This sermon from Revelation chapter 14 focuses on the call to be overcomers in the last days, emphasizing the need to overcome ourselves and follow the Lamb wherever He goes. It highlights the importance of being chaste before God, following the example of the 144,000 who are blameless and have the names of the Father and the Son written on their foreheads. The sermon urges believers to be ready for the imminent return of the Lord and to treasure the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus.

Will you please turn to the last book of the Bible, Revelation. Revelation chapter 14. Revelation chapter 14, we will read the first five verses. Revelation chapter 14, verse 1. And I saw and beheld the Lamb standing upon Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having his name and the name of his Father written upon their foreheads. And I heard a voice out of the heaven, as a voice of many waters, and as a voice of great thunder. And the voice which I heard was of harp singers harping with their harps, and they sang a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders. And no one could learn that song save the hundred and forty-four thousand who were bought from the earth. These are they who have not been defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they who follow the Lamb, wheresoever it goes. These have been bought from men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb, and in their mouth was no lie found, for they are blameless. May we have a short word of prayer. Dear Lord, our hearts do bow in worship. How we praise and thank thee that for us sinners thou didst die on the cross for us. We thank thee for the marvelous salvation that has saved us to the uttermost. As we continue in thy presence, we pray that thy spirit will breathe upon thy words and make them living, full of life to us. That we who listen may hear thy voice calling us unto yourself. Lord pray that thou will prepare our hearts that we may respond to thy calling, that we may be those in the last days who will be ready to meet thee, to see thee face to face. Lord our hearts long to see thee, and may our prayer ascend to thee, to touch thy heart, and to return. Lord, we want to give ourselves totally over to you. Thou has bought us with thyself. We are no longer ours, we are thine Lord. Pray that thou will bless the word that it may reach to the depths of our heart and give thee glory. We ask in thy precious name, Amen. Brothers and sisters, even before the foundation of the world, the Son of God offered himself to be a lamb, to bear the sins of the world, to die for us. What love God has bestowed upon us. We are forever thankful. This morning, we had the Lord's table. This is the summit of our conference. We have been brought to his very presence to remember his love for us, his dying for us, his being risen for us, and ascended for us. And he has promised us that he is coming back for us. What love God has for us. As we read the Bible, when you come to the book of Revelation, you hear the last call of God to us. What is the last call of God? We who are living in the last days, what have you heard from the Lord? What is the message that he wants all of us to be aware of? It is the message of the overcomers. As you turn to Revelation chapters 2 and 3, to the seven churches in Asia, it was towards the end of the first century. The apostle John was exiled to the island of Patmos because of the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus. He was put into hard labor and most likely, on Sunday, he was free. So we find that he was probably sitting on a stone, facing across the Aegean Sea to the other side of Asia, where he labored before he was exiled. He must be thinking very much about these churches in Asia that he ministered to before he was exiled. As he looked and meditated, he heard a voice behind him. He turned back and he saw a vision. It is a vision of the seven churches in Asia. Now this is Asia Minor, and even at that time, we know there were more than seven churches in Asia Minor. But the Spirit of God purposely picked these seven churches because they can represent all the conditions of the churches during the end of the first century. And he heard a voice write to these seven churches. Now we know when we read the Bible that of the seven churches, one was perfect, the church in Philadelphia. It was all praise. One was almost perfect, the church in Sardis, the suffering church. But the five others, they have much to be blamed. However, towards the end of each letter, the call of God was the call of overcomers. So brothers and sisters, no matter where you are, no matter in what association you may be, the call is the same. What is the last call of God to his church? The last call is the call to overcome. Our Lord Jesus, while he was on earth, he overcame. He overcame Satan, death, and sin. And because of this, he is calling us who are living at this last moment to overcome. Of course, this overcoming is more than overcoming of our environment. It is basically an overcoming of ourselves. Our Lord Jesus overcame himself. He never thought of himself. He lived for his Father. He accomplished the work that the Father has called him. And in like manner, he is calling his