A Message
For a moment, let us consider Chapter 1 so that we may see why all this revelation of understanding was given. I am afraid too many people feel that God has given us understanding so that we might be more intelligent, but that is NOT the reason for the Revelation. Let's read what Jesus said in Revelation 1:11. ...I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia...

Now the reason for this whole vision, my friends, was for John to write down what he saw and send it to The Church. Symbolically speaking, it was to be sent to the seven churches in Asia, but anyone who ever studied those seven churches knows they represent the whole Gospel Day. The situations of those churches fit the situations of every congregation over the face of this globe.

John was to write down in a book what he saw and send it to the churches. Why? You will notice at the ending of EACH of the seven letters, Jesus said, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches...

Also, a promise was given in each letter to "him that overcometh". There was something in each letter that if anyone had a spiritual ear and had it tuned, they would hear something. The word HEAR in the Greek translation actually means, "to take heed". In other words, when God gets the message TO you, IF you have Spiritual Understanding to comprehend what it means, then HEED (do/perform/obey/conform with) what it says. If you HEED what it says, you will be given the power to overcome whatever you have been held under, or whatever problem has been existing. I want you to see why the Revelation was given.

Jesus said in Revelation 13:9, If any man have an ear, let him hear. (Again, "hear" is "heed".) Who could truthfully sit, listen to and understand about this great apostasy, about these deceptive powers that call themselves Christianity, but are corrupt and rotten to the core, and STILL STAY IN IT? This is the message, and it is given to you for a purpose. He shows you the corruption of Papalism and the falsity of Protestantism so that you might overcome them! It is not just to give you understanding. If you are spirtual enough to understand, if God has showed you the picture, then you need to overcome it! You need to flee the thing and take a stand against it.

Someone may say, "There is no doubt many who would seemingly like to take a stand, but they do not know where to go." Well, this message is for them. There is ONLY ONE PLACE you can go to overcome Babylon (false religion). There is no confusion. There is ONLY ONE PLACE you can go to have victory over the beast, his image, his mark, his number and his name. If you have an ear to hear, then HEED. God is calling His people out of those places. The message which describes the sad condition that goes on in those systems is not given to run people down: God only describes it in order to get HIS people out. That is the ONLY reason. So He says, If any man have an ear, let him hear.

After The Apostasy
Following this sad condition, this message shifts to a Lamb on Mount Zion and the 144,000 with Him there, with the Father's name written in their foreheads. When we begin to consider the 144,000, people's minds usually go this way, that way or some other. Somebody has probably been at your door before, trying to sell you a book, or give it to you. Before they finished with their dialogue, they told you there were only going to be that number saved in the end. I asked them, "Are you one of that number?" They answered, "No, I am not one of them; I got in too late. They were already saved before I ever heard about it." "Well," I said, "Then you have no message for me."

Let's get into the Word of God and see what it teaches. In the fourteenth Chapter of Revelation, John is getting a bright, clear picture of the Church of God (the Body of Christ) beyond the apostasy. Now we have viewed The Church from the beginning. We saw her in her pristine glory; then while human religions reigned, The True Church was cast down. For 1260 years, she was in the wilderness. Every time she began to come forth a little, men with their human teachings turned people right around and caused them to join a human organization and build an image to the beast.

It was this way until approximately 1880, when God sent forth men with the truth of God's Eternal Word. He began to let them see that The Word and the Spirit were the TRUE VICARS of God. He began to call them back to the One Church that Jesus built in the very beginning. When that happened, thank God, the church began to come out of obscurity and back into a visible state, where man could look upon her.

John said, And I looked.... I want to say right here: there is no one so blind as people who want to be blind. Years ago, a popular secular song said, "There is none so blind as he who will NOT see..." Truer words were never spoken. There would be more people who could see the church if they would but look! When John looked, he said, "Lo," which means "behold" or "see". John had been seeing dragons, beasts, false prophets, the saints being persecuted and tortured, the truth being mutilated and Bibles burned, but when he got to this part of the vision, he said, ...I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. Revelation 14:1.

We are focusing this teaching to The True Church after the apostasy is over. This picture is going to show us that she is just as pure, just as complete, just as straight, and just as powerful as she was in the morning time. Mark this down, Friends: when you see the true Church of God, she will be the same. She does not change in her doctrines, her truths, her living, her zeal, or anything you want to mention about her. She stays the same. John was receiving a vision of The Church over here on our side of the apostasy.

