A Lamb

1. "I would like to speak this morning in defense of discrimination. I do so as a Christian who believes the Bible to be true and accurate and good."

2. "Such subtle shifts in language are significant. Lose enough words and a whole idea can vanish."

3. "All differences are to be allowed as long as you conform to the idea that none of them finally matter to God. Differences are just facades covering realities which must all be the same, no more real than the facades on some buildings that have been gutted with one large building behind it. Such tolerance becomes indistinguishable from indifference."

4. "Fairness is quite literally hell for the Christian. What I mean by that is, if we all demand what we ourselves all fairly deserve, we understand that we all stand under God's just judgment. If we demand that we want what we all have coming to us, well, we demand quite literally hell."

5. "They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. Simple, powerful, clear. They're loyal to the Lamb even unto death. That's why in chapter 7, they were described as dressed in white. That symbol of purity."

6. "The grand diversity that we do see in heaven exists only because of the shared, single, exclusive focus on the Lamb. You see that there is a gorgeous diversity in heaven, but it is not the 'I don't care, everything's okay' kind of diversity that our world is championing right now. It is a diversity based on the exclusivity of the focus on one alone, on the Lord Jesus Christ."

7. "I've often thought how apt this image of God as a shepherd is and how this image of us as sheep is. Until we realize how right that image is of us as lost and helpless, that's actually the right image for us."

8. "As long as our shepherd is this one who knows what it's like to be a sheep himself, a lamb who was slain, even one himself who was cut down, then we can follow him wherever he leads us. And according to this passage, if we're his this morning, that's exactly what we'll do."

9. "God saves us by faith. But that faith always shows itself in obedience. And so when we come to this Book of Revelation, we see this final distinction, this solemn separation made between those who are righteous, ultimately because of being considered in Christ, and those who refuse to repent and instead continue in their sins and their selfishness."

10. "If you're really lost and hungry, you'll take directions, you'll take food, regardless of whether or not everybody else around you does. When the seriousness of your situation, the gravity and danger of it is clear to you, you will sue for mercy in Christ even if nobody else you know does."

Observation Questions

1. In Revelation 7:4-8, what specific number is mentioned regarding God's servants, and how are they described? (Rev 7:4-8)

2. According to Revelation 7:9, what four characteristics describe the great multitude that no one could count? (Rev 7:9)

3. What specific actions does the great multitude take in worship according to Revelation 7:9-10? (Rev 7:9-10)

4. In Revelation 7:14, how did the multitude's robes become white? (Rev 7:14)

5. What promises are made to the great multitude in Revelation 7:15-17 regarding their future? (Rev 7:15-17)

6. Looking at Revelation 14:4-5, what specific characteristics mark those who follow the Lamb? (Rev 14:4-5)

Interpretation Questions

1. How does the vision's progression from hearing about the 144,000 to seeing the great multitude help us understand God's plan for His people?

2. What is the significance of the Lamb being both the sacrifice for sins and the shepherd who leads to living water?

3. Why is the image of "following the Lamb wherever he goes" (Rev 14:4) such a powerful description of the Christian life?

4. How does the description of the multitude's diversity (every nation, tribe, people, and language) challenge or enhance our understanding of Christian unity?

5. What does the sealing of God's servants teach us about divine protection and preservation of believers?

Application Questions

1. When was the last time you experienced tension between cultural expectations of tolerance and biblical truth? How did you respond?

2. Think of a recent situation where you had to choose between following Christ and following your own desires. What influenced your decision?

3. In what specific ways have you experienced God's shepherd-like protection and care in your life during the past month?

4. How has your understanding of Christian unity and diversity been challenged or deepened by this sermon? What practical changes might this lead to in your life?

5. What current circumstances in your life require you to trust God's promise of ultimate protection and salvation, even when immediate circumstances are difficult?

Additional Bible Reading

1. Ezekiel 34:11-16 - God's description of Himself as the true shepherd who seeks, rescues, and cares for His sheep provides deeper insight into Christ's role as the Lamb who shepherds His people.

2. John 10:1-18 - Jesus' teaching about being the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep expands our understanding of the Lamb's sacrificial and protective role in Revelation.

3. Romans 8:31-39 - Paul's powerful affirmation of God's protecting love and the impossibility of separation from Christ illuminates the security promised to the sealed multitude in Revelation.

4. Ephesians 2:11-22 - This passage's teaching about Christ breaking down walls between peoples and creating one new humanity helps us understand the nature of true Christian unity seen in Revelation's diverse multitude.

Sermon Main Topics

I. The Christian Defense of Discrimination (in the sense of discernment)

II. Who Are the People of the Lamb? (Revelation 7; Revelation 14:1-5)

III. What Makes God's People Special? (Revelation 7:14; Revelation 14)

IV. The Final Distinction and the Choice Before Us (Revelation 20; Revelation 21)

Detailed Sermon Outline

I. The Christian Defense of Discrimination (in the sense of discernment)

• A. Modern Misunderstanding of "Discrimination"

  • 1. The term is now primarily understood negatively, equated with odious bias or prejudice like racial segregation or apartheid.

  • 2. Its older, positive meaning related to discernment and astute judgment is largely lost today.

  • 3. Such shifts in language are significant and can lead to the disappearance of entire ideas.

• B. The Reigning Modern Idea: "Fairness" as Sameness

  • 1. Modern tolerance often demands conformity and rejects differences that imply objective value or matter to God.

  • 2. Differences in significant areas (theology, morality, etc.) are accepted only if they are considered ultimately superficial.

  • 3. This form of tolerance becomes indistinguishable from indifference.

  • 4. Fairness, often interpreted as sameness or equality, may be the reigning idea of the current age.

    • Examples include calls for fair markets (reducing imbalances), fair marriages (evenly shared duties), fair play (same rules), and fair shares (equal shares).

  • 5. Society is troubled by distinctions that matter and is schooled to believe none do.

    • Academia shows distaste for elitism.

    • Media often presents virtue only in the marginalized, while portraying authority figures negatively (parents, employers, politicians, ministers).

    • Egalitarianism is either espoused or assumed in editorials.

  • 6. Hypocrisy exists even within egalitarian ideals.

    • George Orwell's Animal Farm: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

    • Henri Beck: "The defect of equality is that we only desire it with our superiors."

• C. The Awkward Position for Christians

  • 1. The modern idea of fairness (everyone getting exactly what they deserve) is equivalent to hell for Christians, who understand they deserve God's judgment.

  • 2. Christianity is fundamentally rooted in distinction, division, and discrimination (in the old sense of discerning differences).

    • Church's Statement of Faith, Article 17, distinguishes between "The Righteous and the Wicked."

    • This distinction is radical, essential, and persists after death.

    • Christian hymns often presuppose a fundamental problem (sin) that is solved only for some (the faithful) through Christ.

  • 3. Christianity inevitably leads to two distinct groups of people with vastly different eternal prospects.

• D. Is Christianity Therefore Unfair?

  • 1. Christianity does not present itself as unfair in the sense of being unjust; God is deeply concerned with justice (Revelation).

