And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on the mount Zion, and with Him a hundred and forty and four thousand, having His name, and the name of His Father, written on their foreheads.
And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and the voice which I heard was as the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
And they sing as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders: and no man could learn the song save the hundred and forty and four thousand, even they that had been purchased out of the earth.
These are they that were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. These were purchased from among men, to be the firstfruits unto God and unto the Lamb.
And in their mouth was found no lie: they are without blemish.
Especially verse 4: “These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.”
And walking by the sea of Galilee, He saw two brethren, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishers.
And He saith unto them, Come ye after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.
And they straightway left the nets, and followed Him.
He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me? Peter was grieved because He said unto him the third time, Lovest thou Me? And he said unto Him, Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed My sheep.
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.
Now this He spake, signifying by what manner of death he should glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He saith unto him, Follow Me.
Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; who also leaned back on His breast at the supper, and said, Lord, who is he that betrayeth Thee?
Peter therefore seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?
Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou Me.
Dear heavenly Father, we do want to thank Thee for giving us such a privilege to attend the table of Thy Son. How we praise and thank Thee for the blood that was shed for the remission of our sins. How we thank Thee for the body that was broken for us, that we may be united with Thee in Christ.
Lord, we thank Thee for all Thy love and grace and mercy that Thou hast so bountifully bestowed upon us. And Lord, as we continue in Thy presence, we do desire to hear Thy voice. Speak to us, to each of us, and call us to follow Thee. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.
Lately, I have been burdened before the Lord about this matter of the Lamb, especially in these last days. I believe this is something of tremendous importance.
In Revelation 14, John saw a vision, and that vision is related to the last time. It relates to the coming of our Lord Jesus. Because of this, it is a vision that we need to see today.
He saw Mount Zion, and that is not Mount Zion on earth; it is Mount Zion in heaven. He saw the Lamb on Mount Zion—that is to say, he saw our Lord Jesus, the Lamb who was slain, resurrected, and standing in the midst of the throne.
Mount Zion is the place of authority, the place of rulership, because Mount Zion is where David set his throne. And a greater than David is on the throne today.
But the Lamb was not there alone. He saw there a hundred and forty-four thousand with Him. There are a number of descriptions of these hundred and forty-four thousand, and I believe every one of these descriptions is very important.
I believe that this number is a full number. It is not a mechanical figure, but it means fullness—the multiple of twelve. There is a full number of people who are privileged to stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion.
They have on their foreheads the name of God and of the Lamb. It means not only that they belong to God and to the Lamb, but it also means that they are people who confess the name of the Father and of the Son, our Lord Jesus.
You remember how the Lord says, “If you confess Me on this earth, I will confess you before My Father and before the angels.” So these are people who not only believe in the Lord Jesus and belong to the Lord Jesus, but who confess the Lord while they are on earth.
John said that he heard a loud voice. It was like the voice of many waters and the voice of thunder. If we read the Old Testament, we find that when God’s voice was heard, it was like thunder and like many waters.
Yet, strangely, though it was such a majestic, overpowering voice, it was like the voice of harpers harping with their harps. When you think of a harp, it is heart music. When they play on the harp, it is like they are playing upon the strings of your heart. It is sweet and tender.
There is a combination: not only is it majestic, but it is also sweet. This voice comes from these hundred and forty-four thousand, and they are singing a new song unto the Lamb.
No one can learn this new song. It is not a matter of how much musical talent you have. It is music learned through life experience. The music is composed by experience, and it is sung out of the heart.
These are the people who are purchased from the earth, purchased from among men to be firstfruits unto God. They are virgins, espoused to one Man, Jesus Christ, and kept pure for Him. They are blameless. In their mouth, you do not find any lie; they are truthful.
But one thing really touches my heart: they follow the Lamb wherever He goes.
These hundred and forty-four thousand, while they are on earth, follow the Lamb wherever the Lamb goes. They do not choose their own way. They choose the Lamb.
Whether the way of the Lamb leads to life or whether the way of the Lamb leads to death, they follow. Whether the way is popular or despised, they follow the Lamb. Whether the way is strewn with roses or filled with thorns, they follow the Lamb.
