those questions such as origin, meaning, morality, and destiny, those big questions like who am I? Why am I here? What's right? What's wrong? How do I know whether I'm doing the right thing with my life, knowing what their purpose in life is? Well, the Bible answers that. It gives us a metanarrative. A metanarrative is this overarching Theme, story, it's an interpretative grid upon which we place things in our life. Our family life, our life in our community, our life in our nation, it's all part of a larger story. And everybody is basically looking to figure out what story am I in? And the Bible tells us what story we're in. We are seeing that history is his story. The God who created us, created us for relationship with himself. And we need to get to know him. Jesus said, this is eternal life. Ready? Take notes. He says, John 17 three, that you may know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. There's a starter for us. So we are now looking at the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, where we see all the themes of the Bible come together. And in the 14th chapter, I've titled the overarching themes of this chapter is victorious perspective. Although we're speaking about a future time, the great tribulation, where judgments are poured out before the return of Christ, There is so much here that gives instruction to us living today, how we are to relate. I've told you that in between the sounding of the seventh trumpet in Revelation chapter 11, 15, and the actual events that take place when the trumpet is sounded in Revelation chapter 16, there is this period where John is shown things that he needs to see in order to understand in a better way. I've called it spiritual intelligence. In other words, when there's a war on, you need to know your enemy. You need to know the tactics of the enemy. You need to know who the great commander is, who your overseer is. You need to know where you're going, what the plan is. In chapter 12, we're introduced to seven personages. You remember? And he's saying, it's important for you to understand these things. And so he introduces us to the first person is the woman. And we said, the woman is Israel. It's interesting, every day, every week, I hear on the news, something about Israel, what's going on the Gaza Strip. I hear about all the things that are going on in Jerusalem. A little size of real estate, about the size of New Jersey, and yet it's always the focus. That's because God had a plan to bring redemption to the human race through a Messiah, the promised seed of a woman, and through Abraham and his sons became the nation of Israel, and through Israel would come the Messiah of the lineage prophesied. The Son of God became the Son of David to reign upon the throne and fulfill all those promises. So we see it's important to know the woman is Israel. Then the man-child is Christ. He is the Messiah. He is the promised seed, fulfilling Genesis 3.15. Then there is the dragon. The dragon is Satan. This is not my interpretation, friends, because the Bible interprets itself. Verse 9 of chapter 12 says, And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old, who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth and his angels were thrown down with him. we were introduced to Michael and the angels. And we realized that they're angels. These are heavenly beings with different rank and functions. And there was one archangel, Michael, and he has a role in warring against the demonic hosts in Revelation 12, seven. And the result of this war that goes on in heaven is Satan's defeat. And we see that in God's plan of redemption, The enemy's power, Satan's power, the one who deceives the whole world, the one who is the god of this world, his power is curbed. And we see that eventually it is totally bound, overthrown. and cast into the lake of fire. We saw the children of the woman, and those are the people who believe the gospel. These are the in Christ ones, the ones who are in the seed of the woman. Then there is the beast from the sea, that's the Antichrist. The Antichrist doesn't mean that you just anti, against Christ, but the word Antichrist means a substitute for Christ, a counterfeit Christ, who is Christ, The real Christ is the anointed one. That's a word Christ means, Christos, anointed one. And he's anointed to be the deliverer of the human race. But there's a false deliverer. The true Christ is the one who brings life. The false Christ brings bondage and death, and is a thief, and is a murderer, and is a liar. but he pretends to be the answer. And the world basically is going to follow the beast. But we read about other personages that are following the lamb, following the real Messiah. So those are the 144,000 Jewish missionaries that we are introduced to in Revelation chapter 7 and Revelation chapter 14. But there's also the seventh personage in chapter 13 is the false prophet. And the false prophet is the beast from the earth. And he will direct people's worship away from the true to the false. And even as there's a spirit of antichrist in the world today, counterfeit messiahs, counterfeit plans of salvation, there are counterfeit prophets. There are counterfeit prophets. that are moving people away from the worship of the true God to a false God. And so this false prophet is going to ultimately bring people to worship the beast, the political leader that will come to power and