  • 2. However, Christianity is unfair if "unfair" means presenting a future with final, enduring, and meaningful differences between people.

  • 3. The Book of Revelation clearly depicts such a final discrimination or distinction.

    • Revelation chapters 6 onwards depict dark judgments.

    • This darkness is pierced twice by the bright hope of redemption (Revelation 7, Revelation 14).

II. Who Are the People of the Lamb? (Revelation 7; Revelation 14:1-5)

• A. The Vision's Context in Revelation

  • 1. Following the vision of Christ (Ch 1), letters to churches (Ch 2-3), throne room vision (Ch 4-5), and the beginning of seal judgments (Ch 6).

  • 2. Chapter 7 occurs as a pause after the sixth seal is opened, before the seventh.

• B. Examining the Groups Presented in Revelation 7 & 14

  • 1. Revelation 7:1-8 describes 144,000 sealed servants of God from all the tribes of Israel.

  • 2. Revelation 7:9-17 describes a great multitude, uncountable, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, wearing white robes.

  • 3. Revelation 14:1-5 describes 144,000 standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion, having His name and the Father's name on their foreheads.

• C. Identifying the Groups: Are They Distinct or the Same?

  • 1. The central question is posed by the elder: "These in white robes, who are they and where did they come from?" (Revelation 7:13).

  • 2. The 144,000 in Revelation 14 appear to be the same group as the 144,000 in Revelation 7.

    • They share the unique number 144,000 (Revelation 7:4; Revelation 14:1, 3).

    • Both groups are sealed/marked on their foreheads (Revelation 7:3; Revelation 14:1).

  • 3. Are the 144,000 (Israel) and the Great Multitude (all nations) in Revelation 7 distinct groups?

    • Arguments for distinction:

      • A specific, countable number (144,000) versus an uncountable multitude.

      • Explicitly from Israel versus explicitly from every nation.

    • Arguments against distinction (suggesting one group viewed from different perspectives):

      • Both groups are closely associated with the Lamb and the throne (Revelation 7:9; Revelation 14:1).

      • The white robes of the multitude symbolize purity (Revelation 7:9, 13-14), mirroring the description of the 144,000 as pure and blameless (Revelation 14:4-5).

      • The multitude washed their robes in the Lamb's blood (Revelation 7:14); the 144,000 were redeemed/purchased (Revelation 14:3-4).

      • The multitude is served/shepherded by the Lamb (Revelation 7:15, 17); the 144,000 follow the Lamb (Revelation 14:4).

      • The sealed (144k) are servants of God (Revelation 7:3); the multitude serves God (Revelation 7:15).

• D. Conclusion on Identity: One Redeemed People Viewed Two Ways

  • 1. John hears the number from Israel (144,000) but sees the uncountable multitude from all nations, indicating fulfillment and expansion. (Parallel to hearing "Lion of Judah" but seeing the "Lamb slain" in Revelation 5).

  • 2. The vision shows God's promises to Israel being fulfilled extravagantly through the inclusion of all nations.

  • 3. The elder's question (Revelation 7:13) highlights the crucial and perhaps unexpected identity of this unified group.

  • 4. This interpretation aligns with other parts of Revelation:

    • Those with God's seal are protected from judgment, implying all the redeemed (Revelation 9:4).

    • Sealing signifies belonging and protection by God, applicable to all Christians.

    • The New Jerusalem incorporates symbols of both Israel (12 gates/tribes) and the Church (12 foundations/apostles) (Revelation 21).

  • 5. The promises made to national Israel find their ultimate fulfillment in the international people of God, unified in Christ.

• E. Key Characteristics of God's People

  • 1. Their Safety

    • The number 144,000 (12x12x1000) symbolizes the absolute completeness and security of God's chosen people; none are missing or lost.

    • They are sealed and protected from God's wrath through all tribulations (Revelation 7:3; Revelation 14:1).

    • This fulfills Jesus' promise that none of His sheep will be snatched from His hand (John 10:27-29).

    • Their palm branches and cries of "Salvation!" signify their achieved safety (Revelation 7:9-10).

    • God allows trials to make His power in deliverance more glorious (like the Exodus).

    • Question for non-Christians: Do you desire this ultimate safety, which cannot be found in the world?

    • God's followers are protected under His "tent" and cared for by the Lamb, their Shepherd (Revelation 7:15-17).

    • Christians are called to persevere with joy, confident in their ultimate success and safety in Christ (Revelation 17:14).

  • 2. Their Purity

    • The description in Revelation 14 emphasizes their purity and faithfulness.

    • Being undefiled ("did not defile themselves with women," Revelation 14:4) likely symbolizes spiritual faithfulness to Christ, being a "pure virgin" for Him (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:2), rather than literal celibacy. This contrasts with spiritual adultery/idolatry (Revelation 14:8).

    • They are marked by what they don't do (worship the beast, receive his mark - Revelation 20:4) and what they do.

    • Their defining positive action: "They follow the Lamb wherever he goes" (Revelation 14:4). This signifies complete loyalty, even to death.

    • Their purity is symbolized by the white robes (Revelation 7:9).

    • Question for non-Christians: Whom are you following? Everyone serves a master, naturally sinful desires, unless freed by Christ.

    • Christians follow the Lamb, the sinless example (1 Peter 1:19).

    • Though imperfectly, Christians genuinely follow Him: trusting, obeying, moving towards good, uneasy with sin, desiring Christ's rule, serving Him.

    • Call to Christians: Pray for a growing desire, practice, and hope of holiness, both individually and corporately (1 Thessalonians 4).

  • 3. This multitude represents all the redeemed of all ages who enjoy God's blessings.

III. What Makes God's People Special? (Revelation 7:14; Revelation 14)

• A. The Centrality of the Lamb

  • 1. The Lamb is the cause of all the good experienced by God's people.

  • 2. The Lamb, alongside God on the throne, is the central focus of heaven (Revelation 7:9-10).

  • 3. The Lamb is the unifying figure who draws together people from every nation, tribe, people, and language.

  • 4. True heavenly diversity exists only because of the shared, single, exclusive focus on the Lamb, contrasting with worldly indifference posing as diversity.

• B. The Identity of the Lamb

  • 1. The Lamb is presented as divine, alongside God, the author of salvation (Revelation 7:10).

  • 2. He stands victorious on Mount Zion, surrounded by His redeemed (Revelation 14:1).

  • 3. The seal on the foreheads of the redeemed bears His name and the Father's name, signifying unity (Revelation 14:1).

  • 4. The Lamb is the Son, one with God the Father.

  • 5. Question for non-Christians: Who is Jesus? Discovering His identity is key (He claimed equality with God, accepted worship).

  • 6. Call to Christians and the Church: Maintain focus on the Lamb in study, meditation, prayer, worship, preaching, and evangelism. He is the image of God and the center of everything.

• C. The Work of the Lamb

  • 1. The Lamb accomplished this salvation "by the blood of the Lamb" (Revelation 7:14).

