Will you please turn to the book of Revelation, chapter 14? We will read the first five verses.
And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on 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 out of 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 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.
May we have a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, as we gather in Thy presence, our hearts bow in worship. Thou hast been so good to us. Thou hast kept us until now.
Lord, we are together in Thy name, knowing that Thy presence is here with us. Dear Lord, wilt Thou open our understanding, that when Thy words are given, they may fall into good ground, bearing fruit unto Thyself a hundredfold, to the glory of God?
We thank Thee for having met with us through these days, and we thank Thee for being with us this morning. We commit this time into Thy hand and pray that Thou wilt take full charge over the time.
We pray that Thy Holy Spirit will open Thy Word to our hearts. We pray that Thy Word will fall on good ground, bearing eternal fruit for Thyself, because Thou art worthy.
Lord, we covet Thy presence with us. Speak now, for Thy servants hear. We ask all in Thy precious name. Amen.
Thank God for bringing us into this day. He has been so gracious and merciful to us. He has been speaking to us and preparing us for His imminent return.
Dear brothers and sisters, whenever we think of our Lord, we thank Him because He has promised that He is coming back to take us to be with Him. He promised this even in the first century, and He has kept this promise through every century up to the present time.
Is it because the Lord does not want to return? Of course not. He, as the Bridegroom, is most anxious to come and receive His bride. But unfortunately, His bride has not been ready.
The Lord cannot marry a little girl who has not grown up into maturity to be His life companion. He has to see that His bride is ready, grown up, full of His stature, that she may be able to be wedded to Him.
So, brothers and sisters, it is evident: it is not we who are waiting for the Lord; it is the Lord who is waiting for us.
When He promised His disciples while He was on earth, He said, “I am coming. I am coming to take you with Me. Where I am, you shall be forever.” This promise He has kept through all the centuries.
He did not come during the first century. Why? Because His bride was not ready. And now we are in the twenty-first century. Century after century, our Lord has waited to return and claim His bride, but unfortunately, His bride is still not ready.
But, brothers and sisters, when we read the Scriptures, we realize that all the prophecies preceding the coming of the Lord have been fulfilled.
What remains to be fulfilled? The prophecies concerning His coming and what follows afterward—not before. So do not look for some prophecy to be fulfilled before you wake up. Brothers and sisters, this is the time that we wake up, knowing that the Lord can come at any moment.
If the Lord should come now, are you ready? Are you ready for Him?
Do not be like the wicked servant, thinking that the Lord will delay, and beginning to beat your fellow servants. The Lord shall come suddenly.
So, dear brothers and sisters, as we meet this morning, do you have the sense that the Lord may come today? Or are you thinking that the Lord shall delay, so that you can still continue to live your own lives until you realize that His coming is imminent?
Do not deceive yourselves. The Lord is coming. Every prophecy that precedes His return has been fulfilled. All that remains concerns His coming and what follows afterward—not before.
Again I will say: we are living in a most thrilling time. The Lord may come at any moment. But are you ready? Are we ready?
If the Lord should come today—and this is absolutely possible—do not think that because we are sitting here listening, we still have more time for ourselves. Brothers and sisters, do not deceive yourselves.
The Bible tells us that our Lord Jesus may come at any moment. What if it should be today? Are you ready? Are you prepared for Him?
When He shall come, one is taken and one is left. The one taken is the one who is ready for His return. But the one who is left is one who still lives for himself and is not ready for the coming of the Lord.
Which one are you? Are you the one who is ready at any moment? If the Lord should come now, thank God, you are ready to be taken to be with Him. But if you are not ready, and, like the wicked servant, think there is more time, woe to you should the Lord come today. You will be left.
You remember the story of the ten virgins. These were virgins, and the Bible tells us that virgins refer to those who have believed in the Lord Jesus.
Formerly, we were all adulterers. We had sinned greatly against God, and we deserved nothing but eternal death. But, brothers and sisters, the Lord has saved us. He has forgiven all our sins. He has made us virgins unto Himself.
