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We're going to look at Revelation 
14 this evening. And I realize that by way of 
introduction and some of the context that I'll seek to present, 
it may come as a surprise to some of you. I'm going to give 
a bit more of the interpretation of this book as I understand 
it than I have in the past. If you have any questions and 
you want to look into these matters further, just send me an email. 
I have a commentary that I can send you so you can compare the 
things that are spoken tonight. But whether you agree with this 
particular interpretation or not, it does not take away from 
the plain meaning that I want to look at this evening, some 
characteristics of the followers of Jesus Christ. Some things 
true of His people, those who have been justified by grace 
through faith in Christ, will look like what is specified here 
in Revelation 14. I'll just begin reading in verse 
1. 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. And I heard a voice from heaven, 
like the voice of many waters and like the voice of a loud 
thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. 
They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the 
four living creatures and the elders. And no one could learn 
that song except the 144,000 who were redeemed from the earth. 
These are the ones who are not defiled with women, for they 
are virgins. These are the ones who follow 
the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among 
men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. 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, having the everlasting gospel to preach 
to those who dwell on the earth. to every nation, tribe, tongue 
and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory 
to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come. And worship Him who 
made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water. And another 
angel followed, saying, Babylon is falling, is falling, that 
great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wrath 
of her fornication. Then a third angel followed them, 
saying with a loud voice, If anyone worships the beast in 
his image and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 
he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, 
which is poured out full strength into the cup of his indignation. 
He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence 
of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the 
smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever, and they have 
no rest day or night, who worship the beast in his image, and whoever 
receives the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints. 
Here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Then I heard a voice from heaven 
saying to me, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord 
from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, that they 
may rest from their labors, and their works follow them. Then 
I looked, and behold, a white cloud. And on the cloud sat one 
like the Son of Man, having on his head a golden crown, and 
in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of 
the temple, crying with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, 
Thrust in your sickle and reap, for the time has come for you 
to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe. So he who sat 
on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was 
reaped. Then another angel came out of 
the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 
And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over 
fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp 
sickle, saying, thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters 
of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe. So 
the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine 
of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath 
of God. And the winepress was trampled 
outside the city and blood came out of the winepress up to the 
horse's bridles for 1,600 furlongs. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, we thank You for Your 
Word and we pray for Your Spirit now as we come to this passage 
of Scripture. I pray that this Word would be 
a means of encouragement to each of us. That it would be a time 
for us to appreciate afresh what we have in our Lord Jesus Christ. 
We ask, Lord God, that You would guide us and direct us in our 
study of Holy Scripture. May these things affect and change 
the way that we live. May it affect and change the 
way that we conduct ourselves. And may we continually be transformed 
by the renewing of our minds. And we ask through Christ our 
Lord. Amen. Well, there are basically four 
approaches to the interpretation of the book of Revelation. I'm 
not talking necessarily about millennial positions. That is 
what most people are familiar with. I'm talking about methods 
of interpretation, a hermeneutic applied to interpret the book 
of Revelation. The historicist sees the book 
as going in terms of history. What we begin with in Revelation 
chapter 4 and end with in chapter 19 is the entirety of the church. All of the major movements affecting 
the church are found somewhere in the book of Revelation. Men 
like Napoleon and men like Hitler and men like Charlemagne are 
found in the pages of the Revelation. There is the idealist approach, 
and basically what the idealist or spiritualist says is that 
it's a cycle of cosmic good versus evil. It's not to be located 
in any place in history, but rather it typifies or symbolizes 
the fight between good and evil, with Jesus, of course, reigning 
and ruling and winning. Then there is the futurist, and 
as the word describes the futuracies most of the book of Revelation 
occurring in our future. It's going to happen sometime 
in the age or in the days, weeks, months or years to come. Very 
often those in the Western world believe that we're living right 
on the verge of the application of these particular things. That 
is what the futurist does. He takes this and he sees it's 
all going to happen in the future. Then there is what's called a 
preterist. And a preterist simply means past. And a Preterist believes 
that the bulk of Revelation is already accomplished. That it's 
already fulfilled. The Preterist compares Revelation 
with the Olivet Discourse. That discourse given by Jesus 
in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. That discourse in which Jesus 
prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The Preterist 
sees that John has no Olivet Discourse in his Gospel. And 
the preterist sees that the revelation is the apocalypse, the big apocalypse, 
the longer version, the theological explanation and commentary of 
what all of that discourse is in Matthew 24. I take this latter 
position. I believe that the book was written 
before the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. I believe this based 
on internal and external evidence within the book, or within and 
without of the book, or outside of the book itself. And then 
when we come to the major characters, again, probably as I just introduce 
these things, you're going to scratch your head and say, wow, 
I've never heard this before. Well, if you want, please email 
me and as I said, I have a commentary I can send you on these passages. But as we look at Revelation 
14 specifically, now I don't want you to freak out. There's 
ten characteristics of a believer here. I know at 5.30 on a Sunday 
night when it's warm and our bellies are full, we hear something 
like 10 and we melt a little bit. We die a little bit inside. We think 10 means I'm not getting 
out until 10. That's not going to happen tonight. 