fully show his colors halfway through the tribulation period. And the false prophet will get people to receive the mark of the beast. But in chapter 14, with this victorious perspective, we start with a picture of the Lamb, the true Messiah. And he's on Mount Zion, which speaks of the place, center stage, where God comes to fulfill his purposes. And with him are the 144,000 male evangelists from 12 tribes of Israel. They are sealed with the seal of the living God. They are sealed with the seal of the father, sealed with the seal of the son, sealed with the seal of the Holy Spirit. And we spoke about that even as believers, we have the seal of the father, we have the seal of the son, we have the seal of the Holy Spirit. We know we belong to him. And those who have truly believed the gospel have turned from their sins and all the false worships and the false messiahs and following the beast. Those people who turn to the true Christ, they belong to the Lord. They are marked, not in a physical visible way. The Lord knows those that are his, the scriptures tell us. And these 144,000 are a great example of devoted believers in the midst of the most severe circumstances. Do they cave into pressure? Do they back off when they're intimidated? When they're persecuted, no, they stand resolute and they are victorious. They're victorious and they persevere, not because of their own strength, but they persevere because of the preserving power of God. That's the gospel of grace. And we'll learn more about the perseverance of the saints as we read through this chapter. This is a great teaching chapter for that doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. We realize that these 144,000, that they remain single. And there's nothing wrong with marriage. In fact, marriage is God's plan, God's plan to demonstrate himself. God created human beings, male and female, because in order to image himself as a loving God, he needed a loving relationship of family. And so we see that that is his purpose. But because of the distress of these particular times of tribulation, these people devote themselves like soldiers who are on high alert. They are consecrated to serve the Lord. And you know, the Apostle Paul writes about that in 1 Corinthians chapter 7 in verse 26. He says that there are I think it is good, he says, and he's speaking of his own opinion, in view of the present distress. And that's back in the first century. He's saying in the present distress, it's good for a man to remain as he is, single, if he's single. And he says, if you are married, don't seek not to be married. You continue in that calling. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But if you marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will have trouble in this life, and I'm trying to spare you." When he speaks of trouble, he's just saying kids. He's saying challenges. There are those challenges that come. But just as 144,000 in chapter 14 are an example of wholehearted uncompromising obedience to the Lord. We want to be like that, don't we? Paul says to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4, 12, You know, Moms and dads, you are examples to your kids. Your kids are watching you. It may be they know you're Christians because you go to church, but what do they know about you in the home? They are watching you. And I'll say this too, to those who are ministry leaders, those who are serving, whether it be on the sound team or the worship team or Christian education, other Christians are looking at you. You are an example, and be an example in word. Be an example in purity. Be an example in your faith. Of this 144,000, it says that no lie was found in their mouth. What an example in speech they were. They were loving truth tellers. And they were blameless. You couldn't really catch them in anything that was inconsistent with the gospel. Now in the 14th chapter, we're being introduced to seven more personages. Let's start with verse six. Remember, I kind of said that My outline is something like the 12 days of Christmas. We've got three angels preaching, the son of God coming, and three angels reaping. So that's how we outline it. Verse six. And I saw another angel flying in mid heaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people. And he said with a loud voice, fear God and give him glory because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters. And another angel, a second one followed saying, fallen, fallen is Babylon the great. She who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality. Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, if anyone worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, He will also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of his anger. And he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up, how long? Forever and ever. They have no rest day and night. Those who worship the beast and his image and whoever receives the mark of his name, Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, right. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them. Father, bless this word to our understanding, and we pray to Lord that if there's anyone here who doesn't know you in a saving way, that they would really hear what you are saying in love to them. how you desire for them to know you and to have a relationship, but it must be on your terms. And we pray that those terms of the gospel would be made clear. Whosoever believes on the Son of God, whosoever believes shall be saved. So we are again seeing that angels are active behind the scenes. In the Bible, angels are strategic players in God's economy. In chapters four to 14 of the book of Revelation, angels are in every chapter except chapter 13. And we see in the Bible, that angels have the role of protecting the testimony of God's holiness. That's why angels were posted outside the Garden of Eden after Adam and his wife were cast out. And remember, Adam's wife got her name after the fall, Eve, the mother of all living. So what were the names of those angels? Cherubim, they were the cherubim. They were the protectors of God's holiness. And where do we see them again? We see them again in the tabernacle. These angels are in the Ark of the Covenant. There were representations of them built from the same material as the cover, and they looked to see that blood was upon the mercy seat. We see that angels also have a role praising God and worshiping. And in Isaiah, the sixth chapter, what were the names of those angels? The seraphim. And we sang holy, holy, holy this morning where the seraphim and the cherubim are casting down their golden crowns. Then we see that angels minister according to God's will. They war against demons. In their relationship to human beings, The angels are protectors, they're guardians, they're appointed to the heirs of salvation in Hebrews 1.14. We see that angels seal believers and angels were sent out to do that to the 144,000 and they were enacting judgments. We see that in the story of Lazarus and the rich man, you remember when Lazarus died, an angel came to take him to heaven. So there's probably angelic escorts that we have when we die. So we see that angels in the Old Testament bring special messengers at different times. However, during this age, the age of the church, we are the proclaimers, the members of the body of Christ. We are the ones who are given the responsibility, the commission, to tell the good news. But in the future, in the tribulation, we're going to see that the angels have a role in preaching. And they are playing a vital role in the judgment. And they will be the reapers at the end of the age, according to Matthew 24 and 25 in this chapter. Why will these angels preach was a question we looked at last week. And we saw that they were preached because God sovereignly appointed them to do so, but it was also a needed message. This particular society, they're experiencing Satan in his full fury. They're deceived and walking in lockstep with the Antichrist. So God in his mercy is giving this warning. and preaching the gospel and telling them what's coming ahead. But this is merciful too, this is merciful. Because the normal means is to have the 144,000, the two witnesses, they have been preaching, right? But now we see that there's an angel, three angels that will be preaching, but the first one will be preaching the eternal gospel mercifully. It's also a prophetic fulfillment. we know for sure that God's purposes will not be thwarted. And although we are seeing collapse of human civilization under the Antichrist as Babylon falls. We see that God, in his mercy, he's not willing that any should perish. And so he sends this first angel out to preach the eternal gospel. And this fulfills Matthew 24 14. We know the church actually fulfills this too, but it's, we know for sure. It says that this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached to the whole world as a testimony to all the nations. And then the end will come. And we know that all are without excuse, because every human being has the light of general revelation. Romans chapter one says, the invisible things of God are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead. It's just the fact that sin is so steeped in our human psyche that we suppress the truth and unrighteousness, that we do not acknowledge. We would rather think that we all came out of nothing. that we were just sort of like little, you ever go down to the Museum of Science and they have all these little fancy narratives that they give little, they ascribe characters and personalities to little sparks and little cells, like cells that, I've got a great idea, I'm gonna become something else. It's all fantasy, folks. It's a meta-narrative that's not based upon the data. Now, we believe that science and faith are absolutely compatible, but it's how you interpret the data. What's the meta-narrative that you're using Where are you hanging the data that you're coming up with? We know that we are created by God. We didn't come out of nothing. And we're accountable to the creator. And at the end of the day, we're going to be judged by the creator. So these angels are God. giving special revelation. We have the special revelation of the word. We've got the special revelation. You can hear it. I was thinking this morning, what a privilege we have. I got up in the morning and I went over, turned on my computer. I've got the Bible there. Turned around, I got a Bible on the shelf. I got a Bible on my phone. We are without excuse. The word of God is following us around. I wake up in the morning and Alexa gives me a Bible verse. I mean, come on. Where are you gonna hide? We are responsible. We've got general revelation. We're responsible because we've got the light of creation and the light of our conscience. Our own conscience