  • 2. His sacrificial death is what made the great multitude pure and righteous.

  • 3. He is the fulfillment of the Passover lamb and the Suffering Servant prophesied in Isaiah 53 (taking infirmities, pierced for transgressions, bearing sin).

  • 4. Revelation consistently highlights this: He "freed us from our sins by his blood" (Revelation 1:5); He is worthy because He was slain and "purchased men for God" with His blood (Revelation 5:9).

  • 5. Question for non-Christians: What did Jesus do? Why did He die on the cross? Jesus taught His death was a sacrifice, a ransom for sins for those who repent and trust Him.

• D. The Continuing Care of the Lamb

  • 1. The Lamb continues to act: "The Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd" (Revelation 7:17).

  • 2. He leads them to life-giving water, and God comforts them completely (Revelation 7:17).

  • 3. The one slain to purchase them now cares for them as the Good Shepherd (Psalm 23; John 10:11).

  • 4. Trust must be placed in Christ alone, not worldly securities.

  • 5. Though the path may be difficult, the Shepherd who was Himself slain leads His sheep safely. (The sheep imagery highlights our helplessness and need for Him).

  • 6. His followers follow Him wherever He leads, now and into eternity.

• E. Conclusion: Special Only Because of the Lamb

  • 1. God's people possess no special status in themselves; their specialness derives entirely from what the Lamb has done for them.

IV. The Final Distinction and the Choice Before Us (Revelation 20; Revelation 21)

• A. The Reality of the Final Distinction

  • 1. The Bible and Christian doctrine affirm a final, "solemn separation" (Church Statement of Faith, Article 18).

  • 2. At the last day, Christ will judge, separating the wicked (endless punishment) from the righteous (endless joy).

  • 3. This judgment is based on "principles of righteousness."

    • This aligns with grace because God's grace is intended to produce genuinely righteous people whose faith results in obedience (e.g., Abraham in Genesis 22, explained in Hebrews).

    • Faith is credited as righteousness, and true faith inevitably produces obedience.

  • 4. Revelation depicts this final distinction based on deeds recorded in books and names written in the Lamb's Book of Life (Revelation 20:11-15; Revelation 21:27).

• B. The Lamb Reforms Boundaries

  • 1. Christ breaks down human divisions (ethnicity, status, selfishness).

  • 2. He forms a new community, the Church, defined not by human factors but by relationship to Him.

  • 3. This new people reflects God's character (holiness, justice, mercy, love) and the self-giving nature of the Lamb. They are characterized ethically by grace, not ethnically.

• C. Discomfort with the Final Distinction

  • 1. Modern discomfort often stems from ignorance and fear.

  • 2. Ignorance: Of our own sinfulness, God's holiness and sovereignty, the nature of grace, the vast difference between God and humanity.

  • 3. Fear: Of not meeting the standard, of accountability for actions, and of submitting to God's rule.

• D. The Invitation and the Choice

  • 1. Being part of God's people is a great privilege, but the terms (following the Lamb, potential suffering) are demanding.

  • 2. Christianity doesn't promise short-term worldly success but guarantees long-term, ultimate victory and joy.

  • 3. Every person faces a choice with eternal consequences. Refusing God's offer leads to regret.

  • 4. God invites everyone, especially the broken and humbled ("lost sheep"), to be remade and follow the Good Shepherd. No one who truly desires this is refused.

  • 5. Final question: What will you do about this invitation? Will you repent and trust Christ, or reject Him and keep your sins?

  • 6. This choice, this distinction, matters forever.

• E. Closing Prayer

  • 1. A prayer for focus on the Lamb and for God's help in learning to follow Him.

I would like to speak this morning in defense of discrimination. I do so as a Christian who believes the Bible to be true and accurate and good.

Now, if you are shocked that I would speak in favor of discrimination, you only show how desperate our situation has become. Most of us today hear that word discrimination as equivalent to to segregation or even apartheid. The word discrimination is almost completely lost to us, except when referring to odious racial discrimination equivalent to bias or prejudice, in favor of which I assure you, I would never speak. But even the idea that the word discrimination used to be a positive word, not having to do with civil rights, but having to do with astute judgment, is surprising to people. But it's true that a word which did mean something very near to discernment should today be equivalent to prejudice tells quite a bit about the society that we live in.

Such subtle shifts in language are significant. Lose enough words and a whole idea can vanish.

Today, tolerance will tolerate no rivals. The differences we tolerate and even celebrate these days are few, new, quite specific. Oh, the irony of a meeting a few of us were at some days ago, when we were speaking carefully and kindly of differences and their significance without impugning the personal motives of those who differed, only to be met with verbal bludgeoning about the necessity of tolerance for those who are different from us. I think that the irony of the situation that we were certainly not to be tolerated was lost on them. Differences in sexual orientation and religious practice, in theology and morality, were all to be accepted and celebrated because of the reigning value of diversity.

All differences are to be allowed as long as you conform to the idea that none of them finally matter to God. Differences are just facades covering realities which must all be the same, no more real than the facades on some buildings that have been gutted with one large building behind it. Such tolerance becomes indistinguishable from indifference.

If ages can be said to have reigning ideas, concepts which capture the imagination and fire the hearts of people for their actions. Like liberty in the 18th century, or progress or evolution in the 19th century, I think that today's reigning idea may well be fairness. Not just fairness in the sense that we admire, but fairness in the sense of sameness, all of our talk about diversity notwithstanding. So fair markets mean markets which reduce trade imbalances. A fair marriage may mean a relationship in which all the duties are evenly shared.

Being fair on the playground may mean each child having the same number of turns on the. On the slides or. Or times on the swing. Fair play means we all play by the same rules. And a fair share will likely be an equal share.

Any distinctions that matter trouble us, but we've been schooled to know that none do. Academia has an ironic distaste for any kind of elitism.

The media presents virtues always and only in those who are misunderstood or marginalized. So children instruct their parents. Employers are corrupt, politicians are self serving, teachers abuse, ministers are malevolent. Turn on your TV or go to a movie and tell me this isn't true. The good guys are either the kids or the criminals, the irreligious or the courageously different.

Editorials either espouse egalitarianism or simply assume it. Of course, we don't always have to live up to our egalitarian ideals to have them. In his novel Animal Farm, George Orwell has the animals who are thinly disguised. Caricatures of the early Soviet leadership in Russia say all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. It was the French playwright of the 19th century, Henri Beck, who observed that the defect of equality is that we only desire it with our superiors.

It's true, isn't it? I also think this identification of fairness with equality is more limited in time and in place than we may imagine. But even if those caveats are true, it seems that there is no denying that fairness is at least held to be one of the highest virtues today, without which there can be nothing good. Fairness in this sense of sameness. Now, if we're honest, we have to admit that this egalitarianism can certainly leave Christians in an awkward position.

After all, fairness is quite literally hell for the Christian. What I mean by that is, if we all demand what we ourselves all fairly deserve, we understand that we all stand under God's just judgment. If we demand that we want what we all have coming to us, well, we demand quite literally hell.