There are 10 characteristics of a Christian mentioned in Revelation 
14. Whether you're an idealist, a 
historicist, a futurist or a preterist, we all agree on those 10 characteristics. But as we look at the context 
of Revelation 14, notice in verse 1, he says, Then I looked, and 
behold, a lamb standing on Mount Zion. Then presupposes something 
happened before. If you go back to Revelation 
chapter 12, You see the work of the unholy trinity in Revelation 
12 and 13. Revelation 12, what you have 
is the devil attempts to destroy Jesus Christ. The devil attempts 
to destroy the child, the one born of a woman, born under the 
law to redeem those who are under the law. It then goes on from 
that vantage point to the ascension of Christ. When He ascended on 
high, led captivity captive, and He gave gifts to man. Satan 
and his angels were then cast out of heaven. And then they 
turn their attention to the church. They want to destroy the church. 
If they cannot destroy Jesus, then they will destroy the church 
of Jesus. In chapter 13, we see the devil 
uses two persons. The devil uses two beasts. He uses the beast from the sea, 
according to chapter 13, verses 1-10, which I take to be the 
Roman Empire, generically and neuro-specifically. While Jerusalem 
is the primary object of judgment in the book of Revelation, the 
Roman Empire is not far off the picture. The Roman Empire was 
very much an enemy of the church of Jesus Christ at this time 
as well. So, verses 1-10 is the beast from the sea. And then 
in verses 11-18, you have the beast from the land. They are 
religious in nature. This beast is religious in nature. Various ways to take this particular 
beast from the land. I think it's probably the imperial 
cult, those who promoted the worship of Caesar. In the Roman 
Empire, Caesar was addressed as Lord and Savior. In the Roman 
Empire, Caesar was addressed as God Himself. And if that seems 
a stretch, you only need to think of North Korea today. Kim Jong-il 
fashions himself as part of a trinity. He is a religious character within 
North Korea. This is not uncommon. Nebuchadnezzar 
in Babylon fashioned himself or fashioned an image for people 
to worship. What do you think that image 
was? It was him. This is not unique. Men in high 
places want worship. So we see the devil, the beast 
from the sea, and the beast from the land all seeking to wage 
war against the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's 
what we find now in chapter 14, verse 1. Then I looked, and behold, 
a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000. These 144,000 
are introduced initially in Revelation chapter 7. Revelation chapter 
7 highlights these 144,000. I believe them to be Jewish Christians. People who believed the Word 
of Jesus concerning the judgment coming upon Jerusalem. And when 
they saw Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, they left. They fled. Church historians, the early 
church historians, tell us there was a group of believers that 
fled to the Pella area. They left the city. These are, 
it wasn't 144,000 literally, to the man. Representative, it 
is a symbolic number, meaning the fullness of the Jewish Christian 
Church. We know this is the case because 
look how they are identified in verse 4. It says, these were 
redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the 
Lamb. If this is waiting some future 
fulfillment, how in the world could these people ever be called 
firstfruits? Firstfruits are those who are 
saved first. Who is saved first in the preaching 
of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Jews who believe the gospel. They are the firstfruits unto 
God. So, what he is saying here is 
that while the beast And while the devil are waging war against 
the church, Jesus has the church protected. Jesus has the church 
safe and secure. Jesus is on Mount Zion and with 
Him are His beloved people. This is very similar to what 
we saw when we read, hopefully you were paying attention, Psalm 
2. Remember Psalm 2. Why do the 
nations rage and the people plot of vain things? Man is in rebellion 
against the Lord and against His Christ. It's the same imagery 
here. Man is in rebellion against the 
Lord and against His Christ and against His people. But the scene 
shifted in Psalm 2. The scene shifts here. The idea 
is simple. That whenever God's people are 
targeted on earth, whenever God's people are suffering and persecuted 
on earth, Heaven is not shaken. Jesus has not left His throne. 