tells us that there's a moral God and there's a moral accountability. We know shame when we do wrong. We know guilt when we do wrong. We know that there are things right and wrong. Every time you say, I'm sorry, you're acknowledging a moral Every time you say, you shouldn't have done that, we're acknowledging that. That's general revelation, but then we've got special revelation. And so now we see that these angels are giving the special revelation of the eternal gospel. What will they preach? Well, the first angel preaches the eternal gospel. And as we said last week, the eternal gospel is the one gospel. It's the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's the gospel of grace. It's the gospel of the kingdom. It's the gospel of peace. Remember all those things we talked about what the gospel is? It's the gospel that's everlasting. It is the good news. of God's plan of redemption centered in the person of his son, the seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, the seed of Isaac, the seed of Jacob, the son of David. He has come. He's fulfilled the prophecies. He is the only one who can rescue us from our sins. The angel says in the dream to Joseph, his name is Jesus, meaning God to the rescue, and he will save his people from their sins. So it's a message of eternal life. It's the eternal gospel. He who has the son has life. He who does not have the son does not have life. How do we have life? We have life by believing on Jesus, the son of God. 1 John 5, verses 12 and verse 13. The eternal gospel also means it doesn't change. It's not going to change. It's not going to morph the centuries. This is not a white man's gospel. It's not an American gospel. It's not a medieval gospel. It's not a gospel of the 21st century. It is the eternal gospel. And if anyone else comes to you and preaches another gospel, even an angel from heaven in Galatians 1.8, let him be accursed because there is only one gospel. It's the eternal gospel. The second angel preaches the fall of Babylon. What is Babylon? And another angel, a second one, followed saying, fallen, fallen is Babylon the great. Notice the repetition of the words, fallen, fallen. Now hear this, fallen, fallen. Whenever there is a repetition like that, it's like a, do you get it? This is important. Fallen, fallen. Oh, Babylon looks so great. It's called Babylon the Great. But know this folks, it is fallen. And even before it actually falls in Revelation chapter 17, the angels say it's as good as done. And we are to live our lives in the 21st century before the actual fall of the whole and collapse of the whole system. We are to recognize that it's fallen. And very often I'm just standing there watching the parade go by as we see the great emperor and the great empresses of this great society. And I say, they've got no clothes on. The emperor has no clothes on. Even it's important to teach your kids this. And this one thing we did with our children, whenever they saw an advertisement, I'd say, their response was, I'd said, you've got to say first, you've got to be kidding. In other words, you should have a healthy skepticism, just a healthy skepticism to the things that you hear in this world, because this world is founded upon a lie. Now, this is interesting. Where is Babylon located? by the river Euphrates. Where do we first hear of Euphrates? In Genesis chapter two, it's where the Garden of Eden was, and it's where the first lie was told to mankind. It's the place of the first deception of mankind. So we see the seed of that lie, the seed of that deception at Babylon. We get the word babble from Babylon, confusion from Babylon. And isn't there confusion in this world today? And what happened in Babylon, you remember, we see in Babylon that it was founded by Nimrod in Genesis chapter 10, who was a God-hater. It was founded by a God-hater. And it was a city built outside the presence of God. There was a wonderful book written by a French sociologist, Jacques Ellul, The Meaning of the City. And he contrasts God's view of community to what we're experiencing today outside the presence of God. And so man builds for himself a false Eden, a false paradise. And he says it's paradise, he advertises it's paradise, but it's empty. It's like Times Square, a lot of glitter and a lot of billboards advertising something, but there's nothing but rotting buildings behind it, ultimately. So we see this Babylon being built. And the message is Babylon the Great is fallen. Think of the people who've been named the Great. You know history, don't you? Alexander the Great, Cyrus the Great, Catherine the Great, Xerxes the Great. Peter the Great, yes, Cyril the Great. All these people, some of them, we don't even know who they are today, do they? They were so great. And yet, we see that these people are voluntarily drinking what's offered to them, the passion of her immorality. You know, what was the lie that was given to the woman? You shall be as gods. Human autonomy, human autonomy. Basically, you shall be as gods. If you read Ralph Waldo Emerson and his self-reliance thing, it's basically, you know, you can interpret it and say, okay, it's good to be responsible, but who are you responsible to? That's the issue. Are you responsible to the God who created you or are you imagining that you're your own creator and you can do whatever you want and you're going to turn out okay? Are you going to be like Madonna