Well this morning we're gonna take, and next week, this morning and next week we're gonna take somewhat of a detour, but in reality it very much relates to the theme of Acts and what is happening in Acts. So we're gonna start this morning by remembering how last week Jesus told his disciples after he has died and after he's been raised in Jerusalem of Judea in the south, he's gonna go ahead of them to Galilee. in the north, Galilee of the nations. And so it's in Galilee of the nations, not in Judea, but in Galilee of the nations, where Jesus comes to the disciples and commissions them for the first time to go make disciples of all nations. So there's this universal picture and tendency when we think of Galilee, Galilee of the nations. But then, in Acts, we find that at the ascension of Jesus, the disciples are no longer in Galilee, where they were. Now they're back again in Jerusalem of Judea. Why are they there? Probably because Jesus told them, now go back there. And he said, do not leave there, but wait for the promise of the Father, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. So the reason that Jesus is telling them don't leave Jerusalem, after all the emphasis on Galilee, he says, no, camp out here for a while. The reason he's telling them that is because he would have us see the continuity. This is an important word in your handout. And again, by the way, I put a lot in your handout this time. By now you should know a lot of you don't use the handouts. They're not helpful to you. Don't use them. I wanna keep reminding you of that. Don't use them. if it helps you use it. But the word there for those of you who are using it is continuity. Jesus would have us see the continuity between the old covenant Israel that we read about in the Old Testament, centered in Jerusalem, and the new covenant Israel, whose boundaries are about to be expanding outward from Jerusalem to all the nations of the earth. So the old covenant Israel was restricted, was bounded. The new covenant Israel is going to encompass all. So Jesus says in Acts chapter one verse eight, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses. It's important it starts in Jerusalem. So we see this is the same plan. This is the same thing been going on since the beginning. It's gonna start here, but now it's gonna expand outward to Judea, Samaria, and then even to the end of the earth. So that's the picture that Jesus wants us to see. The New Covenant Israel is the fulfillment of the Old Covenant Israel. Even as the New Covenant fulfills the Old Covenant. So if you read in the Old Testament, we've got an Old Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, it created a people. It created a nation. When we get the New Covenant, it does the same thing. It creates a people. It creates a nation. And that old covenant, Israel, is now fulfilled in the new covenant, Israel. Jesus, and so this is why it was in your handout necessary that the number of the apostles be 12. They lost Judas, now we gotta get another apostle to make it 12. Why did Jesus choose 12 apostles? to correspond to the 12 tribes of Old Covenant Israel. And so I'm gonna say this, this is a little fancier, but we've used this word a lot before here. Jesus chose 12 so that we might see this eschatological community. When I say eschatological, what do you think? Fulfillment, messianic age of the spirit, promises coming to their fruition, So this is the eschatological community that is about to be birthed through the witness of the apostles, that this is in fact the new covenant Israel foretold by the prophets. This is an Israel now that will have no geographic boundaries, no ethnic boundaries. It's gonna expand through all the earth. So it's in light of that that we see the symbolism of the number 12 in Revelation. We saw this last week. So I'm kind of setting us up for where we're going. When the apostle John describes the new creation, when he describes the new creation in terms of a new Jerusalem, he tells us the city has 12 gates. Remember that from last week. Written on the gates, the 12 tribes of the sons of Israel, their names. The city has 12 foundation stones. And written on those foundation stones are the 12 names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. The wall of the city is 144 cubits, 12 times 12. The city itself is 12,000 stadia squared, 12,000 times 12,000 times 12,000. And on either side of the river that flows through the city is the tree of life bearing 12 kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month for 12 months all year long. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Okay, now, in Revelation chapter seven, which is where we're gonna be camping out today for a little bit, we see 12,000 from every tribe of the sons of Israel, though I will point out, not from the tribe of Dan. It says from every tribe, but not really. Yes, really, but not really. Every tribe, but not Dan, are sealed for a total of 144,000, 12 times 12,000. John will say, I heard the number. You see that? I heard the number. At this point, he's not seeing anything. He's not seeing 144,000. He's hearing this, and he hears the number. That was significant. So now I'm gonna ask you a question. Here's my question for you. given in your handout the progress, given the progress of redemptive history as God is unfolding his plan through the covenants, given that progress that we're seeing in acts already through 12 apostles and being in Jerusalem and all of that, who would we say that these 144,000 represent? Not Old Covenant Israel, because the Old Covenant is obsolete. The Old Covenant that created Old Covenant Israel is obsolete now. So when we have this language in the New Covenant of 144,000, 12,000 from each tribe, we see language representing, in your handout, New Covenant Israel. Now I'm gonna try to unfold this a little for us. I hope we can see the beauty of this already. The 144,000 from every tribe of the sons of Israel represents the complete number. 144,000 is such an awesome number. I don't want us when we think 144,000 to think, oh, that's that weird in time stuff, right? Neither do I want us to think, oh, I don't really care, right? It's the complete number of all God's elect in this eschatological New Covenant community. We'll see that. Let's look at it like this. In Revelation chapter five, John heard with his ears one of the elders saying to him, behold the lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the root of David. He has overcome so as to open the scroll and its seven seals. Okay, that's what he heard. Behold the lion. Now what does John do? John looks and what does he see? He does not see a lion. He saw a lamb standing as if slain. And it was this lamb who opened the seven seals, okay? So he hears, behold the lion, he looks and there's a lamb. So in your handout, the promises concerning the lion of Judah in Genesis 49, they're fulfilled through the blood of the lamb. The promises concerning the lion are fulfilled in the lamb and his blood that John sees. So we have the same idea in Revelation 7. John is gonna hear, an angel telling the number of those who have been sealed. So he hears this, 144,000 from every tribe of the sons of Israel. And notice the language, from every tribe, ek pas phule, in the Greek, okay? I know you don't care, I'm just saying, you can see it, it's the same, but what we're gonna see in a moment. But when John looks, he heard that number, but when he opens his eyes and he looks, what does he see? He doesn't see 144,000. He sees a great multitude, which no one could count. From every nation and all tribes, there's that same Greek language, ek pas phule, and peoples and tongues. And so we see that the Old Testament promises concerning the tribes of Israel, are fulfilled through the multitudes that are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. This is not a polemic, brothers and sisters. My goal here is not to argue against a view. My goal is positively to help you embrace the beauty of God's redemptive plan and your place in that plan. Who we are as the people of God. So we see then that this is, in your handout, our identity. We are members, you and I, of this eschatological new covenant community as we live in the midst of this world. Now we're still here in the midst of this world on purpose. God has us here on purpose. We'll see that in Acts. And yet at the same time, we have an identity separate from this world in which we live. And we have to keep both of those things in constant tension. And I think one of the things that as Christians we can often lack is the real sense of our identity in this people. As we live in the midst of this world. We are part of the 144,000, you and I are, from every tribe of the sons of Israel. even of this great multitude which no one can count. So this week and next week, we're gonna take a closer look at what this identity means. What does it mean? And how do I really know I'm part of the 144,000? We're gonna look at this group. So Revelation chapter six concludes with the coming of the wrath of God. of the lamb and of him who sits on the throne. So we see this apocalyptic imagery, the wrath of God is coming. We see the sky being split apart like a scroll. We see every mountain and island being moved from their place. We see people hiding themselves in the caves and under the rocks of the mountains and they're crying out with this question. And I mean, the imagery is compelling. They're crying out and asking who is able to stand? That's the question. And that's the question I think we would all be asking given the same set of circumstances. Who can stand? Revelation 7 then is the answer to that question. We must remember that. Who can stand in the day of God's wrath? Revelation 7. After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. holding back the four winds of the earth. This is just the imagery of saying here, God is withholding the unleashing of the tribulations of his wrath, of the judgments to come until something happens. So that no wind would blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God. And he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the sea and the earth, indicating also those who are in on planet earth. And they said, do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond slaves of our God on their foreheads. And I heard the number of those having been sealed 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel. Here's the question then. Who can stand? You answer this question. Who can stand in the day of God's wrath? Who? In your handout, only the 144,000 bond slaves of God. who have been sealed on their foreheads from every tribe of the sons of Israel. There's no one else, no one, who will stand in the day of the Lord's wrath. It's very clear. In Revelation chapter 14, we'll see the nature of what this seal is. It's not just a stamp, a wax stamp on your forehead or something, right? No, this is those who have the name of the Lamb and of his father written on their foreheads, not literally. This is a picture of in those days when they would actually mark slaves in a sense, branding the slaves even on their foreheads as being the property of their owner. And so this is the seal that we've been given. It's the sign we belong to God as his property. his bond slaves, it says. And that he will therefore, because we are his, because we are his bond slaves, because we have the seal upon us, therefore he will preserve us. He will keep us safe through all tribulation. Now it's important to see this, that in the book of Revelation, there's only two groups of people. There are those who have the name of the lamb and of his father written on their foreheads. And there are those who have the name of the beast or the number of his name on their right hand or on their foreheads. In other words, there are those who belong to God and to the lamb as his bond slaves and are sealed by him. And there are those who belong to the world and to the devil and who have his seal and mark of ownership upon them. There's no category in between. There's no group of people with no name written on their forehead. They don't exist. We know then, since there's only two groups of people, you've either got the beast's name or the lamb's name, we know from the rest of the book of Revelation that there are far more than 144,000 ethnic Jews who refuse the mark of the beast. Everyone else doesn't take the mark of the beast outside of 144,000 ethnic Jews. Therefore, there's far more than just a literal 144,000 ethnic Jews who are sealed with the name of the lamb and of his father written on their foreheads. We see this, if we were not convinced by the logic of the theology of it, we see it in Revelation chapter three when Jesus himself defines for us who the true Jew is. To the church in Philadelphia, behold, I am giving over those of the synagogue, that's obviously the Jewish meeting place for worship, of the synagogue of Satan, Those who say that they are Jews and are not. Well, they were, they were ethnically Jews, but Jesus says they are not Jews, but lie. Behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet. And before your feet, that was the church, the Jews and Gentiles in this group. And I will make them know that I have loved you. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the sanctuary of my God. And he will never go out from it anymore. And I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem. He will be the true Jew because his citizenship is in the new Jerusalem. Whether he's a Gentile or an ethnic Jew is irrelevant. He is the true Jew. And this is the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from God, and I will write on him my new name. Who gets the seal? All, all who overcome. I will write on him my new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. So we see then that according to Revelation 7, all of God's bond slaves are to be sealed. What does he say? Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond slaves of our God. How many of the bond slaves of our God? How many do you think get sealed? Every single one bar none without exception. Because if you're not sealed, you can't stand in the day of the wrath of a lamb. So he says, we're gonna seal all of God's bond slaves. Not one of God's bond slaves is to be left out. Therefore, it is the complete number. That's the beauty of 144,000. It represents to us the complete number of all God's bond slaves. 12,000 from every tribe of the sons of Israel. Notice how the book of Revelation begins. Who are God's bond slaves? The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his bond slaves. This is the seven churches in Asia. So if I'm a Gentile or a Jewish Christian, it doesn't matter, in Asia, Ephesus, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, wherever. And I'm getting this, and I'm reading this about these 144,000 bond slaves. I know that I'm a bond slave of God. I know that John addressed me as God's bond slave. And then the book of Revelation ends. And he said to me, these words are faithful and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show to his bond slaves the things which must soon take place. And so I love, as a bond slave of God, to know I have been sealed with the name of the lamb and of his father written upon my forehead so that I am able to stand in the day of wrath. Who are these 144,000 bond slaves sealed in Revelation 7? They are all those who are true Jews. Not those who say they are Jews but lie. But those who are true Jews because their citizenship is not just in an earthly Jerusalem, but in the heavenly Jerusalem that comes down from God. In Revelation 22, we learn that the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in this new Jerusalem. And there, his bond slaves, the ones who were sealed, will serve him. And they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. Now that's not just 144,000 literal ethnic Jews. This is all of us who will one day walk the streets of that city with his name on our foreheads, owned by him, his property preserved. So we come back to our original question. I'm gonna ask you this question. And it's a question that practically matters to each soul here in this room. Who can stand? Who can stand in the day of the wrath of him who sits on the throne and of the Lamb? Notice the language. And we answer, only the 144,000 from every tribe of the sons of Israel, a number which in your handout represents and is fulfilled in that great multitude which no one can count from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues. And where are they standing? They are standing before the throne and before the Lamb. What was the question? Who can stand before the wrath of the one who sits on the throne and of the Lamb? And now we see that those who are sealed are indeed standing. They are standing before the throne and before the Lamb. Who is? A great multitude that no one can count. Who is? The complete number of God's elect, 144,000. These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation. Tribulation that began in the days of John's first readers. And they washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. In Revelation chapter seven, John hears of the 144,000 on earth, okay? He sees them being sealed, or he hears them being sealed, I should say. He hears of them being sealed as this guarantee that you're gonna be preserved. You're gonna be kept safely through all the trials, through all the tribulations, through all the sufferings that you may encounter in this life, God will keep you. He won't let you go. And even through God's wrath on the final day, when the wrath of God comes, we will find refuge in him. So nothing can touch them. That's the point of this seal. There's no one who can snatch them out of the Father's hand. There's nothing that can separate them from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. You see that? That's the beauty of this picture. This picture is something for you and I to embrace. It's a picture that enables us to see our identity, who we are. and what our future is, and how certain and assured it is. And so we read in Revelation chapter 14. Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. What does John see? You're free to use your imagination here, right? Bounded by the text. But it's a picture that's vivid. He sees the Lamb standing victorious on the heavenly Mount Zion, okay? The New Jerusalem as it is in heaven even now. That's where the Lamb is now. He's standing victorious. He's been raised from the dead. He's ascended. He stands on the heavenly Zion victorious. And who does John see standing with the lamb in heaven? He sees the exact number, exact number of those who were sealed on earth. Chapter seven, 144,000 sealed on earth. Chapter 14, 144,000 standing with the lamb victorious on Mount Zion. Not one of those who were sealed is lost, not one. Every one of those who were sealed was preserved, and they went through trials and sufferings. Many of them were martyred, right? Many of them were put to death for the sake of Christ. They were all of them preserved, though, safely, through the trials, through the tribulations of this world, even through the wrath of God that's poured out today and on the final day. to stand now with the Lamb on Mount Zion and to share with Him in His victory. When we consider this, the appropriate response is to affirm with Paul, truly then we know, that for those who love God, all things work together for good. For that ultimate good of standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion, made like Him, conformed to His image, sharing in His ultimate victory, that good. for those who are called according to his purpose, because those whom he foreknew, those whom he set his love upon ahead of time, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers. He's gonna bring these brothers to glory, it's his plan, it's his decree, he will do it, he will accomplish it. And those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. If you've been sealed, the destination is assured. See, this vision of the 144,000 standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion, it is meant, brothers and sisters, to encourage, not to make you scratch your heads, Not to make us think about all sorts of end times events that are not recognizing the progression of redemptive history. It is meant to encourage you, you and me. It was meant to encourage those Jewish and Gentile believers in the churches in Asia Minor. It was meant to fill us with hope. that was meant to tell us that we have a wonderful peace, we have a wonderful security, even in the midst of the trials and tribulations and sufferings of this world. And because why? Because the lamb has already persevered. When we see the lamb standing there, did he just get there without suffering on the way? No, the lamb is standing there because he already persevered through the ultimate sufferings. even through the ultimate wrath of God poured out. And because he now stands there on the other side of that, we can be assured that we will come safely through our own sufferings to stand with him. As the apostle Paul says, we who have believed have been sealed in Christ with the Holy Spirit of promise. who was given as a pledge of our inheritance to make us certain that we will arrive there one day. We have the spirit within us who assures us that God will keep us until that day unto the redemption of God's own possession to the praise of his glory. So let me ask you, who are the 144,000? They are the only ones who will stand in the day of the wrath of the lamb. They are all of God's bond slaves, the complete number who have been sealed with his name and the name of the lamb and the name of his father written upon their foreheads. They are all who are being kept, who are being preserved faithfully moment by moment by an ever loving providential God who watches over his people. until the day they stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion. By faith then, I would ask you, by faith alone and through grace alone, are you one of their number? Revelation 14, verses one to three, it says, then I looked and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion. And with Him, 144,000, the beautiful number, having his name and the name of his father written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. And the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. And no one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been purchased from the earth. Are you looking at the clues there to say, who are these 144,000? No one could learn the song except them. In the book of Revelation, there's a phrase, and you'll notice it if you read through the book. It repeats a lot. Those who dwell on the earth. Those who dwell on the earth. And that always refers to the wicked. the whole mass of unregenerate, wicked, rebellious, fallen humanity, those who dwell on the earth. So who are the 144,000, brothers and sisters, who are they? They are those who have been purchased from out of that great mass of rebellious, fallen humanity. They've been purchased from the earth. In other words, this isn't a special group of ethnic Jews only. There are ethnic Jews within it, according to God's promises and faithfulness to his word. But this is not a special group of ethnic Jews who have been purchased separately. There is no purchased separately. from the rest of their believing Jewish and Gentile brothers and sisters. In other words, God said, now I'm gonna purchase you guys separate, and you're gonna be really special, because only you guys can learn this song. All the rest of the believers, all the rest of the ones, the Gentiles and Jews, they can't learn the song, and I'll purchase them separate. No, no, brothers and sisters. That's not interpreting scripture in light of scripture. This is the complete number. That's the point of 144,000, it's the complete number, not one missing, no exception, of those who have been purchased from the earth by the blood of the Lamb. It's important to see that no one but the 144,000 can learn the new song. And if you read your Bibles, you know what the new song is. It's being sung in heaven. And let me ask you though, why is it only the 144,000 who can learn the song? What do you think is the reason? Why are they the only ones that can learn this song? Because no one but the 144,000 have been purchased from the earth. There is no one else who's been purchased from the earth. That is why only they can learn the song. In the Old Testament, the new song is always the song of redemption. God works a new act of deliverance, a fresh working of salvation, and God's people respond, not with new words or a new composition or a new melody, but with a new gratefulness, a new fresh joy. and having just experienced this new working of God's salvation, when the ultimate salvation comes in Jesus Christ, it calls forth and elicits the ultimate new song. That's the background for this language. And so it is only those in your handout who have experienced redemption who are able to sing of that redemption. which