Chapter 14: 6-13

“Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.’ And another angel followed, saying, ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’

“Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.’

“Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, ‘Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.’”

Last week we talked about the 144,000 chosen Jewish men, and one of the things that are pointed out about them is that they are celibate. As such, their loyalties are not divided between a spouse and the Lord. The Bible loves marriage; God loves marriage; He invented it. Hebrews 13:5 tells us that the marriage bed is undefiled, and the Apostle Paul tells us that a man should love his wife as Christ loves the church and gave himself for it.

Marriage is not the issue, rather it is divided loyalties. A man who is married naturally wants to keep his wife happy. This will help the peace in the home, and most men simply want peace. The lesson to learn here is not really about celibacy, but divided loyalties. As Christians, our loyalty is to the Lord God first and then to our spouses, and we should expect the same of our spouses. In fact, if our spouses are not loyal to the Lord first, then our marriages, no matter how seemingly peaceful, are in danger.

God will not tolerate divided loyalties for a long period of time. Each spouse then should determine in their heart to be faithful to the Lord, and as such, build a strong and solid foundation for their marriage. If you are not married, then maybe something else is more important than the Lord – maybe a job, a hobby, or whatever – no matter what it is, it must be second to the Lord God.

Today we will look at some hard things. One of them to those of us that are saved is a sweet taste, but to the world around us it is like bitterness to the core. Then we will explore the death of the seat of idolatry, and then take a look at God’s wrath in Hell for many people. These are some hard things, and we will need to ask some hard questions about the Lord. Let us explore them together.

The Gospel, verses 6-7

The Lord is ever gracious and is not willing that any should go to Hell. In 2 Peter 3:9, we see these great words of hope and a great look at the heart of God:

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

Take a good long look at this verse. There is a heretical doctrine that has become very popular in seemingly conservative Baptist circles in the past 25 years. It has been around since the days of John Calvin; the doctrine is Calvinism. It essentially states that Jesus only died for some, not all men. That God has ‘predestined’ some to Hell and others to Heaven. It is this doctrine that makes God out to have offered limited atonement and only to those that He has selected. But, in the above verse, we see the very opposite of this doctrine; God is not willing that ANY should perish (go to Hell) but wants ALL to come to repentance.

I notice that most of the people who believe in this doctrine of selection, that all of their kids seem to be selected – God chose their whole family, not just some individuals.

There is a myriad of verses that tell us that Jesus died for all men:

John 3:16; 1 Peter 3:18, Christ died once for ALL.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15, one died for ALL.

John 12:32, “If I be lifted up, I will draw ALL men to me.”

1 John 2:2, Jesus died for the sins of the whole world.

I can go on, but it should not be necessary. The Gospel is for all men/women.

The Gospel is the same as it has been forever, that we should fear God and give glory to Him. The idea is not to be afraid of God but to reverence Him. Notice that in verse 6 the Gospel is for all persons of every nation, tribe, tongue and people. This angel is in the ‘midst of heaven’ when he is speaking the Gospel. This is a phrase in the Greek that can be translated ‘mid-Heaven,’ pointing out the highest point of the sun in the noon-day sky. This angel was visible to the whole world; ALL heard the Gospel.

Even in the very last hours, God is still not willing that any should perish. He is evangelizing the whole world, in every language, nation, tribe and people.

God is serious about the Gospel. He is determined to give as many people as possible the chance to hear the truth of the scripture. Salvation is this important to God; mankind is this important to God. His focus from Genesis 3:15 has been the redemption of man from Hell and eternal destruction. He has orchestrated and planned down to the very minutest detail the offer of salvation. Jesus came to pay for our sins, and the Holy Spirit indwells those that are saved. The Godhead is ALL in in the area of redemption; they are wholly invested, and so should we be as mature New Testament Christians.

When was the last time that you shared the Gospel with someone? When was the last time you sent money to a missionary or even prayed for them?

Even in the midst of the Tribulation with all the death and global chaos, God is telling the people of the world, DO NOT fear the anti-Christ and his minions. Fear ME! Fear God! I AM in charge of everything.