The Bible tells us of ten virgins. Ten is the number of responsibility. These ten virgins represent the living believers on earth. They all go out to meet the Lord. They all have their torches with oil in them.
But the five wise virgins have extra oil in their vessels. Why? Because they believe that if the Lord should delay and the oil in the torch has gone out, they can replenish it with the extra oil in the vessel.
But the foolish virgins have oil in their torches. They all go out to meet the Lord, but in their vessels they put other things instead of oil. They think there are things more precious than oil.
At midnight, when the cry comes, “The bridegroom cometh,” they all rise up. In typology, these ten virgins represent Christians—true believers—throughout the centuries. In every century, believers are supposed to go out to meet the Lord.
Dear brothers and sisters, we are at the beginning of the twenty-first century. What are we going to do? The same: we are to prepare ourselves to go out to meet our Lord.
Thank God, we are living in a most thrilling time. I always feel that we are living in such a wonderful time. Why? Because our Lord’s return is imminent.
Are we sitting here peacefully, thinking that we have more time and can live for ourselves until we see some prophecy fulfilled, and then wake up and get ourselves ready? Brothers and sisters, if that is the case, we are foolish.
All the prophecies preceding the coming of the Lord have been fulfilled. There are yet prophecies to be fulfilled, but all these prophecies concern His coming and afterward—not before.
So let us wake up, realizing that we are living in a very thrilling time. The Lord may come at any moment, in our time. Should the Lord come today, are we ready? Are we prepared to meet Him face to face and not be ashamed?
This is the problem before each and every one of us. So, brothers and sisters, ask yourself: if the Lord should come today, are you ready? Are you ready to come before Him, or do you still think there will be time while you continue living for yourself?
Any moment means that from now on, anything can happen. But are you ready? Are we ready? Are we prepared to meet the Lord and be taken into His kingdom?
Or will we be like the foolish virgins? They did not have extra oil in their vessels. They considered other things more precious than extra oil. But when the Lord delayed and, at midnight, the cry came that the Lord had returned, they rose up and found that their torches had died. They had no extra oil to rekindle their torches in order to go and meet the Lord.
When they went to buy extra oil, I often wonder where they did buy it. I do not think they did. But when they came back, the door was closed.
They were cast into outer darkness, and there will be gnashing of teeth, which means repentance. So, brothers and sisters, it is far better if we repent today than wait until that time, when we will be cast out and repent. It will be a little too late.
My burden is this: are we ready for the Lord’s return? The Lord may come today, may come tomorrow, or may come sometime later. We do not know. It is not because the Lord does not want to return. Is there any bridegroom who is not anxious to meet his bride?
So, on this last day of our fellowship, I would like to consider Revelation 14. As we look into the last book of the Bible, we find that its theme is very clear: the Lord is calling for overcomers.
Dear brothers and sisters, our Lord, while He was on earth, overcame. He cast out demons. He led captive all those who belonged to the enemy and made a public show of them. He is the Conqueror.
Now He calls those who follow Him, those who believe in Him, to be overcomers. If you read the last book of the Bible carefully, you will find that the thought of overcomers is throughout that book. This is the last message God gives to His people.
Have we heard this last message? Overcome, as He has overcome.
Sometimes you wonder why we are living in such a miserable world, such a difficult world, such a hard world. Why did the Lord not rapture us as soon as we were saved? Then, we might think, we would enjoy Him forever and ever.
But the Lord knows better. He knows there is much in us that needs to be dealt with: our self, self-centeredness, and self-interest. We need to be delivered from ourselves and be filled with Christ Jesus.
May I ask you a question: How is your life today? Do you live for Christ, or do you live for yourselves? Are you filled with Christ, or are you filled with the things of this world, thinking that the Lord will delay?
As the Bible says, the wicked servant begins to beat his fellow believers; then the Lord suddenly returns. Oh, brothers and sisters, this is the time that we wake up.
The message throughout the book of Revelation is clear: overcome. The Bible tells us to be overcomers because our Lord is the Overcomer.