who sings, I'm going to hell and I don't give a damn? Are you going to be like the people in this world who really take no thought, they're living for their award ceremonies And when you realize what happens, we're going to read about the third angel saying what their reward ceremony is like. It's eternal torment. And it's all going up in smoke, and they're in the fire and the brimstone that's causing the smoke. That's nothing to live for. So we've got to start with this revelation from the angel, and it's from the special revelation of the word of God. Fallen, fallen is this system. You don't drink of the wine. You say, no, thank you, as it is offered to you. Because the people who drink the wine of Babylon are going to drink the cup of God's wrath, and they will have no opportunity to let it pass. The first one is voluntarily taken hold of, the second one is not. So what does it teach us? I think the Apostle John tells us, don't love the world. Don't fall into the world. What does it mean, the world, there? Again, the Greek is cosmos diabolicus, the world. The word cosmos, we get order. Order, and then diabolicus, it's the devil. The devil's behind it, and he's basically He's got a system. It's a counterfeit system. It offers a counterfeit paradise with a counterfeit gospel. It's not Eden folks, it's Babylon. And you remember in Genesis chapter 11, how Babylon was started. They said, come, let us build for ourselves a city. and a tower whose top will reach into heaven. And let us make a name for ourselves, Babylon the Great. Otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." So what happens? The Lord, the triune God, the Lord came down to see the city and the tower where the sons of men had built. They had built this ziggurat. And this was a monument to a false deity. Babylon is the first place of institutionalized idolatry. And it represents a system of unadulterated, excuse me, of adulterated spirituality, unspeakable adulterated spirituality. And it unites people in a false system where they say glory to man in the highest. So what did the Lord do to this political, economic, religious system? He confounded the interpersonal communication, the tongues, with different languages. And they were able, instead of working together, they had to scatter. And we see there's a spreading of the confusion. And we're going to see that lie that started near the Euphrates River in Genesis chapter two, Eden, the deception and the lie in chapter three, we see it come full circle to the end of history. And now the entire globe is under the Babylon system. So Babylon represents more than just a city. It represents the whole world system. So John says, love not the world, nor the things in the world, this world system. of Babylon. If anyone loves the world, what does it say? The love of the Father is not in him. Jesus says you cannot have two masters. You can't love money, a god of this world, idolatry. You can't love sex. You can't love all these things that God gave us He gave us, he made us sexual creations, but if we take the world's view of sexuality, and we take the world's view of economics, and if we take the world's view of life's purpose and philosophy, and do not submit ourselves to the King of Kings and the mind of Christ, we're gonna see the love of the Father is not in us. Not in us, folks, and that's lostness. Verse 16 of chapter 2 says, for all that is in the world, that's the world system. It's not speaking of the world, the people. It's not speaking of the planet. It's the world system. What's in the world? The lust of the flesh. Now, I tried to explain this, and I tried to get a word, inordinate. But I thought stray, because I think about pets getting lost. I see strays, you know. And basically they're just wandering. And so God gave us appetites. It's good for us to eat and it's good for us to drink. And he made us sexual creatures. And there's a proper place for our sexual expression, our sexuality in marriage, for family and procreation and togetherness. But the enemy takes it astray. It's off course. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray. Sometimes I say that in the morning when I'm trying to find my socks. I say to my wife, all my socks, like socks, have gone astray. But you know what it is? It's like just getting out there, lost. The lust of the eyes. You know, God created beautiful men and women and beautiful people and a beautiful creation, but when we begin to worship it with inordinate affection, those are stray attractions, lustful eyes. And it's interesting how we know that to eat is good, but gluttony is a sin. And then we even use words like feast your eyes. You can tell that's a little bit over the top. Feasting your eyes. So the lust of the eyes, stray attractions, the boastful pride of life. It's good to take pride in your work. It's good to do a good job with what you've been given to do. But the pride of life is when that ambition goes astray. And don't we see that? And it becomes a dog eat dog world as the dogs go to stray in the business world, right? And there's competition and cutthroat manipulations. This is not from the father, but is from the world. What is John telling us to do? Be discerning, be discerning at work, be discerning in your family, be discerning with your kids. What are they feeding on? How are their hungers being satisfied? How are their eyes being satisfied? Are they addicted to the