In other words, they do not choose where they go because the way suits them. No. They just follow the Lamb. Whether it is popular or whether it is lonely, they follow the Lamb.
They do not follow the Lamb merely for a time; they follow all the way, from the beginning to the end. And they follow the Lamb as one multitude, the hundred and forty-four thousand.
This marks all the hundred and forty-four thousand who will one day stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion. Brothers and sisters, it is my prayer that, by His grace, we may be among them.
In order to illustrate what happened to these hundred and forty-four thousand, perhaps we can pick one out of the multitude and try to see how he was led by the Lord to go this way. To me, there is none clearer than Peter.
So this morning, we would like to meditate together on Peter, one among the hundred and forty-four thousand, and see how in his life he followed the Lamb wherever the Lamb goes.
Peter was led to the Lord by his brother Andrew. You remember that John the Baptist was standing there with his two disciples, Andrew and the other one, most likely John. When John the Baptist saw the Lord Jesus walking by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb.”
These two left their master and followed Jesus. When Jesus turned around and said, “What do you seek?” their answer was, “Where dwellest Thou?” I think that is the strangest answer. “What do you seek?” “Where dwellest Thou?”
In other words, all they wanted was to be with Jesus. That is what they wanted. They wanted to be with Him. The Lord said, “Come and see.”
Being with the Lord Jesus, they knew Him as the Christ, the Messiah, the promised One. So Andrew went to find his brother Simon and brought Simon to our Lord Jesus.
When our Lord Jesus looked at him—you find that in John 1—the Bible says that the Lord looked at him. Now, the word looked there is not just a glance. It is looking into his very being, looking him up and down and looking through him.
The Lord just looked at him, and that look made Simon speechless. Brothers and sisters, we know Simon was very competitive, and he was usually the first one to talk. But at this first encounter with our Lord Jesus, when our Lord looked into his very being, he was speechless.
His whole life was exposed before the Lord. The Lord saw him through and through.
Yet the Lord said, “You are Simon.” That is what you are naturally: fragile, impulsive, self-centered. “But I can transform you. You shall not be called Simon; you shall be called Peter, a stone. I will transform you. I will come into your life and make you a different person.”
Because of this, Peter believed and began to keep company with our Lord Jesus.
Dear brothers and sisters, is it not the same way that we start with our Lord Jesus? One day, when we are brought face to face with our Lord, how He looks through us. Before Him we become speechless. We know that we are sinners.
Yet the Lord says, “I will come to you. I will give you new life. I will change you, transform you, into someone valuable to God.” It is because of this that we can become believers in Jesus Christ.
He is the only One who can change a person. You know, in this world, you can change anything but yourself—and others too. The Lord is the only One who is able to change us, from Simon to Peter.
Because of this, we believe in Him. We know that He is the Christ, the Anointed One. He is the Son of God, and we begin to keep company with Him.
But you remember that at that time, Peter and some others, even though they believed in Him and travelled with Him somewhat, did not accompany Him all the time.
Not until some time later, when John the Baptist was in prison, did our Lord Jesus begin to call disciples. Our Lord walked by the Sea of Galilee, and He saw Peter and his brother Andrew. They were fishing. They were casting their nets because they were fishermen.
When the Lord saw them, the Lord said, “Come after Me. I will make you fishers of men. I have a higher work, a greater work, and a more useful work for you to do.”
“Come after Me. I will make you fishers of men.” When they heard the call, they left their boat and their nets and followed the Lord.
In a sense, that is how we also begin. We are not only called to believe; we are called to follow. We are not only to be believers who believe in the Lord Jesus as our Savior; we are also called to be disciples—learners, followers—to follow the Lord and to learn of Him.
Now Peter, when he heard the call, I wonder what he thought. “I am a fisherman. I fish fish. Now the Master calls me to be a fisher of men—a greater work, a more noble work, a spiritual work. The Lord is calling me to a higher occupation.”
So Peter began to follow the Lord and tried to learn the trade: How do you fish men?