Jesus is still in calm, dignified control of everything that goes 
on. And Revelation 14 answers the 
question, what is the leadership doing while the beasts are persecuting 
the church of the Lord Jesus Christ? John answers, the leadership 
is doing just fine. Thank you very much. G.K. Beal says, the immediate juxtaposition 
of the lamb in 14.1 to the beasts of chapter 13 serves the contrast 
between the two. The point of the contrast is 
to emphasize that Jesus is the true lamb to whom allegiance 
is to be given in contrast to the false lamb of 13.11 and the 
first beast. The first beast, the beast from 
the land is described as a lamb. And so the contrast here is between 
the false lamb and the true lamb of the living God. So this chapter 
serves to encourage, comfort, warn, and exhort the people of 
God to persevere in the midst of trial and tribulation on earth. David Chilton says, John's point 
is clear. Let the beasts do their worst. The Son of Man has ascended in 
the clouds and received everlasting dominion over all peoples and 
nations. His kingdom will never be overthrown. He will never have a successor. And let's move now to the characteristics 
of Christ's people. They're found in verses 1 to 
5 and verses 12 to 13. The first is simply this. They 
are marked with God's name. They are marked with God's name. 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." This is an obvious 
contrast to the mark of the beast indicated in chapter 13, verses 
16 and 17. Look at chapter 13, verses 16 and 17. He causes all, both small and 
great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their 
right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell 
except one who has the mark of the name of the beast, or the 
number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has 
understanding calculate the number of the beast. For it is the number 
of a man. His number is 666, which incidentally 
does tally up to Nero Caesar. There's even a variant rating, 
which is 616, which the Latin then would translate over into 
Nero Caesar. It is almost certain, I believe 
it is absolutely certain, that he is not dealing with some malevolent 
figure in our future such that we have to be afraid when we 
go to the store and we get $6.66 back in change, we start to freak 
out and get scared. That is not something that ought 
to scare the Christian. Or you have change in your drawer 
and it turns out to be $6.66. That's not supposed to scare 
you. Nero. First century malevolent leader 
whom Jesus judged and destroyed, as we learn later in the book 
of Revelation. But the idea here is that God's 
people are marked with His name. God's people are marked as His 
possession. That's the idea behind these 
marks. It's not like, you know, the 
guy has an actual number on his hand. In fact, there was just 
a news story. I forget what the newspaper was. 
I sent the link to Kim. But a guy thought he had the 
mark of the beast on his wrist, or on his hand, and he cut his 
hand off and microwaved it. That's bad theology. Let me just 
encourage you right here, right now, don't ever do that. Don't 
cut your hand off and microwave it because you think you have 
the mark of the beast. You don't have to get a mirror 
and look at the back of your head to see if you've got 666 
inscribed on your noggin. That's not John's point. It's 
amazing to me how many Christians get so caught up in these kinds 
of inanities and miss the point. It is a mark of ownership. It 
is a mark of God's sealing. It is a mark of God's possession. That's the issue. We have the 
Holy Spirit who is the seal and guarantee of our final redemption. Verne Poitras says this. He says, 
it is a counterfeit, speaking about the mark of the beast. 
It is a counterfeit for the seal of God's name on the saints. 
The beast owns those who are marked, and they are his slaves. 
A mark denotes spiritual allegiance and ownership, both in the case 
of God's mark and in the case of the beast's counterfeit mark. 
In both cases, the mark is at root spiritual, rather than visible. That's the issue. Spiritual rather 
than visible. He said the multitude of speculations 
about a visible mark are beside the point. You don't have to 
read through this book of Revelation and then go looking for marks 
on your body. You might have a mole that resembles 
a six. You're okay. That's acceptable. Don't miss the point. This is 
a sign of possession. A sign that you're sealed. A 
sign that you belong to God. Notice, secondly, they are worshipers 
of God. Verses 2 and 3. Do you realize 
we have been redeemed to worship? I think when we read the book 
of Revelation, we see its emphasis upon doxology, which is the doctrine 
of praise and worship. Hopefully, it will cause us to 
appreciate a fresh Lord's Day worship. It'll cause us to appreciate 
the church of Jesus Christ. Though what we do here is very 
imperfect. I wasn't actually expecting that particular tune 
for that third hymn. I had an idea that it was another 
tune. That's not going to happen in 
heaven. We'll all be in tune there. There'll be no, ah, I 
didn't know this tune, sort of thing. No reflection on, well, 
I don't read music. I have some ideas of what is 
what. Somehow I got a different tune 
to that, I Lay My Sins. I think I got it from the lawsuits. 
I notice Leslie's nodding her head. So, I was caught unawares. at that particular time. But 
the point is, we are supposed to worship. Look at verse 2. 
I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, 
and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists 
playing their harps. They sang as it were a new song 
before the throne, before the four living creatures and the 
elders. And no one could learn that song except the 144,000 
who were redeemed from the earth. Just the other day in the midst 
of this great big BP oil spill, I saw on the news people were 
upset that President Obama was going on vacation in the midst 
of this great spill. I don't want to get into all 
that. But the point is, the beasts are waging war against God's 
people. We look up and we wonder, what is the leadership doing? 
What are the people of God doing? They're worshipping. They're 
praising. They're adoring. We might say, 
wait a minute, you need to attend to us. While we're suffering, 
while we're being persecuted, while the beast is on our heels, 
that is the response. To praise and to worship and 
to glorify and to honor and celebrate our great God. We might look 
at this and say, well, it looks like dereliction in duty. You 
should be sending out aid to the troops on earth. No! This 
is precisely what's supposed to be happening. The worship 
of the triune God. One man says, to appreciate fully 
the songs of Zion, to understand the language of praise, to enter 
into the spirit of the truths which pertain to redemption, 
one must himself have been redeemed by the blood of Christ. Notice 
that. It says, and no one could learn 
that song except the 144,000 who were redeemed from the earth. You will not be in heaven praising 
God, singing this song, if you don't come to Christ on earth. If you don't believe the Gospel, 
you will never learn this song of redemption sung in the presence 
of our God. He says that he must have known 
what it is to be a sinner under the condemnation of a holy law. He must have known what it is 
to be in danger of eternal death. He must have experienced the 
joys of pardon, or he can never understand in its true import 
the language used by the redeemed. This is a song that only a saved 
sinner can sing unto his God and the Lamb. Notice, thirdly, 
they are spiritually chaste. Verse 4, these are the ones who 
are not defiled with women, for they are virgins. He's not talking 
about physically. God is not saying that Zion favors 
the single life. Zion favors the abstinent life. He's not condemning the holy 
bond of marriage. God ordained it. It was good. 
It was not good that Adam was alone. It was good when God made 
Eve and brought her to Adam. What he is talking about here 
is spiritual chastity. He's talking about spiritual 
integrity. 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and 
verse 2 confirms this. Confirms this understanding that 
what's in view here is not a condemnation of married life and conjugal 
relations within that covenantal context. But what is in view 
here, with reference to the saints of Zion, is that they are spiritually 
chaste. Look at 2 Corinthians 11, 2, 
"...I am jealous for you with godly jealousy, for I have betrothed 
you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin 
to Christ." The contrast in the book of Revelation is simple. 
