Vision of the Victorious

Revelation chapter 14 is where we are this evening. Revelation chapter 14, the vision of the victorious. Tremendous passage of scripture. Let me read it for you.

Revelation 14, verses 1 to 5. And I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with him 1,000, having his name and the name of his father written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of loud thunder. And the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders, and no one could learn the song except the 1,000 who had been purchased from the earth.

These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruit to God and to the Lamb, and no lie was found in their mouth.

They are blameless. Everybody wants to be associated with a winner. In Revelation chapter 14, verses 1 to 5, we have that group of people. They never lose. They always win. And it's not just a couple of them either. It's a hundred and for-four thousand of them. An incredible force. We find them on Mount Zion. The Lord has returned. And with him are these a hundred and forty-four thousand conquerors, winners, victors. Nothing has been able to conquer them for seven consecutive years. Nothing. But before those specifics unfold, we see in chapter 14 three visions.

Three visions that help us understand that no matter how bad chapter 12 was, no matter how bad chapter 13 was. No matter how nasty the tribulation period is, when you come to chapter 14, you realize that the Lamb is victorious. The Lamb wins. The Lamb, of course, is Jesus Christ. He had the vision of the 1,000, the vision of the victorious. Then you have the vision of the three angels, and they give three angelic announcements. And then you have the vision of the one who comes with a sharp sickle in his hand to judge those upon the earth.

Chapter 14 is the upside of chapter 13. Chapter 13 is the dark side. Chapter 14 is the light side. The God side, the truth side, the real side, the righteous side, the Lamb's side. And what we find when we open Revelation chapter 14, verse number 1. We meet a group of triumphant victors. And with all that happens in chapter 13, we realize once again that Satan doesn't win. He never wins. He will always lose. And the Bible is very clear about that. And this portion of scripture becomes very practical for you and for me tonight.

In fact, I promise when you leave here, you'll have your marching orders. You'll know exactly what the Bible says about how you can too become victorious.

How you can live the Christian life in spite of all that's happening round about you. Because you have to understand something. This 144,000 live the Christian life like nobody else. And they live it at a time, period, that's the worst the world's ever seen. So, if they can do it during the seven-year tribulational period, you can do it. Today. That's the encouragement of Revelation 14, verses 1 to 5. And three things we're going to see. We're going to look at their calling, then we're going look at their chorus, and then we're going look at their character.

We're going to notice at the fact that they are called that they are a special people. They are a singing people. They are a sanctified people. Very easy outline, easy to remember, and I trust will be encouraging to apply. Revelation 14, verse number 1, their calling. John says, and I looked and behold. For those of you who have been with us, you know that that word is used ten times in the book of Revelation. It means, I'm amazed. Can you believe this? Wow! This is absolutely fantastic! Unlike anything I've ever seen before!

John keeps saying that he beholds something because what he sees, he has never seen before. That's why he is so amazed when he comes to Revelation chapter 14. He says, I looked and behold, the Lamb. After what he has just seen in Revelation chapter 13, Revelation chapter 12. Now he says, Behold, I see the lamb. There he is. And the lamb was st on Mount Zion. Now, if you go back to chapter 5, verse number 6, you saw the lamb that had been slain. You saw the lamb crucified. You go back to chapter 5, verse number 8, 12, and 13, you see the Lamb glorified.

And you go back to chapter 7, read verses 9, 10, 14, and 17. You see the Lamb magnified. And once again, he sees the Lamb of God. The slain Lamb is Christ him. And behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion. The implications of this are absolutely astounding. The Lamb is standing. He's standing in the city of the great God. You see, every Jew looks to this day. They look to the day where there will be a gathering of Israel around the Messiah in the city. Of Jerusalem on top of Mount Zion. This is the return of Christ and with Him the 1,000.

Are with him. Two things I want you to see. Why are they there? Number one, they're possessed by God.

Number two, they are protected by God. They are possessed by God. And with him 144,000 having his name and the name of his father written on their foreheads. Can you imagine that? The name of Christ and the name of his Father written on their foreheads. Go back with me, if you would, to Revelation chapter 6. Revelation chapter 6. These people are marked out as a possession by God. He has marked them out as his own. You know that when you have something that you want to keep, You write your name on it, so nobody else takes it.