But to his surprise, I believe that as he began to keep company with the Lord all the time—watching Him, staying with Him, hearing Him, seeing Him—it gradually dawned upon him that he was called not merely to learn a trade or perform a spiritual work.
First of all, he had to be changed. He was called to learn a life. The Lord called him to be with Him, to learn of Him.
As Peter watched our Lord Jesus, the more he watched the Lord Jesus, the more he found himself unfit. The Lord was so different. It was beyond him to learn the Lord.
Because of this, after some while, he was actually thinking of quitting. How do we know? Because in Luke 5, you find that the Lord with His disciples came to Capernaum. That was Peter’s city.
When the Lord came back to Peter’s own city, you know what Peter did? He went fishing. He went back to fish, to do his own business. He fished for a whole night, but he got nothing. I think that was the providence of God.
In the daytime, the Lord began to preach to the people, and there was such a multitude. So the Lord borrowed Peter’s boat and said, “Let Me use your boat as My platform, so I will not be crowded by the people.”
The Lord began to speak from the boat. After He had finished speaking, the Lord said, “Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.”
Why did the Lord do that? I believe the Lord knew Peter’s heart. He knew Peter was thinking of slipping away. If you really want to slip away, then I have no right to use your boat; I have to pay, because I have used your boat.
So the Lord was going to pay for renting his boat for preaching. The Lord said, “Go out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
Peter looked at the Lord and said, “Master, fishing I know much better than You. I fished all night and got nothing. But because You are my Master, I will do that.” In other words, he did it without believing that he could catch anything.
But to his surprise, the nets were full of fish. He had to call his companions, James and John, to come and fill the two boats with fish.
When Peter saw this miracle, he realized who the Lord really was. He knelt before the Lord and said, “Lord, depart from me, for I am a sinful man.”
But the Lord knew his heart. You know, sometimes our words sound different from our heart. There are two possibilities: one is that we are not telling the truth; the other is that the truth is too deep to be told, so it has to be told in a negative way.
Sometimes there is something very deep in you that you cannot really explain, but your tone will explain it—not your words. When you hear people talking, listen to the tone. The words may be entirely different, but the tone is the truth.
The Lord heard the tone when Peter said, “Depart from me. I am a sinner. I am totally unworthy.” Actually, what the Lord heard was, “I do want to follow You. I have seen Your worth now, but it is impossible with me. If You will take me, You can make me so.”
That is really what was in Peter’s heart. When you see the glory of the Lord, your desire is to follow Him. But at the same time, you know how unfit and unworthy you are. It is all up to the Master. He alone is able to transform you.
There is nothing in you that makes you worthy or fit. That was the feeling of Peter. He was in total despair of himself, but seeing the Lord and seeing His glory, he knew the Lord was able to do that if the Lord would take him.
So even though he said, “Depart from me,” actually he meant, “Please take me.” And the Lord said, “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. I will do it through you.”
Dear brothers and sisters, do you think following the Lamb is natural for us? Following the Lamb is all contrary to our human nature.
Do you think following the Lord is easy? The more you know the Lord, the harder it becomes. It is impossible with me.
But we do not realize this in the beginning. We think we can do it. We think we can learn of Him, learn the price, and do the spiritual work. We are very enthusiastic, very confident. We think we can make it.
But try. Try keeping close company with the Lord. Gradually, it dawns upon you: it is impossible.
It is only when you realize that it is impossible with man that you come to see that with God all things are possible. That is the way we follow the Lamb.
Sooner or later, brothers and sisters, the test will come. Sooner or later, you begin to feel that it is too hard. You want to slip away.
But thank God, He shows you His glory. When He shows you His glory, you will be like Peter: “Master, depart from me—but please take me.” And the Lord says, “Fear not. I am able.”
From that time onward, Peter began to follow closely.
You remember in John 6, quite a great multitude followed the Lord because they were fed with five loaves and two fish. They were so enthusiastic about the Lord. When the Lord was on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, they crossed the sea and followed Him.