Who's the great criminal? Babylon the Great, mother of 
Harlan. What's her sin? Her crime? Fornication. It's not talking about the physical 
act of conjugal relations. It's talking about spiritual 
whoredom. It's talking about apostasy and 
defection from God. The prophets applied this to 
Israel of old, when they went a-whoring from the Lord, when 
they played the harlot from the Lord. John is doing the same 
thing to the same people group who have filled up the measure 
of their father's guilt, and God's judgment is coming upon 
them. And so the contrast of those 
spiritual fornicators, those spiritual adulterers, is the 
church of Jesus Christ, which is spiritually chaste. James 
4, verse 4, describes loving the world as adultery. Loving 
the world is adultery. It seems best to take this description 
of chastity in a figurative sense, indicating that they have kept 
themselves pure from all the defiling relationships with the 
pagan world. Fornication and harlotry throughout 
the Bible are potent metaphors for apostasy and idolatry. The 
Lamb's army, gathered about Him on Mount Zion, is chased, faithful 
to Him, and single-mindedly consecrated to the holy war. That's what 
it means that they are virgins. Notice, fourthly, they follow 
the Lamb wherever He goes. I love this description in verse 
4. These are the ones who are not defiled with women, for they 
are virgins. These are the ones who follow 
the Lamb wherever He goes. They don't question Him. They 
don't say, yeah, but. You ever have a kid that does 
that to you? Yeah, but. Yeah, but. Yeah, but. Yeah, but. 
Yeah, but. Yeah, but nothing. You do what 
you're told. That's how the children of Zion are to function. We're 
not to say, yeah, but. We're to do what we're told. 
We're to follow the Lamb. The Lamb says, do this, we do 
it. The Lamb says, take my yoke upon 
you, learn from me. We often forget that. Within 
the Christian life, we're saved freely by grace alone. But Jesus 
does place a yoke upon us in the life of sanctification. It's 
easy, it's burdened, it's light, but it is a yoke nonetheless. 
We are called to discipleship, we are called to follow Him. 
All of our emphasis notwithstanding on justification by faith alone, 
justification by faith alone always results in sanctification. It always results in following 
the Lamb wherever He goes. Fifthly, notice, they were redeemed 
by Jesus Christ. Verse 4. I love this description. These are the ones who follow 
the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among 
men. I love that description. Whenever 
you think about your life as a Christian, oh yeah, because 
I read my Bible. Oh yeah, because I go to church. 
Oh yeah, because I listen to Al Martin tapes. Oh yeah, because 
I'm a subscriber to sermonaudio.com. Oh yeah, I visit heidelblog.com. 
I ordered a leather confession. I'm getting a 1689 leather bound 
confession of faith. I'm a Christian. That's not what 
makes you a Christian. What makes you a Christian is 
sovereign grace. What makes you a Christian is 
blood redemption. In Him, we have redemption through 
His blood. Whenever you think of being a 
Christian, you ought never to wander far from Calvary. You 
ought to think in terms of blood. You ought to think in terms of 
Hebrews 9. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. 
We are not saved because we are good. We are saved because Jesus, 
who was good, shed His precious blood on our behalf. Redemption 
presupposes sin and bondage. Liberty comes because of God's 
predestinating grace through the blood of Jesus Christ and 
by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are redeemed from among men. Notice 6thly, they speak the 
truth. Verse 5, And in their mouth was 
found no deceit." That's what a Christian is. He speaks the 
truth. Notice in Ephesians chapter 4. 
Ephesians chapter 4. It says, verse 25, Putting away lying. Let each 
one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members 
of one another. That is a controlling, overarching 
means of communication for the Christian. He gets very specific 
later in verse 29. Let no corrupt word proceed out 
of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that 
it may impart grace to the hearers. Brethren, you need to speak the 
truth. That's how God sees us. We'll see that in just a moment. 
These are all indicative statements. which argues for union with Christ. In other words, He is describing 
the reality. He is describing what He has 
done, not what we are doing here. But in their mouth was found 
no deceit. They speak the truth. Seventhly, they are blameless. 
They are blameless, at the end of verse 5, for they are without 
fault before the throne of God. This argues for justification 
for law. This argues for the imputation 
of righteousness. How will we stand without fault 
before the throne of God? Not because we're good. Not because 
we've obeyed. Not because we've performed. 
But because God in His grace redeemed us. God in His grace 
pardoned our iniquities. God in His grace gave us the 
righteousness of Jesus Christ. One man is well said concerning 
righteousness. I love how he describes it here. The righteousness of God is that 
which God Himself provides. When Luther discovered this, 
the Reformation was born. That is the good news. That's 
the gospel. The righteousness of Jesus Christ 
is both the demand of God and God's provision for His people. 
If you want to see what God demands of you and me, look at the perfect 
life of Jesus Christ. He was truly man as man was meant 
to be. Jesus is the righteousness of 
God, in that He is the provision of God. When He was born into 
this world, it was a birth such as had not been since Adam fell. 
If you look at the whole stream of human history, from the fall 
to the end of the world, you will see only 33 years that God 
accepts. Jesus came to give the perfect 
sacrifice, the substitutionary ransom for the failure of men 
and women to live righteously. Before God, He arose from the 
tomb and ascended to the right hand of God, so that right now 
He is in God's presence as a perfect man on behalf of all those who 
trust Him. Jesus came and lived a life of 
perfect obedience to the law of God. His life matched the 
holiness of God at every point. What the holiness of God demanded, 
Jesus provided. And it's by virtue of our Lord 
Jesus Christ that the saints in Zion are without fault before 
the throne of God. Notice eighthly, the saints keep 
the commandments of God. Verse 12, here is the patience, 
the perseverance of the saints. Here are those who keep the commandments 
of God in the faith of Jesus. In our own day, when you speak 
of keeping commandments, people automatically associate you with 
legalism. Well, that's not a necessary 
corollary. Legalism is the attempt to reach 
God by virtue of our law keeping. Doing what God tells us to do 
is not legalism. I don't know where we got this 
idea. Doing what God calls us to do is not legalism. Jesus says it this way, if you 
love me, you'll keep my commandments. John says in 1 John 5, verses 
1-3, this is something of an antidote to the antinomianism 
of our age. Whoever believes that Jesus is 
the Christ is born of God. And everyone who loves Him who 
begot also loves Him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that 
we love the children of God when we love God and keep His commandments. 
For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments. And 
His commandments are not burdensome. The saints in Zion are marked 
by the fact that they keep the commandments of God. Ninthly, 
they keep the faith of Jesus Christ. Notice in verse 12. Here is the patience of the saints. 
Here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. This means they're contenders 
for Christianity. This means they hold fast on 
their confession. This means a doctrine matters 
to them. It means that they study their Bibles. It means that they 
attend church. They listen. It means that in 
the vast work week, the week that is made up of however many 
hours, some of you will have it all figured out, the amount 
of time we devote to work, the amount of time we devote to sleep, 
the amount of time we devote to entertainment, the amount 
of time we devote to whatever form of leisure, whatever other 
activities are pursued. And then we come to Sunday, we 
have three hours. Morning and evening. If you attend worship, 
morning and evening on Sunday, you're here for about three hours. Why is that the drudgery in our 
work week? Why is that so difficult? Why 
do we have to pry our eyes open for this three hours? Why is 
it that we are looking at our watches? We can't wait to go. 
Man, we have this many hours in the week. God gets three? And it's a chore? These people, the saints in Zion, 
they keep the faith of Jesus. Doctrine matters. They continue 
steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. They want to study 
the scriptures. They want to learn the Bible. 
They want to listen to sermons. They want to discuss these things. Spurgeon says, would you have 
me silence the doctrine of the blood of sprinkling? Would any 
one of you attempt a so horrible a deed? Shall we be censured 
if we continually proclaim the heaven-sent message of the blood 
of Jesus? Shall we speak with bated breath 
because some affected person shudders at the sound of the 
word blood? Nay, verily, we will sooner have our tongue cut out 
than cease to speak of the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Our prayer 
ought to be that God would raise up a few more Spurgeons in our 
day. Men who are that committed to 
the faith. And then the final characteristic 
is in verse 13. They will have eternal rest. Then I heard a voice from heaven 
saying to me, write, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord 
from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, that they 
may rest from their labors and their works. Follow them. It's an amazing statement. Blessed 
are they who die in the Lord from now on. The beasts are persecuting. The devil is behind them. There 
is war waged against the church of Jesus Christ. And the Spirit 
of the living God says, blessed are you when you die in battle. 
Blessed are you when you die for the faith in Jesus Christ. 
Blessed are you when you die for having served the Lord of 
glory. You'll rest. You'll have eternal rest. You'll 
have blessed rest. Again, David Shultz says, biblical 
perseverance is determined by the rewards of eternity, not 
by the tribulations of the moment. Biblical hope transcends the 
battle. This does not mean that the Bible 
commands an otherworldly neglect of the present life, but neither 
does it countenance a perspective that is only or primarily this 
worldly. Our sinful tendency is to go 
in one direction rather than the other. Listen to what he's 
saying. We can be so tied to fixing this 
world, we forget about heaven. And we can be so tied about our 
rapturous event coming in heaven, that we forget about the world. 