video game? Are they addicted to violence? What are they attracted to? Are you fostering in your home a love for the world system or a love for the father? So we see that history goes full circle. In Revelation chapter 16, The sixth angel pours out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates. It's back again. And its water is dried up so that the way would be prepared for the kings of the East. It's going to be basically an avenue for the battle of Armageddon. So we see in the 17th chapter that Babylon is personified as a woman, a harlot, who's making the nations drunk with the wine of the passion of her immorality. You know, as I read chapter 17, I'm saying, is this Babylon or is this Los Angeles? Is this Babylon or is this New York City? Is this Babylon or is this Boston? Is this Babylon or is it Paris? It fits just about every city today in our world. Isn't that telling? Babylon has gone global. And it represents not just a city, but a prevailing empire. The influence of the evil one. And we see that sexual sin is rampant in the world today, but it's going to get worse. And it's not just going to be the physical sexual sin, it's going to be the spiritual fornication. The people of this world will imbibe the wine of the passion of spiritual immorality. It's interesting that The time of the Gentiles began with Israel being captured by Babylon. Isn't that interesting? Babylon captured Israel. And then ever since, Israel has been under the domination of the Gentiles until its recent independence. And that's, we know that the time of the Gentiles will come to an end. So that's encouraging. But in spite of all the efforts of the Antichrist to build his global kingdom, his empire is going to fall. And it's important for us not to be deluded by this world system. The third angel will preach the severity of the bad news. Verse nine, then another angel, a third one followed them saying with a loud voice, if anyone worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, then he will also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of his anger. And he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb. So not only will there be the separation in hell, but there's going to be this consciousness of God's omnipresence. Now we know God is not centering his activities in hell, but we see his omnipresence. They are very conscious that they are being tormented in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb of God. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. And they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast in his image and whoever receives the mark of his name. Fire and brimstone are symbols of judgment. In Luke chapter 17, Jesus says, it was the same as what happened in the days of Lot. They were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling. He's saying the days of Lot were the same as the days of Noah. People were going on with their lives, not really conscious that judgment was about to fall. And they were planting, they were building, But on the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. And Jesus said that. And by the way, I want us to remember that we need to understand these things. Number one, that Jesus is who he says he is. He's the son of God. And point number two, Jesus, if he's the son of God, he is the authority on all things. He knows better than you. Number three, Jesus affirms the record of the Bible. When you read through the gospels, he talks about what happened to Lot at Sodom. He talks about what happened to Noah. So these are not just fanciful stories that someone would like you to believe or just allegories. This happened. And Jesus said that it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them. There have been some interesting documentaries about the destruction of Sodom and trying to explain it. But Jesus tells us that it happened. And so we see these images of fire and brimstone. What does it mean for believers? It first of all is to encourage us to persevere. When we see things getting worse in society, when we see the 144,000 sealed with a seal of the living God, remaining true and following the lamb, even in the most difficult period of human history, far more serious than ours, They're doing well. Doesn't that encourage you that you can stand up against the strategies of the evil one? Take heart. Don't give up. It's not easy. It's not easy. Life is a labor. When we read about what happens in the future, when we die, the die of a believer is a rest from our labor. Life has got its strains. but this encourages us to persevere. In contrast to those who die in their sins, here is the perseverance of the saints. What do the saints do even in the midst of their tribulation? They still follow the lamb. They still are filled with the spirit. They still keep the commands of God. Jesus says, if you love me, keep my commands. And a true believer who's truly saved will endure to the end. And when I say endure, it doesn't mean that they're just going to have their Bible on the shelf. It means they're going to have the commandments in their heart and they're going to be keeping them. They're going to, they're going to walk. It doesn't mean that they're perfect. It doesn't mean that they're not going to sin or they're never going to go astray, but it means they're going to have a heart to keep the commandments. And they're going to persevere in that heart attitude. And