In Acts 8, we meet an Ethiopian eunuch, a leader in the Ethiopian government under Candace the Queen. He is reading from Isaiah 53 as Philip approaches him, being led by the Holy Spirit to go run alongside the chariot. The man needs help understanding the Old Testament scripture, and Philip explains to him about Jesus’ suffering and sacrificial death on the cross for the sins of the world. The man asks to be baptized in Acts 8:36, and Philip asks him if he believes; and the man makes a confession of faith in Jesus (verse 37), ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’ Immediately he is baptized.

In this statement, the elements of salvation are clearly displayed; Jesus is God. As the Son of God, he is equal with God (see John 5:18). And, as the Christ, he came in the flesh. The word Christ is the word anointed; kings and high priests were the only anointed offices in Israel. These were the jobs of men, flesh and blood. Thus, Jesus Christ is a reference to Jesus’ humanity. This man believed that Jesus was God and Man.

The gospel has not changed since the days of Isaiah some 750 years before Jesus was even born. Philip preached Jesus to this eunuch from the Old Testament. The Gospel preached by this angel is the same: fear God, worship Him who made Heaven and earth. See John 1:3; all things were made by Jesus. Jesus is still the only way; He always has been and always will be.

The Fall of Babylon, verse 8

A second angel, seemingly in the same position – in the mid-heaven place, visible to all tribes, nations and people – gives a stark warning just after the first angel says that “the hour of his judgment has come.” The cry is that Babylon has fallen. If we go back to Genesis 11, we will meet the first mention of Babel. There, the people of the earth, not too far removed from the flood, decide to build a tower to reach heaven; and God intervenes and stops them by confusing their languages.

These people could probably take you to the resting place of Noah’s Ark and see the vessel that rescued just 8 people out of millions and maybe even billions that lived on the planet at the time. They knew from direct knowledge the wrath of God, and yet still they defied Him and built a tower to worship the constellations of Heaven. Sadly, the worship of the ‘heavens’ is still around with the horoscope in every newspaper these 4,500+ years later. Babylon is alive and well all around the world.

While Babel was a specific place, and to some degree it will be in the Tribulation, this reference is to the world political and economic system. And, lest you be skeptical and shake your head, I will share with you a few things to enlighten you and open your eyes.

The kingdom of the anti-Christ is being built right before our eyes, and many Christians are not even aware; sadly, many don’t even care that this is happening. In a YouTube video just over 3 minutes long, posted by ‘Christianvoiceuk’ on March 22, 2016, the host takes you to the EU head office. There it shows that the head office is deliberately modeled after the Tower of Babel; it is built to look like an unfinished building. This is not done ignorantly, nor without the complete understanding of what they are doing. They even have a famous painting in the entrance from Pieter Bruegel that depicts Nimrod overlooking the construction of the tower.

Building the tower of Babel was an act of rebellion in Genesis 11, and it was an act of rebellion back in the late 1990s when this EU Head office was built as well. There is a poster that goes along with the EU; it has on it ‘Europe; many tongues, one voice.’ This is as defiant as one can be. God destroyed the one language so that there could NOT be one voice. But the EU and the governments of the world have found their one voice, and they are defying God with the same vigor that Nimrod did.

There is another video by John Q. Public from March 7, 2016, titled The Tower of Babel, talking about the EU and that it is an unelected body. The Globalists in the USA are just as determined as those in the EU to bring about the New World Order, and one can see the hatred for those that get in the way like the current president of the USA. Anyone who has watched the mainstream media over the past 24 months will no doubt understand that the government, the education system and the media are simply prostitutes of the New World Order, and everyone else is enemy number one (1) beginning with Christians, we who hold to the absolute truth of the Bible.