Christianity is a religion deeply rooted in a sense of distinction, division, discrimination in the old sense of the word. Consider our church's statement of faith, Article 17, the righteous and the Wicked. Even the title tells you we believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked, that such only as through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and sanctified by the Spirit of our God, are truly righteous in his esteem, while all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in his sight wicked and under the curse. And this distinction holds among men, both in and after death. Even the songs that we've already sung this morning presume a deep problem among all of us, but that only some of Us have had that problem solved in Christ.

So in the song that we just sang, we sang that we were rich, we were strong. Why do you remember? Not because we're all here literally physically rich or literally physically strong, no, but because of what the Lord has done for us. Earlier, we sang of Christ's sacrifice, Christ stooping so low, but sinners raising heavenwards by thine eternal plan. In our opening hymn, the popular Christmas hymn, O Come All Ye Faithful, we sang calling all of the faithful to come, as if there might well be people who aren't faithful, who don't adore him, indeed, who don't even regard Jesus as a savior for themselves in any sense whatsoever.

And these very people, according to Christianity, are exactly those who remain in peril of the eternal death of the hell which we Christians think that we all deserve. So at the end of the day in Christianity, it seems that we end up with two companies of people, to communities, to groups, groups which are not the same, which do not have equal prospects in eternity, that have differences that really matter. Now, is Christianity therefore unfair?

Well, Christianity certainly doesn't present itself as being unfair in terms of being unjust. If you have any doubts about this, just read this Book of Revelation. Consider some of the serious judgments of God that we studied last week. Now, God is quite concerned about justice. That's one of the things which we believe leaves us all liable to punishment because God is so just.

But if by unfair you mean presenting a picture of the future, complete with final, enduring differences between people, the answer would seem to be, most certainly it is. The Book of Revelation leaves us in no doubt that there is to be just such a discrimination between us, a distinction made which will endure a division of humanity forever. Beginning with chapter six in the Book of Revelation, the picture is dark and full of judgments, and before it finally gives way to the eternal dawn, which we hope to look at more next Sunday morning. For those of you who will be in town, this picture, this dark picture is twice pierced by the bright hope of redemption. This morning we look at those two places of light in the midst of this dark book of judgment.

I hope you've taken the opportunity to read through the Book of Revelation this week. Remember, I tell you it only takes about 45, 50 minutes. You can do that clearly. You can set aside an hour sometime during the week. I'm sure it's better than whatever that TV program is you were thinking about watching.

Sit there, get a blank piece of paper to make some remarks, to take some notes down all. Also, you'll notice in your bulletin, on pages four and five, we presented this outline of the Book of Revelation, one side, and then this outline of the judgments in the Book of Revelation. That helps you see how things are going through, so you can even keep your place and help you to read it. Well, we want to look especially at two passages this morning, chapter 7 and 14. You can locate them here on these outlines if you want in your bulletin.

You can also find them in your Bible. Why don't you turn there and then I'll read for us Revelation, chapter 7 and just the beginning of Revelation, chapter 14. So in your Bible, you open to the very end, the last book in the Bible, and that's where you'll find the book of Revelation, Revelation 7, beginning at verse 1.

Just to remind us where we are in the Book of Revelation, in chapter one, we've had that great vision that it begins with. With John is in the Lord's day on the isle of Patmos. Christ appears to him. In chapters two and three, he dictates these letters to the seven churches we think really ultimately standing for all churches. Then chapters four and five, that great vision we looked at two weeks ago, the throne room of God, the Sovereign of eternity and of history.

And then in chapter six, the great judgments begin that issue from God's throne room. And as these great judgments have begun in chapter six, we've had the the first seal opened with judgments coming out. The second, the third, the fourth, the fifth, the sixth. Then there is a pause after the sixth seal is opened. And then we have chapter seven.

After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea. Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God. Then I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

From the tribe of Judah, 12,000 were sealed. From the tribe of Reuben, 12,000. From the tribe of Gad, 12,000. From the tribe of Asher, 12,000. From the Tribe of Naphtali, 12,000.

From the TribE of Manasseh, 12,000. From the TIOVE of Simeon, 12,000. From the TRIBE of Levi, 12,000 from the TRIBE of Issachar, 12,000 from the TRIVE of Zebulun, 12,000 from the TRIDE of Joseph. 12,000 from the TRIBE Of Benjamin, 12,000. After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people and language standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.

They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb. All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders. And the four living creatures, they. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, amen.

Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen. Then one of the elders asked me, these in white robes, who are they? Where did they come from? I answered, sir, you know.

And he said, these are they who have come out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple. And he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger.

Never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Then in chapter eight, the seventh seal is opened, and there's silence.

And then you have the seven trumpets of judgment beginning, and they roll out in chapter seven and rather chapter eight and nine. And then in 10 and 11, there's a delay. There seems to be another story about two witnesses and judgment happening again, presented in a different fashion in chapter 12 and 13 as there's war between the dragon and the beast and the woman. And then chapter 14, before we get to the seven bowls, there's this pause and we have chapter 14. Let me read just the beginning of that.

Then I looked in there before me was the lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.

These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as first fruits to God and the Lamb. No lie was found in their mouths. No.

They are blameless.

Well, what we want to look at this morning is who God's special people are in our passage and how they got that way. If you're taking notes, we want first to look at the people, these people in these passages, and then at what makes them special. That's the simple outline for this morning. First, let's notice the people of the Lamb who is around the throne. Now, that's the question you need to ask if you want to try to answer, if you want to try to clarify what this vision is a vision of.

If you like detective stories, you're going to like this bit. All right? In the first section, let's think of us as ourselves, as having three basic sections we'll look at, all right? The first half of chapter seven, the second half of chapter seven, and that first section of chapter 14. So you might want to keep your fingers there, because we'll be turning back and forth to try to figure out exactly who these people are.

Now, in this first section, chapter seven, we have the 144,000 sealed servants of God from all the tribes of Israel, Right? In the second section, beginning in chapter chapter seven, verse nine, we have as the NIV heading has it, the great multitude in the white robes. And then in the third section over in chapter 14, at the beginning, we again have the 144,000 with the lamb. Now, the question that we're interested in, and I think that we're supposed to be interested in, is the question that the Elder puts to john in chapter seven, verse 13, these in white robes, who are they and where did they come from? That's the question we want to try to answer at the beginning.

Are these three separate groups or perhaps two separate groups, or are they all the same?

Well, it seems certain that this third passage, if you look over in chapter 14, is describing the same group of people that's mentioned in the beginning of chapter seven. Okay? Most obviously, I mean, there's the same number by which they're identified, 144,000. We see that in chapter seven, verse four, and then again over in chapter 14, verses one and three. These are the only times that this number appears in the Book of Revelation, indeed, in the whole Bible.

