Segment XI
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After the Second Coming
The following verses
describe a wonderful scene that
occurs after the Second
Coming. John saw a numberless
multitude of saints, who came out of
the Great Tribulation, standing
before the throne of God. Please
review the following verses from the
KJV (I have inserted some clarifying
texts in brackets and italicizes a
few words for emphasis):
“After this [the
sealing of the 144,000] I beheld,
and, lo, a great multitude, which no
man could number, of all nations, and
kindred’s, 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 [belongs] to
our God which sitteth upon the
throne, and unto the Lamb [for we
are unworthy of this great
reward].’And the angels stood
round about the throne, and about the
elders and the four beasts, and fell
before the throne on their faces, and
worshiped God, Saying, Amen: [Yes,
everything belongs to God and the
Lamb] Blessing, and glory, and
wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor,
and power, and might, be unto our God
for ever and ever. Amen.”
“And one of the
[24] elders answered, saying
to me, “What are these which are
arrayed in white robes? And whence
came they?’ And I said unto him,
‘Sir, thou knowest.’ And he
said to me, ‘These are they
which came out of [the] Great
Tribulation, and have
washed their robes, and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb.
Therefore are they before the throne
of God, and serve him day and night
in his temple: and he that sitteth on
the throne shall dwell among
them.’”
“[Because these
particular saints experienced hunger
and thirst during the Great
Tribulation,] They shall hunger no
more, neither thirst any more;
neither shall the sun light on them,
nor any heat. For the Lamb which is
in the midst of the throne shall feed
them, and shall lead them unto living
fountains of waters: and God shall
wipe away [their memories of
suffering and] all tears from
their eyes.” (Revelation
7:9-17, KJV)
Summary
In keeping with the
distinction between saints and
prophets, Revelation 7 describes two
groups of people who will live during
the Great Tribulation. The prophets
are numbered and the saints are
numberless. A numberless multitude
will be saved out of all nations and
cultures during the Great
Tribulation. The 144,000 will be
sealed first (before the Great
Tribulation begins) and the saints
that receive their testimony will be
sealed during the Great Tribulation.
Specification #5
This specification is
not often discussed, because it is
poorly understood. The Bible
indicates that the 144,000 will
experience and successfully endure
the sufferings of Christ. The highest
honor that God can bestow on the
followers of Jesus is to allow us to
experience the sufferings of Christ.
This concept may sound strange at
first, so please consider the nature
and purpose of Christ’s
suffering for us. Paul wrote, “In
bringing many sons to glory, it was
fitting that God, for whom and
through whom everything exists,
should make the author of their
salvation perfect
through suffering. Both the one who
makes men holy and those who are made
holy are [members] of the same
family. So Jesus is not ashamed to
call them brothers.”
(Hebrews 2:10,11, insertion and
italics mine)
The word
“fellowship” is defined as
two or more people having the same
experience or said in the vernacular,
tow or more people “in the same
boat.” When we suffer for Jesus,
we enter into fellowship with Jesus.
He becomes our brother in suffering
and we become connected to Jesus in
an intimate way that words cannot
adequately express. There is no
stronger bond than brotherhood
through suffering. Men and women who
have not been on the battlefield find
it hard to understand or appreciate
the brotherhood that develops among
warriors. You have to experience it
to understand it. It is a very
powerful thing, and I have talked
with people who have experienced it.
Amazingly, people from
different backgrounds and different
cultures can be thrown together in an
infantry unit during a war, and over
the course of time, they become
“one” in purpose, plan and
action. Of course, they recognize
each other’s strengths and
weaknesses and they know each
other’s faults, but these things
do not matter because a powerful bond
of love springs up. When men
are willing to lay down their life
for each other, a union forms that
cannot be broken. This is a
phenomenon that, if experienced, is
never forgotten. Though separated by
thousands of miles and decades
without communication, comrades never
forget the sacrifices made for their
brothers. I have seen many veterans
reduced to tears when interviewed
about their war experiences. This
emotion involuntarily rises because
through the deepest bonds of love,
they are forever connected to their
“brothers in battle.” This
brotherhood, forged in the heat of
battle, partially explains the great
love that existed between David and
Jonathan. (1 Samuel 18:3)
The brotherhood of
suffering with Jesus is presented in
this last segment because the 144,000
will form a powerful bond of love for
Jesus through their suffering for
Christ. We have already learned
they will be called on to give up
their closest human ties, as
necessary, to serve the Lord. As
prophets of God, the 144,000 will
face the wrath of the devil and his
demons, not to mention persecution
and torture by wicked people who hate
the ways of God. Jesus said, “Anyone
who loves his father or mother more
than me is not worthy of me; anyone
who loves his son or daughter more
than me is not worthy of me. Whoever
finds his life will lose it, and
whoever loses his life for my sake
will find it.” (Matthew
10:37-39)
Because of their
steadfast devotion to Jesus, the
144,000 will lose everything they own
– their family, their
possessions, their respect in their
community, and like the apostle Paul,
their self-worth, to glorify Jesus.
