Matthew 11:28-30; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Timothy 1:15, 2:5-6; Revelation 7:1-17

Summary: God’s call to salvation in Christ will continue after the time of the Rapture. He will call out 144,000 Jewish believers to spread the Gospel worldwide during the Tribulation, resulting in a massive global harvest of the redeemed.

John has been given the honor of writing down the things that will occur in the future according to the words and promises from the glorified Lord Jesus Christ. He wrote down the words of commendation and criticism to the seven churches of Asia and then was “caught up” to witness the glory of heaven and experience the worship and praise to God from the elders and the angelic host. He also witnesses the first series of judgments upon the inhabitants of the earth who have rejected the Gospel and who now face the arrival of the Antichrist and his harvest of war, famine, and death (Rev. 6:1-19).

These first seven seal judgments are the start of God’s wrath, as more will come. John now receives another vision: that of four angels who are placed strategically upon the earth to hold back “the four winds” so that they should not blow on the land, the sea, or any tree (7:1-2). Another angel appears who has “the seal of the living God” and gives a command that the earth is not to be harmed until “we have sealed the bondservants of our God upon their foreheads” (v.3). This seal indicates that the object that is sealed comes from the Sovereign King and the instructions protected by the seal must be carried out and obeyed.

The bondservants are 144,000 Jews, 12,000 from each tribe (except for the tribe of Dan), called by the LORD to go throughout the world and preach the Gospel to those who will truly listen. These Jewish evangelists, along with Gentile believers of the Tribulation, will be protected by the LORD for a distinct purpose and for a period of time. The 144,000 Jewish evangelists continue their work (vv.4-8) until the mid-point of the Tribulation. We see them again in Revelation 14 as they stand in glory with the Lamb. They had undergone persecution and death at the hands of the Antichrist, but we see that they, along with the Gentile believers, are triumphant because of the redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

When any follower of Jesus Christ dies, by whatever means, they are immediately ushered into the presence of the LORD (Luke 23:42-43; 2 Corinthians 5:6-8). There is no such thing as “soul sleep,” nor is there any place such as “purgatory” where we need to be “purged of sin” for a set time until we are allowed into heaven. This erroneous teaching nullifies the work of grace and redemption that the Lord Jesus accomplished upon the cross (Ephesians 2:8-9). We are saved by the work of Jesus Christ alone (Romans 1:16-17). To add anything to it is a false gospel (Galatians 1:8-9).

John also sees a great crowd from every nation upon the earth. They are clothed in white robes and have palm branches in their hands (7:9). These are Gentile believers who come out of the Great Tribulation giving praise and glory to God (7:10). The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures (Rev. 4:6) are also there to join in on this time of praise and worship.

Accolades and honor are given to the LORD for His great redemption of all those who suffered during the time of the Great Tribulation. They shout “Amen” as they enter glory and dwell in the presence of the living God (vv.13-15). They are forever free from the bonds of sin and its rotten harvest (v.16). Jesus will serve as their heavenly Shepherd, guiding them to the springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes (v.17). One could not ask for more comforting and joyous words in light of all the suffering experienced by these martyrs of the Tribulation.

Chapter 7 concludes with all of heaven on its face before God. His Divine Sovereignty is extolled in His redemption of Israel and the Gentiles alike. What a wonderful, glorious Savior we have!

If you are not certain where you stand before the LORD, you need to settle that NOW! You have no guarantee of tomorrow (Luke 12:13-21; 2 Corinthians 6:2; Hebrews 9:27; James 4: 13-15). Admit you’re a sinner and that you cannot save yourself (Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:23). Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God has raised Him from the dead, and according to Scripture, you will be saved (Romans 10:9-10, 13).

Call out to Jesus to save you now. He will answer that cry for help and give you eternal life (John 3:16). Anything else is chasing the wind. Heaven is waiting for you, and God is ready to embrace you.

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If anyone is going to say, “God Said….,” they best be sure they are giving His true words. Jeremiah 23 gives us a true picture of just how much the Father takes His words seriously. Remember, He doesn’t change His mind, and what was written all those centuries ago still stands. (ESV – all emphasis is mine.)

Jeremiah 23:14 states, “But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen the hands of the evil doers so that no one turns from his evil; all of them have become like Sodom to Me, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.”

Going to verse 16, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.'”

Verses 24-25, “Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? I have heard what the prophets have said, who prophesy lies in My name saying, ‘I have dreamed; I have dreamed!'”