It's in those three verses, chapter 7, verse 4 and chapter 14, verses 1 and 3. Furthermore, you'll notice in chapter 7, verse 3, that this seal, which is to be put on the 144,000, is to be applied specifically to their foreheads, the place which would obviously make the seal clear to all. And when we turn over to chapter 14, we see in verse one that the 144,000 had the name of the Lamb, it says, and of his father written on their foreheads. So this group of 144,000 here in chapter 14 seems to be the group seen in the first part of chapter seven. So it seems that we aren't dealing with three distinct groups in this passage.

Okay, so far so good. But then if we turn back to chapter seven alone, do we have two distinct groups represented here, as the NIV heading would seem to suggest? The 144,000 first and then the great multitude in white robes. Well, now, this too may seem to be an open and shut case. Two things particularly suggest this.

First, in verse four, we're told, as we noted, the specific number of this first group, 144,000. And then, should we be left in any doubt, they are enumerated tribe by tribe in verses five to eight. And this is in contrast, and it seems in deliberate contrast with the great multitude that's presented in verse nine, because they are described as specifically as being so great a multitude that no one could count them. I mean, you have that as soon as they begin verse nine, it's as if that contrast is deliberate. The second thing that would seem to put this distinction beyond doubt is another contrast which we find as we look back and forth, say, from from verse 4 to verse 9.

The 144,000 are said to come specifically from the tribes of Israel, whereas the great multitude is said here specifically to come from every nation, tribe, people, and language.

Now, if this doesn't make the distinction clear, what could? John doesn't The Lord seem to be stressing this distinction to be of some importance.

There are a few more things, though, that we might want to look at before we conclude this. First, there are a number of similarities between this multitude and the picture of the 144,000 presented over in chapter 14.

For example, these white robes that the multitude are said to be dressed in verses 9 and 13 and 14. Well, we find over in chapter 14 that the 144,000 are described in verses 4 and 5 as pure and blameless. The very qualities which the color white symbolizes, purity and spotlessness, innocence. We're also told how the multitude's Robes got that way. If you look back in chapter seven, in verse 14, they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb.

Now, the 144,000 over in chapter 14, verse 3 are described as those who had been redeemed from the earth, and in verse 4 as having been purchased from among men.

Also note where they are. The multitude in chapter 7, verse 9 is described as standing before the throne in front of the Lamb. And then over in chapter 14, verse 1, the 144,000 are described as standing with the Lamb.

Finally staying in chapter seven alone, we see that the sealed in the first part of the chapter, the sealed, well, wait. The multitude in chapter 7, in chapter 7, verse 17 is said to have the Lamb at the center of the throne as their shepherd, as the one who will lead them to springs of living water. While over in 14, again, chapter 14, verse 4, it talks about, these are the people that follow the lamb. The 144,000 follow the lamb wherever he goes. Now, in just chapter seven, we see that the sealed in the first part of the chapter are those it says in verse 3 who are servants of our God.

While in verse 15 we see the multitude described as those who serve God day and night in his temple.

So it begins to seem that perhaps it's not quite what it seemed at first.

So what then of the different numbers in verses four and nine and the obviously different deliberate choice, the difference that is mentioned between Israel and every nation that we see the second group coming from every nation, tribe, people and language we read well, after carefully looking at the passage, it seems to me that what John is being shown is not the existence of two kinds of groups around the Lamb in heaven or of two different groups who've been redeemed. Exactly what is being shown John in chapter seven in these two striking visions juxtaposed like they are against each other, is that the promises of God to Israel are being more than answered. They are being fulfilled in a fuller and more splendid way, an extravagance of grace typical of God. That all of God's chosen people will be saved from these judgments, and that these chosen people are those from all the tribes of Israel, and indeed from every nation, tribe, people and language.

Now, this may seem a confusing way to show this to John. I mean, did you wonder why the elder asked him that question in verse 13? It seems strange, doesn't it? Is the heavenly elder having a senior moment, you know, forgetting, who are these people in the white robes, John? No, John says, you know, no the elder's asking this deliberately, specifically to draw attention to their identity.

This is how it's being emphasized. These in white robes, who are they and where did they come from? It's as if he were saying, you need to make sure you understand this. This question suggests not only that their identity is somewhat unexpected, but that it is important that we notice it. That's why I'm spending time on it right now in this sermon, because in the vision itself, it seems to me this is important to notice.

Now, as confusing as this vision may be to some today, I can well imagine how striking it must have been and how graphically it must have stuck in John's mind. You remember back in chapter five, just as John had heard of the lion of the tribe of Judah in chapter five, verse five, and then turned, expecting to see this conquering lion, but instead he saw the Lamb who was slain. The lion was the lamb. So here John heard. It doesn't say he saw.

He heard the roll call of the 144,000 sealed from the people of Israel. But then he turned and saw a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people and language standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. This identification, then, of the 144,000 with a great multitude fits with other things in this book. In the middle of a series of judgments, for example, the trumpets, when the fifth trumpet judgment is experienced, the locusts are to harm all of those except, we read, those who have the seal of God on their foreheads. All others are then liable to this judgment.

Well, if we've rightly understood this, then these sealed here represent all the redeemed, not just a literal 144,000 of them. And that would make sense, that all the redeemed are accepted from God's judgment here. After all, it's the nature of something sealed that it belongs exclusively. It is kept and specially guarded for the one whose seal is on it. And that is true of all Christians.

We are kept and specially guarded by God for him. So the identification of the 144,000 of Israel with a great international multitude would also fit with the picture of the new Jerusalem that we hope to consider more next week. You see, the city that we read of in chapter 21 will have 12 gates on which are written the names of the 12 tribes of the people of Israel. But it will also have 12 foundations on which are written the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. You see what's happening?

John is being shown graphically that the in this Book the Messiah of Israel has indeed come for the healing of the nations, that these promises were always meant for all peoples. So the promises to national Israel are fulfilled in the international people of God. Not only is that not just a speculative way, one might settle the differences. Friends, that is the point of the vision, that this grace of God is not limited simply to Israel, but that God's promises to his people have always been, since the very beginning, to bless his people and through his people, all the nations of the earth. And that seems to be exactly what we're assured of here.

Now, there are two characteristics of this group of people that are particularly striking and important for us to consider this morning. Their safety and their purity. First, their safety. You know, 144,000 was chosen not as an exact number number as in 144,000 as opposed to 144,001, like our Jehovah's Witness friends seem to think, but because of the completeness of this company. Remember, we considered this just a little bit last week.

Well, here you have all 12 tribes of Israel represented. This number 12 multiplied by itself 12 gives you 144. Then multiplied by a thousand is a way of conveying that there is no question that any of God's people have been left out. None have. All of God's chosen ones are sealed and are protected from his wrath.

And Note that number 144,000 is the same in chapter 7 and 14. It's not shrunken from the great multitude, but simply that John is identifying them clearly as the sealed of chapter seven. Sealed by these angels in chapter seven before the final judgment of God is announced in chapter 14. And note too that the number of the redeemed is complete. None are missing.

The total body of the redeemed are there not One is lost by chapter 14. Even through the great tribulation that John warned them was coming, that these visions present, not one of them had been lost. God's complete people are kept there safely.