begs the question, do you love to sing of your redemption? That's the sign that you've experienced that redemption. Only you can sing of it. It is only those who understand what it is to be redeemed, right? Who can learn the new song that only the redeemed sing. But indeed, are there really only 144,000 ethnic Jews who have been purchased from the earth who can sing this new song of redemption? We remember the earlier scene from Revelation chapter five. The four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb and they sang a new song, saying, worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were slain and purchased. There's the language. Did God just purchase 144,000 ethnic Jews? No. He purchased for God with his blood people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And so the uncountable nature, the universal extent of God's redemption is pictured by the every tongue, tribe, people, and nation. And yet that completeness of the number is pictured for us by that beautiful, lovely number, 144,000. So once again we see that the 144,000 from every tribe of the sons of Israel is a number that represents and is fulfilled in that great multitude which no one can count from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues standing before the throne and before the Lamb. We could put it like this. The 144,000 from every tribe of the 12 sons of Israel represents and is fulfilled in that eschatological new covenant community that's built upon the foundation of the 12 apostles. Now John goes on to see more things about these 144,000. We're gonna come back next week and finish that off. But right now, what I want us to see and to feel and to know is the practical significance of this for us. And so we see that in these questions. And I ask you this, by faith, through grace alone, are you one of this number? Three questions. Have you been sealed? so as to be preserved safely. Because this world is full of perils, right? It's fraught with trials and sufferings and temptations and all of that. We can only stand safely as those who are sealed, as those who are the bond slaves of God, his property, who he promises to keep and bring us safely through. That's the meaning of this picture in Revelation, and so we ask ourselves, have I been sealed so as to be preserved safely through these trials and tribulations, and to stand one day, even in the day of God's wrath? As a true bond slave of God, do I have the name of the Lamb and the name of his Father written on my forehead? Because the Spirit indwells me, and I've been united with Christ. As one who has been purchased from the earth by the blood of the lamb, do I love to sing that new song that only the redeemed can sing? See, there's a question for us. Singing is a big deal in the Bible. Singing is the sign that I have in fact experienced redemption. Therefore, brothers and sisters, since in the words of Paul, we have been purchased with a price, even with the precious blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ in the words of Peter, let us glorify God in our body. As a representation and a reflection of our identity in this people. We belong not to the world. We live in the world. We have a mission here. But we belong not to the world. We belong to the 144,000, the complete number of gods redeemed. We're a part of that uncountable multitude from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And so as those who've been purchased from out of the earth, We are called now to live our lives for his glory. And in this way, we will assure our hearts, using the words of John, we will assure our hearts before God, even in whatever our heart condemns us, because God is greater than all our hearts and he knows all things. And so we will rejoice to know that in your handout, by grace alone, through faith alone, We have been, you know the word there? Been included. We have been included in the number of the 144,000 who stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion. We have been included in that number who know the song and who can sing it with all of our hearts. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, I pray that you would open our eyes to the riches of your glory as a promise-keeping, covenant-keeping, faithful God. And we thank you and praise you that in your faithfulness to your promises, you have now expanded the boundaries of your people of old covenant Israel to a new covenant Israel that encompasses all the earth, that encompasses people from all the nations of the earth and that is reached even to me, Timothy, whom you have known by name. That it is reached to each one of us in this room. Lord, I pray that you would enable us to find our true identity as those who've been purchased from the earth, so that we are not finding our identity in the world or in the peoples of this earth, but that we're finding it and being purchased from out of the earth as your bond slaves with your name and the name of the lamb written on our foreheads. And to know that therefore you will keep us and preserve us safely through all tribulations, no matter what the future could hold. Whether it's on a larger scale in the bigger affairs of nations or whether it's just on the individual private smaller scale of my own life and my own family. But that as one who's been sealed, we rely upon you to keep us so that nothing separates us from your love. So that one day, the complete number, the whole number of those whom you'd sealed will have arrived safely to stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion. And we thank you that in that day, we will sing the new song of redemption. As we could never sing it yet here. We thank you at the same time that we do sing it already. that already we have learned that song because we ourselves have been redeemed. So let me pray that as we grasp these things, you would help us on the one hand to be holy, to be pure, to be separated and set apart. On the other hand, to remember that you are still gathering in the complete number of the 144,000 But that number will be gathered in, every last one. So may we be faithful as a church, as people, to be witnesses, to be engaging with the world around us for the sake of the gospel. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.