He has overcome. While He was on earth, He overcame Satan and all the works of the enemy. He made a public show of them. Our Lord is the Victor of Calvary, and because of this, He expects all those who follow Him to be overcomers.
The question today is this: Are you an overcomer? One who overcomes yourself, one who overcomes the self-life within you, one who overcomes the work of the enemy in your life, one who is totally dedicated to the Lord and ready to receive Him at His coming.
Brothers and sisters, this is urgent. This is not something casual. You have to think deeply about it. Are you ready for His return? Are you an overcomer, as our Lord Jesus is the Overcomer?
Do you overcome the self-life in you? Do you overcome the work of the enemy in your soul? Do you really dedicate yourself completely to the Lord and follow Him, ready for His return? This is what the book of Revelation shows us.
When you read Revelation 2 and 3, we see the seven churches in Asia. They were in the first century, and during that century, what was their call? To every church, the call was: “Overcome. He that overcometh.”
Why is it that the Lord has not yet come? I believe you must have asked this question. The answer is not in the Lord; the answer is in us.
The Bridegroom delays His return not because He is not anxious to return. No. Even in the first century, He promised that He would return. But why are we now in the twenty-first century, and the Lord has not yet come? The cause is not in Him. The cause is in us, because we are not ready.
In the whole book of Revelation, you find the message is to overcome. In Revelation 2 and 3, the seven churches in Asia were addressed toward the end of the first century. To every church, whether that church was faithful or whether it was a failure, at the end there was the call to overcome.
The Lord expects us to be overcomers. Do not blame your environment. If you live in a better environment, like the church in Philadelphia, it may be easier for you to be an overcomer. But, brothers and sisters, even in a church like Laodicea, you should be an overcomer.
What is it to overcome? To overcome yourself; to overcome the self-life in you; to overcome all the works of the enemy in your self-life.
If you are willing to lay down yourself, commit yourself completely to the Lord, allow Him to be your Lord, and follow Him faithfully, then you will be an overcomer.
Whatever church believers were in during that time—whether a good church or a bad church—the call was the same: to overcome. Those who overcome will inherit the kingdom that is to come.
The promises and rewards of the overcomers in Revelation 2 and 3 refer to the kingdom age. During the kingdom age, those who overcome will reign with Christ for a thousand years.
Brothers and sisters, a thousand years is a long time. No one lives a thousand years today. But to live a thousand years reigning with Christ during the millennium is such a reward, such a glory.
But if we are not ready for His return—again, I want to emphasize—the Lord may come today. What if He should come this afternoon? What will happen to us?
Hopefully, brothers and sisters, there will be none left behind. We all will be taken and share the glory of the kingdom during that millennium time.
But woe to those foolish virgins. They did not prepare extra oil. You know, they are saved, but barely saved. When the Lord delayed, their oil went out and their torches went out. They could not enter into the kingdom; they would be cast into outer darkness.
Everybody is interested in outer darkness, as if we are interested in the negative more than the positive. Is that not strange? But in outer darkness there is gnashing of teeth, which means repentance.
If we do not repent today, we will have to repent during the millennium time. Remember, it is a thousand years.
Wherever the Lord may put you, He wants you to be faithful to Him. Do not look for a better environment. Our environment is determined by the Lord. He allows us to pass through things because He knows what He is doing. He wants us to be completed.
Whom He foreknew, He also predestinated;
whom He predestinated, He also called;
whom He called, He also justified;
and whom He justified, He also glorified.
His thought toward us is precious. He who has saved us will save us to the uttermost. He will not save us half-done. God’s will is that we may be perfected, as He is perfect.
When you read Revelation 7, in the latter part, you find a countless multitude standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion. The Mount Zion here does not refer to Zion on earth, where David set up his kingdom, but to the heavenly Zion, where God will establish His kingdom.
There you find countless people—you cannot count them—and they all have the mark of God and of the Lamb upon their foreheads. In other words, they are out-and-out Christians, not hidden Christians.