The Lord began to speak the truth to them: “Labor not for the food which perisheth, but for the food which abideth unto eternal life. I am the bread of life, the bread from heaven. My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood hath eternal life.”
When the Lord was speaking this truth to them, they said, “This is too hard. We do not understand.” The Bible says that many of His disciples left Him and did not walk with Him anymore.
Then the Lord turned to the twelve and said, “Would ye also go away?” They were free to go.
And Simon Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed and know that Thou art the Holy One of God.”
Where can we go? We are stuck with You.
Brothers and sisters, it was because Peter knew that even though it was impossible with man, it was possible with God. He might not understand what the Lord was saying, but he believed. He trusted the Lord. He was stuck with the Lord. He had no alternative.
Do we have alternatives? If we really see His glory, if we really know that He has the words of eternal life, we are finished. There is no more choice and no more alternative.
We may not understand, but we stick with Him. Wherever He goes, we go.
For three years or so, Peter followed the Lord, learning the Lord, learning the life of the Lord, learning the life that the Lord gives to him. For three years or so, he followed the Lord closely and learned.
Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord calls us to follow Him—not to follow any man, not to follow any system, not to follow any teaching. The Lord calls us to follow Him: a Person, a divine Person. Follow Him as the Lamb, meek and lowly.
We learn of Him. That is what a disciple is. We are here following Him, seeing Him—not seeing any man, not merely learning some teaching, or even learning some technique of doing spiritual work.
We are learning Him. We follow the Lamb, learning His life: how He lives, we live; what He does, we do; wherever He goes, we go. Learning Him and His life—that is what discipleship is.
The more you follow Him, the more you find that He is so different—altogether different. Many things in your life have to be changed and dropped. His character will gradually be formed in you. He is changing you, and that is discipleship.
But then, brothers and sisters, our Lord began to reveal to His disciples, “I am going to Jerusalem. I will be rejected. I will be killed. But on the third day I will rise from the dead.”
Peter said, “Lord, I love You. I am willing to die with You. Wherever You go, I will go, even unto death.”
The Lord said, “Peter, before the cock crow twice, you will deny Me thrice.” Peter could not believe it. None of the disciples could believe it. But it happened.
He followed the Lord in life, but he failed to follow the Lord in death. He loved his own life too much. It was not that he did not love the Lord, but he loved his own life too much.
Sometimes we can give up everything. We can give up our boat and our nets. But when it comes to giving up ourselves, it is hard.
Our thoughts, our opinions, our understanding, our success, our position, our pride, our righteousness, our integrity—our very life. Brothers and sisters, it is something we have to confront.
When our Lord took His three disciples into the Garden of Gethsemane, the Lord asked these three disciples to watch with Him as He went forward to pray.
There in the Garden of Gethsemane, our Lord said, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup be removed from Me. But not My will; Thy will be done.”
How He struggled in the garden. His sweat came down as blood, and an angel appeared to strengthen Him. Otherwise, He would have died in the garden before people could bring Him away.
What was the struggle there? It was the struggle to give up Himself—His holy self. It is something hard for us to understand. All His life He denied Himself. Why was it that at the last moment He seemed to shrink back?
No, brothers and sisters. At that time, He was going to be made sin. All the sin of the world would be upon Him. He who knew no sin would become sin for us. In other words, He would be made sin.
To such a holy Person, that was unbearable—unbearable. But He took it. He gave Himself up in order to save you and me.
Why did Peter deny the Lord three times? Because he did not watch and pray. The Lord said, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.” If you do not watch and pray, you will be tempted, and you will fail.
Our Lord watched and prayed, but Peter did not. So when the temptation came, he denied the Lord.
Here, to follow the Lamb wherever He goes is not merely to follow Him in life. It is also to follow Him in death.
The Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3 that we are to know Him and the power of His resurrection. I think everybody wants to know the power of His resurrection. But to know the power of His resurrection is through fellowship with His sufferings and conformity to His death.
To know the Lord in life is that we may follow Him in death, that we may really give ourselves up completely for the Lord, that we may rise spiritually in victory.
