Revelation 14:1-5; 14-16.
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.
And I saw, and behold, a white cloud; and on the cloud I saw One sitting like unto a son of man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle.
And another angel came out from the temple, crying with a great voice to Him that sat on the cloud, Send forth Thy sickle, and reap: for the hour to reap is come; for the harvest of the earth is over-ripe.
And He that sat on the cloud cast His sickle upon the earth; and the earth was reaped.
We have been emphasizing one point, and that is how important it is that we have vision. Because without vision, the people perish.
Especially when we are living in the last of the last days, we need to have a new and fresh and living vision of our Lord Jesus—a vision of our Lord Jesus especially in relation to our time, a vision of our Lord Jesus concerning the end of this age.
And this, we believe, is given to us in the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation. In the book of Revelation, we find a series of visions concerning our Lord Jesus in relation to our days, the last days.
The first vision is found in Revelation 1. We see the Lord as a glorious Head to His Body, the church. We see the Lord as the High Priest serving in the heavenly sanctuary. That is the vision given in Revelation 1.
Then we find another vision given in Revelation 5: the risen Lord receiving from the hand of God the book, because He is worthy. He has overcome.
Then the third vision is found in Revelation 10: a strong Angel putting His feet on the sea and on the earth, declaring that there is no more delay. All the will of God shall be fulfilled very soon.
Now, this morning we would like to come to the fourth vision, and this is found in Revelation 14.
Again, we find this vision is related to the relationship of the Lord with His church. This vision is given in two parts.
In the first part, we find a Lamb standing on Mount Zion with one hundred and forty-four thousand. In the second part, we see One like the Son of Man sitting on a cloud and casting a sharp sickle to the earth to reap the harvest.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, we must remember that the Mount Zion here is not the Mount Zion on earth. There is a Mount Zion on earth, where David’s throne is, but this is Mount Zion in heaven, as we find in Hebrews 12. We now come to Mount Zion.
It is there where the throne of God is set. In Psalm 2:6, we find that God declared:
Yet I have set My king
Upon Zion, My holy hill.
God has anointed Christ as King on Mount Zion. We know this refers to the time when He ascended into heaven, and there He was anointed both as King and as Priest.
Mount Zion there is in heaven, and there we find our Lord Jesus on the throne. He is in authority. He is in power. He is in dominion.
The way to Mount Zion is by the way of the cross. Why? Because we see the Lamb there. As a Lamb, He was oppressed; He was afflicted; He never opened His mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep dumb before its shearers.
Through the sufferings of the cross, our Lord Jesus has arrived at Mount Zion in heaven. He is now in authority, in power, and in dominion.
In Revelation 5, when He ascended into heaven, we find Him as the Lamb standing as though newly slain. There He receives from the Father the book, but He was alone there.
But in Revelation 14, we find Him on Mount Zion, and He is not alone. He is there with one hundred and forty-four thousand.
You know, dear brothers and sisters, there is no need for our Lord Jesus to prove that He is the Victor, because He always is.
But the reason why we find that He proves that He is the Victor of Calvary is not for Himself. It is for us. It is because of His victory on Calvary’s cross.
He is able to bring many sons into glory. Glory belongs to Him; it always is His. But it is for our sake that He had to die. He had to be resurrected. He had to win that victory over Satan, over the world, over the flesh, over sin, over everything.
Because of what He has done on Calvary’s cross, He is now able to lead us, His many sons, into glory. We find it said in Hebrews 2 that God, for whom are all things and through whom are all things, should make the Author of our salvation perfect through sufferings in order that He might bring many sons into glory.
So, in Revelation 14, we find the Lamb standing on Mount Zion with one hundred and forty-four thousand. In other words, He has led many sons into glory.
Now, who are the one hundred and forty-four thousand? Of course, we know that in Revelation 7 we find the number one hundred and forty-four thousand, but that number is different from the number in Revelation 14.
In Revelation 7, the one hundred and forty-four thousand refers to the children of Israel. We have the names of the tribes of Israel mentioned, and they have the seal of the living God upon their foreheads.
They are the remnant of the Jews whom God will keep through the great tribulation—Jacob’s trouble. But here, the one hundred and forty-four thousand is different.
Now, who are the one hundred and forty-four thousand here? We find a sevenfold description of who these people really are.
First of all, we find in Revelation 14:1, “with Him a hundred and forty and four thousand, having His name, and the name of His Father, written on their foreheads.”