They are clothed with white clothing, which refers to Christ our righteousness. They all have palm branches in their hands. Palm branches represent victory. They are there proclaiming the victory of the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, these are the people, the overcomers through the ages. Thank God, they are countless. Even though, when we look at overcomers, they seem to be few, a minority, throughout the centuries, in every century, God has had His overcomers.
Then you come to Revelation 12. You find a man-child to be born. Brothers and sisters, this is our time. The church has failed, but out of the church God will raise up the overcomers, like the man-child to be born.
Of course, there are differing interpretations of Revelation 12. Some think that the child stands for our Lord Jesus, but that cannot be. Why? Because when the man-child was born, he was immediately caught up to the third heaven. But when our Lord Jesus was born on earth, He lived on earth thirty-three and a half years.
So this man-child represents the overcomers toward the end of this age. In other words, this man-child represents you and me; it represents us here. We are supposed to be that man-child.
The target of God’s enemy is no longer the church as a whole, because the church as a whole has failed. But thank God, through all the tumults and troubles in the church, she is bearing a man-child.
In Revelation 12, you find that Satan’s attention is not toward the woman, which represents the church at the end of the age. His whole attention is toward the man-child to be born, because he knows that if the man-child should be born, that will be his end.
This man-child represents the overcomers and the coming of the Lord. We are in that time.
Today we are expecting to be raptured. We have passed through deep troubles, but out of these troubles we learn our lessons. By the grace of God, we try to be faithful, obey the Holy Spirit, cooperate with Him, and allow Him to work deeply in our lives, that we may be totally His.
Are we living in such a way? If so, brothers and sisters, there is no fear. We are waiting to be raptured at any moment. Who knows? We are here this morning; where will we be this afternoon? Nobody knows. Only God knows.
If the time is right, the rapture will happen at any moment. How good it would be if, even in the afternoon, this auditorium were emptied. None would be left behind; everyone would be raptured.
To be raptured is to get through the air into the third heaven. The air today is where the enemy of God has his headquarters. To be able to get through his headquarters to get to the third heaven means victory. It means that in their lives they have overcome the enemy.
Brothers and sisters, this is a picture of us today. Are we within the man-child? Have we overcome the enemy? Are we able to get through his territory and up to the third heaven to meet the Lord and lead Him back to this earth? What a privilege that must be.
Do you admire it? Do you want it? Do you have a part in it? I suppose you do. But if that is the case, how can we be a man-child today?
We have to consecrate ourselves totally to Christ, allow Him to work in our lives, deal with our soul-life, and deal with all the works of the enemy in our lives until Christ is fully formed. Thus, we become the man-child.
In Revelation 12, it tells us the secret of their victory. It says they overcame the enemy by the blood of the Lamb.
In other words, they knew the preciousness of the blood of the Lamb. It is not merely that they had been saved by the blood of the Lamb; we need to be saved continually by the blood of the Lamb.
I suppose you must have heard this story of Martin Luther, the Reformer, who was greatly used by God. One day he dreamed a dream. He saw Satan come to him, bringing with him a scroll, a book. The name of the book was The Sins of Martin Luther.
The book was filled with words describing his sins. Satan came to Martin Luther and said, “Look at this. This is what you are. You used to be a reformer.”
Thank God, Martin Luther knew the Lord. He took a red pencil and wrote upon it, “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.” And Satan disappeared.
May this be our testimony.
Oh, dear brothers and sisters, I cannot make it more urgent. We are living at this crucial time. If the Lord should come today, you will either be taken or you will be left.
It all depends on whether today you are willing to give yourself completely to the Lord and allow the Lord to work out His full salvation in you.
Revelation 12 says that they overcame Satan by the blood of the Lamb. We need the blood of the Lamb at every moment. Do not think that because you have believed in the blood of the Lamb and have had your sins forgiven, this is something only of the past. No, brothers and sisters, we need the blood of the Lamb every moment of our lives.
They overcame Satan because of the word of their testimony. They had a testimony to give, and they spoke the word, not something hidden. When they spoke the word, there was power in the word because they lived such a life.