God Sealed His Church
Some may question, "Why is the number 144,000 used?" Back in the seventh chapter, the same number is used. If you will read the first three verses, you will see that God saw this terrible blight was going to come upon the people of God: nd after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. Revelation 7:1-3.

Those four angels were four periods of time that were going to hurt the earth just like a blistering wind. In symbolic language, just as a blistering wind will kill the trees and hurt the grass, even so the winds of the earth (false doctrines, every wind of doctrine, or earthly doctrine) will wither the hearts and souls of men and women.

Before all these winds which would wither and kill true Christianity, God sent an angel to seal His true people. How did He seal them? He sealed them with the Father's name IN their foreheads, not ON their foreheads. "In their foreheads" means that it gave them understanding of what it truly meant to be a child of God. It gave them understanding of what it meant to truly bear the Father's name. In order for you to have God write the Father's name IN your forehead, you must have the Father's image IN your heart. So, my friends, the people were sealed.

If you will read right on, you will see that He sealed twelve thousand out of each of the twelve tribes of Israel. Twelve thousand of each of the twelve tribes of Israel were sealed--that makes up the 144,000. When you put it all together, you see that God sealed a complete Israel. He sealed The Church back there before the many winds so that The Church could be sealed and complete and come out complete over here in the evening time. To prove that it happened, when they went in He sealed 144,000, symbolizing a completeness. When they came out, John saw 144,000--just as complete. The Church was just as complete (perfect) when she came out as when she went in.

A New Covenant Brought A New People
I know when we talk about the tribes of Israel, people are so bound with the thought of literal Israel that they fail to realize that the Revelation is a symbolic book. This is a symbolic picture of a true, complete Israel. In order to understand the New Testament and the Revelation, you have to realize that literal Israel, as far as the New Testament is concerned, was only a figure, or type, of spiritual Israel.

The reason people become confused is because they fail to grasp the truth that with a new covenant, it brought a new people. Literal Israel became a type of Spiritual Israel, and all through the New Testament, the comparisons are made over and over. Considering literal Israel, a physical Jew was a Jew by birth, physical circumcision, and obedience to the Law of Moses. A spiritual Jew, however, is one who has had a new birth (been born again), had circumcision of the heart, and is obedient to the Law of Christ. Romans, Chapter 2, shows you that the change has been made. He let us know that he is NOT a Jew who is one outwardly, whose circumcision is that of the flesh, but HE IS A JEW WHO is one inwardly, whose circumcision is that of the heart, who walks not after the flesh but after the Spirit.

We have to own the fact that is decisively wrong to offer false hope for literal Israel, or the Jewish nation, as being God's chosen people. When we understand the Bible, the physical Jews are placed on an equal basis as the Gentiles: there is NOT a BIT of difference between them in the New Covenant. The physical Jew has to repent and come in through the same door of Jesus Christ as does the Gentile! So, when we speak about tribes of Israel, a temple, and all these things in the New Testament and the Revelation, we are talking about a New Testament temple. Old Israel is only brought up to show you the type to give you understanding of what he is talking about.

James, a New Testament Epistle, was written to the twelve tribes scattered abroad, but it was written to all Christians. There he addressed New Testament Christians as the twelve tribes; it was not written jut to Old Testament Israel. James used figurative speech and addressed the letters to the twelve tribes, but he was writing to people who were born again--who were Christians. He was teaching us how to overcome temptation and how to live holy, but he addressed the letter to the twelve tribes.

No Difference Between Jews And Gentiles
We have to nail down the fact that when he talks about the tribes of Israel in the Revelation, he is talking about the New Testament Israel. The picture is that God sealed up the church here; even though many individuals apostatized, as far as the church is concerned, she came out just as completely as she went in.

In Galatians 3:26-28, Paul makes it plain that there is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile: For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. When it speaks of "baptism in Christ", it is not speaking of water baptism. I Corinthians 12:13 tells us, For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.. My friends, the old distinction of difference between Jew and Gentile (Greek) was lost through the new covenant. There is no difference now between the Jew and the Greek, for Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3: 22,23.

The 144,000 is a symbolic number to delineate the church, even as 666 delineates the beast. So, in the seventh chapter of Revelation, they were sealed. God protected The Church. The twelfth chapter teaches us that He nourished and protected her in the wilderness; as far as the seed church was concerned, when she came out, she was a complete as when she went into the wilderness.

Someone might contend, "I do not think that means the church of the evening time. I think this number refers to people over in Heaven. I think it is this, that or the other." All you have to do is consider these people to see that it is a picture of the Church of God (body of Christ). My friends, there are named; they had the Father's name IN their foreheads.