In the last phrase of verse 8, we see that the nations of the world have drunk of the wine of her, the New World Order, fornication. Fornication means sexual misconduct, but in particular that of adultery or cheating. The entire book of Hosea is about a fornicating wife; she is the picture of Israel in relation to the Lord. But here in Revelation 14:8, the fornication is to the whole world. Hosea’s wife knew she had a husband to go home to, but she chose to have sexual relations with another man. In like manner, the people of the world know that there is a loving, kind and merciful God who has provided the way of salvation, but they have gone whoring after Satan and his lies. They have given to Satan their allegiance and defied God, with full knowledge.

This is a deliberate act of rebellion, not a mistake. The loving, merciful God offered the opportunity to repent in verses 6-7, then He warns of judgment in verse 8, and now He will show them what is coming for them.

Heaven or Hell make a choice, verses 9-11

A third angel tells of the horrible judgment to come. Hell was never intended for mankind. We are told in Matthew 25:41 that Hell was created for the devil and his angels. Sadly, mankind has exhibited the same rebellious spirit as the devil, and now his fate is ours. Hell is a real place with real people in it, and they are experiencing real torments.

A lot of churches don’t want to talk about Hell anymore; it is uncomfortable and makes people uneasy. It should; it is certainly not a pleasant place. Most people fear dying, but no path to death is feared more than burning to death. Hell is the nightmare of burning to death, in that you burn but never to death; you just burn and burn and burn. You are able to feel every flame, every nip of the fire and experience imaginable pain, BUT never, ever die. This is Hell.

Those who reject the loving grace of God go there by choice. God never sends anyone to Hell, just like He does not make anyone go to Heaven. He provides the opportunity for each of us to choose our eternity.

He began this section with the free offer of the Gospel. But the Gospel only compels action if there is a Hell to shun, not just a Heaven to gain. Hell, some would say, makes God look petty or mean or else makes Him sound like a small god. In every part of life there are consequences that follow choices. You brush your teeth and floss, and you reduce the pain of the seeing the dentist; you eat well and exercise, and you reduce the chances of serious illnesses; you save your monies and invest wisely, then, for most people, retirement is not super scary. But the opposites of these are also true.

If we accept the free gift of salvation in and through Jesus, we will be saved, and Heaven is our home. But, reject the free gift, and Hell is your home forever. These people who choose Hell will do so with intent; they will defy God and reject His free offer. They want to go to Hell. They would rather be in Hell than humble themselves before the Lord. No one goes to Hell by accident.

Finally, we have the perseverance of the saints. All those that have been saved in the Tribulation are preserved forever. They will not take the ‘mark of the beast,’ and God will bless them even in their death. Once saved a person is saved forever. It is God who preserves us and not ourselves. We could not save ourselves, and we cannot keep ourselves saved. Today, that same choice is offered to men and women all over the earth. There are churches and missionaries all over the world. God has people making the same offer today as the angel in verse 6 will make: fear God; give Him glory and worship the Creator.

Why not today? Why not now? Here the offer of salvation, John 3:17-18,

“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca

 

 

The 144,000 Jewish Witnesses

Chapter 14: 1-5

“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. 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.”

In our last article we talked a bit about robotics and the growth and speed at which they have developed. There were examples of ‘learning’ robots that could, during a conversation, learn things about the person they were speaking with. Others still, just in the area of gaming, had the power to beat men and actually create moves on their own simply using the power in them to process information. I did not put these things in the article to scare anyone. Rather, these things are there to inform us and prepare us.

All of life is coming to a head, as they say. The ways of the world system and the ways of the heaven system are running to the same ‘end’ so to speak but with diametrically opposed results. One hopes to create a ruling class of humans that subjugate the whole world; see movies like the Mocking Jay series and the like. Even if you go back as far as Demolition Man and others, you will see the ruling elite versus the common man, the enlightened versus the ignorant buffoons. In almost all cases, the ruling elites, the enlightened never believe in God. They treat Christians as buffoons; who in their right mind would believe in God?

Christians need to stop feeling the need to fit in; we cannot and we will not. No matter how educated or sophisticated that you think you are, as long as you truly believe that Jesus is God, that Jesus came in the flesh, that Jesus is the ONLY way to be saved and that Jesus is coming back again, and soon, you will be an outcast.