They loved not their soul-life even unto death. They were willing to give up their soul-life to the Lord, to follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes. Brothers and sisters, these will be the overcomers at this hour. The Lord is coming soon.
If He comes this afternoon, are you ready?
When you read Revelation 14, you find one hundred and forty-four thousand standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion. This is not Mount Zion on earth, where the throne of David is, but it is Mount Zion in heaven, where Christ is enthroned.
There you find one hundred and forty-four thousand standing with the Lord on that mountain. Jehovah’s Witnesses have a strange teaching. They say that the number one hundred and forty-four thousand has already been fulfilled, so if you become a Jehovah’s Witness today, you are a second-class citizen. Is that not absurd?
I believe that the one hundred and forty-four thousand is not a literal complete number. It cannot be that there will be only one hundred and forty-four thousand overcomers throughout the ages.
One hundred and forty-four thousand is a multiple of twelve. Twelve is a perfect number, and one hundred and forty-four thousand is a multiple of the number twelve. In other words, they have been perfected by the Lord.
This one hundred and forty-four thousand has the name of the Father and the Lord’s name written upon their foreheads. If anything is on your forehead, it is visible to anybody.
Today we find many Christians trying to hide their faith. But here you find these people, these overcomers, openly confessing the Lord Jesus. They may suffer for it, and yet they are faithful to the Lord.
They have the name of the Father and of the Lord upon their foreheads. Everybody can see that they are the Lord’s. This is their public testimony.
John said, “I heard a voice out of heaven, as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of great thunder; and the voice which I heard was as of harpers harping with their harps.”
Brothers and sisters, we know what a harp is. A harp is soul music. It is not something outward; it is from within. So you find these overcomers, during their lifetime, have learned a new song—a song that only they have learned in their lives.
They learned it through the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
In Revelation 14:4, it says:
These are they that were not defiled with women; for they are virgins.
These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.
What is meant here is that they are virgins in the sight of God because they have dedicated themselves totally to the Lord.
Wherever the Lamb goes, they go. This is their life. They have been purchased from among men as firstfruits unto God and unto the Lamb. They are the firstfruits to God.
In their mouth was found no lie. They are honest in the Lord. It concludes by saying that they are blameless—blameless by the grace of God in the sight of God.
So, brothers and sisters, these are the overcomers of the ages. It is my hope that every one of us here will be among that rank. None will be excepted. This is our prayer before the Lord.
Dear brothers and sisters, may I finally emphasize: the Lord is coming. Are you ready?
If you are ready, like those of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, then when He shall come, you will be raptured into the third heaven and be with Him. You will be used by Him to bring the Lord back to this earth to begin the millennial kingdom.
If you are not in that rank, how sad it will be. But, dear brothers and sisters, thank God: no matter what we are, He who has saved us will save us to the uttermost.
In Romans 8, we are told that whom He has foreknown, He has justified; whom He has justified, He has sanctified. In other words, if the Lord’s mercy comes upon you, He will not leave you until that work is done.
We thank God. We who are here this morning, I believe, the Lord has already laid His hand upon us. He has already saved us, and He will save us to the uttermost.
Eventually, we will all be kings with the Lord in His eternal kingdom. But today is the test. So, brothers and sisters, are we ready? Are we prepared to be raptured?
Again, I want to emphasize: it may happen at any time. May the Lord have mercy upon all of us, that if He should return, we will all be raptured. The place will be emptied, to the glory of God.
This is the burden of our heart. May the Lord have mercy upon each and every one of us. Let us pray.
Dear Lord, we want to thank Thee, for Thou hast saved us and wilt save us to the uttermost.
Sometimes we may be complacent, but Thou art always faithful. In spite of all our failures, Thou wilt continue to work in our lives. If not today, then during the kingdom age, until all of us, as the Bible says, shall be kings reigning with Christ for the glory of God.
Oh, dear Lord, how we want to thank Thee for all the mercies and grace that Thou hast so bestowed upon us. As we gather here this morning, we want to give Thee all the glory. In Thy precious name, Amen.