followers to do the same. We are to overcome not only our environments, but overcome ourselves. Probably, brothers and sisters, the hardest thing to overcome is not the world. It's ourselves. If we can overcome ourselves, we can overcome the world, Satan, and sin. So, brothers and sisters, remember, the last call of God to his church is the call to overcome. He wants all who are his to overcome as he has overcome. And we all know the hardest thing to overcome is ourselves. Are we willing to give ourselves to him in such a way that we will not go after our own ways, but he will allow him to rule over us and to use us to be overcomers. No matter what church you may be, like you find in the seven churches in Asia. They are all various. One is perfect. One is almost perfect. The other five have lots of problems. But, brothers and sisters, the calling is the same. God is calling us to be overcomers. To overcome not only the world, sin, and Satan, but to overcome ourselves. To give ourselves to the Lord in such a way that his will may be done in us as it is in heaven. Towards the end of the third century, he was calling for overcomers. And now, brothers and sisters, we are in the 21st century, and the calling is the same. He is calling us to overcome. You find the calling of overcomers is throughout the church age. Not only in chapters two and three, at the end of the first century, was the call. But as you read through Revelation, you find that throughout the time, the same call is for us. For instance, in chapter seven, the latter part of chapter seven, you find there are numberless people. And these people have the name of God and of his son upon their foreheads. Now, what does it mean? It means they openly confess the Lord Jesus. No matter how the environment may be, they publicly testify for the Lord Jesus. They were people clothed in white. They were people with the name of God and of his son upon their foreheads. They are not hidden Christians. They are out and out Christians. They have palm trees in their hands. And that is a sign of overcoming. They have the name of the Father and of the Son upon their foreheads. They openly confess the Lord Jesus. And were willing to suffer for it. Even though we know true Christians are rare, and yet, thank God, throughout the centuries, there are numberless people. There are many who openly confess the Lord Jesus. They are the overcomers throughout the ages. Then when you come to chapter 12, you see the vision of a woman with child. And the child represents the end time overcomers. In other words, it refers to us. Brothers and sisters, we are living at the end time. All the prophecies that precedes the coming of the Lord have been fulfilled. What is yet to be fulfilled belongs to the coming of the Lord and afterwards. So dear brothers and sisters, you know when we are living. You know that we are living towards the end. The Lord may come at any moment. And the reason why He is not yet come is not because He is not anxious to come. Is it not that even in the first century, before He left the world, He told His disciples that He is coming to receive them to Himself. Where He is, there they will be. But now we are in the 21st century. For 20 centuries, He is waiting. I sometimes think, is He waiting for us? Or are we waiting for Him? I believe brothers and sisters, we all know that with the Lord, there is no problem. He must be very anxious to come back and receive us. But it is we who delay His return. Not we are waiting for the Lord. It is the Lord waiting for us. So brothers and sisters, are we ready to see Him? Suppose, and this is highly possible, suppose while we are meeting here, sitting here, listening to the Word, suddenly the Lord came. What will happen? Will it be that this auditorium will be emptied? Everyone will be raptured to the throne of God to welcome our Lord Jesus. Or, if there should be, some remain behind. Brothers and sisters, have you thought of that? If that should happen to you, how regretful you must be that you have not faithfully followed the Lord. So brothers and sisters, we are truly living in a very thrilling time. The Lord is coming. Are you ready? Here in chapter 14, we find that the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion. Now this Mount Zion is not the Mount Zion on earth. You remember David set up his kingdom on Mount Zion. But this Mount Zion is the Mount Zion in heaven where the throne of God is. And standing with Him are 144,000. You know Jehovah's Witnesses? They say that 144,000 have already been fulfilled. If you become a Jehovah's Witness, you are a second class citizen because the first class has already been fulfilled. What a disappointment this will be. But thank God, we believe that 144,000 is not a fixed number. 