Perhaps you remember Jesus words in John 10. My sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. No one can snatch them out of my hand.

My Father, who has given them to me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. Here in Revelation we see that promise in the teaching of Jesus kept. It's kept right here. His sheep know his voice.

No one is able to snatch them out of his hand. That promise has proved itself true. And so they hold victorious palm branches. And they cry out in loud voices about their safety, their salvation. Safety is just another way, of course, to say salvation.

They cry out about their safety, their salvation. This is a vision of their final redemption. Again and again we find in this book of Revelation, like in, in chapters 12 and 13, where we see the woman and her seed are protected from destruction through all their trials. Persecution is coming. But God will protect his people through all the persecution that will come.

And just like Israel's resistance to the Exodus, just as at that time, so these trials and persecutions of God's people will only serve to make our final deliverance more glorious. More obviously the work of God. Do you see that? Why does God let His people go through trials, go back to the Exodus, it's so that his name may be glorified as he has shown is more than adequate to meet all of those trials. Well, in the same way here, why does God let His people go through these trials, that we go through, these persecutions that we face as the people of God?

So that he will be the more glorified. So that he will be more obviously and completely should be shown to be an utterly all sufficient Savior. That's exactly what he's doing here. That's why these trials are allowed. That's what this book is about.

Now, if you're here this morning, as one who's not following the land, to use John's phrase, if you're not a Christian believer, I'd like to ask you a few questions this morning that arise from considering this great, great vision. And the first one I'll ask now. Do you desire the kind of ultimate safety presented here? It's a simple question. Do you desire the kind of ultimate safety presented here?

The Bible teaches that all of us were made by God in His image, that we were made particularly and especially as spiritual beings in order to know him, to live our lives in fellowship with Him. God is our Creator and in this sense is the Father of all of us. Do you desire to know your Creator's protection?

Think about it. You certainly won't find this kind of security in the world, will you? Surely you know that things that seem so certain, from the government of nations to mighty buildings, to impressive giant corporations, all fall. But God's throne will never be toppled. If you're a follower of the Lamb, you can know that no trouble that troubles you now will trouble you forever.

None. No small print to that statement. No qualifications, period. Christ fulfills his promises. Later in the book, in chapter 17, when the lamb is being Assaulted, the Lamb wins.

And with him, we read, will be his called chosen and faithful followers. We find here in chapter seven in our passage at the very end. Look at the beautiful words there. Chapter seven, verse 15. He who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.

That means he'll protect them. Never again will they hunger. Never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd.

He will lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. The Lamb, not just the Lamb, will be their shepherd, though that would be good. But notice how he says it. The Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. Isn't that amazing?

The Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. So you see why we as Christians can have such confidence. This is why we should persevere, why we should endure as we're called to. Throughout this book, John suffered and was patiently enduring. He was on the isle of Patmos as an old man, an exile.

The early Christians that he wrote to were also suffering. And so you and I, if we're followers of the Lamb, if we are, we're doing it because that's what he did. That's what the Lord Jesus did. So hear this repeated call in this book for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints, and persevere with great joy in your daily life and in our times together, because we are confident of success in Christ. Oh, I hope you sense something of that in this book.

If you don't get anything else out of our study of the Book of Revelation, you are to get this, that you are to know that through all the trials and persecutions that come upon you as a Christian, if they are coming upon you because you're a Christian, if they're coming upon you because you are following Christ, then you can be assured of a joyful success in him. But also note the purity of these people. If the Description of Chapter 7 emphasizes their safety, the description over at the beginning of chapter 14 emphasizes purpose, their purity. Look over. In chapter 14, verse 4, we read, these are those who did not defile themselves with women.

Well, that's an interesting phrase. Are these some special class of Christians? Celibates, perhaps? Well, I guess it could be, but I think it's better taken to mean that these were virginal in their being undefiled, that is, in their remaining faithful to Christ, not having united themselves to a false God. Paul used this image when he had written to the Corinthians saying, I'm jealous for you, with a godly jealousy, I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.

And of course, then at the end of this book, you have the heavenly city coming down like a bride. It says, dressed for her bridegroom. So that's the picture that we see, that God's people are to be pure. I think it fits in well with the context here in chapter 14. If you look down and later in the chapter in 14, you'll find down in verse 8, the worship of the beast is described as adulteries.

So we see here, presented in the final deliverance of God's people, deliverance even from the power of sin, even the very presence of sin. So in chapter 18, when the fall of Babylon is presented, God calls his people out of her. He separates them out. And so in chapter 20, they are presented as those who, it says in verse four, had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. But these people are not only marked by what they don't do, but by what they do.

They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. That is a beautiful little description, isn't it? It's in verse four of chapter 14, just that one sentence. I put it as a scrolling screensaver on my computer this week. Just a great sentence.

They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. Simple, powerful, clear. They're loyal to the Lamb even, even unto death. That's why in chapter 7, they were described as dressed in white. That symbol of purity.

That's. White is a symbol of purity throughout this book. Whether it's about God's appearance himself or of his throne. White robes are what people wear throughout the book. The elders, the martyrs, all the redeemed, they're all presented as wearing it.

Their loyalty was complete, it's saying. So the robes were represented as unspotted. Now let me ask you a question, a second question. Now, if you're here this morning, as a non Christian, have you considered whom you're following? Bob Dylan's song was true.

You got to serve somebody. It's true, we all do. The Bible says that it's not only Christians that have a master. It says that we all do. And it even identifies our master, our own sinful desires by birth.

This is our natural master. It's your natural master, unless you are emancipated, delivered from your bondage and servitude to him.

On the other hand, if you are his, well, then, like it says Here in chapter 14, verse 4, you follow the Lamb. That's a description of you. You follow the Lamb and the Lamb. Christ is the sinless one, always doing the will of God, always doing not what pleases Himself, but what pleases God. Great example there is the Garden of Gethsemane.

Not guilty of any sin beyond the power of sin and Satan, but doing all God asked him to do, having no sin himself, having loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Perfect without sin, holy, blameless, pure, a lamb without blemish or defect. As we read earlier in that responsive reading from first Peter, he committed no sin. In him is no sin. All these are things that the New Testament says about Christ.

Now, unlike these glorified believers that John saw, we don't follow him perfectly, even if we're here as Christians this morning. But almost inexplicably to ourselves, sometimes we do follow Him. We don't always know how to explain it, but we do. We find ourselves trusting God even when we don't fully understand. We find ourselves motivated to do this and to do these things in obedience simply because of what we believe.

We find ourselves moving toward those things that we learn from Christ that are good, those ways that we've learned from Him. We find ourselves becoming uneasy with lies, uneasy with wrongdoing. We find that we actually grow to want to be ruled by Christ. We find our lives perhaps a bit more in order than they used to be. We find ourselves moved more and more by the thought of serving Christ than of getting gain for ourselves.

And we even find ourselves doing things which we think would please him, even when we know they will not please people around us. This is just something of what it's probably like for you this morning. If you're one of those here who follow the Lamb wherever he goes in our passage, you see, they follow him like this because they are His. They were purchased from among men. Friend, if you are so purchased, pray that God cultivate in you a desire for holiness.

