Father, we come to You knowing that Christ is our destiny, thanking You that Christ is our ultimate destiny and because of Your electing grace, Lord, that You have called us and chosen us and You have revealed to us the goodness of Your Son, Jesus. So, Father, let us savor that truth and let it seep down into every aspect and corner of our life where we are never without. We are always full of the grace, the wisdom, the power we need of God and Your Son. Thank You. Thank You that every sin is washed away. Thank You that every adversity and trial, Lord, it has an end, it has a purpose. Everything, Lord, You are using, Lord, to sanctify and to reveal Your greatness and Your glory. Help us believe that. Help us believe that.

Father, we lift up a special prayer for the nation of Israel tonight. Lord, we know that it’s only by faith that anyone is true Israel, but we also know that You love Your ethnic people. And so, Lord, we pray that this war would cease. We pray for justice. We pray for the salvation of many. We pray for the salvation of many Jewish people. Lord, we just pray Your hand upon that conflict tonight. Lord, I pray for those among us who are sick, who are struggling with chronic ailments, Lord, or temporal things that are still working to drag them down, to cause them to despair, to take focus off of You, Lord. I just pray for Your strength and Your grace. I pray for healing, O God, that in all things, Lord, You would be made much of and You would be seen. I pray that in Christ’s name. Amen.

Well, good evening. We’re going to be in Revelation chapter 14, verses 1 through 5. Revelation chapter 14, verses 1 through 5.

John writes, Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with Him 144,000 who had His name and His Father’s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. It is these who have not defiled themselves with women for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb. And in their mouth no lie was found for they are blameless.

Every year, several people, and it climbs each year, but each year several people die attempting to reach the summit of Mount Everest. I think it was 2015 a movie was released simply entitled Everest and it was the true story of a man named Rob Hall who was a professional mountaineer and he had been to the top of Mount Everest and he had a company where he guided tours and took people to Mount Everest. He took people to the top of Mount Everest but his last fateful trip, circumstances were poor, unforeseen things happened, a storm set in last minute and he and several of his companions died and are in tuned there on Mount Everest.

We see this picture in 14 of God’s people on the mount on the top on the place where God is. And we wonder when we hear about wars and when we read about as we did the last several chapters of satanic forces at work in the world and there’s not just a dragon but the dragon has a beast and the beast has his beast and they’re all, they’re all working to tempt, to deceive, to persecute. We wonder, man, will it be that in the end we stand on the mountain of God? I think that John paints the picture of the mountain not to discourage us to wonder if someday we could possibly think that we could be on the mountain with God but he writes this to assure us you will certainly someday stand victorious on the mountain of God.

When you see Mount Zion here it’s not abstract. I know several times in Revelation we have to say this is kind of a new biblical imagery this is what some commentators think this is what other commentators think this is what this means and it’s difficult in its symbolism. That’s not the case with Mount Zion. Mount Zion is a very, very old very thoroughly used spiritual metaphor in the Old and New Testament. In the Old Testament Mount Zion was originally where Jerusalem was physically. It was the city of God. It’s where the temple was. It’s God’s dwelling place. That’s where you wanted to go to be near God. That was God’s holy city. Mount Zion was. The psalmist writes in Psalm 132 The Lord has chosen Zion. He has desired it for his dwelling place. This is my resting place forever. Here I will dwell for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provisions. I will satisfy her poor with bread. Her priests I will clothe with salvation. Her saints shouts of joy. There I will make a horn to sprout for David. I will make a horn to sprout for David. I will prepare a lamp for my anointed. His enemies I will clothe with shame. But on him his crown will shine. So this is God’s great city. Spiritually speaking Zion is that place where God dwells in the heavenlies. Zion is where we should all desire to be someday with God in his city. In Psalm 129 it says, The Lord is righteous. He has cut the cords of the wicked. May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned back. So God is going to protect his city and God’s ultimately going to protect his people from their truest spiritual enemies. We’re told in Psalm 2 for he who sits in heaven laughs the Lord holds them in derision then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury saying as for me I have set my king on Zion. My heart is on Zion. My holy hill. So this is not obscure. This is not abstract. This is not random poetic imagery. This is concrete.

And Zion is a concrete ideal for the Jewish people. But Zion is a concrete ideal for you and I who have been brought in to the fold of God through Christ Jesus.

