're close.

People killing each other in the streets.

We're close.

Never have we seen what we're seeing right now in America.

Yeah, yeah.

Guys, listen, it's getting bad.

There's no law and order.

We're getting close to that.

Beyond that, they have also succumbed to the spiritual fornication.

We have the physical fornication, the spiritual fornication that will run rampant during the tribulation.

The world will go after the great harlot.

Revelation 17, 1.

But these men will stay separated and holy during this apostate age.

They will.

And God expects the same thing from his children in all ages.

Look at what he commands, 2 Corinthians 6.17.

He says, and here's his command for us to stay separated from the world.

He says, Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord.

Touch not the unclean things, and I will receive you, and I will be your father, and ye shall be my sons and daughters.

If you're going to be a son and daughter, I mean a vibrant son and daughter, you got to be separate.

You can't be like the world.

We're to live in the world, but not to be like the world.

There's got to be a difference.

When people look at you, they got to see a difference.

They gotta see a difference in your attitude.

I told the kids Wednesday night, attitude determines altitude every time.

I can teach you your job skills.

I can't teach you your attitude.

You give me a guy with a or girl with the right attitude, and hey, I can teach them what they need to do.

But I can't teach them to not be a complainer.

You got a bad attitude, you got a bad attitude.

The only thing, hey, change that is the Holy Spirit of God.

All you can be is negative and gripe and complain and talk about people.

You need, hey, you need a, you, yeah.

You need Jesus.

A major heart change.

As those things proceed out of mouth, where do they come from?

The heart.

Matthew 24.

Need a heart transplant.

So, again, they're spotless in those areas.

Hey, look at Jude 23.

We are to hate even the garments.

Hey, even the garments defile by the flesh.

They're spotless, they're holy.

I don't know about you, but you know the older I'm getting when I hear just, I can't listen.

I'm just, I can't listen to bad language.

I can't listen or sexual scene.

I just, I just turn it off.

I just, I don't even get, I'm not even going, I mean, let me tell you something.

I grew up, maybe I was just really, but I didn't get saved until I was almost 16 years old.

I we didn't talk like I hear the movie theater, the F-word and all that.

We didn't, they didn't, we didn't use that word.

Everybody says, well, that's the way the world talks.

Well, we didn't talk like that, and I was worldly.

You know why?

There was a respect for our elders.

Even lost folks wouldn't let you talk like that.

Listen, my coaches weren't saved, but you couldn't cuss on the football field.

They'd make us do sprints for 30 minutes.

You know what they'd say?

You're not gonna talk like that.

And I never heard them say anything about Jesus.

It was just moral character, folks.

And yes, sir, and no, sir, and yes, ma'am, and no, ma'am, and and and and for ladies to let them be first and treat a lady like a lady.

Now, some of the ladies, I love you, but a lot of this, you've you know, you want to be like me, and you don't need to open the door.

So, so so don't be careful there.

Don't get too upset.

Am I right?

Come on.

For you younger, your younger generation, you're mild, y'all don't understand this.

I know that.

And I'm not belittling you, I love you with all my heart.

But we grew up, us us baby boomers, we grew up with respect to our our elders and and and common decency.

You couldn't get a bad magazine.

They weren't everywhere, and especially on TV, you just turn it on.

You couldn't do that.

You'd have to show a driver's license that you're how, I think, 18 years old to get a dirty magazine and it was behind the counter then.

Y'all look y'all laughing at me.

I know you're laughing at me.

Am I not right for some of you that at least 60?

Am I not right?

And if you did, guess what?

The person behind the counter told everybody.

Hello, did you know Danny was in here trying to get a Playboy magazine?

Or he wasn't, but he had one of his buddies that get it.

I mean, I grew up in a town, you couldn't go to the bathroom.

They knew it.

Hello.

Amen.

Y'all, you millennials, y'all believe you think you think you got it tough.

But thank God, it kept me from doing a lot of stuff that I probably would have done.

Now it's not no restraints whatsoever.

You just turn it on the TV and it's oh God, help us.

Am I not right?

That's why we're living in the land and we're close.

Oh, I gotta finish.

All right.

Notice real quick, surrender.

They stayed the course, they followed the Lamb.

The word follow here means, watch, very important.

To be in the same way as.

To be in the same way as.

It's aculutho.

Aculutho.

It means to join together as a disciple.

That's what it means.

These men walked in the ways of the Lord.

They made his way their way, and they stayed the course for the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 15, 58.

Therefore, if any man, he says, No, let me, my computer's getting a little tired.

Luke 9, 62, let me go there.

Any man putting his hand to the plow and looking back, it's not fit for the kingdom of God.

You gotta stay your course.

There it is.

Be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15.58.

Stay the course.

Can't waver.

Don't let your friends cause you to waver.

Stay the course.

I love Amos 3.3.

The Lord wants us to make his way our way.

Of course, this means that we're to see things the way he sees things and do things the way he does things.

And the only way you can do that is through the word of God.

And Amos 3.3 literally says, How can we walk together if we do not agree?

Is that not good?

That's a good verse.

How can we walk together if we do not agree?

The Lord wants us to follow him wherever he leads us.

Now you're ready?

And I'm through.

I'm bringing it to a conclusion.

Then we're gonna have some pancakes and eggs and sausage.

Whew, I'm hungry.

All right.

Watch this.

He leads us.

The Lord wants us to come to the place in our life where he leads us.

You want to write this down.

No regrets.

No refusals.

And no reservation.

That's good.

That's Romans 12, 1 and 2.

He wants us to come to the place that we allow him to lead us with no regrets, no refusals, and no reservations.

Some of you may have heard of this illustration, but it's powerful, worth listening to again.

William Borden was born into wealth as an heir to the Borden Dairy fortune.

You've heard of the dairy, Borden Dairy.

But he soon recognized that true wealth was to be found in different, hey, in a different inheritance.

Being a child of God and an heir with Christ, Borden lived a short but high-impact life.

Listen to this.

He graduated high school at age 16, very brilliant young man, and quickly decided to become a missionary.

I told the kids Wednesday night, you don't wait till you become adult.

God can use you right now and use you in a great, fantastic way.

16.

He quickly decided to become a missionary.

And after seeing the global need for Christ on a trip that he had gone through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, hey, he memorialized this decision by writing when he was called at 16 as a missionary in the back of his Bible.

He wrote, No reserves.

No reserves.

In other words, I'm gonna give it everything.

Not gonna hold back anything.

After revolutionizing the now, listen, he went back and went to school, college, the campus of Yale University, that's back when Yale University was a Christian school, by the way.

By starting a weekly prayer and Bible study group, attended, are you ready?

There was over back then about a thousand or fifteen hundred students.

Hey, he organized a Bible study group attended by three-fourths of the student body.

Borden could have started his career with any corporation he desired.

Rather, he stood firm in his decision to become a missionary.

And then he went in, went and enrolled at Princeton, Princeton Seminary.

That's back when that was a dynamic, not liberal seminary.

Once again, he made a record of this decision in the back of his Bible.

And he wrote under, no reserves, no retreats was his entry.

After finishing Princeton Seminary, Borden studied Arabic in Egypt to reach the Muslims in China.

He died from spinal meningitis shortly thereafter.

Though he never reached his intended mission field, Borden impacted many people during his life.

The last entry in the back of his Bible when his parents got his Bible was no regrets.

God wants all of his children to live lives of great impact.

And he gave us the example right here of William Borden as inspiration.

Now I want you to write this out and I'm three.

Well, I'm gonna give you those quick little four things you need to fill in, but you can't miss this.

No reserves.

Here's what that means: sacrifice yourself.

Romans 12, 1.

Write that verse down.

Offer your entire being, body, mind, and soul.

You can't, 98 and a half won't do, won't do.

God wants 100% and he wants you.

No retreats.

Means press on.

Philippians 3, 14.

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in and totally through you.

After totally surrendering to God, you will face distraction and discouragement.

We all will.

But hey, we can't turn back, we can't give up, we can't waver, stay focused on God, rely on his resurrection power, just as he did with the 144,000.

He will protect us, he will preserve us.

Psalms 141, verse 8.

Psalms 141:8

My eyes are fixed on thee.

No reserves, sacrifice yourself, Romans 12, 1.

No retreats, Philippians 3.14, and then no regrets.

Put out, finish the course.

Finish the course.

2 Timothy 4, 7.

I fought a good fight.

I finished the course.

I kept the faith.

Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge shall give to me on that day.

Wow.

Well done, thou good and faithful servant.

They are surrendered.

Spotless and then see steadfast.

Steadfast.

No reserves, no retreats, no hey, no regrets.

Ephesians 6, 6 says, do the will of God from the heart.

And then number five, they are sanctified.

Man, this is good.

That's a message within itself.

I give you about three or four messages in every message.

And I know you say, yeah, I know it.

I love the word, folks.

I love it.

These men stand in the presence of God.

Are you ready?

Complete and perfect.

The word guile, I want to end with that.

These little words here mean deceit.

This is the invitation.

It's the word dalos.

And it speaks of something that is a decoy.

I thought this was really great insight.

Something that gives the appearance of being real but's not.

Did you hear that?

It's it's a deccoy.

It means given the appearance of something real that's not.

These men claim to be servants of the Almighty God and they walked.

Hey, their walk matched their words.

They were not fakes, they were the real deal.

And then the word fault means blemish.

These men had no flaws in their lives that could be pointed out by men.

Amamos.

Did you hear that?

No blemish.

No fault.

Thanks again for tuning into this week's message.

We pray that your life has been changed.

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We hope you have a wonderful day and again, God bless you.