144,000 is the multiple of 12. And 12 is the number of perfection. So in other words, throughout the centuries, God will have His overcomers. And how blessed it will be if we are among the numbers. And these people have the name of the Father and of the Son written upon their foreheads. In other words, they are not secret Christians. You know there are many secret Christians today. In their heart they believe, but they fail to testify with their mouth. They love the world. They do not want to give up the world. So they hesitate to confess the name of the Lord Jesus openly. Because the world today is still under the domain of God's enemy. If you confess the Lord openly, you will be persecuted. But in order to escape persecution, you will be secret Christians. Just as during the time of our Lord Jesus, you find they have been secret Christians. Secretly they believe, but outwardly they did not confess. Brothers and sisters, which is which? Who are you? Are you a secret Christian? Are you an out and out Christian? Do you confess the Lord Jesus openly? If you know that you will be persecuted, but you are willing to confess the Lord and be persecuted. So these people, I believe, is not a fixed number. Because they represent the overcomers throughout the ages. Thank God even the overcomers were limited. And yet you find this huge number of overcomers. Hopefully all of us will be among the wreck. And then John heard a voice. A voice has many thunders. But it is a voice of singing, harp singers. Singing with their harps. Now brothers and sisters, harp in the Bible always represent high sound. Something that comes out of the heart. So when you are harping, it is not just an awkward music. It is something that comes out of your heart. And they sing a new song. A song that nobody can learn. Except the 144,000. In other words, in their life experience, they learn the song. And they are singing praises unto God. And who are these people? In verse 4 or in verse 3. These people were brought from the earth. Thank God we have been brought from the earth. We have been brought with a price. Even the death of our Lord Jesus. But nevertheless, by the grace of God, we who are here this morning, we have all been brought with a price. Now what a price our Lord Jesus has paid. He paid that price by emptying himself. Of all the glory and honor and praise of his Godhead. Though he cannot forsake his Godhead. Because that's what he is. He is God. Even though when he was on earth, inwardly he is still God. But outwardly, he was just a man. He refused to do anything on his own. If we read the four gospels, we find that he often said, I cannot do anything by myself. I do it because I've seen my father did it. I cannot go anywhere by myself. I go because I've seen my father went. I cannot think of anything of myself. I think because my father thought. In other words, when our Lord Jesus, he never did anything of his own. And these people, who were singing a new song, learning in their lifetime, is like a harp singer, singing out of their heart. And who are these people? The Bible said, who has not been defiled with women for they are virgins. Now that does not mean because you are a woman, so you will not be included. Here you have to take the spiritual meaning. In other words, they have kept themselves as chaste virgins to God. As Paul said to the Corinthians, I have offered you to God as chaste virgins. And hopefully you will not be defiled. Brothers and sisters, are we chaste virgins before God? Examining ourselves to see if that chastity is there. Is our heart holy for the Lord? Or is our heart divided? We love the Lord, but we also love the world. We cannot let the world go. We love it so much. Our feet were standing on two boats as it were. And the two boats are sailing apart. And unless you get into one boat, you will be dropped into the water. So brothers and sisters, if there is our condition, we need to wake up. And they follow the Lamb wheresoever it goes. Now it is easy to read this, but if you have read the four Gospels, you will find that to follow the Lamb is not that simple. You remember, some will come to the Lord and say, I will follow you. And the Lord said, I have nowhere to lay my hands. Are you willing to live a life like that? But these people follow the Lamb wheresoever it goes. They have been bought from the earth as first fruit to God. Now first fruit are always the best. You can feel the first fruits, they ripen first. Because they suffer more sunlight. So they are ripened earlier than the rest. And the first fruit will be taken up first and they are always the best. So you find among the 144,000, they were the first fruits of the crop. Brothers and sisters, are you satisfied just because you have been saved? Just because you are among the fruits of God. But remember, only the first fruit that ripens first will be harvested first. And the first fruit is always the best of the fruit. So dear brothers and sisters, where are we? We are living at the end of the end time. It is quite possible that there will be the first picking in our time. The Bible tells us that one day all over this world some people suddenly disappear. Because the earth is raw. In some places in the morning the women were grinding the mules. In the same time people in other zones may be working in the field. It is daytime. And on the same earth in other zones people may be sleeping in bed. Then suddenly it happened. Those who were grinding the mule arguably they were doing the same thing. You cannot see the difference. But the Lord knows who is His. And one is taken and one is left. Two may be working in the field. It is no time. One is taken, one is left. Two are sleeping in the night. One is taken, one is left. So