Before continuing, we read in 1 Peter 1:20-21 “knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of scriptures comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

The words given in Jeremiah were from between 627 BC and 582 BC. Those of Peter were written between 62 AD and 64 AD.

Looking at 2 Peter 2:1-3, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And they will follow their sensuality, and because of them, the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed, they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”

Then on to 1 John 2, where we are given even more information about false prophets and antichrists that were even present in his time. This was between 90 AD and 100 AD.

From 1 John 2:15-24, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out that it might be plain that they all are not of us.

“But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and the Father.”

If you take nothing else away from the above verses, please reread verse 23. Those who have Jesus as their Eternal Savior and King also have the Father and Eternal Life in Heaven. All who deny Jesus or the Father will have eternity in the lake of fire of Matthew 25:41 and will be tormented there forever, as given in Revelation 20:11-15.

Lengthy, but so full of what is happening in many so-called evangelical churches today. There are ear-tickling words and heart-thumping music, but rarely the true words of the Father.

From the beginning of this world, there has been rebellion against our Heavenly Father. This came to light in Genesis 3 with the first sin that was committed in the Garden of Eden. It is evident that evil forces have been around since then and right up to the present time because of a fallen archangel and his demons. The demons are what are referred to in Revelation 12:4 as a third of the stars of Heaven that were cast to the earth. Satan and those fallen angels have no pathway to forgiveness. They had been in the presence of our Father and Creator and still turned against Him.

Though our God hates all forms of sin, He is a merciful and loving God who will forgive any human who truly calls out to repent and be saved. Romans 10:9-13 gives the steps for this, and the only difficulty involved is believing it is the truth and not hard at all.

Our Savior became human, or “lower than the angels” (Hebrews 2:7, 9), so that He could become the only sin-free blood sacrifice that the Father could ever accept as total payment for our sins. This was once for all, and the blood of bulls, goats, lambs, or whatever would no longer be acceptable, even as a temporary measure. To say our Savior’s blood was not enough to cover us is to blaspheme our Holy Trinity as being false.

Remember Ephesians 2:8-9; “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast.”

The four verses prior to this tell us why this is possible. Verses 4-7, “But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised up with Him and seated us with Him in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages, He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.”

As contaminated and impure souls that we are, we deserve to be totally eliminated and cast aside. However, the Father loves us far beyond any understanding we may have and wants no one to fail and end up in the lake of fire.

He forces no one to accept our precious Shepherd, as that would not be a sign of pure love. He allows us the choice of where we will spend our eternity and will honor whichever choice we make. As long as we have breath in this mortal body, we can call out to the Savior to forgive us and be our Redeemer forever. Once our last breath is taken, our eternity is set. From there, it will either be Heaven or hell and no more chances to repent.

Today’s churches that are preaching that there are multiple ways to Heaven and that Jesus isn’t really necessary for Salvation are absolutely evil, and those who follow their teachings will be lost.

One helpful measure is to read God’s will for yourself. There are true translations of the Bible that have His message to us that may be easier to understand. To be helpful, they must be read on a regular basis, even if only 10 to 15 minutes a day. One suggestion is to start with the book of John, followed by Romans. Pick a time when you can devote a bit of time to read a chapter or two each day. Ask the Father to open your mind to the message He wants you to receive that day. Before long, you will have developed a good habit, and if you skip a day, it will be noticed by you.

Too many souls are depending on getting what they need from a pulpit without following up for themselves. At one time, I was guilty of this. When I read through the Bible cover to cover for myself for the first time, I realized a significant amount of “thou shalt” wasn’t in the real word of God. Some of the things I should have been doing weren’t included in those messages.

My hope is for as many souls as possible to get into the true Word of the Father during these evil and troublesome times. One day in the near future, the Trumpet of God will sound, and there’ll be a shout from an archangel. At that moment, all true believers will rise up, the dead in Christ first, followed by those who are still alive to meet Jesus in the air. This is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-53. I encourage everyone to read these verses along with 1 Thessalonians 1:10, which says God will keep us from the coming wrath. That will be a period of time worse than anything this earth has experienced so far.

Today would not be too early to call out for Salvation. Tomorrow could be too late. Jesus is waiting for those who will call on Him, and He’s there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call today!

Shalom! (Peace) Maranatha! (Come, Lord Jesus)

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