That's not the saint in Zion. He lives in that tension. He 
lives in that balance. He, by the grace of God, seeks 
to shine as a light in a crooked and perverse generation. holding 
forth the Word of Truth, never forgetting that whatever persecution, 
whatever trial, whatever difficulty endures now, God is going to 
bless him and bring him into eternal rest. He says, biblical 
faith calls us to work in this world for dominion with all our 
might, and at the same time reminds us constantly of our eternal 
hope, our ultimate rest. So those are ten characteristics 
of the followers of the Lamb. And it highlights for us in closing 
the victory of Jesus Christ. I love the contrast. Then I looked 
and behold the Lamb standing on Mount Zion. The imagery itself 
suggests stability, constancy, permanence. What's happening 
with the beast? He's rising from the sea. What's happening with the beast? 
There is confusion in their midst. They are not stabilized. They 
are not constant. They are not permanent. They're 
not fixtures that aren't going anywhere. Not so the Lamb. The 
Lamb is standing on Mount Zion and His heavenly host is with 
Him. The Lamb of God is upon His throne 
and He will not be shaken. He will not be cast down. And 
these ten characteristics are true of the Saint of Christ because 
of the Lamb. His victory is highlighted in 
chapter 14. It goes on even more so if you 
get to verse 14 and follow through the remainder of the chapter. 
Secondly, I've already mentioned this or alluded to this, these 
things are in the indicative mood. These things are true. 
Now, we don't always do everything that this tells us, does it? Do we always keep the commandments 
of God? Do we always keep the faith in Jesus Christ? Are we 
always without fault? Are we always without blame? 
Do we ever lie? Do we ever sort of pad the truth 
a little bit or shave off some of the edges? This is how God 
sees us in Jesus Christ. This is by virtue of His doing 
and dying. This is descriptive of the saint 
of Christ. In fact, that very word saint 
carries the same connotation. Do you always feel saintly? Do 
you always feel holy? I don't. In fact, I can't actually 
say, yeah, I feel holy right now. I don't even know what that 
means, to feel holy. Or saintly. I know some men like 
to think that, yeah, I'm very saintly, I'm very holy, very 
polished, very proper. I'm very godly. Those often are 
the most ungodly men you'll ever meet. They're the ones who like 
to stand in the corner and say, I thank you, Lord, that I'm not 
like other men. The point is, brethren, we don't always feel 
like what's described here in chapter 14. We don't always feel 
justified. We don't always feel hardened. We don't always feel that we 
have an imputed righteousness. That's why you're not supposed 
to trust your feelings. That's why you're supposed to 
rest upon the Word of God. That's why you're supposed to 
take a Romans 5.1 and commit it to memory. Therefore, having 
been justified by faith, let us have peace with God through 
our Lord Jesus Christ. That's why you're supposed to 
believe what the Scripture says. You may not always feel saintly. 
You may not always feel holy. But by virtue of our union with 
Jesus Christ, all that is true in this passage is true of all 
of His believers. And there's only one way into 
this eternal rest, and it is through Christ the Lord. So if you have come here tonight 
and you do not know this Lamb who stands on Mount Zion, you 
don't know Jesus Christ who shed His blood at Calvary for the 
remission of sins. There is one way. It is to believe 
the Gospel. It is to believe the Good News. 
It is to believe the Bible concerning Him. The Bible says that all 
those who come to Him, He will not cast out. The Bible says 
that everyone who trusts in Him will not be ashamed. So believe 
and be saved and sing praises to our God and to the Lamb. Well, 
let us pray. Father, we thank You for Your 
Word and we pray that You would just help us to take these things 
to heart. Help us, Lord God, to not only 
know or realize these are true by virtue of our union with Christ, 
but through sanctification. Let us seek to obey Your Word 
and to follow the Lamb wherever He goes and to to be without 
deceit and to seek blamelessness before our holy God. We ask that 
You would go with us now, watch over us in this coming week, 
and cause us to bring glory to You. We ask through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen.