 So here we are. What I'm going to do is I'm going to read the first five verses. I'm going to give to you an introduction to help you, if you haven't been with us up to this point, for example, to kind of understand where we're at here in chapter 14. So I normally will give a bit of an introduction so that you may know its context and then we'll move into the five verses of chapter 14. So we'll begin by reading. So I'll read verses one through five and then we'll get into our study. Revelation chapter 14, beginning at verse one, reading to verse five. John writes, Then I looked and behold a lamb standing on Mount Zion and with him 144,000, having his father's name written on their forehead. 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, 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 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. And so when we looked at chapter 12, I mentioned to you that chapters 12 through 14 give us a deeper look into chapters we already had looked at. It gives us a deeper look at chapters six through 11. And so as I mentioned a moment ago, I'm going to give a brief review of some of the events that we've already seen. You see, in chapter six, we have the pictures of what a picture of what is called the seal judgments. And in chapter six, we saw six of these seals opened. And when the seals were opened, we saw a series of judgments that were poured out on the world. In that chapter, we're introduced to the Antichrist. We're introduced to war and to famine, to pestilence, and natural disasters. You see, when the world goes through these cataclysmic events, we saw that millions will die. We also saw that sin will become an unchecked way of life inspired and energized by Satan and demonic forces. We saw that when the sixth seal was opened, nature itself exploded with activity. The mother of all earthquakes brought terror upon people. It's the greatest earthquake the world had ever seen and disasters began to follow swiftly. The sun became black, the moon as blood, the stars of heaven fall like ripe figs, heaven departs as a scroll, every mountain and island move. The sun is blackened, the moon becomes as blood. The kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, mighty men, all of them are in terror. But instead of repenting, they actually are hardened in their sin. They begin to pray to the mountains. They pray in nature to be their help instead of praying to the God of nature. And then they pray for death, failing to realize that they will stand before the judge of the whole earth. So after chapter six, we entered into chapter seven. And in chapter seven, we were introduced to 144,000. The 144,000 represent the godly remnant of Israel during the tribulation. And these believers survived the seal, the trumpet, and bowl judgments that come upon the earth. They also are the ones who survived the persecution, the wars, the famines, the natural disasters, the diseases, and the unleashed evil. When we got to chapter 12, chapter 12 revealed Satan's attempt to circumvent the work of Jesus Christ in salvation. He gave us an overview of his attempt to resist God's ultimate judgment. In chapter 12, we saw that the nation of Israel was represented as a woman. Satan was revealed as a fiery red dragon. Jesus, the male child born to the woman. The remnant seed of the woman represented saved Jews. And Michael was shown battling the devil. By the time we got to chapter 13, we were introduced to the Antichrist and false prophet. So the chapter revealed the false prophet who would be Antichrist, John the Baptist. The prophet, that false prophet, deceives people. He deceives them into giving their allegiance to the devil. They will be followers of the devil as they yield to the Antichrist. He's going to use counterfeit miracles and will make an image of the beast that appears to be alive. And so the image is referred to as the abomination that causes desolation. It's going to be built in the temple, in the middle of the tribulation. When Paul was writing about this, he said in 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 4, that he will oppose and exalt himself over everything that is called God or his worship, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God. Well, Jesus spoke of this when he was teaching his men concerning last days. In Matthew 24, 15 and 16, he said, Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place, whoever reads, let him understand, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. In Matthew 24, 21, it says, For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no nor ever shall be. So that brings us to chapter 14. And the chapter we're going to be looking at is revealing what would be called the ultimate victory of Jesus Christ. It's going to give us a panoramic view of the tribulation from the standpoint of the victory of Jesus Christ. And this chapter has been called a preview of coming attractions. So these verses contain a prophetic view of Christ's ultimate triumph, as well as his return to the earth. They reveal the beginning of his thousand year reign at the end of the tribulation called the millennium. And they also preview his second coming. Now, this material that we're looking at is not placed in a chronological order. It's really what is called a prophetic overview. The chapter begins with Jesus standing on Mount Zion with his followers. And that occurs after his second coming, concluding with a pronouncement of judgment. And so that's your background or that's your context. We can begin now by looking at verse one, Revelation chapter 14, verse one, John writes, I looked and behold, a lamb standing on Mount Zion. And with him 144,000 having his father's name written on their foreheads. So he says, I looked and behold. So when he says, behold, that that gives us insight into the wonder that he's experiencing as he sees this, because he's seeing the lamb, the scene, the he has seen the lamb, who's the king, and the king is standing on Mount Zion. When you read your Psalms and Psalm Psalm two verses six through nine, it reads, I have sent my king on my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree. The Lord has said to me, you are my son. Today I have begotten you, ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel. He sees the lamb, the lamb who's the king, he's standing on Mount Zion. We know the lamb is Jesus Christ because he is called in the Bible, the lamb of God. And notice he's revealed as standing on Mount Zion with his 144,000 evangelists. Now this is not a picture of heaven. This is a picture of earth after his triumph when he returns. We know this because Mount Zion is an actual mountain on earth in Israel. It's an actual mountain. When you go to Israel, or when you even look at a map of Israel, you see that there are various elevated sites that are called mountains. To us here in California, they really don't appear to be mountains. They're not that high, but they're called mountains there in Israel. And so there's Mount Hermon, there's Mount Gilboa, there's Mount Taber, Mount Carmel, Mount Garzeem. There's also a place called the Mount of Olives. Well, Mount Zion is a mountain, but it's also known as Jerusalem. And it's the place where the king will reign from. In the Old Testament book of Isaiah in chapter 2 verses 2 through 4, it says, in the last days, the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as chief among the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, come let us go to the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways so that we may walk in his paths. The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares, their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. So the location is on earth, the lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 having his father's name written on their forehead. Now these are the evangelists we were introduced to in chapter 7. Notice how it says in verse 1, these believers had his father's name written on their foreheads. In Revelation 7, 3 and 4, it says, do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. And I heard the number of those who were sealed. 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed. So these are Jewish believers, and these are believers who are protected throughout what is called the tribulation. In Revelation 9, 4 it says they were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. So these witnesses that we're looking at are protected by God under the most intense persecution in history. These are on fire evangelists. They're afraid of nothing. They defy Satan, anti-Christ, and the false prophet. And they preach the gospel fearlessly in the most terrible time in history. They have no fear because God is protecting them. These witnesses are protected by him. And you can know, by the way, by way of application, that God protects you too, maybe not in the identical way. But when you're out there speaking the word of the Lord and sharing the faith of Christ, God is with you in a very special way. And these witnesses are protected by the Lord. Notice how it says in verse 1, they have his father's name written on their foreheads. The unbelieving world has the mark of the beast. But these people have God's mark. And that gives them courage, courage to preach, even when their deaths are so intensely desired. Now that reminds me of something Jesus said to the 70 evangelists that he sent out to preach. It's recorded in Luke 10, verse 19. He was speaking and he said, Behold, I give you the authority to travel on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. So they go forth and they have his protection and they confront sin and they're calling people to repentance. They're calling people to faith in Jesus Christ. And they're declaring that what you're going through is the judgment of God. And they do so fearlessly because God is with them. Now that's something we see in the Old Testament when God was calling a prophet by the name of Jeremiah. In Jeremiah chapter 1, verses 4 through 8, it says, The word of the Lord came to me saying, Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I ordained you a prophet to the nations. Then said I, Lord God, Behold, I cannot speak for I'm a youth. But the Lord said to me, Do not say I'm a youth, for you shall go to all to whom I send you. And whatever I command you, you shall speak. Then he goes on to say, Do not be afraid of their faces, because they're ugly. No, do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you, sayeth the Lord. That that phrase, do not be afraid of their faces, you know, to me, it always strikes a bit of humor. But the fact is that whenever you preach the gospel and there's been times when I've shared with a group of people that really didn't believe in Christ, that you can be intimidated by the way they're looking at you, by the way they're responding to you. And sometimes when you're speaking to people, they're all receptive and they're saying, Yes, this is good. I want to know this. And sometimes some of you know this. When you're speaking, there's really a group of people who are wanting to confront you or get upset with you or say things to you. I've had that happen when I first got saved. I was told, Go out and share your faith. And so I went with a friend of mine. We went to the library in Norwalk. I had a book in my possession. It was a book, The Lord of the Rings. And I had gone to the library and I had stolen the book as a non-believer. And I read it. And then I realized, you don't steal books from the library. So I brought it back. Well, actually, I told my friend