On the foreheads of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, there is the name of the Lamb and the name of the Father written upon them—not only the name of the living God, but the name of the Lamb and of His Father.
Now, we know that when you put a name upon anything, it shows that that thing belongs to the one whose name is placed upon it. So here you find the one hundred and forty-four thousand: they belong to the Lamb and to His Father.
He has bought us with a price, even with His precious blood. So now we belong to Him, and we belong to His Father.
When you put a name upon the forehead, everybody can see it. In other words, these people belong to the Lamb and to the Father, and they openly and publicly confess that they are the Lamb’s and the Father’s.
You remember our Lord Jesus said that if you confess Him before the world, He will confess you before the Father and before the angels. So here are people who not only belong to the Lord, but who confess the name of the Lord and of the Father publicly.
They are not ashamed to confess that they belong to the Lamb and to the Father. That is the first description.
The second description is in Revelation 14:2. The voice which John heard was as of harpers harping with their harps, and they sang a new song.
They are harpers. In other words, they are not only playing the harp with their hands, but they are singing with their mouths a new song.
Now, you know, a harp is a kind of musical instrument. We call it the instrument of the heart. Why? Because as your hands and fingers touch the strings of the harp, it is as if you are touching the strings of your heart.
It is a heart instrument. In other words, they play music from their very hearts. It is out of the fullness of their hearts that this music comes forth, and they sing a new song.
It is a song that nobody knows except these people. Even if you want to learn it, you will not be able to learn it except you learn it in the way they learned it.
You know, on the earth you have music, and you can learn it. If you are talented, certainly you can learn it. But here is a song that nobody can learn.
It is not a matter of musical talent. It is not a matter of a good ear. It is a matter of what you have gone through. If you have never gone through what these people have gone through—if you have never experienced the Lord in the way that they have experienced Him—you will not be able to sing that song, even if you want to.
They learn it in their lives. They learn it through their experiences of the Lord.
You know, in a sense, this is the way that we have the book of Psalms. Songs in the Bible are different from the music in this world. Why? Because songs in the Bible are the expressions of those who have experienced God in all circumstances.
Out of these circumstances, they know God in a way that nobody else knows. Out of such experience, they pour forth music in psalms.
Here is a new song that only those one hundred and forty-four thousand can sing. They play the harp and sing the song before the throne, before the living creatures, and before the twenty-four elders.
In other words, they sing and they play before God. What a privilege it is! Here is an orchestra and a choir, and here they play and sing before God. They sing unto God.
You know, when the president of this country entertains people, he may ask the Marine Band to come and play, or famous singers to come and sing. What a privilege it is to play before the president and his honored guests, and to play before people of high position. People consider that a privilege.
Dear brothers and sisters, we may not be called to the White House to sing and to play, but we are called to play and to sing before the throne. What a privilege that is!
Before the throne and the living creatures—the living creatures represent the whole creation, and the twenty-four elders represent the rulers of the universe. In other words, here you find that we are playing and singing with the universe listening to us, and God is pleased with what we sing and what we play.
What must be this new song? It must be a song of singing, praising, telling, proclaiming the love, the mercy, the great longsuffering faithfulness of God and of our Lord Jesus.
It is an endless new song. It will never grow old.
Thirdly, “These are they that were not defiled with women; for they are virgins.” Now, you cannot explain this in literal terms, because it is too spiritual and high for that.
In other words, here are people who have not been defiled. They are virgins.
They are the five wise virgins you find in Matthew 25. They are virgins because they have not been defiled.
You remember Paul told the Corinthian believers, “I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God. I have espoused you to Christ as a chaste virgin, and I am fearful lest the tempter has enticed you from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
Dear brothers and sisters, here you find the one hundred and forty-four thousand. They remain as chaste virgins to the One to whom they are betrothed.
They are chaste, pure, and single. They have not been enticed from the simplicity that is in Christ. Their hearts are wholly set upon the Lord.
Because of that, they are privileged to stay with the Lamb on Mount Zion.
Number four: “These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.”
Wherever the Lamb goes, these people go.
When the Lamb walked on earth, going through Gethsemane, going through Calvary, going through the cross, these people followed the Lamb. They followed the Lamb to the garden of Gethsemane. They followed the Lamb to Calvary. They followed the Lamb even to death.
Wherever the Lamb goes, it is not a matter that you choose where you go. If it suits you, you follow Him; if it does not suit you, you go your own way. Not so.
But these people, while they are on earth, follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes. Here, brothers and sisters, wherever the Lord goes, will you go with Him?
Will you go with Him if it means affliction? If it means suffering? If it means tribulations? If it means persecution? If it means death? If it means the loss of yourself in shame, disgrace, and reproach? Are you willing to follow the Lamb wherever He goes?
Sometimes the Lamb seems to go to a place of still waters and green pastures. But sometimes the Lamb will go through the valley of the shadow of death. Will we follow Him wherever He goes?
If we follow Him to the cross, here you find the one hundred and forty-four thousand brought into the throne. They follow Him wherever He goes.
Number five: “These were purchased from among men, to be the firstfruits unto God and unto the Lamb.”
Who are these people? They are the same wheat.
You know, you have a culture. Suppose you have a field of wheat. You will always find that, when the time comes, in that field you will have the firstfruits of the wheat.
In the whole field of wheat, you will have a patch which ripens first. Because it ripens first, it is cut first.
According to the law of Moses, when the firstfruits are ripened and cut, they are brought to the temple to offer to God before anybody can eat of them.
So, in other words, the firstfruits are always the best of the crop. The firstfruits are meant for God and for the Lamb.
Here you find that, of all the believers whom the Lord has bought with His precious blood, there will be the firstfruits of the believers. The firstfruits are those that are first ripened. The firstfruits are always the best, and the firstfruits are for God and for the Lamb.
They are presented to God and to the Lamb. That is why they are on Mount Zion. They are there.
You know, wheat, after the sun has caught it, when it is ripened, is dried. It is so dry, and the root is so loosened from the earth that when you pull it, it will come off.
Here you find the one hundred and forty-four thousand. They are ripened, and they arrive before the rest of the field. Why? Probably they suffer more than the rest for the Lord’s sake.
The rest may try to evade the cross, but these people follow the Lamb to the cross. Because of that, they are dried first. They are ready. Therefore, they are raptured and taken to Mount Zion.
Brothers and sisters, in Revelation 12 you find the man-child. When the man-child is born, he is taken to the throne. This is the one hundred and forty-four thousand here. They are there on Mount Zion.
Number six: “And in their mouth was found no lie.”
Why is it that this point seems to be labored here? In their mouth there was no lie found. Why is it so important?
The reason is that there is the word of their testimony. You remember in Revelation 12, they overcame Satan because of the blood of the Lamb, because of the word of their testimony, and because they loved not their lives even unto death.
The word of their testimony—these people have a testimony to give, and they utter their testimony.
What is the word of their testimony? The word of their testimony is that Jesus is the First and the Last and the Living One. He is the One who became dead, and behold, He lives forever and ever and has the keys of death and of Hades.
What is the word of that testimony? Jesus is Lord.
Whenever Satan is active, these people utter the words of their testimony, and Satan is defeated.
Because of this, how important is their mouth! If there is a lie in their mouth, the word of their testimony will not be able to overcome. But they speak the truth. What they say is true—not only objectively true, but subjectively true.
In other words, brothers and sisters, you may say something that is true, but if you have no experience of it, it is not so true. But when you say something that you have experienced, it is truly true—really true.
It is truly true. There is a fact to it. There is an impact to it.
I believe that is the meaning of there being no lie in them. They are not just saying something which is correct, but whatever they say they have experienced, and therefore there is power behind it.
How important it is that we have the word of our testimony.
The seventh description is that they are blameless.
You remember Ephesians 1:4: God has chosen us, even before the foundation of the world, in Christ Jesus, that we may be blameless before Him in love.
In Ephesians 5, you find that Christ will sanctify His church by the washing of water with the word, that He might present the church to Himself a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.
In other words, it is the purpose of God that we should be blameless before Him. There is nothing to be blamed.
How can we be blameless before Him? It is because of the blood. Oh, God! Oh, how He has cleansed us! He has cleansed us in such a way that we are now without blame. God cannot blame us anymore.
Another thing is His love. Because of His life, how He forgives us! He has a way to bring us to that place of being holy and blameless before God.
These are the sevenfold descriptions of the one hundred and forty-four thousand.
So, who are these one hundred and forty-four thousand? These one hundred and forty-four thousand represent the overcomers of the church.
One hundred and forty-four thousand is a multiple of twelve, and twelve is a perfect number. In other words, the one hundred and forty-four thousand represents the overcomers of the church through the ages.
If you want to take the one hundred and forty-four thousand literally, then you may say these represent the cream. Because they are the cream, therefore they represent the whole of the overcomers.
But I do not think you can take it literally, because this is taken in such a way that it is a perfect number. In other words, God will have His overcomers in perfect number, in fullness, in spite of everything that we see today.
You know, when we look at ourselves, when we look at the church of God in general, sometimes you wonder, “Will God ever have His overcomers? Will the number of the overcomers be fulfilled?”
But He knows how to get them, and He is getting them. Here you find one hundred and forty-four thousand standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion. There they are.
It is by the overcomers of the church that the kingdom is being introduced upon the earth. These are the overcomers.
How blessed it is that, by the grace of God, we may be ranked among the one hundred and forty-four thousand—in other words, that we may be among the overcomers of the church.
This is just part of the vision of our Lord Jesus, the Lamb, with one hundred and forty-four thousand. Then you come to the second part of that vision.
In the second part of the vision, you see, “I saw, and behold, a white cloud.”
You know the difference? In the first part, you see Mount Zion, which is the throne. But here you see the white cloud. On the cloud, One is sitting like the Son of Man.
In Matthew 24, our Lord Jesus says He will come with the clouds of heaven. In Matthew 26, when He testified before the Jewish council, He said, “Ye shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
In other words, our Lord Jesus shall come with the clouds of heaven. He will ride the cloud to come upon this earth.
So you can see that He has descended from Mount Zion to the cloud.
Maybe, for some, it is necessary for me to go back a little bit in order to help you understand this.
You know, when our Lord Jesus ascended up to heaven, He ascended into heaven on Mount Olivet. Probably five hundred brethren saw Him going up.
They saw Him taken up, and He began to ascend. As He ascended, they all looked up at Him. Then, after He ascended for a little distance, a cloud received Him. They could not see Him anymore.
The cloud was rising up and up and up, but they could not see Him because He was hidden by the cloud. But these men of Galilee still looked up and looked up and looked up, until two men in white appeared and said, “Men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven?”
“This Jesus, who was received up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye beheld Him going into heaven.”
In other words, the way that our Lord Jesus was taken up, He will come in the same way.
How was the Lord Jesus taken up? He was taken from the earth—from Mount Olivet—to the clouds. That is the first stage. The second stage is from the cloud to heaven, to the throne.
So He is coming back. He will come back in like manner. That is to say, He will descend from heaven to the clouds first, and then the second stage will be from the cloud to the earth, or Mount Olivet.
The one hundred and forty-four thousand were standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion in heaven. So, brothers and sisters, the firstfruits of the church are raptured to heaven, to the throne, with the Lamb there.
Then, after this has happened, you remember in Revelation 12 that when the man-child is taken up, there will be war in the air, because the air is where Satan has his headquarters.
There will be war in the air. Michael and his angels will fight with Satan and his followers, and there will be no more place for Satan in the air. Satan will be cast down upon the earth.
In other words, the air will be cleared. Why? So that the Lord may descend to the cloud, with the clouds of heaven, into the air.
Here you find our Lord Jesus has already descended to the clouds, but He is still sitting on the cloud. In other words, the cloud has not been broken up yet. Therefore, on earth, you cannot see Him. You still cannot see Him from earth.
But one day He will break the cloud and will be like lightning, so that everybody will see. Then He will descend upon the earth.
Now, why did He come to the cloud? Here you find He was like the Son of Man. Of course, we see this in Revelation 1. That is the Lord; there is no doubt about that.
But He has upon His head a golden crown. You know, something is interesting. In Revelation 1, you find that He was like a Son of Man, and yet there was no crown. His head and His hair were white as white wool, white as snow. You can see His hair, but there is no crown there.
Now why, then, do you find that here He is crowned?
In Hebrews 2, you find our Lord Jesus, after He has suffered death for everyone, is now crowned with glory and honor. In other words, so far as our Lord Jesus is concerned, He is already crowned.
He is crowned with glory and honor. But why is it that in Revelation 1 you find there is no crown there?
Because He is standing in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. There you see Him in relation to the church. It is in the beginning of the church, and the Lord is examining and looking at His church.
If His church is faithful, He will be crowned. You remember the promise to the overcomer: he who overcomes shall be crowned with a crown of life. In the church of Philadelphia, we are told, “Hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown.”
In other words, the reward is still in the future. Because our Lord Jesus is with His church, you find that He was not crowned, as if He is waiting to be crowned with us.
But here it is at the end of the church period, because the Lord is coming to reap the harvest. In other words, the casting has already been done. Who will be crowned and who will not be crowned is to be decided very shortly at the judgment seat of Christ.
Therefore, our Lord Jesus comes with a crown. He is crowned, and He is going to crown those who are faithful to Him.
Now He has in His hand a sharp sickle. In other words, He comes to reap—to reap the harvest. It is to reap the wheat.
Another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him that sat on the cloud, “Send forth Thy sickle, and reap; for the hour to reap is come, for the harvest of the earth is over-ripe.”
Even then, He is waiting for an order from the Father.
You remember our Lord Jesus said, “No one knows the day or the hour” of His coming—not angels, not men, not even the Son, but the Father.
His time is in God’s hand. He is waiting for an order from the Father, and when the order comes, then He casts the sickle and reaps the harvest.
God has a timetable. But God’s timetable is not mechanical.
That is to say, you do not set a year, a day, or an hour and say that the Lord will come in the year 2000, on January 1st. No. God’s timetable is not mechanical.
God has a timetable, but His timetable is spiritual. In other words, when the condition is fulfilled, then the time is come.
The time of harvest is come. Why? Because the harvest is dry.
When the harvest is dried, then the time of harvesting is come. The condition is fulfilled. That is God’s timetable.
Because of that, dear brothers and sisters, there is such a responsibility upon us.
Why is it that God’s time is still not coming? How often we say, “How long will You delay Your coming?” The cry of the church throughout the ages is, “How long?” Why is it so long, brothers and sisters?
It is because God’s timetable is living. It is based on condition. It is because the church is not yet ready. Therefore, He cannot come to reap it.
You cannot reap a field when the harvest is not dry. You have to wait, like a farmer waits patiently for the time to reap. Oh, how patiently a farmer will wait!
Sometimes you get anxious, but he cannot do anything. He has to wait. But when the harvest is ready, then the time of harvesting is come. How rejoicing he is!
Dear brothers and sisters, God is waiting—waiting for us to be dry.
Oh, we are too wet. We are too wet with the cares of this life, with the anxieties of life, with the riches of this world, with all other things. These things dilute us. We are not ripe enough to be cut.
But when we are dried, then the time is come, and the Lord will cast His sickle and harvest the harvest.
Of course, when He harvests them, He will take them to the cloud, to the sky, to the air. This is 1 Thessalonians 4.
In 1 Thessalonians 4, we find that when the last trumpet is sounded and the voice of the archangel is heard, all who are dead in Christ will be raised from the dead. Those who remain alive shall be changed, and we shall all be taken to meet the Lord in the air. This is what it is.
So, brothers and sisters, in this vision of our Lord Jesus, we find His relationship with the overcomers of the church, and we find His relationship with the rest of His church.
The point is: Do you know the Lord as the Lamb on Mount Zion, or do you only know Him as the Son of Man sitting on the cloud?
Will you be with the Lord on Mount Zion, or will you be with the Son of Man in the air?
It makes a great difference. That is the difference between the firstfruits and the harvest.
How we need to look to the Lord that by His grace—it is grace—we may allow His grace to have a free hand in our lives.
Grace can bring us to the first rank, to be overcomers, having to stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion.
Dear brothers and sisters, do not linger and linger with the things of this world until you have to pass through the great tribulation.
Thank God for the great tribulation. Why? Because the great tribulation is like the sun that causes the rest to dry.
If you are not willing to suffer with Him today, you may have to remain for the great tribulation to dry you. Thank God, it is still for a positive purpose.
We must dry. We must be dry. But why not today?
May the Lord have mercy on us. Shall we pray?
Our heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee for showing us Thy relationship with us in the last days.
For how Thou dost long that we may be the firstfruits, that we may be dried first, that we may be presented to Thee, even to Thy temple, for Thy purpose, for Thy satisfaction and joy.
O Lord, we pray that by grace we may be ranked among those. Do not allow us to love the world, to love ourselves, and to miss the opportunity.
Do not allow us to try to escape troubles and tribulations, to try to live for ourselves, and to go our own way, only to remain behind and be scorched by the sun of the great tribulation.
O Lord, give us wisdom, that we may have a wise heart, that we may follow Thee today. Wheresoever You go, we go. Where You are, we are. Where You stay, we stay.
We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.