And what John sees on Mount Zion here in chapter 14 is so important because he doesn’t just see the mount or see all sorts of heavenly hosts and beings. He can’t explain what he sees. It’s just this wonderful vision that’s not it. He sees the lamb standing and he sees with the lamb standing 144,000. 144,000. You remember maybe back in chapter 5 we saw, remember John was weeping because there wasn’t anyone who could open the seals of the scroll and John’s weeping because that means God’s never going to bring an end to darkness and evil. God’s never going to fix stuff if this scroll can’t be popped open. Who’s going to bring God’s good end? And you remember what John sees coming in the courtroom of God. It was a lamb that looked like it had been slain. Yet what does it say? It was standing. It was standing. The slain lamb, Jesus, through being slain on Calvary’s hill was victorious over it. Christ was slain, but because he was slain, Christ stands. Christ stands as the king of Zion. But that’s amazing in and of itself to see such a vision, but John doesn’t just see Jesus victoriously standing on the mountain of God. What does John see? He sees 144 standing, 144,000 standing with him. Now, Jesus isn’t standing alone, but Jesus is alone the conqueror who defeated the devil and defeated evil and paid for every sin. Who’s standing with him then? Benefactors. That’s who. Standing with Jesus on this mountain, this eternal, incorruptible, invincible mountain, are God’s people. We explained back in chapter 7 that 144,000 seems to be an indication of the fullness of God’s people. Yes, specifically in the end time tribulation, but given the perfect squareness of the number and the way that the tribes are laid out, it seems to be the entirety, the totality of God’s people. So, for all time, that’s who’s standing with Jesus in this heavenly vision. And as they stand with their slain lamb, their king, their savior, it’s not happenstance. It’s not coincidence that they’re on that mountain. You notice what it says about them, these 144,000. They’re branded in a certain way. They have on them the name of the Father and the name of the Lamb. And it’s on their foreheads. And you remember why this is significant, because at the end of chapter 13, it was those who were faithful to the Antichrist and the false prophet. What did they have? They had the numeric representation of their king branded on them.

John gets this beautiful picture right after of the slain lamb and the victorious. People of God, and what do they have with the Father and the Son’s name written on them? There’s ownership here. These are God’s people, and they’re branded as such. They belong to the Father and the Son. It’s imprinted on them. And they stand because the Lamb stands. They have citizenship because they belong to the king and to his father. I want you to see as we consider this vision on the Mount of God, the things that are to be noticed. The first thing that we see here on the Mount of God is the song of God’s people. We notice the song of God’s people. Verse 2, it says, And I heard a voice from heaven, like the roar of many waters, and like the sound of loud thunder. And the voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, and they were singing a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and before the elders. And no one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. So John sees an amazing thing, but John hears an amazing thing. He hears something that’s heavenly. And the descriptions, you can find them in Old Testament references. What sounds like many waters. What sounds like thunder. So what is this voice? Something that’s unavoidably noisy. It’s unavoidably noisy, but secondly it’s unavoidably musical. He hears harps. And he hears singing. And not only is it loud, noisy, musical, it’s brand new. It’s a new thing. It’s not some old worn out thing. It’s brand new, this loud music that’s being made. And for it’s setting, it’s God’s heavenly chord. It’s the four living creatures and it’s the elders and it’s the Father and the Son. Who is singing so loud? Who is playing so loud? It’s the 144,000.

It’s all of God’s people.

So much so that this song is not something, that anyone else can learn or sing. It is specifically, the text says, their song. Why? Only because they are the redeemed. In other words, if you find yourself standing on the mountain of God with Jesus in the presence of the Father, bearing the name of God, I want you to see, laugh, proud, passionate worship is the only appropriate response. Because you and I, we’re unworthy to be in the presence of God. We’re unholy in every part. We deserve God’s eternal punishment. We deserve eternal separation. We’re disobedient to every law of God. Yet the Father gave His Son over to death so that you and I could have everlasting life. That’s what redeem means. It means to purchase back. So did God give nickels and dimes to get you out of eternal punishment? Did Jesus go and find some pennies in the couch and scrounge it up and pay a little debt? No, the Father gave. The Son gave Himself. The Father gave His most precious, precious thing. He gave Jesus in the flesh, slain, slain for you and for me, that we could have privileged positions in heaven, that we could be called citizens, that we could be labeled property of God. We belong to God.

Psalm chapter 40.

The psalmist sings a new song. The psalmist sings a new song to the Lord. And really, it’s the whole of the book of songs that when we consider texts like this, we can’t undervalue how much the psalms really should mean to us as Christians. Really, how much the psalms should play a role in your life and mine. I think I’ve said it before, but the psalms is the most quoted book in the New Testament. It can’t be sung enough what God has done for you. It can’t, it can’t be sung enough who God is to you and for you. It can’t. So many foes, so many sins, sometimes his own sins. The psalmist is a passionate worshiper of God who has redeemed him. And it’s unchangeable who his God is to him and for him. So, so worshipping God is not this religious activity I have to do. Worship is the avoidable consequence of coming to a true realization of who God has called you and I out to be in Christ Jesus by the redemptive price of the blood of his Son. In this scene in eternity, you and I should be practicing here on earth. I want to say if I’m not, and I’m not always, and if you’re not, and you’re not always, driven to passionately worship the Father and Son, something’s wrong. Something’s wrong.

When you and I aren’t driven to passionately worship and sing to Jesus and to the Father and the Spirit, one, it’s because you and I cease to realize our great need. If you preach the gospel, you share the goodness of Jesus with a non-regenerate person and the Spirit’s not at work in them. Is that amazing for them? Is that a wow factor for them? No. Not at all. They’re not aware of their sinful debt. They don’t care about their sinful debt. But you and I slip back into that, don’t we? We become self-sufficient. We become self-confident. We stop realizing, and we preached on this a couple Sundays ago from Psalm 42, remember? The deer pants for water. It’s like he lives in that desperation until he finally, until he gets what he needs. And that’s the kind of state that God’s calling you and I to live in, is a state of utter desperation of how much I need God.

Only because, we’ve got to see this, only because the Lamb stands do you and I stand. Is there some way in the end of time before the judgment seat I could be found standing apart from Christ? Is there some, you know, way out there other than the slain Lamb? No! You and I have to see our great need for Jesus. And spiritually grasping that, it breaks down my prideful flesh that says, I can do that. Watch me do that. I don’t need God. I’m smart enough. I’m strong enough. It breaks me down to humility to see what only Jesus can do. And it breaks me down to worship God that He has done it. And Christ has paid it for me. Second reason you and I don’t passionately worship is because we doubt how great a Savior He is. We doubt how great a Savior He is. The psalmist says often, He waits patiently on the Lord. That’s painful, isn’t it? Wait patiently on the Lord? I got problems now. I got enemies now. And they look really, really big. My adversity is really, really bad. The psalmist is overwhelmed but he’s patient. And I think that’s a true reflex church of Christian maturity. It’s a true reflex of Christian maturity to say, this is really hard. This is really difficult. The sin’s really big. The adversity’s really big. I feel like I’m not going to make it, but I’m going to do it. The psalmist, I’m going to wait patiently because I believe Jesus is a Savior and He’s still saving and He’s still keeping and He still has a plan. Your flesh does this. Look how big the beast is. Look how big the dragon is. Look how big the false prophet is. There’s no way and we size up in the flesh, but Jesus says, don’t look at the enemy. Look at the cross and look how big and look how powerful Jesus is. And then you’ll see a Savior who’s greater than all. Then you’ll worship. And you’ll worship before you have your victory. When you behold how wonderful and powerful and good Jesus is, even before the war is over, you’re worshiping.

Third, we don’t passionately worship Jesus because we forget how much He loves us. And this is where this is where our own flesh and this is where I think the enemy works the graveyard shift to get us to believe that, right? God doesn’t really love me. He maybe gave me a chance this one time. He cared about me just a little bit. I don’t know that God loves me here. Could God have really let me get into this kind of quagmire? Is it possible that God could still love me after I’ve sinned in such a way? Romans 5.8 says this. God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. So if you’re ever in doubt as to how much God loves you, remember in your worst of worst, it was there in that place and for that reason that Christ hung as a bloodied Savior on a cross. Look there to Calvary and see just how much you are loved and then your own flesh and the enemy will have no power over you and you will worship. You will worship. Let worship be such a natural part of your life. Because the Lamb stands, you stand and you will stand and you’ve been labeled and that label, you can get a racer and you can try to get that label off and you can think that you’ve done something to wear it off. Oh, I think that the label’s gone. It’s not gone, friends. You’ve been owned by the Father. You’ve been owned by the Son. The blood has been poured out.

It’s said that Queen Victoria, she was in her coronation week, very young queen, she sat in the royal box while Handel’s Messiah was being performed and she was told it’s not etiquette for the queen to rise or stand or do anything that everyone else does. The music continued sweeter and fuller, sweet enough for heaven. When the hallelujah chorus was reached, the people rose and stood with bowed heads. It was noticed that the queen was deeply moved and her lip quivered and her eyes filled with tears and her body trembled until the burst of the melody, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Then in spite of royal etiquette, the young queen stood up, bowed with her head and remained standing until the music ceased. A nobler, queenlier thing she never did.