not only are they going to persevere in the commandments, but they're going to persevere, what does it say next? In faith. Their faith in Jesus will continue. Well, what about those people who fall away? Well, it shows they were never saved in the first place. If they do not continue, they were never saved. This is the parable that Jesus gave us in the parable of the sower and the seed. He made it very clear that not all will persevere. Not all will bring forth fruit. The seed will fall sometimes by the wayside. And people will be very familiar and they'll say, oh yeah, I tried that. I made a decision. I went to a Billy Graham meeting. I signed a card. I walked the aisle. Yeah, I know all that. I went to youth school. Or they say, yeah, I was in the church. My family were Christians. I've got an aunt who's a missionary. And they have all this familiarity, but they have no germination of the word of God in their heart. They've never been born again. And they come to church week after week, and they open their Bibles, and they give a polite nod. and sometimes an impolite nod to the preacher when they nod off. But the seed never really takes root. Then there's those people who just have, they love the energy of the gospel. They love the positive side of the gospel. But when the tribulation comes, that's when they wither up. They said, you never told me about this. You never told me that I'd have to give up my habits. You never told me that I had to, You give up my job in some cases, because if your job is immorality, if it's immoral, you need to quit that job and find another. You never told me that it's going to mean my relationships with some friends will have to drop off. They will. They will. So you'll be tested. And then, of course, there's the ground that falls and grows, the seed grows in thistles and weeds and they're choked. And that speaks of the deceitfulness of riches. And some people just say, okay, I'm gonna be a rich Christian. I've heard lots of people say, you know, I'm gonna serve the Lord when I retire. What a joke. It never happens. It never happens. First of all, you know, and a lot of people think, I'm just going to live for myself. I'm going to build my little nest. I'm going to fulfill my dreams. And then I'll have time for the church. You will, first of all, you may die next week and you won't have much left to bring with you. And this is an interesting thing. When he goes on to say, he says, the death of believers is a great game. in contrast to those who die in their sins, because the remaining part of the chapter shows us that it's not a great gain for those who die in their sins. Jesus said that in John chapter eight, let's see if I got it there. Maybe I don't, but it says, we know Paul said, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. to die is gain only if you can say, for to me to live is Christ. And can that be said of your life now? Would it be said of you at your funeral, that person lived for Christ? For to me to live is Christ. And because for to me to live is Christ, to die is gain. But for those people who are living for the beast, it's not to gain. It is eternal loss. Let me go back to the verse. I heard a voice from heaven saying, right, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Why does the Lord say right again? He's been writing. John's been writing this all down. He says he's making a real point. He's saying this needs to go down in writing. You need to remember this. You need to put this in front of you. Death is not the end of your story as a believer. It's a thoroughfare into the reward of eternal life. And so he says that for those who die in the Lord, instead of in their sins, Jesus speaks about dying either in our sins or in Christ. Why is the believer's death a blessing? One, because of the way they lived. They persevered, they kept the commandments, they kept their faith. And how did they persevere? Because of the preserving power of the Lord. We spoke about that, the two sides of the same coin. The other side of the perseverance of the saints is the preservation power of the Lord. Jude chapter one, verse 24, now unto him who is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before his presence with exceeding joy. Second Thessalonians 3.3, but the Lord is faithful and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. But not only is the believer's death a blessing because of the way they lived, but it's a blessing because of the way they died. They died in Christ and not in their sins. John chapter eight, verse 24. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins. He's speaking as a warning to those religious teachers who thought they were going to heaven. He's saying, no, your father is the devil and you're going to hell unless you repent and believe. For unless you believe that I am he, the Messiah, the Christ, you will die in your sins. So they were blessed as believers because of the way they died. They died in Christ. Secondly, they died resting in Christ. They were trusting in him. You see, the gospel says, come unto me, all you are labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Jesus said that in Matthew 11, 28. In contrast to what we see in Those that are in hell, notice what it said about them. It said in chapter 14 verse 11, and the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night. So there's a deliberate contrast made here. And instead of worshiping the Lord and dying in Christ and resting in Christ, they are worshiping the beast and his image. They are blessed because they have their deeds come with them. Their deeds follow with them and with them come the rewards. We see this in the New Testament taught by the Apostle Paul, the judgment seat of believers in 1 Corinthians 3. We know that we're to be careful how we build our lives, how we live our lives. What metanarrative are we following? Do we understand that we are accountable for having gold, silver, and precious stone in our lives. Speaking of living for eternal values, real values, lasting values, values that will go through the fire of God's judgment. So in God's perception, what we're doing is pleasing to him. Is that a concern that you live a life that's pleasing to him? Is that your number one concern? And so he says that we build our lives with He says, I am a wise master builder. And first Corinthians chapter three. Now, if any man builds in verse 12 on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and straw, each man's work will become evident for the day. What does that speak of the judgment? For the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire. For the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward." So that's the truth. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. So what does it mean for us? Fear God and give him glory. Let's heed what the angels have said. Let's follow the example of 144,000. Let's be encouraged with what has been written that our lives do matter. The things we do every day matter. Your choices matter. Your relationships matter. Make sure that there's silver, gold, and precious stone in your conversations. That you're speaking about things that are eternally important instead of just chit-chat about things that are going to perish. Remember this, folks. Babylon is fallen. You know, I was thinking how atheists, people who say that there is no God, how often I hear them say, God damn you. They don't believe in God, and yet they are going to experience the damnation of God. And I told you about a conversation I was having with a man on the North Shore who was defiantly saying, I don't believe in the devil. And then he's having a conversation. As he talks, he says, surer than the devil. And I said, what did you just say? And it spooked him. It's because it's a spiritual thing. It's because, as the scriptures say, that we are all walking according to the course of this world, and we're subject to the spirit that works now in the children of disobedience. So watch what comes out of the mouth of people, because it tells you about their spirit. You need to discern. A lot of people I hear, they'll say, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. And they don't even know who God is. You know, one thing that needs to be restored to the church, it needs to be restored to this world is a fear of God. If you don't have a fear of God, you don't know God. You don't really know who God is. There's a book that was written called The Forgotten Fear. It's the fear of God. But the church that endures, the saints that endure, they fear God. Fear God. That's the negative side. God is absolutely sovereign. He is a judge. He is perfect in all of his wisdom and knowledge. He knows everything about you. But give him glory. because Jesus, who knows everything about you, took the penalty that your sins deserved, so that instead of receiving your just desserts, you get pardon for sin and a peace that endures. Our times come to an end, but I want to just close with this. You know, these saints who are blessed, who endure to the end, they've got troubles that make yours look like nothing. During the tribulation period, we've read about them, haven't we? The kind of disasters they'll experience really put our little troubles in perspective. Don't sweat the small stuff, they say. And our stuff is small stuff when you think about what they go through. But they die with peace. They die with their hearts at rest. They die with reward, precious in the sight of the Lord. is the death of his saints in Psalm 116. You know, there are many, many different beatitudes in the Bible. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the godly or sits in the seat of the scornful. It talks about in Psalm 1 how he delights in the Lord. We can understand that kind of blessing, but what about a blessing, blessed are the dead? Wouldn't you like to say, oh, blessed is the living? No, but we as believers can say, blessed are those that die in the Lord. those that live their life for Christ. Let's pray. Oh Father, we thank you for this message from your word, how our hearts can take courage, how we can have a confidence, how we can be comforted. The eternal gospel, the gospel of peace, the gospel of the grace of God, the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of forgiveness, the gospel of God. This is good news. And Lord, I pray that as we go from this place, you would stir us on. Lord, we see how you fuel the perseverance of the saints with your warnings and with your promises. You fuel the perseverance of the saints with the fellowship that we share. When we speak of you, You fuel the perseverance of the saints when we read your word and we get the right narrative and we see that our lives do fit in. Help us, Lord, to live our lives rightly. Submitted to you in the spirit, in Jesus' name, amen.