In the heat of battle, they will
become “one” with Jesus in
purpose, plan and action. This is why
the 144,000 will serve as
“priests” throughout ages
to come. They will fearlessly go to
their death for the cause of Christ
when necessary. Because of their
devotion and fidelity to Jesus, the
144,000 will be honored above the
rest of the redeemed. No one else,
not even the twelve apostles, will be
able to sing their song. “And
they sang a new song before the
throne and before the four living
creatures and the elders. No one
could learn the song except the
144,000 who had been redeemed from
the Earth.” (Revelation
14:3) Because they will share in the
sufferings of Jesus, the 144,000 will
be closest to Jesus. They will
literally wear the names of the
Father and the Lamb in their
foreheads (signifying their exalted
position) and they will attend Jesus
wherever He goes. (Revelation 14:4)
Two levels of Suffering
Jesus suffered on two
levels for our salvation. First, in
the physical dimension, Jesus was
treated with contempt; He was mocked,
denied justice, flogged and
crucified. Ironically, Jesus died on
the cross because of man’s
hatred and God’s love. Men hated
Jesus because they could not tolerate
the truth about God, so the
“attempted” to murder Jesus
on the cross. On the other hand, God
loved the world so much that He was
willing to give us Jesus as an
atonement for sin. Jesus did not die
at the hands of men, even though that
was their intent. The Father took the
life of the Son after Jesus gave it
to Him. (Luke 23:46) Never in the
Bible is Jesus called the “Lamb
of man.” Jesus was the
sacrificial Lamb of God. The
Father provided the Lamb for our
salvation and the Father took the
life that the Lamb willingly gave up.
The Son of God died at the hands of
the Father. This truth was powerfully
demonstrated when Abraham was
required to offer the love of his
life, Isaac, on Mount Moriah.
(Genesis 22:2)
Deeper Level
The second level of
Jesus suffering is more difficult to
explain. Jesus suffered within His
soul to the point that He would have
died in the Garden of Gethsemane if
an angel had not strengthened Him.
The Bible says His perspiration was
like great drops of blood. (Luke
22:43, 44) Of course, the prospect of
death on a cross was part of Jesus
anguish in the garden, but Roman
history tells us that thousands of
people hung on crosses in that era.
Therefore, Christ’s anguish
concerning the cross was similar to
the anguish that the two thieves must
have felt. Jesus broke into a sweat
like blood and would have died in the
garden because He was made deathly
ill by the presence and power of sin.
“God made him who had no sin
to be sin for us, so that in him we
might become the righteousness of
God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Please consider this text: “During
the days of Jesus ‘ life on
Earth, he offered up prayers and
petitions with loud cries and tears
to the one who could save him from
death, and he was heard because of
his reverent submission. Although he
was a son, he learned obedience from
what he suffered and, once made
perfect, he became the
source of eternal salvation for all
who obey him.” (Hebrews
5:7-9) Twice in the book of Hebrews,
Paul indicates that Jesus was
“made perfect” through
suffering! The Greek word for
perfect, teleioo, means
mature, completed or finished. Of
course, Jesus was perfect having no
sin or rebellion from birth. He never
sinned! (Hebrews 4:15) So, how could
Jesus be “made perfect”
through suffering?
Suffering is a powerful
force that drives a human being into
rebellion or submission. I would
venture that many of the people in
prison today are there because of
suffering that began in childhood.
The carnal nature hates suffering.
Suffering produces anger and anger
predisposes people to rebel against
authority in general and humanity in
particular. On the other hand, pain
has been used for centuries to force
people into submission. Since wicked
people are not interested in a system
of justice, torture is their best
tool because it is a powerful force
that drives a human being toward
submission. A sinless Jesus was born
into “a world of suffering”
so He could demonstrate the
importance of being perfected through
patient suffering. We
cannot totally appreciate the
sufferings of Christ at the deeper
level because our carnal nature has
not been removed, but this will
change.
Sin was grossly
offensive to Christ’s sinless
nature. Patiently living among
sinners and dealing with the
selfishness, blindness and arrogance
of the human heart was very hard
– even for Jesus. However, Jesus
was made perfect in patience through
suffering. He faced the tenacious
power and degenerate influence of sin
every day. Jesus learned how to
receive grace from God as it was
needed each day, and this is how
suffering perfected His patience.
Patience is how Abraham and Sarah
failed when they decided Abraham
should have a son by Hagar. Patience
is how Moses failed when he killed
the Egyptian. He had to spend forty
years herding sheep in the wilderness
before God could use him. Patience is
how Moses failed when he struck the
rock twice and God refused to let
Moses enter the Promised Land.
Patience is the hardest thing on
Earth to perfect! Through faith in
God and patience in suffering, Jesus
overcame the world. The plan of
salvation was perfectly “worked
out” because Jesus patiently
submitted to the Father’s will
each day.
James wrote, “Consider
it pure joy, my brothers, whenever
you face trials of many kinds,
because you know that the testing of
faith develops perseverance.