George, I said, You know, I didn't check out a book that I have in my possession. I probably ought to give it back. And he said, That would be a good idea. And so he and I went to the Norwalk library and I brought the book in and I gave it back. And as we were walking out, there were a group of young people out there. And remember, I was young at that time. I was 20 years old. And George was 19. And there were three or four young people and we came and he said, Let's go tell about Jesus. You know, now I'm a brand new Christian. I don't know anything about street witnessing or sharing. And I was very intimidated. And I still remember standing there and speaking to these kids. And I didn't have much to say. But George knew a little bit more. He was my elder. He'd been saved for six months longer than me. So he knew the Bible backwards and forwards in Greek and Hebrew. I mean, it was amazing. And so I still remember the sense of intimidation that I felt, even though the Holy Spirit had filled me. And even though I was learning about Jesus, I had a testimony. I still remember how difficult it was to speak to a group of people who began to mock us as we spoke. But the word of God says, Do not be afraid of their faces. Give them the truth and share with them what Jesus has to say. And these people would do that. And Jeremiah was told, Don't be afraid. Go out. They're going to look at you in a certain way. They're going to act in a certain way. Tell them the truth. And that's what he did. And that's what we do. And that's what these evangelists did. And they were protected by God as they did that. You see, when you know the Lord is with you and watching over you, you do speak fearlessly. And these evangelists are protected. They speak boldly in the face of persecution. These are those who will not die in the tribulation. They enter into the millennial reign of Christ. The thousand year reign of Christ is living men. And they spoke, and they spoke with a confidence because they knew that the Lord was with them. When I was in college and I went through a particular class and the teacher said to us, every one of you in this class is going to need to take a few minutes. I'm going to give you a few minutes each one of you. And I'm going to give you a word. I'll assign a word to you. And when I assign that word to you, I'm going to give you five minutes to basically speak on that word. Whenever that word is, you will speak on that subject. And so I was there and I'm quiet in class, you know, unless given opportunity. And so as I'm in class, it's after a few people have already gone up to speak over the weeks. The professor, that's when he looked at me and he said, David, it's your turn. You come up. And I remember standing in front of a class. It was at Rio Hondo College, junior college. And I remember standing up in the front of the class and there was about 25 students, fellow students. And so they were really peers, you know, they weren't much younger than me or at the same age as I. And I still remember, you know, that's intimidating. And the professor said, the word I'm giving to you is freedom. I said, you want me to speak on freedom? And he said, speak on the word freedom. I said, all right. And so I looked at him and I said, when you use the word freedom, and I still remember some of what I said, when you use the word freedom, the word freedom usually speaks of being free from bondage or jail or something in that way. I said, but the Bible teaches of freedom. And the Bible teaches that if a person sins, he's a slave to sin. But Jesus Christ said that he, by his word, would set the captive free. Jesus said, if you know my truth, I will set you free. And so there are people in this room right now who are in bondage and you need to be set free and you can be set free by the gospel of Jesus Christ. And there was one girl in the class who is a Christian. And all of a sudden I hear one girl out of the 30 yell, Hey man, hallelujah. So that's how I knew there was another believer in there. You see, when the Holy Spirit is with you, right? When the Holy Spirit is filling you, when you know what you have to say is true, when you know that it'll break the bondage of people, when you love them enough to speak the truth, that's what you do. And God is with you. You don't have to be afraid. Now I have wisdom. I mean, if they pull out a shotgun, it's time to walk away. But until that moment, unless you want to go to heaven quicker, until that moment, speak with courage and boldness. I've had people say, where do you get your boldness from? I get my boldness from the power of the Holy Spirit, the same source you have, the same source we have. I just believe this is true. I just believe that God will do what He says. And I believe that the message that God has given to us is to be given to mankind. And therefore, we have that responsibility. And don't be afraid of their faces. Find the opportunity to speak and watch what God will do. Well, He says in verse one, having their father's name written on their foreheads. They have the father's name written on their foreheads, but the rest have the mark of the beast. And that reminds us that they belong to God in contrast to the mark that unbelievers receive. Now these believers are protected by God. God welcomes them into His kingdom. And the joy of entering into God's kingdom is a joy that we believers can also share. And no, we do not sing their song. Their song is for them. These are the tribulation saints who came through the tribulation. They have their song. But we also have a song that God has given to us. A song of joy and a song of gladness. In first service, I had a surprise today. People showed up. And beyond that, I was standing in the front before church started. And somebody walks up the center aisle to say hello to me. And I look at him and he says to me, how you doing? And I said, I'm doing great. And he says, you don't recognize me, do you? And I said, I do, but I don't. I said, I do, but I don't. I had just seen a picture of somebody who was in one of our worship teams and I haven't seen him for a long time just before I came out. So I thought, well, perhaps this is somebody who's been in the church a long time ago. That's where your mind goes. I'm trying to locate him. And he says, David, I'm Harold. And I looked at him. Harold, he was here for a service sitting in the front row. So I said, you don't mind if I kind of mark you for a moment, do you? And it doesn't matter. I'm going to. And so I've known him since I was 14, 56 years. I've known Harold. Harold and I went to high school together. But Harold and I also went someplace else together. Jail. Because when I was 18, I decided to steal some jewelry from Hudson's jewels in a mall in Whittier. So I went to a liquor store right across from the Taco Bell. Significant place. And I stole a half gallon of Seagram seven because I used to steal a lot. So I stole a half gallon. We went to a friend's house and drank and waited till he was nice and drunk. And then I said, I got an idea. Let's go rob a jewelry store. Okay, why not? So he and I, it was night. We drove and I took a tire iron and I broke a window in the Hudson's jewels. We stole a lot of diamond rings and took off and we're escaped the law for about six minutes. We got arrested and put in jail in Whittier, an uptown Whittier in the Whittier jail. And we were a little boozed up. You know, we're kids. I was 18. He was 18. I still remember I brought this up. He'd forgotten some of this. I brought this up. I still remember him looking at me and saying, Hey, let's sing. So we sang Jail House Rock. In the morning, it was an eight by 10. In the morning, he said, I need to exercise. Let's run around the cell. So we thought it was a real joke for a while. But we did a whole night in jail together. And I was sharing in our service today about some of the things that the Lord had done. And then I look at my friend and I'm thinking that this is a guy that remembers some of the things that used to happen in my life. And so in the back, I visited with him for a while after service. And and Harold says, you know, Dave, some of the things that you remember, he says, I've forgotten. You see, he became a fire captain. He was a fire captain for the Whittier fire department and ended up in Huntington Beach as a fire captain. Right. And and here I am as a pastor. And I said, God has a way of having a sense of humor, because look at you, a fire captain and me, a pastor. And we're both in the in the business of keeping people out of fire. That's what we do. Actually didn't say that. I just pretended I did. But anyway, because I'm not a liar. But he was busting up and and I was we were saying, look at how good God is. But this is the thing I wanted to say to you, because just a moment ago, just before he left and we will be getting together again soon, he said, David, he said, there's something about you. I haven't seen him for 30 some years, easily over 30 some years, maybe 40 years. Haven't seen him. He says, you have a joy. He said, you have a joy. There's something about you. You've got a joy. Yes, it's called the joy of salvation. My sins have been washed away. You can have you can have joy. And that's what we have. You see, that's something we can have. We're protected by God. He welcomes us into his kingdom. And the joy of entering into God's kingdom is a joy that we have in John 6 37, all that the Father gives me will come to me. And the one who comes to me, I will certainly not cast out in June 24. God is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. In Romans 8 38 and 39 I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And so we have his protection and he ushers us into his kingdom and it gives us great joy. And these people had the joy of God. He protected them as they preached and proclaimed, we are cared for by God. And one day he will welcome us into his kingdom. And that gives me great joy. And so the Father's name is written on their forehead. The others had the mark of the beast, but they're marked by their Father. In verse two, I heard a voice from heaven like the voice of many waters and like the voice of loud thunder. I heard the sound of harpets playing their harps. They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn that song except 144,000 who were redeemed from the earth. So he says, I heard a voice from heaven. Notice like the voice of many waters. John hears the voice and what it seems to be is the combined voices of the 144,000. Now we've already seen in heaven that it's a place of loud worship and praise. We saw in Revelation 5, 11 and 12 how John said, I looked and heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon thousands and 10,000 times 10,000. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders in a loud voice. They sang worthy as the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth, wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise. So we've already seen the combined voices declared to be a voice and that's what we have here, the 144,000 worshiping God in harmony and his sound so loud. You see in verse two, harpists were playing harps. I'm not quite sure about that. I'm not into harps but I've heard them played and I've heard them played skillfully and when someone can play a harp skillfully it actually is the word would be ethereal. It's heavenly. It's got a beautiful sound to it, otherworldly if you will and the harp can have a beautiful sound and so these are playing harps so it speaks of the beauty of music played skillfully and the voice that he hears is not crying out judgment. It's a voice of worship, a voice of praise and again heaven is a place filled with song and praise to the Lord. You see in the reference to the harp speaks of singing praise to the Lord on a stringed instrument. Psalm 33-2 says praise the Lord with a harp make melody to him with an instrument of ten strings. Psalm 98 verse 5 says sing to the Lord with a harp and the sound of a song and so they're singing in a beautiful voice worship and praise and they're singing a new song before the throne living creatures and all. It's their song. It's their song of redemption. It's their song, one that they can sing and I'll show you something in a moment about that but I asked Jared today to do the song that we did just before I came to teach the brand new song because that's a song that I first heard when I was saved and it just brings me back to that time when the group, the love song would sing that and the line that stands out is a line that has meant something to me in my own life when it says sing a song of love, sing a song of gladness but he goes on to say much too long our music has been filled with sadness, much too long our music has been filled with sadness. Now we who are our older have a longer history that we can look back on and we can look back sometimes with nostalgia and sentiment the songs that we grew up listening to songs that weren't there weren't always great songs some of them were pretty stupid but a lot of the songs were beautiful poetic well written but many of the songs that I grew up liking were sad and my wife Marie and I just yesterday we somehow I came across something I forget exactly where it was online and I forget it was part of the theater whatever it must have been but it said these are the 100 songs that were from the 60s so Marie and I both been from the 60s I said let's see if we know these songs and they weren't the whole all the song it was just just a little of each song and so there were 100 of them and so I just started playing the songs one at a time and she and I knew most of the most of the words to all of these songs that we listened to I didn't listen to 100 songs I listened to 10 or 12 just just like I said and it amazed me that this is 50 years plus ago we still remember the words these songs and and the words of the songs many of those songs were sad there were sad songs you know my you know my you know girlfriend left me or you know I shot my foot I mean sad songs you know but there's so many songs that I was attracted to perhaps some of you may have been that that's a beautiful love song but what it is is about someone doing them wrong you know and and there that's what that's what love song was saying so much of our music was sad and I was talking to Marie and this is like not disparaging today's music and all I'm sure this there's beautiful lyricists out there I'm sure of that there has to be music is beautiful and so creative but much of the music that young people that I've heard the music they like it isn't beautiful it's angry much of the music is angry and and and you wonder what what's what song somebody 25 30 years old is going to get married to in their first dance what song are they going to be dancing to you know you know I hate your mama I mean what's the what's the song boom boom boom I don't know I don't know but think of it for a minute because some of us in this room you're aware of what I'm saying and you may go home from church and turn on the radio as you're going and if you listen to some songs a lot of them are negative a lot of them are sad a lot of them are angry and you know talk down on people and women and all of that that's the truth that's what happens and that's that's what we were that's what we were set free from you see where he says so many of our songs were sad and they were you know there's some old stupid songs about a guy who went to a dance and he took a girl home and and and he had her jacket so he so I better go in because he just met her at the dance and so he went to the house where she lived and knocked on the door and the guy opens the door he says I have your daughter's jacket and the guy looks and says she died you know and then you go oh wow you know and that doesn't kind of songs I listen to I'm thinking yeah the best thing that happened is my girlfriend could die you know I mean that's that's the way I thought it's kind of crazy but anyway I'll move on believers sing a new song we sing a new song Psalm 96 verse 1 sing to the Lord a new song sing to the Lord all the earth Psalm 149 verse 1 praise the Lord sing to the Lord a new song and his praise in the assembly of saints well they have their song the song of the redeem those who had come out of the tribulation had survived God had protected them they have a unique song that they sing and they sing verse 3 says before the throne the living creatures and the elders it's a song no one else can sing only the 144 000 they were saved after the rapture they were saved during the tribulation and are unique in that they got through earth's greatest testing persecution and had been preserved they'd been protected from pain and death and they have a unique understanding now notice in verse 4 these are the ones who were not defiled with women for their virgins these are the ones who follow the lamp wherever he goes these were redeemed from among men being first fruits to God and to the lamp so when it says these are the ones in verse 4 who were not defiled with women for they are virgins there are various ways commentators will explain this this particular verse when it says the these are the ones who were not defiled with women some will say that in the tribulation these do not marry they remain undistracted you see in 1 Corinthians 7 that Paul in verses 34 and 35 writes an unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit but a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world how she can please her husband I am saying this for your own good not to restrict you but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord so anybody here who is married knows that marriage is a distraction Paul was simply saying that if she's unmarried that she should remain that way because she can serve God without distraction many years ago I was having a Wednesday night Bible study and after the study a group of young people came up to me afterwards and they walked up to me and they said pastor you want to come with us for some coffee and I looked at them and I said I'm married I'm not allowed to have fun anymore no I'm married I said don't you see this look down there's a chain but I really I teased with them but I did say I said I said boys I said I'm married I said it's not as if I wouldn't like to I'd love to I'd love to sit down with you guys and have a cup I said but you know I a woman at home and and she's expecting me to come home tonight you know early because I still have the wash and I have to do the dishes and I got a vacuum got things to do I said I'm married man I said I'd love to and that's true I mean for you guys too if you're married you know what what it is I mean no I've got another priority now as much as I'd like to enjoy myself I'm not single I'm not unattached right so part of it some are saying could be that that they remain unmarried so that they're undistracted there's another way it could be that it says that their their doctrine the things they believe about God is undefiled there there are people who didn't follow antichrist they have remained spiritually free from his false religion and so there are those who say that when it speaks in that way concerning them that they haven't been defiled their virgins there are those who say this would be speaking in in a way of how they are just pure from from bad doctrine and then three they are morally pure they live undefiled or moral lives because the word virgin also speaks of purity or chastity so in a culture that is promiscuous in a culture that they're living in that is filled with what is called today recreational sex these have remained pure they remain morally pure and undefiled in the midst of an impure and decadent world I lean in that direction I believe because when a person gets married they're not defiled because the marriage bed is is holy and those who are married and enter into sexual activity with their wife or husband that's ordained by God ordered by God and thus is blessed by God so I lean in the direction that they live a morally pure life they're undefiled and they've remained pure morally as well as obviously not giving in to anything that would take them away from the Lord so by way of application believers cannot be both a friend of God and a friend of the world you have to make a choice a believer cannot be a friend of God and a friend of a world system that opposes him when James was writing about this in chapter four verse four he said you adulterous people don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God Jesus said in Matthew 12 30 he who is not with me is against me he who does not gather with me scatters abroad you cannot be a friend of the world and a friend of God simultaneously because the world system opposes all that God presents my wife Marie when I married her I didn't marry her for a part-time wife when we were getting married and we were doing our our vows she didn't say I promise to be faithful to you on uh Saturday and Sunday but Monday through Friday that's my time and I'm going to go with my friends and do whatever I want now if Marie would have said that to me I promise to be faithful two out of seven days of the week obviously it wouldn't be uh something I wanted to connect with why would I because I didn't ask her to give me a part of her heart I asked her to love me with all of it all of the heart that belongs to me I want that and I in turn will give to you all the love I should give to you as my wife I didn't say you know I'll be your husband until I see somebody else that I'm interested in and don't worry I won't leave you I'll just be with her for a little while I didn't do that because that is adultery and the Bible says it very clearly and here's where the church I think is falling asleep if I may the church is falling asleep because there are quite a number of people that I encounter and I read some of the posts that they they have on social media now and it shows that that their faith in God is not a faith that is rooted in scripture at all it's rooted in emotion or sentiment or the way they were raised but it's not speaking about a love and a loyalty to God that they would do anything for him and serve him with all of their heart and God says I don't want a part of your heart I don't want a part of you it's like if I have a house and I say Lord you can have every room except this closet in this closet that's those are my that's my hobbies those are the things I like they belong to me but I'll give you every room I'll give you the kitchen bathroom bedrooms everything but I want this closet this closet belongs to me I wanted to have my reading material I wanted to have the things I enjoy doing this closet's mine the house is yours the closet is mine but Jesus would say I don't want all the house without the closet I want the whole house and that's how you are with Christ it's not I didn't give him a part of my life I didn't come to him and say I will follow you with some of my life I said I will lay down my life I will pick up my cross daily I will follow you forever and I will enter into the kingdom of God because you have paved the way and I followed you in and that's how these people are there are a hundred percent followers of the Lord they love him and they follow him notice wherever he goes because they are fully committed to Christ in Romans 12 1 and 2 it says therefore I urge you brothers in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God this is your spiritual act of worship do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world be transformed by the renewing of your mind and then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is his good pleasing and perfect will offer your bodies as living sacrifices God is not receiving dead offerings he receives living offering offer your body it's your spiritual act of worship and no longer conforming to the pattern of this world but being transformed by the renewing of your mind that's Christianity and that's what God has called us and that's what these people are doing in verse 4 he says these were redeemed from among men notice being first fruits of God and to the lamb first fruit speaks of the first part of a crop it was given as an offering to God in Deuteronomy 26 and the offering is intended to be set apart for divine service according to Deuteronomy 18 so the 144,000 are Jewish evangelists they serve the Lord as his witnesses and by calling them first fruits they're used to represent many others who will be saved they are what is called the first fruits of the redeemed of Israel they foreshadow Israel's salvation and Zechariah 12 verse 10 it says they will look on me whom they have peers and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son and they will weep bitterly over him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn so here the 144,000 are the first fruits of those to be saved during the tribulation Zechariah 13, 8 and 9 says in the whole land declares the Lord two-thirds will be struck down and perish yet one-third will be left in it this third I will bring into the fire I will refine them like silver test them like gold they will call on my name I will answer them I will say they are my people and they will say the Lord is our God in verse 5 and in their mouth was found no deceit for they are without fault before the throne of God they do not preach Satan's propaganda they only speak God's truth you see at a time when the world is pursuing false miracles false prophets and a false message they speak truth they're not going to water down God's word they're going to preach it in truth and correctly we're living in a day that is I believe leading up to a time when the apostasy does come in full bore where pastors have transformed their churches into entertainment centers where the pastor becomes the main entertainer where the worship team becomes the band that provides entertainment where the stage is used as a place to show their entertainment and where the sanctuary becomes a theater and the people there become the audience and I see many churches like this without trying to speak disparagingly against the church itself but but it's true and it's a fact that that have ceased preaching a gospel why because many people some of you may be aware of this maybe some watching right now maybe of of this sort at the moment but many people don't want to hear what the bible actually says they want to hear what makes them feel good about themselves and so when the pastor says something that's uncomfortable they want to shoot the messenger how come you said this why do you you don't have any love that is so what we have today as a society you know I was sharing with you about this that the emotionality you know that people can have the feeling that the messages make me feel good that kind of thing well these men these evangelists they were not concerned with scratching itching ears they were concerned about honoring God and then they preached the word in truth and they did it because they're without fault before the throne of God in 2 Timothy 2 15 the bible says be diligent to present yourself approved to God a worker who does not need to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth rightly dividing the word of truth so they're going to continue to speak the truth they do so in love like it says in Ephesians 4 15 speak the truth in love that's what they do they speak the truth in love and they tell the truth they do it because they're without fault they're sincere in their faith they live a life that's free of accusation and reproach it's not because they're good and pure by their own efforts by the way it it's because God is at work in them in Philippians 2 12 and 13 Paul said therefore my beloved as you have always obeyed not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you both the will and to do for his good pleasure you say you see today when a Christian isn't perfect well there are those who will be immediately calling them a hypocrite a hypocrite is a far different is far different than a person who on occasion acts improperly you're not a hypocrite when you fail because we all fall short of the glory of God you're a hypocrite when you're only playing as if you're a Christian we all sin but the difference with the hypocrite is he's putting on she's putting on the appearance of being a believer but in fact she's not the word hypocrite is actually a Greek word that speaks about the actors and the masks that they used to wear it was a hypocrite the actor and so somebody is a hypocrite who is pretending to be something that they're not but a believer isn't perfect you know what I know it God doesn't give me permission to continue in sin and to use grace as an excuse he said should we continue in sin so that grace may abound God forbid how shall we who have been set free from sin live any longer there in Paul says so no we are not we are not people who are using the grace of God as an excuse to continue in sin no but we do fail we do we do sin we we do make mistakes we do do things that are wrong and the Lord understands that and and God gives to us his mercy and his grace but if I was pretending to be a believer if I was pretending then I'm a hypocrite I'm only acting out apart but I'm not really that at all so you're not a hypocrite when you fail I know that sometimes you think I'm just a hypocrite well maybe you are I don't know but maybe you're not maybe what you are is somebody who's falling short of the glory of God one of the things I learned a long time ago is when I fall try and fall forward try and get up and go forward which is what I've been doing now for 50 years because I'm not perfect none of us are but God is merciful but I don't take his mercy as permission to continue doing something that he's not pleased with well these people remain completely aloof from the doctrine of the false prophet and by remaining faithful to God and desiring to conform to his word they live properly Ephesians 1 4 says he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight and in 1 Thessalonians 2 11 and 12 Paul said as you know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father does his own children you should walk worthy of God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory some things that you have done in life take a long time to forget and sometimes you might remember at a time that you're under pressure this last week on Monday I observed the anniversary of my father's going to be with Jesus when my father died and and he was in the hospital here in Chino and my mom and I and my wife and some of us my family were inside the waiting room and he had a heart attack and I was standing next to my mom and we heard over the speaker we heard the words code blue and my mama looks up at me and she says that's for your daddy and I said yeah I know mama and so within five minutes or so you know after that we were notified so when we heard that a doctor came into the room and he called for our family Rosales family and I was there I was a spokesman for the family and I said we're right here and he says that those words that some of you have heard when a doctor says we tried our hardest we did our best I'm sorry that kind of thing those words I confess kind of floated past me I wasn't really listening I already knew what he was going to tell me so he said we did our best and I remember looking at the doctor and thanking him for doing his best he said if you want to see your father and husband then you're free to go in now and pay your last respects so we took I took my mom's hands and Marie and our family and we held hands there in that waiting room and I thanked God for a father that was good to my mom and good to me and we went in and I stood there next to the the the bed that my dad was on and and I stood next to him where his body was I stood next to his head mama was next to me and I said the Lord gives and the Lord takes away and my mother said blessed be the name of the Lord and I reached down and I touched my father for the last time well he was still warm and I touched my dad's head and I rubbed his head and I said to him this daddy I said I I dishonored your name as a young man and I brought shame to you I'm so sorry and then it went on to say but God saved me and I hope that in your last days I gave you reason to be proud of me why'd that come out why'd I say that I've been teaching the bible a long time I know my father's in him I know all of that it's because deep inside I could still feel the remorse the pain of failure and I had to remind myself in the Lord that if anyone is in Christ it's a new creation all things are passed away you hold all things are become new but you can carry that inside of you see in my family and I'll close with this my mama had tried to teach us to walk worthy of my father she said your father's name is respected do nothing to bring dishonor to it mama had poured that into me before I was 10 years of age your father is respected do nothing to bring dishonor to his name and inside of me all those years I still felt sorrow over not being the man I should have been and so I brought that into my Christian life not the guilt that God finally did help me to overcome but I don't want to bring dishonor to the name of the Lord I want to walk worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ and I want to live as one of God's sons so that when people look at me they can say you're like your father speaking of my heavenly father which is another way of saying you become a godly man and my friend Harold who is just with me right now just before he left this is my friend and this is how friends can talk to you sometimes he looks at me and he says David I'm proud of you like gee thank you daddy but I'm proud of you which means a lot to me because he knew me but I was and he saw me today for what I've become walk worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ walk in such a way that the gospel is honored walk in such a way that your heavenly father's name is not brought into disrepute because his child is acting in this fashion walk in such a way that people can say you have been born again haven't you there's something different about you what is it and you can say I was lost but now I'm found I was blind but now I see I was going to hell but now I'm going to heaven my name is written in the lambs book of life I'm different God has changed me and even your closest friends can see that even your closest friends can say I can see that something has happened in you may we walk in such a way and these who are there singing the song that God gave to them they were undefiled are singing a special song of praise because God has been with them we have our own song that we can sing and may it be one of praise because God has forgiven us