After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried, with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. Revelation 7: 9-12, KJV.
Gracious God, as we come into Your presence today, we ask for the guidance of Your Holy Spirit as we study Your Word. Please come divinely close, and teach us. In the holy name of Jesus we humbly pray. Amen.
I would like to explain to those who joined our study yesterday, and/or today, that our study is not about the one hundred and forty-four thousand, it is about the numberless multitude from every nation and kindred, and people, and tongue. It is about people from every walk of life, who will be saved by grace, through faith in the atoning sacrifice of the Lamb of God, which takes away the sins of the world!
Why then are we studying the characteristics of the one hundred and forty four thousand? I decided that it might be a good idea to take a close look at the characteristics of this group because we can become so caught up with wanting to be a part of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, that we lose the joy of following the Lamb, just because of love! We want people to know that the characteristics of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, are really the characteristics of those who are saved by grace! All of us today, in the here and now, can allow Jesus, to live His life in us! So let us continue looking at the last characteristic that is mentioned, of the one hundred and forty-four thousand:
“And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.” Here we find that this group possess another characteristic of Jesus the Savior. He is “The Way the Truth and The Life” (John 14: 6, emphasis provided)! They could find no fault in Him! “Pilate said to Him, ‘What is truth?’ And when He had said this, He went out again to the Jews, and said to them, ‘I find no fault in Him at all’ ” (John 18: 38). Wouldn’t it be wonderful if it could be said of Jesus’ followers here on earth, “They are such kind folk, we find no fault in them?” God’s people, right here and right now, here on earth, are honest people. We do not become honest after we get to heaven. We do not stop lying, and slandering, and backbiting, after following the Lamb, in heaven. We become free from deceit, because we begin following the Lamb wherever He goes, today! We walk like Him, and we talk, like Him, and we love, like Him, now, because we have the mind of Christ today, as we mentioned at the beginning of the series! We follow Him on earth, and simply continue to follow Him, in the earth made new! Hallelujah!
Perhaps, it would help us to pay attention to what we are asking when we pray: “Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6: 10b). It might be a good mental exercise to try to imagine the kind of people who we will be spending eternity with. I imagine that these are people who have the mind of Christ. These are people who love Jesus and love others. These are people who are not deceitful, and by God’s grace, endeavor to be truthful in all their dealings with others. They are always willing to see the best in others, and when this is not readily visible, they would rather be silent. Do you know someone like that? I do! Daily, I see people who are following “the Lamb wherever He goes!”
My dear brothers and sisters, let us not lose “the joy of our salvation” by worrying if we are going to be a part of the one hundred and forty-four thousand. Instead, let us [love, and] follow the Lamb wherever He goes” here on earth. Then just praise Him for saving us by His wonderful grace!