Perseverance must finish its work so
that you may be mature and complete [perfect],
not lacking anything.” (James
1:2-4, insertion mine) The 144,000
will suffer physically, emotionally
and spiritually because of the
presence and power of sin. They will
suffer most because (a) they will be
the first to be sealed, and (b) they
will have an overwhelming task to
accomplish. Because they have sinless
natures, it will be painful for them
to deal with the power and presence
of sin. The irony is that God’s
prophets will love sinners, but they
will hate the bondage of sin that
controls their listeners! The
challenge of the 144,000 during the
Great Tribulation will be to lead
people to suffer Babylon’s wrath
for Christ’s sake, so that the
carnal nature can be removed! Their
burden for souls, their frustration
with the power of sin and their love
for Jesus and sinners will cause deep
anguish within the 144,000. They will
agonize, as Jesus did in Gethsemane,
for strength to fulfill God’s
will. Like the shepherd looking for
that one lost sheep, the 144,000 will
exhaust every physical and emotional
fiber in their being to find one last
soul so that person can be saved from
the jaws of sin.
Summary
John indicates that
many, if not all, of the 144,000 will
be killed “because of the Word
of God and the testimony they
maintained.” We also know that
millions of saints will be killed
during the Great Tribulation because
of their faithfulness to Jesus. This
is why Jesus said, “If anyone
is to go into captivity, into
captivity he will go. If anyone is to
be killed with the sword, with the
sword he will be killed. This calls
for patient endurance and
faithfulness on the part of the
saints.” (Revelation 13:10)
This text epitomizes Jesus’
experience: patience and
faithfulness. Because the 144,000
will faithfully endure the sufferings
of Jesus with success, no other
person will be able to sing their
song. “Here is the patience
of the saints: here are they that
keep the commandments of God, and the
faith of Jesus.” (Revelation
14:12, KJV)
Specification #6
The sixth specification
concerning the 144,000 is that no lie
or falsehood will be found in their
mouths. (Revelation 14:5) Again, the
topic of the 144,000 is like an
iceberg - one third of this topic is
above the water line and two-thirds
are below. This particular
specification goes far below the
water line. Consider the text: “But
the cowardly, the unbelieving, the
vile, the murderers, the sexually
immoral, those who practice magic
arts, the idolaters and all liars
– their place will be in the
fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is
the second death.” (Revelation
21:8) This verse indicates that no
liar will enter the kingdom of
Heaven. In this sense, the 144,000
will be no different from anyone else
going to Heaven! So, how does
Revelation 14:5 exalt the
accomplishments of the 144,000 when
it says, “No lie was found in
their mouths; they are
blameless.”
After the 144,000 are
sealed, the Great Tribulation will
begin with a global earthquake.
God’s prophets will be empowered
to speak and they will present the
demands of the sovereign Jesus to the
people of Earth. Now, it is one thing
to get angry and to “let
loose” in the heat of the
moment, but it is quite another to
have to stand before hostile groups
of people and tell them things they
do not want to hear – day after
day! The 144,000 will polarize the
people of Earth with their speech.
People who love truth will follow
their lead. People who hate truth
will produce every reason why the
144,000 should be silenced. The
144,000 will fearlessly declare the
Word of God regardless of personal
consequences. Because they will not
take up arms to fight and because
they will not run from their post,
their brazen actions will be stunning
and relentless.
When the Pharisees and
Sadducees went out in the desert to
see John the Baptist, pretending to
be interested in his revival message,
John quickly detected their hypocrisy
and deceit. They were not interested
in his message, they were spies sent
from the temple. The Bible says, “But
when he saw many of the Pharisees and
Sadducees coming to where he was
baptizing, he said to them: ‘You
brood of vipers! Who warned you to
flee from the coming wrath? Produce
fruit in keeping with
repentance.’” (Matthew
3:7,8) No doubt, those Pharisees and
Sadducees were embarrassed, but they
could not do anything about his
remarks because they were
outnumbered. John the Baptist was to
the first advent what the 144,000
will be to the second advent. The
144,000 will not blunt the
double-edged sword of truth by
compromising their message. The Great
Tribulation will not be a time for
soft peddling the gospel. That day
will be a valley of decision for
multitudes. The 144,000 will cry out,
“… Prepare ye the way of
the Lord, make his paths
straight.” (Matthew 3:3)
Hopefully, a picture is
forming in your mind and heart. The
Bible exalts the integrity and
honesty of the 144,000 saying, “No
lie was found in their mouth; they
are blameless,” because they
will be faithful spokespersons. They
will proclaim the terms and
conditions of salvation and their
message will not be compromised or
varnished. They will openly call sin
by its right name and the Holy Spirit
will work signs and wonders through
them, confirming their message.
Looking forward to their fiery
assignment, these words in Revelation
22 will be particularly potent
because there will be many who will
reject or attempt to deflect their
testimony. “I warn everyone
who hears the words of the prophecy
of this book: If anyone adds anything
adds anything to them, God will add
to him the plagues described in this
book. And if anyone takes words away
from this book of prophecy, God will
take away from him his share in the
tree of life and in the holy city,
which are described in this
book.” (Revelation 22:18,19)