Pray that he cultivate in you a practice of holiness. And pray that he cultivate in you by great visions like this, a hope of holiness, the holiness that you will finally have in Christ as we see in this glorious vision presented here. Friends, such holiness should mark our lives individually and together. That's how we'll win the respective outsiders. As we've been thinking about on Wednesday nights from 1st Thessalonians 4, both individually and together, we should pursue those godly practices which will shape us well, that God might Use us to cause us to grow in his image and likeness.

This multitude, then, that we see here is a multitude of those who know the most exquisite blessings that have ever been or ever will be. These are the saved, the redeemed, from all the ages. I pray that every single one of us will be among their number.

Fundamentally, though more than anything else, what sets this company apart? What makes these people so special? This is the second big thing we need to notice in this vision. Who has caused all of this great good?

The Lamb. The Lamb has done it. If there is some question over the identity of the multitude, there is none about the Lamb. The Lamb is presented as being, along with God, the focus of the heavenly court. You see that in chapter seven, verse nine, where John writes, after this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people and language standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.

The Lamb is the one who draws together this great sea of people. It is the Lamb whose attractiveness knows no sociological limits or demographic boundaries. The Lamb proves to have the power to draw together people from every nation, from every language. He is the focus of attention and of the adulation of the multitude. The grand diversity that we do see in heaven exists only because of the shared, single, exclusive focus on the Lamb.

You see that there is a gorgeous diversity in heaven, but it is not the I don't care, everything's okay kind of diversity that our world is championing right now. It is a diversity based on the exclusivity of the focus on one alone, on the Lord Jesus Christ, this Lamb. Churches in our city and across our nation, indeed our own church, present us with the heavenly opportunities of. Of seeing a unity which is more than ethnic because of this shared, single, exclusive focus on the Lamb. Why such a focus on the Lamb?

Because the Lamb is presented as being God, with God, the author of our salvation. So the great multitude here in chapter 7 and verse 10, cries out in a loud voice, salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb. We're not surprised then to see over in chapter 14, verse 1, that it is the Lamb who is standing victorious on Mount Zion. Amidst all these judgments, he is surrounded by his own. And we're not surprised to learn that the seal has been placed upon the foreheads of those who's redeemed and that that seal is, According to chapter 14, verse 1, the name of the Lamb and his Father.

The Lamb is the Son, one with. With God the Father. Okay, are you ready? For question number three, one of the most fruitful questions you can consider as a non Christian, particularly if you're curious about Christianity, is this. And it's quite simple.

Who is Jesus? Who is Jesus? What better question could you work on this time of year? Find the answer to that, and a lot more than just Christmas carols will start making more sense to you. Who is Jesus?

If you read through the Gospels, you find that Jesus claimed equality with God. He claimed God's rights and authority, he shared God's character, he even accepted worship. If you're here as a Christian this morning, the Lamb should be your focus. Study Christ, read about him, meditate on his life, study his teachings on his works and his promises, pray to him and sing his praises. He is the image of the invisible God.

As a church, the Lamb should be our focus too. So already in what we've been saying this morning in our praise, he's been our focus as we sang all hail the Lamb. I'm forever grateful to you, my Jesus, my Savior, Lord, There is none like you. We've called him King of Angels We've called each other to adore him. We sung Jesus to thee Be all glory given.

Remember, we sing this all the time in our services. We've sung to him, Hail the King, we called him Son of God, our King We've sung Thou who art love beyond all telling. Savior and King, we worship Thee and we've only just begun. Friends, he is at the center of this sermon. Have you noticed he's the focus of the Bible.

When you go away and you take a Bible and you read your Bible, you'll find the Lord Jesus Christ is the focus of the Bible. He's the sum and the substance of the good news that we as Christians have to tell others about, that we'll hear about tonight, the Carols on the Hill service. He is the focus of that. In short, that there is nothing that we as Christians do that does not in one way or other reflect on, focus on center in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. Now that's something of who the Lamb is.

Now the question, what has the Lamb done? I mean, how did the Lamb cause such great good to come about? Well, the answer is in chapter 7, verse 14. It's in one phrase there, chapter 7, verse 14. By the blood of the Lamb.

This is how that great multitude was made pure and righteous. It's not because they went and took a course in Christian morality and learned for utilitarian reasons why it was good to adopt a Christian worldwide view so that they could have better lives. No, they were made pure and righteous ultimately, because he is their Passover lamb. He is the one who was led like a lamb to the slaughter, as Isaiah prophesied. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows.

Yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him. And by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He poured out his life unto death and was numbered with the transgressors. He bore the sin of many.

This is what we see in the Book of Revelation that the Lamb has done. After all, he is the one who, as John said back in chapter one, loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood. This is what the living, the four living creatures, the 24 elders, are continually singing in heaven. You remember from chapter five. You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were slain and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.

Only the Lamb could open the sealed scroll of God in chapter five. Only he had the authority. Only he had purchased this redeemed company from among men. Now, my question number four, if you're keeping track for you, if you're not normally in church, but you're here, say, during this Christmas season, and we are glad to have you. Question number four is this.

What did Jesus do? A simple question. What did Jesus do? Why did Jesus die on the cross? Was it simply the action of the Romans or the crowds demanding it?

Or Judas's betrayal? I'll tell you what Jesus taught about his own death. You know, he did teach about his death. I know Lincoln is said to have had premonitions of his death. But Jesus actually taught about his death before it happened somewhat extensively.

He taught that he would die, that he would be killed, and what the meaning of his death was. He said that he was laying down his life as a sacrifice, a ransom taking on God's righteous wrath for those who would repent of their sins and trust in Him. That is what the Lamb has done. What do you think Jesus did when he died on the cross?

So what will the Lamb do now? Look, in chapter seven, verse 17, the Lamb @ the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes. It is the Lamb who was slain to purchase them.

And it is the Lamb again who now cares for those he's bought. So he leads and guides them, fulfilling the role of good shepherd for those that he's bought, fulfilling the role of the good shepherd that we would read about had we read the next psalm this morning. Psalm 23. Just as Jesus said, I am the good shepherd, Jesus has died for his own and will shepherd them. So Christ is the one that we should entrust our hopes to friends.

Not to the economy, not to our army, not to a job or a nation, not to a spouse or a friend. Christ, and Christ alone is the sacrifice for sins and the shepherd of our souls. And John is telling his readers that we can trust that though we may be being persecuted, we're not being led down a blind alley simply to be abused and forgotten. No, this one who's bought us will continue to lead us through difficult ways. Yes, that's true.

Through difficult ways. But he will continue to lead us. Surely. I've often thought how apt this image of God as a shepherd is and how this image of us as sheep is. I know I've observed it before, but it's true.

Sheep is just not the first way that we might like to describe ourselves, you know? But throughout the Bible, this is the image that is used of God's people. It's a sheep. Now, sure, sheep are cute and cuddly, but they are also slow and stupid and easily scared. They're like lunch on legs for wolves, you know?