Revelation 14:4 tells us, These are they which were not defiled with women... These are they which follow the Lamb... These were redeemed from among men... As he talks about the 144,000, he brings out many of the definite truths which make The Church the Church of God. When we fail to meet these requirements, we are NOT The Church. Now, I believe in the right name, but all you have to do is study history to know that you have to have MORE than just a name!

The Lion And The Lamb
Verse 1 says, And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. This does away with any thought of this happening beyond the second coming of Christ. It has to be on this side of the second coming of Christ because Christ is still symbolized as a lamb. In Revelation, Chapter 5, when John was caught up in the Spirit to the very throne of God, he saw a book, written on the inside and the outside. They looked all over Heaven and all over earth and under the earth, but they could not find any man worthy to open the book or to look thereon. When John wept, one of the elders said unto him, ...Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, (Jesus Christ) hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I (John) beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb... Revelation 5:5,6.

I want you to see that He is the Lion of the Tribe of Juda, but He became a Lamb to open the plan of salvation. When we talk about the book being opened and the seals being loosed, we are talking about the plan of salvation being opened. In the truest technical sense, right there is where the Lion lay down with the Lamb. John saw the Lion of the tribe of Juda, but the next thing he saw was a Lamb as it had been slain. The Lamb portrays the sacrificial Christ offering Himself for a lost and dying world.

Hebrews 9:26-28, talking about Christ offering Himself, tells us: For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Now let me quote that last verse "in the Greek" for you: "He will appear the second time, not carrying any burden for, or having to deal with sin in ANY form." Now, when He comes again, He is NOT coming as a Lamb. He will be your Judge. Everything that deals with anything beyond the second coming of Jesus Christ puts Him in the position of Judge, NOT Lamb. A lot of people would LIKE TO THINK that after He comes again, they will be able to go up to Him--Him as a Lamb--and plead their case, but that is NOT the TRUE PICTURE!!!

The Lion of the Tribe of Juda became a Lamb, and He has offered Himself down through the hundreds of years of time. Just as it is appointed unto man once to die, even so He appeared once, and He will appear the second time. There are NOT three or four times--He appeared the first time, and there is a SECOND coming. The first time was as Savior--the second time will be as Judge. When He comes this time, He will NOT be carrying any sacrifice for sin. He will not even be dealing with sin--He will be coming as your JUDGE!

Standing With Jesus
The very fact that in this vision we see a Lamb proves that it has to be somewhere on THIS SIDE of the second coming of Christ. It not only has to be somewhere on this side of the second coming of Christ, but it also has to be somewhere on this side of the apostasy, because it was after he saw the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet that he saw this vision. It pinpoints to the closing days of time beyond A.D. 1880. When D.S. Warner and others began to see the truth of the unity of God's people and people began to gather back on Mount Zion, the Lamb, Christ Jesus, was standing right with them. Brothers and Sisters, IF we will stand with Him in TRUTH, He WILL STAND WITH US!

John said, "And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion..." Again, I want you to understand that literal Zion is out of the question because Jesus' feet will NEVER AGAIN touch the earth. When God says, "It is enough!" one of these days, the Bible tells us Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. I Thessalonians 4:17. When we talk about a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, we are speaking of spiritual Zion. It is New Testament Zion, The Church.

Notice verse two of Revelation, Chapter 14: And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps. Revelation 1:15 tells us that when Jesus appeared to John and spoke, it was as the voice of "many waters". So the voice of many waters is a symbol of the voice of Jesus. The "voice of a great thunder" is the voice of God. If you hear the sweet voice of Jesus just as He talked to John, the voice of many waters, you hear the voice of God that spoke out of Heaven, symbolized by thunder.

In Hebrews 12:22-24, Paul wrote to people just as human as you and I. People who had never become immortal, who were still living in these temples of clay, right here on the earth. He said, But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant...

Brothers and Sisters, when you come to Mount Zion, you come to Jesus. Jesus is not everywhere that people say He is. I am not degrading the fact taht if He is in your heart, you may take Him different places, but as far as hearing His voice in the assembly of modern religion and Christendom, you are NOT hearing the voice of God. You are only hearing the dragon changing his voice to make it sound like God, but you MUST COME TO MOUNT ZION if you hear the voice of God and the voice of Jesus. When you come to Mount Zion, you have come to the heavenly Jerusalem, The Church of the Firstborn, to God and to Jesus.