the Bible tells us in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God it says to receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls and to be diligent to present yourself approved to God rightly dividing the word of truth join us now for the 3abn Sabbath school panel our study today is The Book of Revelation hello and welcome to 3:00 p.m. Sabbath school panel I'm Jill Morricone and we are so excited that you have joined us for a study of the book of Revelation we are in Lesson number six the sealed people of God we just came out of the six seals and it's almost as if John takes an interlude when we get to Revelation chapter 7 at the end of the sixth seal before we even break open the seventh seal we do this a little interlude and I'm excited about our study today I want to encourage you to go to the website if you would like your very own copy of the quarterly that's a B s G dot Adventist o RG that stands for adult Bible study guide dot Adventist dot o-r-g or you can always visit your local seventh-day Adventist Church let them know that 3abn sent you and they would be happy to give you a quarterly and you could join a discussion group yourself I want to introduce our panel at this time to my left is Pastor Ryan they and my sister Lee Quinn and another sister so glad to have you here Yvonne Lewis Shelton and then pastor John Lowe McCain our pastor here at the church is it privileged to open up the Word of God with each one of you and thank you for the time you put into studying and preparing and praying over it and I know the Lord is gonna bless this lesson in a special way before we go any further we want to go to the Lord in prayer any fun would you pray for us here today father God we just thank you so very much for the privilege of opening of your word and learning more about the revelation of our blessed Savior Jesus Christ so we just asked for your presence the presence of your Holy Spirit to anoint every word that said and to be in our midst you are welcome in this place in Jesus name Amen remember in our discussion last week of the fifth seal and Orion you had that and they said how long O Lord how long until this the persecuted those who have been martyred for their faith how long until God stands up and does something about it and we see the beginning of that in the sixth seal that God is ready to deal with those who have harmed his people the sixth seal brings us all the way up until the moment just before the second coming of Christ we see that I want to pick that up actually in revelation 6 verse 17 the last verse of Revelation 6 and then we're going to jump into revelation 7 revelation 6:17 it says the great day of his wrath has come and who is able to stand remember the wicked in the verse before would say fall on us and hide us from the face of him they want to hide in the caves in the rocks because they say who can stand so revelation 7 is the answer to that question who can stand the field of God and that's what we're going to talk about here today so let's look at I have Sunday as restraining the winds I have the first couple verses of revelation 7 revelation 7 begins with the four angels who are holding back as it were the four winds of strife until the servants of God can be sealed they're holding back the four winds now in the Bible the four winds is mentioned several different times in the Bible and Daniel 7 the four winds can churn the Great Sea and Daniel 11 the four winds can uproot and scatter powerful empires and Jeremiah 49 the four winds are deployed against the nation the nation of Edom and they scatter people in every direction many times the four winds come to bring judgment but the angels are holding back those winds of judgment and destruction until the people of God can be filled so let's read that revelation 7 verse 1 after these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth holding the four winds of the earth that the wind should not blow in the earth on the sea or on any tree then I saw another angel ascending from the east having there's our word the seal of the Living God and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth in the seas do not harm the earth the sea or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads so we're talking today about the seal what is the seal I want to talk about the purpose of the seal and preparation for the seal because if we're going to be able to stand and the only way we can stand is to be sealed I want to know how I can be seals because that's important yeah we want to look at the purpose and the preparation but before we do that I just want to touch on one thing there's actually two different ceilings mentioned in the Word of God there's a sealing I call it the seal of salvation we're going to talk about that in Ephesians chapter one after we accept the Lord Jesus Christ and make him Lord of our life what happens we are sealed with the holy spirit of promise so we'll look at that the second seal is a feel of protection this seal takes place here in Revelation 7 we see it again in Revelation 14 at the end of time and this is a seal of protection it's also from the Holy Spirit we cannot have the seal of protection unless we've had the seal of salvation one has to precede the other there's one more passage we're going to look at before we get into the purpose turn with me to Ezekiel chapter 9 this is kind of a parallel passage and it talks about the sealing so turn with me to Ezekiel chapter 9 we're gonna pick this up in verse 3 is he conversed 3 now the glory of the God of Israel for the cherub where it had been to the threshold of the temple and to cause to the man clothed with linen now being clothed with linen is the dress of what priests or of angels clothed with linen who had the writers inkhorn at his side like he's a scribe and the Lord said to him go through the midst of the city through the midst of Jerusalem and put what word is that a mark put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it now the word for mark in Hebrew is actually the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet and it's a symbol of the last or remaining ones or we could say the remnant we see that in Revelation where the remnant are sealed so those are sealed who are sign and crying over the abominations that are done within it to the others he said in my hearing go after them to the city and kill do not let your eyes spare nor have any pity utterly slay old and young men maidens and little children and women but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark and begin at my sanctuary 1st Peter 4:17 says judgment begins where at the house of God begin at my sanctuary this reminds me almost as if remember the children of Israel the night before you the Passover and here's a sign on the the doorposts you know indicating to pass by so this seal this mark saves them from the destruction that is to come so let's look at the purpose and preparation for the seal the purpose of the seal I think it has three purposes first its identification and ownership it shows who we belong to second its allegiance it shows who we serve and third its protection so let's look at the seal is identification and ownership its identifies the owner or organization think about Haman he took the Kings signet ring and what did it show that he had authority it showed that he was acting on behalf of who the king animals are branded showing that someone else owns them think about 3bn we have a corporate seal and on our important official documents we put the seal because it shows this comes from 3abn this belongs to 3bn now there's a sealed that the Lord gives us that shows we belong to Christ Ephesians 1 verse 13 this is the first seal the seal of salvation Ephesians 1:13 and whom you also trusted after you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation and whom also having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise when we believe and accept Christ by faith the Holy Spirit marks us as it were as belonging to Jesus again in 2nd Timothy 2:1 sorry 2nd Timothy 2:19 2nd Timothy chapter 2 19 it says nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands having this seal there's our word again the Lord knows who are his so the seal identifies that we belong to Christ number 2 of the seal gives authority among other people if you use the Kings signet ring or you use 3abn seal it comes with a full backing of the person who gave the seal Ephesians 1:14 we just read verse 13 but the very next verse says who is the guarantee of our inheritance who's that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory he is the guarantee of our inheritance the word in Greek guarantee is an earnest like you would pay earnest money if you are making a down payment on a house or a partial payment and to me it's the Holy Spirit saying I've got you I've got you you are mine and I will complete this process in your life I will bring you to that place where you can stand at the end without any sin in your life because I'm the one who does that work in you the seal shows our allegiance whom we serve it says in Revelation 7 verse 4 I heard the number of those who were sealed 144,000 so the sealed are the 144,000 now in revelation 14:1 it says John looked and saw the lamb on the Mount Zion with him 144,000 who had the father's name in their forehead so if the field are the 144,000 and the 144,000 had the father's name in their forehead that means the sealed represent the father the sealed obey serve and follow the father they have given him they're full Allegiance finally the final test will be over the keeping of God's commandments we know especially the fourth commandment the Sabbath was a sign of God's people in biblical time at the end of time it's a sign of loyalty worship who will we worship and the Sabbath as a test is a sign of that that a great quote in the lesson from last day events page 220 that the seal of God is not a visible mark it is a settling into the truth both intellectually and spiritually so that we cannot be moved so who shall be able to stand we will not be shaken we will not be moved in the winds of doctrine in the deception in those final climactic events because we are sealed it gives us protection protection against the four winds protection against the great day of his wrath so the purpose of the seal it identifies that we belong to Christ we're sealed the first time the seal of salvation when the Holy Spirit gives that to us then we're sealed again at the end of time this is the seal giving us authority it's a seal that shows our allegiance and that we have committed ourselves fully to the Lord Jesus Christ it's the seal with protection against what's to come and finally the preparation for the seal the end times will be a time of extreme testing of trial of temptation and spiritual warfare our battles from within and without battles with selfishness stubbornness and sin winds of doctrine that are going to be blowing immorality will be rampant deception will be everywhere if it is even possible the very elect will be deceived God's commandments especially the fourth one will be under attack so what does God want us to do open up your heart to him right now accept him as Lord and Savior of your life receive the seal of the Holy Spirit when you accept him you receive that first sealing the seal of salvation and then choose to study his word choose to walk in obedience to all of his commandment and he will seal you that final time just before the close of probation and Jesus comes right amen praise the Lord I think you set that up very well for this passage that I'm going to take on now which is actually discussing the mysterious number of this 144,000 when I traveled on the road for many years with amazing facts ministry doing evangelism this is probably one of the most asked questions I got which was in reference to the 144,000 is it a literal number is it a symbolic number who are these people who are sealed this 144,000 so we want to we want to cover that we want to look at that at this moment and you know this particular passage is the perfect example of the symbolism that we're talking about because while there's tons of symbolism we know all throughout the book of Revelation perhaps and no other passage than this one here is a put on display better than Revelation chapter 7 for instance right there at the top verse 1 after these things I saw four angels standing in the four corners of the earth holding back the four winds of the earth if you get that picture in your mind I mean it's not like we can go to four different corners of the earth and see angels sitting there holding back these massive you know strong winds we know that that is symbolic obviously for you know God is he's allowing his angels he's allowing his kingdom to hold back the strife the major time of trouble that will come up on this planet in the last days after the sealing of his people and so what I want to look at I'm going to start with verse 4 well I have a lot to work with here hint hint but we're gonna do our best we're gonna do our best to get through this Revelation chapter 7 verses 4 through 8 and I'm gonna read through it and then we're gonna go back and backtrack and try to make some sense of this verse 4 says and I heard the number of those who were sealed 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed and then verses 5 through 8 here list those particular tribes and you know many people would overlook this this list that would go right over and they'd go I don't I'm not interested in these 12 different tribes but if you don't read them you don't study them you might miss something let's read through this because there's the reason why God put this in this particular revelation of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were sealed of the tribe of GAD twelve thousand were sealed of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed of the tribe of Naphtali I'm guessing that's how you say it never told all right twelve thousand were sealed of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed of the tribe of I'm guessing it's esseker this occur twelve thousand were sealed of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand are sealed of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed now the question is is this a literal 144,000 or is it a symbolic number let's look at this first first notice a few things I'm just gonna reread the first part of this passage in verse four and I heard the number of who were sealed 144,000 all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed so I made a note here notice this 144,000 represent those who are able to stand through the events portrayed in chapter six verse 17 and for those of you she just read it earlier chapter six verse 17 end of the sixth seal for the great day of his wrath has come speaking of Christ Jesus that lamb and who shall be able to stand these people are able to stand because they know Christ they have the seal of the Living God and I know that in the near future we will have an entire message on which we identify what this seal is and our protect at the time of the universal destruction as were those who possess the mark in Ezekiel's vision which you read in just a few moments ago so God has a mark and we're gonna read in the future the devil has a marquee has a mark only because God has a mark he counterfeits always the original but notice this and I made this note 12 is a significant number in the Bible because it was because of course there were 12 tribes Israel and twelve apostles twelve is kind of a representation of leadership and so we see that twelve has a special meaning but what about this 144,000 is a symbolic or is it spiritual is it literal well I believe that there's enough evidence to show that this is a symbolic number first of all you will notice that it mentions these twelve specific tribes do those twelve tribes exist today where are they if they are obviously those twelve twelve tribes do not exist today in our time so there's some symbolism being communicated here also if you notice and I'll probably come back to this in just a few moments but if you compare the actual list here mentioned in Revelation chapter 7 to the original lists provided in The Book of Numbers and in the Book of Ezekiel you will see that it's not the exact same list there's actually two that are omitted from this list in Revelation that are included in the list in Ezekiel and in numbers we'll come back to that in just a few moments Romans chapter 2 verses 28 through 29 the reason why I'm referencing this is to further prove the fact that Paul has already established to us and for us that we are Jews if we are Christ if we have joined our self together with Jesus Christ we are now the see we are part of that seed of Abraham notice Romans chapter 2 verses 28 through 29 for he is not a Jew who is one outwardly nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh but he is a Jew who is one inwardly and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit not in the letter whose praise is not from men but from God that's powerful so this particular list here of these twelve different tribes most people and they think of the tribes of Israel they think of the Jewish people or the Hebrew people but we know that here in the last days that line of distinction has been destroyed in the sense that once we come to Christ as the Bible is inspired and told us we obviously know that we are Christ when we join ourselves to him so we know automatically that's more proof that this number here this 144,000 it is a symbolic number a representation of God's people right here in the last days every single one of us have an opportunity to be a part of that 144,000 it's a personal choice it is a personal choice of the gospel for he has not already read that and I'm not a Psalm 91 verse 5 and 10 let's go there Psalm 91 verses 5 through 10 there's a beautiful promise for all of us who join our self in Christ and make that preparation to be a part of this 144,000 Psalm chapter 91 I'm gonna read verses 5 through 10 for the sake of time although I would encourage you to read the entire chapter it's a beautiful chapter Psalm 91 beginning with verse 5 notice what it says you shall not be afraid of the terror by night nor of the arrow that flies by day nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday a thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand but it shall not come near you only with your eyes shall you look and see the reward of the wicked because you have made the Lord here it is who is my refuge even the most high your dwelling place no evil shall befall you nor shall any plague come near your dwelling we mentioned that time of trouble that will happen at the end of time after this sealing we're talking about the sealing of God's people the special group of 144,000 these people will be saved these people are promised right here in new Psalm 91 that they will not be touched because they have made the Lord their Savior they have made the Lord their God let's look at Revelation chapter 7 verse 5 and we're gonna actually continue on through because I have a little time but I'm gonna show you something here really quickly about these individual tribe names each one of these tribe names means something okay there's a message than each one of these tribe names okay check this out Judah you know what Judah means it means I will praise the Lord alright notice the next one in the list here in Revelation 7 Reuben means he has looked on me dad he means given good fortune Asher means happy am i okay no just something here it's beautiful Neftali means for my wrestling Manasseh means God is making me forget simeon means God hears me Levi means and is joined to me this occur means he has purchased me Zebulon means a dwelling Joseph means God shall add to me and Benjamin means the son of his right hand now I just wanted quickly because I have a few seconds here so you'll notice if you look at the original list in Revelation chapter 7 here you'll notice that the tribe of Dan is removed and the reason why that's the case is the tribe of Dan fell into apostasy now if you look at the original list in Genesis chapter 49 while the tribe of Dan is mentioned you'll notice in this list it's not because it was replaced by Manasseh so all of the other original are there and I think that's that's a pretty cool thing I didn't notice that before but I also want to just really quickly read this last little thing very quickly if you if you sum up all of what each name means a sure to follow all out of the twelve tribes names notice what message you get when you sum up what all of their names mean I will praise the Lord he has looked on me and given good fortune happy am I for my wrestling God is making me forget God hears me and is joined to me he has purchased me a dwelling God shall add to me the son of his right hand that's powerful there's a like a nice little encrypted message right there man thank you so much right what an incredible study of the hundred and forty-four thousand we're gonna take a short break we'll be right back [Music] ever wish you could watch a three-bean sabbath-school panel again or share it on Facebook Instagram or Twitter well you can by visiting 3abn sabes cool panel comm a clean design makes it easy to find the program you're looking for there are also links to the adult Bible study guide so you can follow along sharing is easy just click share and choose your favorite social media share link save a life for eternity [Music] welcome back as we continue our study of Revelation chapter 7 we're gonna pick it up with Tuesday Shelley's day the great multitude thank you both for your excellent studies I will begin in revelation 7 and verse 9 and the Bible says this after these things I looked and behold a great multitude which no one could number of all nations tribes peoples and tongues John first heard a number and that number was 144,000 and this is the church militant on earth because they're suffering persecution and martyrdom and they were sealed why because they obeyed the Covenant they're preserved not by being delivered from death but delivered from the conquest of death if you think about that because they prevailed over the persecution death because of the word of their testimony in the blood of the Lamb now he heard that number 144,000 then he says he turns and sees this great multitude you'll see throughout Revelation John hears he turns and sees he hears he turns and sees me so this is the church triumphant the redeemed who have arrived in heaven after the second advent of Christ and they're standing before the throne of the Lamb there eternally safe every nation tongue tribe and people the worldwide universal church is represented here so it mentions this is interesting that the hundred and forty-four thousand are sealed but it doesn't mention that the great multitude is sealed and that's most likely because they are the same group so they've already been sealed here on earth now they're receiving their inheritance let's look at verse 9 and they were standing before the throne and before the lamb clothed with white robes with palm branches in our hands what did the white road represent the righteousness of Jesus Christ and you'll remember that his triumphal entry they had the palm branches that they were waving and laying down this was a sign of victory so what we're seeing here both the white robes and the palm branches are signs of victory and joy in Revelation 710 and they were crying out with a loud voice saying salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb and it's interesting because this crying out is a present tense so it is an unceasing adoration for salvation by grace salvation belongs to the lamb and in revelation 17 11 all the Angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God saying Amen blessing and glory and wisdom Thanksgiving an honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever the angels and the elders and the four living creatures are joining and rejoicing in the salvation of humanity and this symphony of praise to God I just wanted to read to seasons 1 9 and 10 says that God having made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times he might gather together in one in one all things in Christ both which are in heaven and which are in earth and that's what you see happening here and you know I love this Sevenfold doxology here it says blessing glory wisdom Thanksgiving honor power might be to our God for ever and ever 7 is the number of perfection so what we're seeing here is its it's talking about the infinite perfection of Jesus Christ and his worthiness but it does not by any means exhaust the list that's possible and that's similar to revelation 5:12 that you had read before Jill so he's saying when it says that it is be to our God this isn't just limiting it to God the Father this is now Christ the Holy Spirit and God the Father it's inclusive the entire Godhead revelation 713 then one of the elders answered saying to me who are these arrayed in white robes and where did they come from and I said to him sir you know now I think the fact that the elder asked John their identity means that he most he most likely knew what their who their identity was he recognized and understood and he just these are the Covenant keepers from Earth right so he didn't offer his own opinion rather as one who is still under probation he just gave a respectful reply sir you know and then verse 14 says so he said to me these are the ones who came out of the Great Tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb from the dark background of persecution the church has suffered intense persecution beginning in John's day and throughout the Middle Ages and and even we see will see in the greatest tribulation toward the end of the earth in in my opinion this humble is I will say this humbly I think tribulation here is probably the tribulation of all the church history not just talking about the end but we see this great multitude and it's mentioned again the great multitude in Revelation 19 1 says I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven saying hallelujah salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God so again in revelation 19:6 the voice of the great multitude saying hallelujah for the Lord God omnipotent reigns let us be glad and rejoice and give glory for the marriage of the lamb has come his wife has made herself ready so this crowd in heaven is composed of all those who've remained faithful to God from the beginning of time and throughout all generations you know no true believer ever needs to worry about being excluded from this group because we are all included and when it says that the robes were made white in the blood of the Lamb this is referring to the redemptive work of Christ they washed their robes is an undeniable reference to the conversion of their sins and that they are their obedience to the gospel so even though salvation is by grace through faith obedience is how we wash our robes you know this is something that we need to think about Hey Christ provides the means of redemption but it requires people to appropriate the blessings of it through obedience there's many many New Testament passages that stress the human response to salvation so here is praise being offered to the Lord it's interesting there's no mention of what they had done in obedience it's only the blood of the Lamb because salvation from the penalty of sin it doesn't matter you can obey from now until the cows come in and you know what that's an obedience isn't gonna save you that's a beauty is only the blood of the Lamb that can remove white symbolizes his perfection and his righteousness that is imputed to us so let me read this to you real quickly this comes from the what was comments in the quarterly John sees the great multitude those who came out of the Great Tribulation washed their robes made them white in the blood of the Lamb and this is a special group of people who no matter what despite their struggles that they went through they have stayed faithful to Jesus that's right a faithfulness that symbolized by their being covered in the robes of his perfect righteousness and this great theme of salvation by grace appears no matter who these people are whether they are a literal 144,000 that are saved at the end of time or if it's everybody their only claim to salvation and eternal life on the new earth is because of the blood of Jesus Christ man thank you showing that is so beautiful you know we we have so much to be grateful for and to be thankful for the blood of Jesus which washes away our sins and and his righteousness not our own my lesson is Wednesday's lesson and it's those who follow the lamb and let's take a look at Revelation 14 I have that I need to tell you I have the privilege of studying Revelation with on a program called salvation and symbols and signs and if you want a more in-depth study of Revelation because it's hard to get everything in in 10 minutes you can go and watch on YouTube YouTube duck youtube-dot-com forward-slash d to do network TV and we have study guides available as well salvation symbols TV so I needed to mention that little quickly so let's turn to Revelation 14 and let's talk about those who follow the let's read verses 1 through 5 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 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 hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth these are the ones who were 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 first fruits to God and to the lamb and in their mouth was found no deceit for they are without fault before the throne of God so let's look at some of the characteristics of those who follow the lamb and and what was different about this particular group first of all first of all they sang a new song that no one could sing except the 144,000 this new song I'm singing a new song this represents an experience that they had that was different from anybody else no one else could sing this song because the 144,000 the redeemed of the Lord had their own experience a unique experience Isaiah 51 11 says so the redeemed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing with everlasting joy on their heads they shall obtain joy and gladness sorrow and sighing shall flee away so the redeemed of the Lord shall return to Zion with singing the 144,000 are the redeemed of the Lord and therefore again not a literal number because it's the redeemed from all ages that are on Mount Zion standing there with the lamb you know it's interesting to me that we had in revelation 13 we had these two beasts one coming up from the sea one coming up from the earth the one coming up from the earth spoke but it looked like a lamb it had two horns like a lamb but spoke like a dragon it seemed lamb like it seemed harmless but in Revelation 14 we actually have the lamb the Lamb of God who was being followed the lamp the Sheep was actually the shepherd right so we're following the Lamb of God who had redeemed us with his blood there's a lot of symbolic language here so in verse 4 it says they were not defiled with women now the Bible uses women and alludes to women as as it pertains to spirituality so there is the pure Church the woman represents the church the pure Church as represented in Revelation 12:1 or the harlot as represented in revelation 17:5 2nd Corinthians 11:2 says for I'm jealous for you with godly jealousy for I betrothed you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ again symbolic language depicting Christ's relationship with his people so here we have when it says they were not defiled with women they are virgins it merely means that they had not apostasy they were belonging to Christ to the lamb now if this were literal it would mean that the 144,000 were just 144,000 it would mean that they were men just men and it would mean that they had never had any kind of experience with women they were virgins so we know that this is again symbolic language and it's it's showing the relationship between Christ and his Church to be a virgin spiritually and symbolically is to be among those who are led by the Spirit who are not deceived by the false Christ by Satan and his false prophets it's a spiritual comparison that indicates the faithfulness of the 144,000 so they weren't contaminated by the false doctrines of the harlot Babylon also it says here in verse 4 they follow the lamb wherever he goes that means they have unquestioning loyalty that means they have followed him they will go through thick and thin following the lamb because he's their Savior because he is their deliverer Jesus said in John 10:27 my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me so the lamb actually also represents the Incarnation of God in verse 4 also it says they are redeemed from among men being the firstfruits to God and of the lamb now what in ancient Israel the firstfruits were the harvest the best-of-the-best the harvested fruits that were given to God as an offering the firstfruits were your best fruit then the second fruits you know the first fruits were taken into the temple then the second fruits you a yourself so so this is the the 144,000 it's saying are the firstfruits they're our first fruits to God and to the lamb Jeremiah 2:3 says Israel was holiness to the Lord the firstfruits of his increase James 1:18 says of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures we are the firstfruits and what does it say in Revelation 14 14 then I looked and behold a white cloud and on the cloud sat.1 like the Son of man having on his head a golden crown and in his hand a sharp sickle what's he gonna do with that sickle he's harvesting the first we are going to be coming with that sickle to harvest the fruits and that's we are we are the redeemed of the Lord because we have given our hearts to Jesus and so he is going to take us with him so I have just a few more minutes I want to talk about how well first of all they the last characteristic is they have no guile and then you covered that no deceit or falsehood for they are faultless before the throne of God the 144,000 is not a group that's faultless because of themselves that's right it we it says that in Jude 24 he is Christ is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy so we are not standing there faultless because of some things on our own we have the blood of Jesus that and the power of the Holy Spirit to make us victorious over sin we don't want to fall into spiritual fornication what is that it's disloyalty and unfaithfulness to God what are some ways that we can be unfaithful disregarding his laws the law of God is a transcript of his character and so when we disregard his laws we're disregarding God see Deuteronomy 28 verse 20 and I'll just have you read that on your own because I don't have that much time I wish I did the next one is when we don't give God proper time and focus Jeremiah 18 15 says because my people have forgotten me they've burned incense to worthless idols and they've caused themselves to stumble in their ways from ancient paths to walk in pathways and not on a highway so when we don't give God his proper time we're disregarding him we also can allow relationships and problems to interfere with our relationship with God God has given us a way we are to walk in it and we can be by His grace the redeemed this lesson is getting just deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper and it's beautiful because revelation you have to you have to dive into it to be able to find out the the substance to it I said that most of Christianity might enjoy waterskiing well here we like deep-sea diving the way revelation demands that you put on oxygen to the surface and survive without the Holy Spirit guiding your mind thank you all of you for laying the foundation and and sis Yvonne you've touched on some of the things that are also in my lesson for salvation to our God and to the lamb a couple of things I want to point out because there's so many beautiful parallels brought out in this study I mean they just they're just everywhere you can't get away from them we talked about Revelation chapter 7 where the hundred and forty-four thousand are introduced and then we see the multitude that no one can number the the 144,000 representing those who had no guile in their mouth and then you had a number which no man can number that came out of the Great Tribulation when you look at that you see some amazing parallels then you find the question you have to ask yourself is what made them come out of the Great Tribulation well what made them come out at all a call revelation 18 come out of her my people the question is who made the call somebody had to make the call those who were sealed before this because the tribulation we talked about the Great Tribulation hundred the two hundred and sixty year tribulation but there's going to be one later on a time of trouble such as never was ever since there was a nation and the Lord is going to as isaiah 6 he says arise shine for your light has come look at that very quickly this is this is the preparation for the bringing out of that multitude that no one could number and then and there's a there's a quotation here that Ellen White brings out what's amazing what I say Isaiah 60 Isaiah 60 okay I'm there look at Isaiah 60 because there's a gathering that has to take place but the gathering cannot take place in it in the presence in the absence of a light that calls them out Isaiah 60 arise shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you what's the message of revelation 14 here God in so the glory has to be seen somewhere the glory will be seen among those with no guile those who are not defiled with other teachings that mean they were never defiled so they have held onto the pure gospel all that they were not defiled but the ones that came out of the Great Tribulation they had to come out from this former defilement as the call of Revelation 18 makes it clear look at this is gonna be put together in this first for behold the darkness shall cover the earth and deep darkness or gross darkness the people but the Lord will arise over you and his glory will be seen upon you the glory again the Gentiles shall come to your light and Kings to the brightness of your rising lift up your eyes all around and see they all gather together they come to you and it look at your sons shall come from afar and your daughter shall be nursed at your side and if you look about and goes on further talk about the wealth of the Gentiles but if you look at what's happening here there's a gathering coming because because the Gentile sees something they hadn't seen before they see the brightness of your rising the glory of God has risen upon you fear God and give glory to him when this time comes and the reason why the Lord is holding back the reason why you go to Revelation 7 he says don't don't let anything harm the earth the sea or the trees until I seal the servants chain after the service of sealed which hour describes 144,000 then he turns and says well but then if that's not an forethought who are they these are the ones that came out of the Great Tribulation they can only come out if a call to come out is made come out of her my people and as we're sitting here and we're talking to you our church is made up of people that have come out I mean Brian Shelley well Jill and I and Yvonne were in this movement most of our lives but we've had to come out of other things okay but when the Lord gives a message that maintains its purity and you embrace it and hold on to it he says okay I could use you because in your mouth is nothing that's going to destroy the mentality or the connection with my word there's no guile found there that means it's truth and not only that you were not defiled with other women so your theology is not mixed up because nobody else from other places has thrown a wrench into what I've given you that's completely pure that's why they referred to as Israel to whom Paul made the very statement he says it was necessary that the Word of God should be given to you first but seeing that you judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life lo we turn to the Gentiles the comparison clearly there Paul and Barnabas are rebuking Israel to whom the message was given first when they rejected them they're separate from the Gentiles they always knew it they knew they were 12 tribes they always know they were not the Gentiles the Gentiles now become the multitude that no man could number that Paul says since you don't want it we're turning to the Gentiles in the number 12 Old Testament 12 tribes then 12 disciples and the Apostles they're separate from that number that they're calling out but they're calling them not because they have something that that number doesn't have and Ella white makes the statement she says during this time of trouble she says she says when the at the commencement of the time of trouble she talks about the commencement of it she says and I'm paraphrasing there were those among other ranks that came out joined our ranks and endure the persecution with us so you find this gathering and you be clear when you go to Revelation 14 you see look at look at look at the look at the cadence in Revelation 14 you see the hundred and forty-four thousand reintroduced in Revelation 14 verse one down to verse five and they are the firstfruits meaning they're not the only fruits but they're the first there's some more fruits and when the GATT when that when the harvest comes down to 14 it says a thrust in your sickle and reap I behold a white cloud and he who sat on the cloud having the hid in his hand the golden crown and in his hand a sharp sickle and then you go further verse 15 you see in the verse 15 says thrust in your sickle and reap for the time has come for you to reap for the harvest of the earth this one came from the firstfruits but now he said the harvest of the earth is ready gather them in so he who sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth and the earth was reaped and so what happens is you clearly that that reaping now comes out of that great multitude that's being pulled in but what are they being pulled in and that's the focus of the lesson what's pulling them in and shelli I love the way you set this up in one of our prior studies when revelation says do not hurt the earth others do not hurt the earth or the sea or the trees till the servants of God are sealed it was pre looted by do not hurt the oil and the wine now the reason why because the oil and the wine is needed by the 144,000 to reap the harvest you cannot reap a harvest without without the Holy Spirit and you cannot reap the harvest without the message of salvation so don't don't mess with the oil and the wine because they're gonna need it and so the next chapter because chapter 6 don't harm me all of one do not harm the oil of the wine do not harm the earth to sea or the trees until so that multitude is gonna need that wine the gospel of salvation and the oil the Holy Spirit and when the Spirit of God falls on them the latter rain the refreshing from the presence of the Lord then revelation 18 comes in look at this very quickly I'm gonna go back to this later on and bring it out even more but this is why the Gospel message which is the focal point of this one he says Revelation 18 verse 1 and after these I saw another angel coming down from heaven having great Authority and the earth was what illuminated with his glory but for the harvest of the earth to be reaped the earth has to be illuminated with the glory of God how is that how is the glory of God illuminated in the earth for the glory of God has risen upon you the glory of God has risen upon his people and because his people are all over the world the glory of God illuminates the earth through his people thus we get the quotation when the character of God is fully reproduced in this people so this character is what's illuminating the earth what is the character revealing the saving message the saving grace of Christ the character of Christ it's being revealed so that the earth now seeing that redemption is is extended to the final two the final multitude that have not heard it to this particular point people are embracing it they're coming out of Babylon they're coming from all the places where the women prior in revelation 17 they were defile by those women but now they hear the truth and they're coming out and then you get the scene in revelation 14 they're all standing on the sea of glass and they're all proclaiming and listen to this Narus the throne this is from Ellen White's writings nearest the throne are those who were once a zealous in the cause of Satan but who plucked as brands from the burning have followed their Savior next are those who perfected character in the midst of falsehood and an infidelity who honor the law of God and it says beyond is the great multitude which no man could number of all nations and Kindred's in people's their warfare has ended all of them together now their victory is one the palm branches is a symbol of the triumph the white robe and the emblem of the righteousness of Christ which is now there's everybody has the righteousness Christ which comes to the final proclamation of the gospel amen thank you so much Pastor John and Yvonne and Shelley and Ron what an incredible study what a privilege to be part of the people of God in these last days what a privilege to be part of the hundred and forty-four thousand and that number is not as we talked to symbolic but it's not illusive it's not like you have to sit and pious I'll never be part of it remember every one of us can have the privilege if we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives if we allow His Holy Spirit into our hearts he is the one who would change us we have just a few moments left and I want to give each one of you an opportunity to share a thought on your lesson or just something about the lesson in general absolutely you know as as I'm hearing all this incredible information that is real that is legitimate straight from the book of Revelation you know it shows me and teaches me that none of us have an excuse to be lost oh Christ has done everything that he can to communicate his love and his compassion and all that he has for his children and you know my prayer for myself and for my brothers and all of us is that we will humble ourselves pray and seek Him now that we might be saved I stand confident in his appearing you know I just come back to my probably my favorite scriptures 1st Thessalonians 3 12 and 13 what Paul says that he prays that we will abound to in love to one another so that listen to this so that God he says may God cause you to abandon so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our god and father at the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ so it is all about if we want to be blameless if we want to be part of the 144,000 the great multitude it is all about opening up our hearts to the Lord and saying Oh father pour your love into my heart by the power of the Holy Spirit and love will do no wrong to its neighbor and love will obey Jesus amen amen we can be part of that 144,000 we just need to make a choice to choose Jesus when we choose him his Holy Spirit will take over and give us the power to have victory over sin and one day we can all stand together on that sea of glass and say worthy as the loud yes simply put be willing to follow the lamb wherever he leads and you'll be on that sea of glass man I know from the panel here each one of us have made a choice that we want to follow the lamb wherever he leads and I just want to appeal to you make a choice today is the day of salvation make a choice today to follow the lamb wherever he goes that's all the time we have for today next week we jump into a deep subject the seven trumpets join us [Music] [Music]