I am not talking about fitting in with things like dress and haircuts. Jesus looked like all the men of His day; we know this because Judas had to identify Him with a kiss. Had he been radically different in dress or physical look, then there would have been no need to identify him in the crowd. By the way, just as an aside, Jesus is not some 6ft tall white surfer dude; he is a Jew. He looked just like all the other Jews of his day – bearded, dark skinned, he had rough hands like a carpenter, and he wore the exact same clothes that they did. What separated Jesus was what He did, said and believed.

This too is what will make us stand out – what we do, say and believe. If we do, say and believe the ways of the world, then one of two things are true; we are not saved or we are saved and choosing to live like we are not. Sadly, the latter is far too prevalent in the Lord’s churches. We have people who know Jesus as Savior yet vote for abortion, vote for socialism and vote for those that are pushing the gender issues and agenda. They sit in churches each Sunday, sing about Jesus, and then vote with the devil.

Something is wrong. I am not talking about politics; I am talking about right and wrong. This has nothing to do with politics. There is coming a time when the Lord’s people will have to make a stand one way or the other. Elijah called out Israel, Joshua called out Israel, and the same call will come to the New Testament church – choose whom you will serve.

Let’s get into Revelation.

Jesus and the 144,000, verse 1

Here we see the 144,000 that we first saw in Revelation 7:1-8. These 144,000 men are sealed by God and are commissioned to go and call the Jews from the four corners of the world to repentance. They do a very good job, and there are multitudes that repent and begin to worship Jesus as the Messiah. Further, when we meet them here, their number has not diminished at all. There are still 144,000 of them. God had sealed them with His name as we see here in verse 1. This seal served as protection for them against the anti-Christ and his minions. This also meant that they did not have to operate in secret; the seal of God served as a protection no matter where they were and no matter whom they were with.

Notice that, in the last chapter, the anti-Christ has a seal or a mark as well that was on the forehead and/or right hand of the people on earth. If you wanted to buy or sell anything, then you had to have this mark. This mark was a mark of death; if you chose this mark, you had sealed your doom as far as eternity was concerned. This was a choice to reject Jesus and go to Hell. Satan is always trying to counterfeit God – God has a mark of life, so he has a mark; his of course is of death.

These 144,000 also had their own song (see verse 3). Only they could sing this song. It was a new song that they sang before the throne and the 24 elders and the 4 creatures that lived in front of the throne of God. We are not told the contents of this song, only that it was theirs and theirs alone. In an article a while back, I had mentioned that we should all have a song that we sing to Jesus.

Today as we were driving to work, my wife and I recalled all that God has brought us through over the past year. A year ago, we were preparing to drive to Florida so that my older daughter could board a flight to Kenya as a missionary helper. She would be gone for 3 months; she had never flown before and had never been away from us for an extended time like that before. Over the past year, we have gone through illness, financial strains, family strains, a lot of tears, a lot of praying and change. The one thing that we could say that stayed the same was the Lord. He was faithful to us and provided above all we could ask or think.

What would your song say? How would your song talk about God’s presence and place in your life?

The 144,000 and Celibacy, verse 4

Many of us have grown up with the idea of celibate priests. They were not allowed to marry, in many cases, as they were married to the church. Likewise, the nuns were married to God and, as such, remained celibate. Sadly, we have come to understand that there was a lot of sexual misconduct under the guise of religion in the Catholic church for decades, if not centuries.

The call to celibacy, either for a short time or as a part of our call to the Lord, is important to explore. Like any other teaching, it is easy to distort if not handled correctly. I am married; my wife and I have 3 children. Most preachers and pastors that I know are married and have children. Inside of the marriage union, there can only be celibacy for a short period of time and for as many times as both parties agree.

In 1 Corinthians 7:3-5, we see this instruction:

“Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

A husband and wife can agree to be celibate for a period of time so as to commit themselves to prayer and fasting, but not too long so that temptation is not given a place to root. They are to resume normal marital relations as soon as possible. It is clear that both must agree, and then they can do this as often as they like. This is not a command; it is simply an observation and suggestion from the Apostle Paul. In the same chapter Paul goes on to say this:

“Now concerning virgins: I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I give judgment as one whom the Lord in His mercy has made trustworthy. I suppose therefore that this is good because of the present distress—that it is good for a man to remain as he is: Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But even if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless, such will have trouble in the flesh, but I would spare you.”

In verse 25, Paul tells us that if a man is unmarried that maybe he should stay as he is. But this is not a command; look at the very first words in this verse. And, if one does marry, he has not sinned (see verse 28). There is NO universal call for the elders, pastors, or any of the men to be celibate. It may be recommended but it is not commanded. Paul does tell us that those who marry will have trouble in the flesh (end of verse 28). Marriage can bring out the worst and best in you, depending on your relationship with God. As well, when God calls you to do something, it is hard if you have to fight with a spouse and children to fulfill that command.

It would appear, if we look at the context, that verse 7 is telling us that Paul was celibate for the cause of the Gospel: “For I wish that all men were even as I myself.” We know that some of the other apostles had wives that traveled with them (1 Corinthians 9:5), so celibacy was not a prerequisite for being an apostle. In 1 Timothy 3, elders (pastors) were to be the husband of ‘one wife at a time.’ They did not have to be married; but if they were, it had to be to one wife.

In this particular case of the 144,000, God called them to be virgins and completely celibate while they were doing their work for Him in the Tribulation. They had not been with women and most likely never would be. They were then able to focus solely on pleasing God, not having to divide their attention between God and a wife. These men do a great job of evangelizing the Jews left in the world after the Rapture; they find Jews in every tribe, nation and tongue to tell them about Jesus.

The 144,000, the First Fruits of Israel, verse 4

Jesus is the first fruit of the resurrection, we are told in 1 Corinthians 15:23. Jesus, at the time of His resurrection, actually fulfilled the Feast of First Fruits as it was being observed by the Jews. He was the first to be resurrected and was the First Fruit of the resurrection. The primary fruit that would come from this resurrection were Gentiles. The first men and women to be redeemed were Jews; but by the time we come to the middle and then end of the book of Acts, we are seeing that the Jews are often rejecting the truth and the Gentiles begin to embrace it more and more.

It is to 7 Gentile churches, representing the 7 kinds of churches that exist in the church age, that the book of Revelation is written to at first. But, with the Rapture, the church age comes to a very abrupt end, and there is a transition back to God focusing on the Jews as a nation. He, God, marks these 144,000 men from the tribes of Israel, and they go about calling millions of Jews to the Messiah.

To those of us who study prophecy, read the paper and try to keep up on current world events; it is clear that beginning with May 14, 1948, God has been transitioning His focus back to Israel. Just over 70 years have passed, and we now have Jerusalem as the capital city, now recognized by the USA and others, and we hear that there are renewed interests and growth in Biblical Hebrew, that there are men being trained in the Levitical priesthood, and more importantly that there is constant migration back to Israel by Jews and their families.

Who in their right minds moves back to an area that is the target of everyone around them? There are frequent reports that missiles are being lobbed into Israel on a regular basis. Why move back there? There seems to be an ingrown desire to move back, and many simply cannot resist it.

On October 8^th, 2018, an Iranian general threatened to ‘destroy Israel in a furious attack’ as reported in the Express News. In December 10^th, 2017, the Turkish president called Israel a ‘terrorist state.’ On March 16^th, 2018, a report on CBN News mentioned a MEMRI report which exposed an article from a Turkish newspaper that called for some 57 Muslim nations to unite to fight Israel.

The book of Ezekiel tells us that such a war will happen, and this will begin some of the troubles that Israel will face as the Gentile age comes to an end and a new age begins – one where Israel is the focus. The Bible is more current on the news than most of the news out there. They just tell us what God already told us. Even as we read, things are falling into place under the careful management of God. Trust the Lord; He has it all under control.

I leave you with Psalm 46:6-11:

“The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.”

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca