The 144,000 Revisited

 Temple Baptist Church - 6-13-2021

Revelation 14:1-5

 

Introduction:

 A.  Chapter 12 signaled the middle of the Tribulation Period.  3 ½ years of Great Tribulation has expired and the Abomination that maketh Desolate has taken place.

 

1.  We have seen the “falling way” in the day of Laodicea, both doctrinally and individually.

 

2.  We have seen the Delusion of those who have rejected Christ prior to the Rapture.

 

3.  We have seen the Introduction of the Antichrist and the setting up of his kingdom on earth.

 

4.  We have seen the Martyrdom of the multitudes who are saved during the Tribulation Period.

 

5.  We have seen the Abomination of Desolation and War in heaven.  Satan has been cast out and is now come down to earth with great wrath because he knows that his time is short.

 

B.  Chapters 13-15 are what is called in Theology a parenthetical.  It simply means that during these three chapters, no time has expired.  The Bible is simply explaining what has and is about to take place in the final 3 ½ years of Great Tribulation.

 

C.  Chapter 13 gives a preview of the two beasts that will arise in the last days: one that is political and the other a system of religion that honors the political system.  The religious system will “ride” the political system, but the political system will rule the religious system.

 

D.  Tonight, we will re-visit the 144,000 witness that were sealed in Revelation 7:1-8.  Evidently, through the preaching of these witnesses, a multitude of every kindred, nation, and tongue were saved and martyred.

 

E.  Verse 1.  In chapter 13, we saw that the beast will reign over the earth in the last 3 ½ years but here we see the vision of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, stand upon Mount Sion.

 

1.  He will, as creator, sustainer, and owner—stand upon what He has both created and purchased!  Mount Moriah of the Old Testament and Mount Sion of the New Testament.

 

John 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

 

Colossians 1:16-17  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:  (17)  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

 

1.  He has descended to this earth and now stands on the very spot where He died for the sins of the world.  This verse shows the absolute sovereignty of Christ in its vision of the heavenly realm where justice will finally be realized, and all wrongs made right.

 

Abraham was offered there in type but was given the promise of God himself, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.

 

2.  Mount Moriah or Sion is the place where the New Jerusalem will descend out of heaven and rest for eternity.  Hebrews give a description that thrills my soul!

 

Hebrews 12:22-23  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,  (23)  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

 

Micah 4:1-8  But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.  (2)  And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.  (3)  And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.  (4)  But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.  (5)  For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.  (6)  In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted;  (7)  And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.  (8)  And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.

 

F.  As the Lamb stands on Mount Sion, the 144,000 will stand with Him.  In chapter 7, these sealed Jews were on earth but here, they evidently descend with Him to the earth.  Possibly because that the 144,000 were martyred.  They have the name of the Father written in their foreheads.

 

G.  Verses 2-3.  The voice of God (voice … many waters … thunder – Revelation 1:15) is accompanied by the voice of harpers from heaven.  These sung a new song in heaven before God’s throne along with the beasts and elders that could only be learned by the 144,000 who were “redeemed from the earth.”  Their experience has been unique.

 

H.  Verse 4.  In this verse, we see a clearer picture of who these 144,000 Jews are.

 

1.  They are virgins.  Here the Bible uses the words “not defiled with women.”  They were both chaste and morally pure.  The word “defiled” is used because it is not only speaking of their physically chaste state but also of their morally chaste state.  Defiled with women is to have committed fornication or adultery as the man/woman relationship has the approval of God.

 

Hebrews 13:4  Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

 

2.  They are faithful.  They follow the Lamb withersoever He goeth.  From their youth until now, they have chosen that which is better: following Christ.

 

3.  They are the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.  They are the beginning of the conversion of Israel in these last days. 

 

Romans 11:26  And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

 

4.  And their mouth sanctified for the Master’s use. 

 

John 1:47  Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!  (guile – to entrap, deceit)

 

1 Peter 2:22  Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

 

1 Peter 3:10  For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:

 

J.  In chapter 15, we will see the Temple in Heaven from which the Tabernacle in the Wilderness was patterned open just prior to the Seven Vials of God’s Wrath to poured out in chapter 16.

Patience’s Perfect Work

Temple Baptist Church - 6-9-2021

James 1:1-4

 

Introduction:

 

A.  Patience, one of the most hated words in our vocabulary.  Patience means that we do not get what we want when we want it.  Patience means that we have to sit tight and wait.

 

1.  I want what I want when I want it!  Do not look at me wide-eyed as you are just like me and most others.  I have always been one to

 

2.  I am not a “waiter,” I am a “worker.”  I hate to have a job sitting and staring at me. 

 

3.  I am over punctual!  If I am on time, I am 15 minutes late.  I will not make others wait on me; I wait on others because I value their time.

 

B.  That being said, my prayer is: “Lord, give me patience right now!”  PATIENCE - the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset:

 

C.  As a husband, father, and pastor—I strive to be patient with others.  Patience is essential and therefore a qualification for the pastorate.

 

1 Timothy 3:3  Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;

 

1 Timothy 2:24  And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient.

 

D.  Patience is a virtue to be added to our faith.  2 Peter 1:5-6  “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;  (6)  And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;”

 

1.  Patiently waiting upon the Lord.  “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him:” (Psalm 37:7)  He only works on His time schedule.

 

2.  Patience in continuance.  “To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:” (Romans 2:7)

 

3.  Patience in tribulation.  “Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;” (Romans 12:12)

 

4.  Patience with all men.  “Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.”  (1 Timothy 5:14)

 

5.  Patience in suffering.  “For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.”  (1 Peter 2:20)

 

6.  Patience in hope.  “But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.”  (Romans 12:12)

 

Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

 

E.  Patience, patience, patience!  Romans 15:5  Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:

 

F.  Now, to our text.  We joy in temptations because of who and what God does but we also joy because the trying of our faith worketh patience!

 

1.  Knowing this!  All of us need to understand that the trying of our faith is a good thing, not something to be hated.  We NEED patience!  Hebrews 10:36  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

 

2.  Worketh!  Patience is not an immediate thing; it is a progression that takes time.  Worketh - To fully accomplish, to finish, to fashion,

 

3.  But let!  To allow patience or not to allow patience is our part.  We have nothing to do with the “trying” of our faith because, as humans, we would never allow trials to happen in the first place.

 

4.  Have her perfect work!  Perfect – completeness, of full age, to accomplish, finish, fashion, to perform.

 

5.  The ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.  Mature, complete, satisfied with the result!

We Are To Joy In Temptations

Temple Baptist Church - 6-2-2021

James 1:1-4

 

Introduction: 

 

A.  To understand the Book of James, we must keep in mind that the theme of the Book is “A Faith That Works!”

 

B.  We live in days when professing Christians either know nothing about God and the Bible or are “walking at a guilty distance from God.”  Paul said, “Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.”  In the context of that verse, we find the worldliness and ungodliness of the perilous times or last days.

 

C.  Since they are not here tonight nor will they be here on Sunday either, I choose to preach to you and me.

 

D.  First, let me say that there is a difference between tribulations and temptations though both work patience in the believer. 

 

1.  Tribulation comes from a root work meaning “narrow” or “a tight place.”  afflicted, (-tion), anguish, burdened, persecution, tribulation, trouble

 

2.  Temptation is “putting to proof by the experiencing of evil and the implementation of doing good.  To be enticed, tested, scrutinize, to discipline, and then to go about doing good.

 

Romans 12:21  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

 

James 4:17  Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

 

E.  The temptations that are spoken of here are not temptations to sin but the trying of our faith according to verse 3.  When I see this verse, I think of Abraham in Genesis, chapter 22.

 

Genesis 22:1-3  And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.  (2)  And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.  (3)  And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

 

F.  Tonight, I want to break down verse 2.  James 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

 

 

 

 

Faith and Temptation
James 1:13-18

1) There is a difference between trials and temptations:
A) Trials James 1:2-3 & 1:12
1. To Test the Genuineness of our Faith… (is it real)
2. To Perfect our faith. James 1:3-4
1Pe 1: 6-7 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if
need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the
trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that
perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise
and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

B)Temptation …. Entice to disobey God’s will.
1. Adam tempted to disobey God’s Will
Ge 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of
every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
2. The Lord Jesus tempted to disobey God’s Will
He was not tested by the Father to prove anything.
He was tempted by the devil so Christ could expose sin
for what it is.

2) Temptation are Common (Shared) to all People.
A) All are Tempted.
As long as we are in this flesh, temptations will come
B) Different Temptations will have different affect

3) The Steps of Temptation . Jas.1:14-15
A. Desire (Lust)
Mt 15:18-19 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth
from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil
thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies:

B. Deception
Drawn away… baiting a trap…. Allurement
Entice .. To bait a hook

The thought is as a hunter or fisherman puts a bait out to
allure a catch. Within that bait, there is a hidden hook.

There is a desire within… the right bait comes along…
We are tempted, will we take the bait or not.

C. Disobedience
1) If we are tempted and say no to it, we have not sinned.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with
the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we
are, yet without sin.
The Lord was tempted and did not yield…. No sin.
2) If we are tempted and say yield, then we have sinned
Desire of the heart and the bait of allurement come
together they produce a child, called sin.

D. Death
When sin has run its course… brings death
Ro 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
All these points can be seen in Gen. 3
Desire v.1-3 Deception v.4-5
Disobedience v.6 Death v.8-21

4) If we do Yield to temptation, there is Hope.
A. The Lord Jesus
1Jo 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if
any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
Advocate… one who pleads the cause of another.
Heb 2:16 -18 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took
on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be
made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high
priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the
people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to
succour them that are tempted.
Succour… to give help or support

If we will acknowledge to the Lord we have sinned. 1John 1:9
We can be forgiven by the Lord.

B. The New Nature. 1:18
At our physical birth we got the Adamic nature
At new birth we got our Godly nature.

C. The Bible 1:18 (The Word of Truth)
1) It will help us to identify the bait.
2) It will help us to remember the consequences of yielding

Desire… Deception … Disobedience… Death

 

a.  In these verses, there are two things found in which we are to glory: our salvation and our tribulation.  Most would totally agree with the first but have some difficulty with the second.  We will look at them in the biblical order to get the mind of God on both subjects. 

 

b.  Last week, we looked at glorying in our salvation which glorifies God.

 

c.  The second thing that we are to glory in are our tribulations.  Verse 3.  We who are older understand the hardness and brevity of life.

 

Job 14:1  Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.

 

d.  At this point, I doubt if any of us would raise our hands when asked, “Do you really like to suffer?”   God answers that question for us in 1 Peter:

 

1 Peter 1:6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 

 

e.  I would say that the Apostle Paul was a spiritual man who loved God.   Paul asked God thrice to remove the thorn in his flesh.

 

f.  Going back to 1 Peter, the next verse shows the importance of trials in the life of God’s people.

 

1 Peter 1:7   That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

 

g.  Our text shows the reason for our glorying in tribulation.  There is a progression that follows tribulation.

 

Romans 5:3-5  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;  (4)  And patience, experience; and experience, hope:  (5)  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

 

1.  Tribulation – this comes from a root word that means to “crowd or pressure.”  This shows that tribulations are troubles which are both hard and lengthy in nature.  Though we do not enjoy troubles, especially lengthy ones, they are the basis for our spiritual growth.  Children grow into adults through hardship, not easy times.

 

2.  Patience – to stay under or to persevere, to have fortitude or to bear with continuance, hopeful waiting.  Patience is, though we want our troubles to come to an end, spiritual endurance or not quitting when things do not go our way.

 

3.  Experience – to be properly approved or trustworthy.  Experience cause one to know how to get something done.  There is an old saying that “experience is the best teacher.”  As we learn how to handle life, we can teach others who follow us.

 

4.  Hope – expectation or confidence.  As we learn to patiently endure our problems, we find the faithfulness of God which instills more confidence.  Before our next trial begins, we know that everything will be alright.  Proverbs 3:5-6 becomes a reality instead of just a memory verse.

 

5.  Not ashamed – the word “not” is an absolute negative.  It means never for any reason.  “Ashamed” means to be disgraced.  The ultimate sign of spirituality is to never be ashamed of our heavenly Father, our wonderful Saviour, or the precious Holy Spirit who indwells us.  I had still rather be an old time Christian than anything that I know.

 

Conclusion: Life is as hard as it is short!  Though our troubles may vary, it through the corporate trials of the members of the local church that we God in all our tribulations and can be an encouragement to others.  If we suffer for Christ, we will reign with Christ.