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.

Introduction

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

Characteristics of Christ's People

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.

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.

Worshipers of 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.

Spiritually Chaste

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.

Following the Lamb

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.

Redeemed by Christ

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.

Speaking the Truth

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.

Blameless by Imputed Righteousness

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.

Keeping God's Commandments

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.

Keeping the Faith of Christ

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.

Eternal Rest for the Saints

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.

Application

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.

Closing Prayer

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.

Scripture References

• Psalm 2
• Matthew 24
• Mark 13
• Luke 21
• Romans 5:1
• 2 Corinthians 11:2
• Ephesians 4:25; 4:29
• Hebrews 9
• James 4:4
• 1 John 5:1-3
• Revelation 7; 12; 13:1-10; 13:11-18; 13:16-17; 14:1-5; 14:12-14