So we have finished Revelation 13 last week.

• We looked at the mark of the beast and the image of the beast.
• The mark of the beast would in the forehead of those that worshipped the beast and the image or it would go in the right hand.
• This is in direct competition with the seal of God.
• What was the mark of the beast? It was the national Sunday law. No one has the mark of the beast today. That law has not been instituted yet. But we are close. All signs are gearing up for it.
• The no buy and no sell situation is getting easier for the government to be able to do such a thing. There’s no more cash. It’s all digital today.

Let’s move on into Revelation 14 now.

Overview of Revelation 14:

• V1-5: the 144,000.
• V6-12: the three angel’s messages.
• V13-20: the second coming.

So what we see is the group of God’s people who will be alive at the end of time.

• We looked at the 144,000 back in Revelation 7 and we referenced some of the verses here. But we’ll go through some characteristics outlined here in more detail.
• So this group of people, they are the highlight of this chapter.
• How can we be ready for the second coming that we see at the end of this chapter?
• Well, we need to understand and assimilate the three angel’s messages in our lives.
• It is this proclamation of messages from heaven that are pivotal at the end of time to our experience with God, and enabling us to be bold to stand of God in the last days.
• Remember what it said in Revelation 6:17?
• Revelation 6:17
  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
• The answer to that question came in Revelation 7. It was the 144,000 that would be able to stand in the day of God’s wrath.
• And it is in Revelation 14 that we will see what will help them to stand.

So Revelation 13 and 14 are in contrast with each other:

Chapter 13	Chapter 14
Message of the beast	Three angels’ messages
The whole world to wonder after the beast and worship him	The whole world to worship God
Making an image to the beast	To give glory to Him – to reflect the image of God
Global agenda – try to get the whole world to receive mark in the forehead and hand	Global agenda – everlasting gospel to go to the whole world
Ends with death decree (from man)	Ends with death decree (from God)
Wrath from the beast (Chap 12)	Wrath of God
Mark of the beast	Seal of the living God

So now let’s jump into the details of Revelation 14.

Revelation 14:1
Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads.

The Bible here calls Jesus the Lamb in contrast to the lamb-like beast back in Revelation 13.

And standing with Jesus on Mount Zion is the 144,000. They have the Father’s name written on their foreheads.

Why are they able to stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion?

• Psalms 24:3-4
  3 Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully.
• Those that have cleans hands and a pure heart.
  • That’s exactly the place where the mark of the beast goes. In the forehead, which is the heart. And in the right hand.
  • So the answer is basically those that have not received the mark of the beast.
• And it also says, those that have not lifted up their soul to an idol.
  • That is speaking of the image to the beast. They have not worshipped it!
• We also read more about standing in God’s holy hill in Psalms 15.
• Psalms 15:1-5
  1 LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? 2 He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart; 3 He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend;
  • We saw in Revelation 7 that there were 2 tribes left out of the list in the 144,000. Those were the tribe of Dan and also Ephraim.
  • Dan was a back-biter.
  • And Ephraim was given to idols.
  • We will see that the 144,000 in Revelation 14, they are careful with what they say, their tongue.
• Continuing on in Psalms 15:
  • 4 In whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the LORD; he who swears to his own hurt and does not change; 5 He who does not put out his money at usury, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.
• We will see that in the three angel’s messages there is a mention about fearing God.
• If these applications are true to the 144,000 and to our time, then we need to be careful with the money as well.
  • We shouldn’t lend out to people and charge interest.
  • We shouldn’t be taking bribes against the innocent.
  • Basically, we shouldn’t be greedy.
• Notice that there is one important characteristic mentioned here as well in verse 2.
  • They speak the truth from their hearts.
  • That means they are involved very much in the work of the church. They are involved in spreading the gospel to the whole world. Not just going to church from week to week and doing nothing else. They are active in doing God’s works.
    • Preaching.
    • Teaching the Bible to others.
  • You can know the condition of your spiritual life by seeing how involved you are in the ministry of the church – especially in giving others the truth.
  • Matthew 24:14
    And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
  • This work of preaching and sharing the truth is not to be done just by the minister or pastor alone. It is a work that God has given to everyone who calls themselves a Christian.

Notice the 144,000 back in Revelation 14, they have the Father’s name written in their foreheads.

• Name in Bible represents character, authority and power.
• In Revelation 13, what did we see in the forehead apart from the mark of the beast?
• Revelation 13:1
  And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
  • He had the name of blasphemy.
  • Remember what was the name of blasphemy? Claiming that you are a Jew but you’re not, you’re of the synagogue of Satan.
  • They are false Christian’s.
• But the 144,000 they are the true Jews. They have the Father’s name written in their foreheads.
• Romans 2:28-29
  28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
  • They are circumcised in the heart, not just outwardly.
  • They are truly converted in heart and life.
• If you connect that with the seal of God, we know that the seal of God goes in the forehead. And remember, the seal of God was the seal of His law.
  • Isaiah 8:16
    Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
  • And when we drill down even further, we know that the seal of God is the seal of the Sabbath.
• What does God want to do with the law?
  • Hebrews 10:16
    This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
  • God wants to put His law in our foreheads.
  • He wants us to keep the law from our hearts.

Matthew 24:4-5
4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.

• Many will come in the Father’s name and will deceive many.
• The beast of Revelation 13 will come in the name of a Christian and will deceive many.
• Miracles will even be performed – fire brought down from heaven.

How did the 144,000 receive the privilege to stand with Jesus on Mount Zion?

Revelation 14:2
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.

What does the harps represent?

• Revelation 15:2
  And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God.
• The harp is an instrument connected with victory.
• They got victory over the beast, his image, the mark and the number of his name.
• We will see in Revelation 14 how to have that victory.

Revelation 14:3
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.

No one can learn this song because the 144,000 will go through an experience that no one else has ever gone through before. What is this song?

• Revelation 15:3-4
  3 They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints! 4 Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been manifested.”
• It is the song of Moses.
• But why is this song so special and why is their experience so special?
• Notice what it says at the very end of verse 4 – for Your judgments have been manifested.
• What judgments are these? It is referring to the wrath of God, the seven last plagues.
• Revelation 15:1
  Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete.
• Why is this called the song of Moses? Because the Israelites went through a similar experience – the 10 plagues that fell on Egypt.
• However, the plagues that will fall at the end of time will make the 10 plagues that fell on Egypt like it was nothing.
• But the 144,000 are going to come through those plagues unscathed, just as the Israelites came out of the 10 plagues protected by the mercy and grace of God.

Revelation 14:4
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 firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.

If we take this verse literally, that means that married people cannot be part of the 144,000 because they aren’t virgins. Of course we know that that is not true.

So what does it mean that they are not defiled with women?

• What does woman represent in the Bible? It represents a
• And back in Revelation 13 we saw a corrupt church.
  • The first beast was the Roman Catholic church.
  • And the image to the beast was the apostate Protestants.
• We even saw a woman back in Revelation 2 in the church of Thyatira – her name was Jezebel. A false church.
• So the 144,000 is not connected with these women.
• They are virgins. That means they have not defiled themselves with fornication.
• Look at what Jezebel did:
  • Revelation 2:20
    Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
• Jezebel did 2 things:
  • She seduced people to commit fornication.
  • She made people to eat things sacrificed to idols.
• The biggest idol in Revelation is the image to the beast.
• Revelation 17:1-2
  1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
• The whole earth will be forced into committing fornication with the harlot at the end of time.

But what does it mean to commit fornication?

• Fornication is the union of 2 parties that God cannot bless.
• What is that union in Revelation that God cannot bless?
• It is the coming together of church and state.
• And the ultimate union of church and state at the end of time is the national Sunday law.
• So the 144,000 are virgins – they didn’t commit spiritual fornication. They did not receive the mark of the beast.

Ephesians 5:25-27
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

• God wants to sanctify us by His word.
  • Meaning, He wants to set us apart from the rest of the world.
• He wants us to be holy and without blemish.
  • Meaning, He wants us to have victory over sin.
• This is the 144,000. And unless we are preparing our lives for that, unless we are praying that God would give us His Spirit, and also praying that He would help us to overcome all our tendencies to sin, we are going to come short of standing on the holy hill of Mount Zion with God.

We have it in our power to get ready. Look at what it says in Revelation.

• Revelation 19:7-8
  7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
  • Notice – she made herself ready. There is an effort on our part that we need to exert.
  • Righteousness is not going to come without a conscientious effort from us.
  • Then we can be arrayed in clean and white garments. The righteous acts of the saints.

The church and Christ cannot be united unless the church is without spot and without wrinkle. God is waiting for the church triumphant. He is waiting for someone to vindicate His character on earth.

“These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes”

• 1 John 2:6
  He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
  • To talk just as Christ walked, we need to make sure we abide in Christ.
• John 15:7
  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
  • The words of Jesus must abide in us. We must be guided by His word.
• Matthew 11:28-29
  28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
  • We must be yoked up with Christ. Then He will lead and we will follow. We must be willing to go and learn from Him in His word.
• And when we have the word saturated in our hearts, what happens?
  • Romans 10:17
    So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
  • We will grow in faith.
• Galatians 2:20
  I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
• To live by faith is to allow Christ to live in and through us.

Look at the final result of the three angel’s messages on those that will study, read and assimilate these messages into their lives.

• Revelation 14:12
  Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
• The final result is the faith of Jesus.

So the 144,000, they have understood the everlasting gospel message of the three angel’s, and it has made a deep and profound impact in their lives, in their faith journey.

Coming back to Revelation 14:4, there is one more thing to look at there.

• It says that the 144,000 are redeemed from among men and they are the firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.
• Majority of the people at the end of time will follow after the beasts in Revelation 13. But the 144,000 will not go along with the mark of the beast.
• They have a backbone.
• They are not afraid to die for the truth.

The concept of the firstfruit means that they are the fruit that is ripe first when it comes to the harvest.

• They are not necessarily the first chronologically, but rather first in importance.
• Jesus is described as the firstfruit:
  • 1 Corinthians 15:20
    But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
  • We know that Jesus was not the first to rise from the dead. Moses is.
  • But He was certainly the first in importance to rise from the dead.
  • Because of His resurrection, all other can be raised.
  • John 14:19
    “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.
  • Because He lives, we can live.
• There is some people in heaven even now that have never died.
  • Elijah and Enoch.
• What does firstfruit mean? It doesn’t necessarily mean first.
• Numbers 18:12
  “All the best of the oil, all the best of the new wine and the grain, their firstfruits which they offer to the LORD, I have given them to you.
  • It means the best.
• This means that the 144,000 are not necessarily the first to be reaped at the harvest. But they are the most important.

We see a harvest at the end of Revelation 14 which represents the second coming.

• The 144,000, they are the first ones on earth that will become mature first.
• What is the another word that the Bible uses for the word mature? It is the word perfect, which also means complete.
• James 2:22
  Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?
• What makes our faith perfect? It is faith that must go with works.
• We see that in Revelation 14:12.
  • Revelation 14:12
    Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
  • They keep the commandments of God – there’s the works.
  • And they have the faith of Jesus.
  • Faith and works going together.
• James also continues to describe a perfect man though.
• James 3:2
  For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.
• A perfect man is one who is able to not stumble in their words.
• And interestingly enough, the 144,000 have a very unique description of them in the very next verse that we’re looking at.

Revelation 14:5
And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.

• The 144,000 have no deceit found in their mouths.
• Somehow, them being faultless is connected to what they say with their mouths.
• As we just saw in James 3:2 – if we are able to control our tongues, we can be a perfect person.
• Most of our problem stems with our mouths.
• Why is that so? How come the characteristic of what we say is such an important detail that is brought up in Revelation? Especially about the 144,000?
• Matthew 12:34
  Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
• Our mouth is simply a reflection of our hearts.
• It shows whether our hearts are pure or not.
• If we have an evil tongue, it is because we have an evil heart.
• So does it matter if our language is pure or not? Absolutely.
• Today if that is your struggle, Christ is the One that can help us.
• Jude 1:24
  Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.
• Christ is the only One that can keep us from falling.
• He is the only One that can present us faultless.
• So today, let’s walk with Him. Let’s talk with Him. Let’s spend more time with Him in His word.
• Let’s run to Him in time of trouble.
• He will be a strong tower and a refuge to us from the fiery darts of the wicked.

The 144,000 have learnt to make Christ their constant companion.

• Two times now we have seen this special group. In Revelation 7 and now in Revelation 14. They are a pretty important group to have to be mentioned twice in Revelation.
• We need to strive with all the power that God has given us to be part of this group.
• It’s not by storing food in our cellars.
• Preparation to be part of this group is not found in having a secret hide out far in the country and no one knows about.
• It’s not about having a 4WD that holds 200 litres of petrol so you can drive and keep driving.
• It’s not about gold nuggets to bribe people at the end of time so they’ll let us pass in safety.
• It’s not about having digital gold like bitcoin so that you can cross borders and still have a way to support yourself.
• Trust me, I’ve heard a lot of different theories.

Today, the preparation that we need is heart preparation.

• And the only remedy for the sin-sick soul is Jesus Christ.
• Behold the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world!

This is the introduction to Revelation 14 – the group of people that will go out to give the everlasting gospel to the whole world, to prepare a people to be ready to see Jesus at the second coming.