Nobody else can have it. As kids, we write our names on our ball gloves and on our s. Scooters and on our notebooks when we go to school because nobody can have that notebook. That's my notebook. I purchased that notebook, that's my possession. So, God, what he does is marks out his people. To do so, he puts his name on their forehead. Can you imagine that? Now, how's he going to do that? I don't know. I don't know. All I know is that what the Bible says.

In Revelation chapter 6, in verse number 12, you have the breaking of the sixth seal. And I looked, John says, when he broke the sixth seal, verse number twelve, and there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sack made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it was rolled up. Every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the commanders, and the rich, and the strong, and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they said to the mountains and to the rocks fall on us and hide us from the presence of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of their wrath has come. Here's what I want you to see. Last phrase. And who is able to stand? When you come to the breaking of the sixth seal, it takes you up to the very end of the tribulation.

If you've been with us in our study of Revelation, you understand that. The sixth seal takes you to the end. The question comes: who is able to stand? Who can survive the Holocaust? Who can survive the desecration of the temple by the Antichrist, known as the abomination of des? Who can survive the demonic activity that spread throughout the entire earth? Who can survive the four horsemen of the apocalypse? Who can survive the seal judgments, the trumpet judgments, the bold judgments? That's the question.

Who is able to survive? Who on earth can stand? That's the question. Revelation 7 gives you the answer. And after this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind should blow on the earth, or on the sea, or any tree. And I saw another angel standing from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God. And he cried out with a loud voice. To the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and sea, saying, Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed.

The bonds of our God on their foreheads. Don't do anything else. Stop. Wait until we are able to seal on the foreheads Of certain people, the mark of Almighty God. Verse number four. And I heard the number of those who were sealed: one hundred And forty four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel. These people were branded by God. These people were marked out specifically by God. They are his possession. They have his seal on them. They are protected like Noah himself was protected, like Rah was protected, like Lot was protected.

Like the faithful in Israel were protected, and he will do it again in the tribulation with 1,000 of them. A special group. A group that's saved, dedicated to service, evangelizing the earth, a unique group that survives the Holocaust. The world will want to kill them. They cannot be killed. Can you imagine this? God will not allow them to be killed. There's 144,000 of them who are possessed by God. And number two, they are protected by God.

So much so that when you come to Revelation chapter 14, you're at the end of the tribulation. And how many are standing? ,? 1,000? No. 1,000. The same number he sealed back in Revelation chapter 7. Are the same number that are standing in Revelation chapter 14? They are protected by God. We are protected by God because we are his possession. That's the calling of the 144,000. That's the calling of us. We are a special people, like they are a special people. But it gets better. The second thing I want you to see, saw the calling.

Number two, their chorus. Their chorus. Back with me to Revelation chapter 14. Look at their chorus. Two things I want you to notice: the noise and the nature of the chorus.

It says, And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters. Like the sound of loud thunder. Now, John has heard voices from heaven. Revelation chapter 10: the strong angel. Was came with a loud voice, and there was a voice like the roar of a lion. In Revelation chapter 1, verse number 15. It talks about the voice of God being like a loud thunder. It says in verse number 15 of Revel 1, and in his right hand he held, excuse me, verse number 15, and his voice was like the sound of many waters.

So you could say, well, maybe this is the sound of God. This is the voice of God, because in Revelation chapter 1, his voice is like the. The voice of many waters, and here you have the same kind of thing in Revelation chapter 14, and that very well could be. I would tend to think that it's something else. I believe it's the Redeemed in heaven with a growing crescendo of praise to God. John says, I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters, like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps.

This was a musical sound. This is a different kind of sound. It was a loud sound because the key word in Revelation, 84 times is the word. Loud. God likes things loud. That's the way God likes them. He speaks with a loud voice. And he wants things to happen in a way where everybody stands up and takes notice.

And so John is here seeing what he sees and hearing what he hears. And it gr in int. It's a great voice that takes on musical tone. This is joy because the Lamb has returned standing victorious. And harpists are always associated with joy in the Old Testament. I think there's some 40 times in the Old Testament where harps are referred to As the song or the music of the joyous heart. And it says. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders, and no one could learn the song except the 14,000.

Who had been purchased from the ear? Look with me, second of all, at its nature. Nobody can sing this song except the 144,000. What does that mean? Well, we know that heaven rejoices over redemption, right? Luke 15, you have the parables of The lost sheep and the lost coin and the lost son. And the emphasis in Luke 15 centers around what happens in heaven. When that which is lost is found. And there's great rejoicing that takes place in heaven because of that. Here, I believe, is heaven overflowing with praise.

So we've seen their calling, they are special people. We've seen their chorus. They are a singing people. The third thing I want you to see is their character.

They are a sanctified. People. And this is so practical. So practical. You want to live a life of victory? You want to be a winner and never be a loser? Revelation 14. Verses 4 and 5 tell you exactly how to do that. For this is the character of these people, this is what they're like. Look what it says. These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chast. Number one, they are the undefiled.

They are the unstain ind. By the way, that's why I believe it's 144,000 men and not women. Don't mean to be sexist. I don't mean to make any. Comment against women, I believe it's 144,000 men, not women. And I believe that because the text says they had not been defil. With women. They have kept themselves ch. That's important. Because over in Revelation chapter 9, verse number 20. And 21 says this: And the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands so as to worship demons.

And the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see, neither see nor hear nor walk. And they did not repent of their murders, nor their sorceries, nor of their what. Immorality. Folks, I don't think we could find 144,000 pastors in America who could say this. Sad to say. Don't think it's that many. We might be able to find 40,000. But I don't think we could find 144,000 missionaries, let alone pastors, today, who could say this. It's kind of sad. That's what Paul told Timothy, 1 Timothy 4:12.

Timothy, make sure you're a model in your purity. Why? Because if you're going to destroy your testimony, that's where it's going to start. So maintain a pure and holy life. These people are undefiled. Number two, they are und.

Undeterred. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. I love that man. Wherever he goes, to climb the hill, they climb the hill. Cross the desert, they cross the desert. Swim the sea, they swim the sea. Wherever he goes, they go. And I wonder today, today, about people. And God says, Can you go to church?

Not sure I can make it this week. Little, I'm a little sidetracked this week. They followed the Lamb wherever he said to go. They were completely loyal. They were completely faithful. He says, get up, they get up. He says, go there, they go there. They know they're God's protection. They know they're God's possession. They know they're a special called out people. They've got the brand of God in the forehead. Whenever they look in the mirror, they see the brand of God. And God says, go, they go.

They don't say, it's too tough. I'm too tired. I can't make it. They are undeterred. Nothing stands in their way of following God. Let me ask you a question.

What stands in your way from being completely loyal to God? I saw it with a pastor friend of mine last week and he said, you know, he goes, I got people in my church. He said, They bust their tails. They go to work early in the morning. They come home late at night. They rush off. to school to further their education. They'll do that two, three times a week. They want to further their education. They want to be able to advance in the workplace. They want to be able to know more about what they need to do in order they can get more money.

But you ask them to come to a Bible study? They're too tired. They can't make it. They're too worn out. Nothing keeps them from earning the Almighty Dollar. Nothing keeps them from furthering their educational abilities. They got to have more education. They got to work their way up the corporate ladder and they will bust their tails to do it. But do you think they'll bust their tails to come to church? No, they're t. 1 ,000 undeterred, undefiled, undeterred, un. Une. It says, these have been purchased from among men as first fruit to God and to the Lamb.

They're purchased. They were bought with a price. What's the price? 1 Peter 1:18 and 19, the precious blood of the Lamb. And fourth, they are uncompromising. And no lie was found in their mouth. No lie. Un. There was no overstatement. There was no exaggeration. There was no understatement. They spoke God's truth. And lastly, they are blameless. They are unblem. Doesn't mean they're sinless. Everybody sins. These men will sin. But they have an impeccable reputation. They are above. Reproach. There's no sin that we can hold against them.

It's talking about the perfection of holiness. It's talking about their maturity, their virtue, their godliness. Christ has redeemed us, sanctified us, that He could present us holy and blamel. In the end, over in Colossians:, he has now reconciled you in his fleshly body through death. In order to present you before him, holy and blameless, and beyond rep. They were unblem. These men, they did it in the most corrupt society ever known to man. They did it. Because God chose them. He called them. They were his possession.

He branded them and he protected them. Because of that, they sang the new song. And their character was one that is unparalleled in history. The good news is. Is that the L wants us to live like this? That 's why He saved you. That's why he seeks to sanctify you because he wants you to be unblem. He wants you to be undefiled, unequaled, unparalleled, uncompromising, undeterred in your journey toward Christ-likeness. Where are you tonight in your mission for God? Where are you? When you compare yourself with these victorious people, these winners.

You want to be a winner? Revelation 14, verses 1 to 5 tells you how. May God give us the grace to accomplish His purposes in our life. Let's pray.