So, brothers and sisters, we need to follow the Lamb wherever He goes. If He goes to life, thank God for that. If He goes to death, that is where we go. That is following the Lord.
Thank God, the Lord prayed for Peter. Peter did not watch, but the Lord watched.
As the resurrected Lord, when the Lord sent a message to the disciples through the women, He said, “Tell His disciples and Peter.” The Lord appeared to Peter alone. We do not know what happened there.
The Lord not only appeared to Peter alone to restore him; He even restored him before his companions. The Lord asked Peter, “Do you really love Me?”
When the Lord said, “Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me more than these?” these were the fire, the companions, the bread, the fish—his former life. “Do you love these more than Me?”
Peter did not say that he loved the Lord with an absolute love. Peter said, “I am attached to Thee. I have affection for Thee.”
The Lord asked him the second time, “Simon, lovest thou Me?” There was no comparison now, but still Peter knew his weakness. He said, “Lord, Thou knowest that I am attached to Thee.”
For the third time, the Lord said, “Art thou attached to Me?” Peter was grieved. He said, “Lord, Thou knowest all things. Thou knowest how I am attached to Thee.”
Then the Lord said, “When you were young, you went wherever you wanted to. But when you are old, people will gird you and take you to the place where you do not desire.” This spoke of Peter’s death.
In other words, even though Peter failed to follow the Lord in death, the Lord restored him and filled him with His life, so that eventually Peter would be able to follow the Lord even unto death.
I think we all know the story. When they wanted to crucify Peter, Peter said, “I am not worthy to be crucified as my Lord was crucified. Crucify me upside down.”
And the Lord said, “Follow Me.”
The first call to follow is the call to follow Him in life. Now the second call is: follow Him in death.
Brothers and sisters, are we following Him? It may not be a physical death, but it is a crucifixion of self. We need to have ourselves crucified; otherwise, we cannot follow the Lord all the way.
Peter failed because he followed the Lord at a distance. After the Lord was arrested, he fled. He came back, but he followed at a distance. You know, when you follow at a distance, you are in trouble. You have to follow Him closely, step by step.
So Peter started to follow the Lord, and then he looked back. He saw another one—the one whom Jesus loved—also following. Peter said, “Lord, I am following You. What about this man? Will he follow You to death just as I am?”
The Lord said, “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou Me.”
Brothers and sisters, following the Lord is, on the one hand, intensely personal. You follow the Lord. It does not matter what happens to others.
Sometimes we look around and say, “How about this person? What about that person?” It is as if this or that person will affect our following of the Lord. Truly, if you look at other people, you will be affected.
“Why is it that I have to follow the Lord to death and he is going to live?” The Lord says, “It is not something for you to consider. This is My prerogative. If I want him to live until I come, what is that to you?”
Because of this word, a rumor went around that John would never die. But the Lord did not mean that. He simply meant, “It is My prerogative. It has nothing to do with you.”
How many brothers and sisters are affected by considering others? That slows you down. That makes you stop. That distracts you.
In following the Lord, it is intensely personal. You see nobody but the Lord Himself. You follow. The Lord takes care of all the rest.
But on the other hand, following the Lord never allows you to think you are alone. There is a multitude, a hundred and forty-four thousand. They are all following the Lord wherever He goes.
Dear brothers and sisters, what the Lord has spoken to my heart is this: here you have three calls to follow.
That is the way to follow Him. So may the Lord help us.
Dear Lord, it is the cry of our heart that, by Thy grace, we may be among those hundred and forty-four thousand who stand with Thee on Mount Zion.
O Lord, we know that we are unfit and unworthy, but we also know that Thou art able. So this morning we want to commit ourselves to Thee.
Lord, we are committed to Thee. We are committed to follow Thee wherever Thou goest. If it means more life, thank God. If it means death, Lord, enable us to follow.
We pray that our eyes will be set on Thee and Thee alone. And, to our surprise, we will find ourselves with the hundred and forty-four thousand.
O Lord, we pray that these words may really be used by Thy Spirit to encourage us to press on toward the goal. We worship Thee in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.