I say to brothers and sisters in view of the coming of the Lord He expects us to go on living as usual. Not like some people that I know. They left their homes. They go to the desert. And there they are waiting for the coming of the Lord. But some people that I know they went there. But finally they had to come back to make a living not only for themselves but for those people who were with them. And they are still here. But these 144,000 they were the first fruits to God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth there was no lie found. In other words they are honest straightforward, open they do not hide anything. They openly testify for the Lord. And they are blameless. Not because they are perfect. Brothers and sisters, no one is perfect. But how can we be blameless? What is the secret of it? They know the secret of the cleansing blood. Do not think that you have grown spiritually. You do not need the blood anymore. Those who really know the Lord they know that they need the blood of the Lamb every moment of their life. It is by the blood of the Lamb that they have been kept clean. I suppose you know the story. One day Martin Luther dreamed a dream. And he saw Satan coming to him with a book full of words both inside and outside. And the name of the book is The Sins of Martin Luther. And Satan laughed at Martin Luther and said, dare you to do the work of reformation. Look at your sins. Now brothers and sisters if this should happen to you what will you do? But Martin Luther knew the Lord. He took up a red pen and he wrote over it the blood of God's Son Jesus Christ cleanses from all sins. And Satan disappeared. Brothers and sisters we are sinful but thank God the blood of the Lamb is able to wash us clean as white. If you read Revelation chapter 12 you find the qualifications of these overcomers. Their qualification is not because they are perfect. On the contrary the first qualification is because they know the blood of the Lamb. They are sinful as we are. As a matter of fact the more cruiser you are to God the more you feel yourself sinful. But thank God the blood of Jesus cleanses from all sins. And they are people before God as blameless. God has nothing to blame not because they are blameless in themselves but because they treasure the blood of the Lord Jesus. Only they love not their lives even unto death. And these are the overcomers of the last day. Brothers and sisters these are the descriptions should be of ourselves. We should be among the rank because if we do not and be left behind the Bible says as the five foolish virgins they will shut out of the door of the kingdom and there in darkness there will be gnashing of teeth. In other words gnashing of teeth means regret. There will be great regret at that time. But thank God He is merciful. He caused them to regret that they still may have a chance to enter into eternity. You see how gracious is our God. But brothers and sisters they will be shut out from the thousand years ruled by Christ. A thousand years is a thousand years. Today how long can we live? You can live maybe to over a hundred. But what's a hundred to a thousand? That's nothing. And it is living as kings with our Lord Jesus. What a glory that must be. So brothers and sisters in chapter 14 these are the overcomers throughout the ages that at the coming of the Lord they will be with Christ in heaven. And by the grace of God brothers and sisters we will be there. But are you sure you will be there? If you are not there you will be in outer darkness. You know people are very curious. Everywhere I go people ask me where is outer darkness? I have read many books but there is only one book that tells me what he thinks is outer darkness. But I will not tell you. But one thing is sure in outer darkness there will be gnashing of teeth. In other words deep repentance. Brothers and sisters for the sake of a short period of time of the world are you willing to sacrifice your life for a thousand years in repentance? Which will you choose? Thank God we are still here this morning. Who knows what will happen this afternoon? If the Lord should return this afternoon will you go with him? Or will you be left behind? I think this is a very serious question for us to consider. So thank God for this opportunity. The Lord has brought us together these few days. And thank God for warning us that there is no more time. This is the time. Be ready. Be prepared to meet the Lord together. And that is the glorious thing. So this morning I just want to place this before you. And if you feel you have not been ready quickly get yourself right with God. Because there is no more time. He may come at any moment. Shall we pray? Dear Lord, how we praise and thank thee that thou hast brought us to this critical moment. Lord, we rejoice knowing that thou wilt not delay any longer. But thou wilt be coming for thy people. But Lord, on the other hand we humble ourselves before thee and ask thee to search our hearts to see if we are really ready for thee. Lord, we know that it can happen at any moment. So Lord, do not allow any one of us here to miss the opportunity. Oh dear Lord, prepare each and every one of us to be ready to go with you as you come back. We ask in thy precious name. Amen.