You know that. Why would the Bible have such a constant image as this for us as God's people? A flock of sheep instead of a pride of lions. Sometimes we'd rather see ourselves as eagles or horses or bears or elephants. Until I think, until we realize how right that image is of us as lost and helpless, that's actually the right image for us.

And don't you know that some of John's readers knew something of their helpless condition, their need for a sure shepherd who could lead them finally to springs of living water. The lamb who was slain, the one who introduced himself to John as the one who was dead and is alive forevermore, is the one who could lead his sheep certainly to that final safety? Now, the journey may be long and arduous. Who can count the number of people who have heard these very words read only to be cut down, to be killed because of their confession of Christ? And yet that doesn't falsify These words, it doesn't mean they're not true.

As long as our shepherd is this one who knows what it's like to be a sheep himself, a lamb who was slain, even one himself who was cut down, then we can follow him wherever he leads us. And according to this passage, if we're his this morning, that's exactly what we'll do. We'll follow him wherever he leads us. And we'll do that for all eternity. So let's humble ourselves and trust him as brothers and sisters.

Let's exhort and encourage each other to keep our focus on the provision for our sins on the cross and on the hope of heaven. And thanks to him, it's all there for us. The Lamb has done all of this for us. We are special as a people only because of what the Lamb has done for us.

So what about the discrimination that we began our study this morning by considering? There's no doubt, as you study through this book, a final, terrible distinction is to be made in the final article of our Church's statement of faith. It's called a solemn separation. It's Article 18 of the World to come. We believe that the end of the world is approaching, that at the last day, Christ will descend from heaven and raise the dead from the grave to final retribution, that a solemn separation will then take place, that the wicked will be adjudged to endless punishment and the righteous to endless joy, and that this judgment will fix forever the final state of men in heaven or hell.

On principles of righteousness. Sometimes that last bit confuses people. When people are joining the church and they're reading the statement of Faith in preparation to signing it, they look at that last phrase and they go, on principles of righteousness. I thought salvation was by grace. Why is it saying this final distinction is on principles of righteousness?

Well, surely salvation is by grace, by grace alone. God has always, though, intended his grace to make people who were truly obedient to him, who truly reflect his character. That's what he's always been about, even from the very father of the faith, Abraham, back in Genesis 22, when he agrees to offer Isaac, do you remember what the angel of the Lord said to him? He called to him, we read in Genesis 22 and said, I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore, your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies. And through your offspring, all nations on earth will be blessed because you have obeyed me.

Now, Abraham had, of course, sinned too. But his obedience in offering Isaac was an obedience of faith. Have you thought of this before? You have to put some things together, but it's all there in Hebrews for you. His obedience of offering Isaac was an obedience of faith because he knew that God had made promises to him, Abraham.

And he knew that God would be faithful to fulfill his promises, even if that had to include. We read in Hebrews God raising Isaac from the dead. So Abraham acted in obedience. Yes, but that obedience showed out the faith that he had. That's why it says in Genesis, God credited.

He accounted his faith as righteousness.

So God saves us by faith. But that faith always shows itself in obedience. And so when we come to this Book of Revelation, we see this final distinction, this solemn separation made between those who are righteous, ultimately because of being considered in Christ, and those who refuse to repent and instead continue in their sins and their selfishness. This is that final distinction. So in Revelation 20, we read John's and I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne.

And books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. The dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and the death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them. And each person was judged according to what he had done.

If anyone's name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. And then in the next chapter of the Heavenly City, we read in chapter 21, verse 27, nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life are God's special people. You see, what we find in this vision is that the Lamb breaks our boundaries. Bounds of nationalism, nepotism, convenient associations of mere selfishness.

But God doesn't simply dissolve us into individual entities. No, throughout the New Testament, we see images of friendship and family, of nation, people and body. As images for what images? For his church. Our primary community is the church.

That's what the Lamb's been about the whole time. The church is not the invention of some manufacturers of a religion. It's not a preacher's union trying to get together and make sure there's something there. It's Jesus Christ himself. It's the Lamb who has made the church.

You see, God reforms our boundaries. Only this time the bounds reflect not our selfishness, but the self giving character of the Lamb who was slain. He fashions a people who reflect his character of holiness, justice, mercy and love. We're not characterized by being the same ethnically, but ethically by God's grace.

But still, why are so many people today uncomfortable with a final distinction like this being made? Well, there may be any number of social, historical, psychological reasons for this, but I have to tell you as a Christian, I think the discomfort comes from ignorance and fear. I think even those of us who are Christian believers are ignorant of the depth of our own unworthiness and of the supremely correct and consuming love of God for himself. We imagine it a smaller thing for God to save a sinner than it actually is. We are ignorant of the biblical prerogatives of a sovereign God, of the gracious nature of our salvation.

We, we're ignorant of God's searching holiness of our offensiveness to him. Fundamentally, we're ignorant of the difference there is between us and God.

And I think we're also afraid. I think we may fear that we won't make the cut. And so I think some of us fear that an admission of such a final division would entail accountability for our actions and finally submission to the rule of God. And so it does. And so it does, friend.

If you're really lost and hungry, you'll take directions, you'll take food, regardless of whether or not everybody else around you does. When the seriousness of your situation, the gravity and danger of it is clear to you, you will sue for mercy in Christ even if nobody else you know does. It's funny, you know, you might think that being a part of this people of God that the Lamb is shaping is such an enviable privilege that everybody would want it. But it doesn't seem to be that way, does it? The terms and conditions of being a follower of the Lamb are well known, as this book of revelation emphasizes throughout and as your life may well give testimony to in the short run, it can be very difficult sometimes.

I can't stand here this morning and promise you that if you become a Christian today, you'll have instant celebrity in the world, or an immediately integrated personality or wealth, or even what you might think of as true happiness. But in the long run, in the long run, there is no contest between being a follower of the Lamb and opposing him. We were made for him, but every one of us has committed spiritual suicide. But this morning, he offers everyone who wants it a chance to be remade for him. Everyone who refuses this offer will regret it.

John would leave us in no doubt about that this morning. And no one who wants that chance for a new beginning is ever refused. So today you are being invited to be a part of the special people of God. The outcasts and the broken, the humbled and those who know themselves to be weak and helpless and lost sheep. Who will follow the good shepherd, the lamb who was slain?

My final question to you this morning is what will you do about it? What will you do about it? Will you repent of your sins and turn to Christ, or will you keep your sins and reject Christ? Those are the only two options. And the difference this choice makes really matters forever.

Let's pray together.

Let's take just a few moments of silence to gather together those things that we've heard for ourselves this morning that we know that we need to take to heart before we go it.

Oh, God. Our days and weeks are busy and full, but we confess there is nothing that deserves our attention like you do. Oh, God. We pray you would make our focus supremely on the lamb who was slain. We pray that you teach us what it means in our own lives to be followers of that lamb.

And we pray you do this for your own glory. In his name we ask it. Amen.