Friends, if we’ve been touched by the power of the gospel, if you believe you’re among the redeemed, you gotta sing about it. You gotta sing about it. Music’s a funny thing. We live in such a musical world and you can, you know, on your phone, pull up Spotify or whatever music, you know, platform you use and there’s a thousand millions all kinds of people singing, there’s all kinds of genres and there’s music everywhere, but music in its truest form, it’s a sacred invention. It’s this wonderful thing that God has created for us to be able to, in a way that talking can’t, just lift our minds and lift our hearts to the place where God is and sing about Him and rejoice in Him and be satisfied as we’re rejoicing and worshiping Him. So, I want you to love the thing we do on Sundays before I preach. Okay? It’s not like, well, the preaching, you know, we’ve gotta do that, but it’s not worth the gas to just come here and sermon, so we’ll have to come up with something else to do before and after the sermon so we can say we were here, you know, for, you know, an hour and a half or something, so let’s sing some songs. That’s not why we do it. Old Testament, New Testament. Why do we do this thing? Because music is this sacred gift to us as humans to engage with God in spirit and to let the truths of God be impressed on us in ways that words even can’t just spoken. I want to say this too. You need to worship. God is not needy like, oh my gosh, there wasn’t enough people at church and I’m not as glorious as if they had some more. God is glorious. God is glorious. But friends, as you worship God in your trial and in your adversity, friends, your faith is being grown because you’re saying against the circumstance of life, this is who God is and there’s nothing and no one that can steal the worship that belongs to him. It’s an act of faith. It’s an act of faith to worship God when it’s difficult. So be here and love to sing with God’s people. You need to give God’s people. Look to Jesus and how worthy and how wonderful he is. And if you’ve got the worst voice ever, God commands you lift that thing up to the ceiling. Right? It is beautiful music to the Lord. Redeemed people sing.

The second thing we see on the Mount of God is the final outcome of God’s people. We see the final outcome. Of their lives.

Verse 4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb. Back in Revelation chapter 9 when we were looking at all those plagues that were happening. Remember what happened it said that after all those horrible, terrible plagues though the unregenerate, those who are against God, it says they still wouldn’t repent of their sin. They still wouldn’t repent of their sexual morality. Sexual sin is different from other sins. I know we like to say, well all sins sin to God. It is. It is. But then at the same time, certain sins reveal certain things about people and about society. And if you look at the Bible and then certainly history, sexual immorality is always an indicator of a horror and certainly of society that is apart from God. Atypical of that is Sodom and Gomorrah, right? But then we could say the same thing about Rome in Jesus’ time. Rome in Jesus’ time was wildly immoral in their sexual lives and what they would do. Israel and her apostasy did what the pagan nations did. And unfortunately, we have to look at our own society. And we have to see with what great speed that we’re going from bad to worse. It’s interesting if you go back and you watch some like old sitcoms or TV shows or even movies from like the 50s 60s era. Like Dick Van Dyke. I Love Lucy. Even though these couples are married, you know, they’re married. They’re always in separate beds. They’re in little, you know, double beds and there’s like a nightstand in between them. If you’ve noticed that. Well, why is that? Because I think there was a general air in society back then. It’s probably just not a good idea to like look at two people in an intimate space together right next to each other. It’s inappropriate. And I think it’s true. But you think about how we’ve progressed from that and you think about shows like Will and Grace and those were frontier shows to normalize same-sex marriages, right? Like that’s the frontier. And you think about shows over the last couple of decades and they’ve normalized what? Just all forms of extramarital. It’s not even like that’s boring. Right? It’s boring. Like we’re way past that. Like same-sex marriage relationships. Boring. We’ve moved on from that. We’ve moved on from I Love Lucy. And I’m not saying, oh, if we could only go back to the 1960s. There was plenty of sin in the 1960s. But if you look at our society and the way societies progress, they quickly go from bad to worse. And you don’t need me to stand up here and parrot all the news. We don’t need to do news headlines. But we’ve moved on from you know, same-sex being wild and out there to gender reassignment. I’m sure you’ve, maybe you haven’t seen where we’re not even really supposed to say pedophile anymore. It’s minor attracted persons. Friends, we live in a wildly wicked world. Wildly wicked world. Radically immoral.

And what this text teaches us is that it’s only because it’s only because we belong to the Lamb that we could dare dream about being kept from it. We can imagine, we can make it to the end unstained. That’s it. And I think it has to sit heavy on us. We don’t live in simpler Christian times. We live in a time that’s wildly immoral on every side. And there’s pitfalls and there’s snares everywhere. You know, it’s that little song we teach kids. You know, be careful little eyes what you see, be careful little ears what you hear. Because sin, and especially sexual sin, it has a way of digging its talons deep into your heart. It has a way of lodging itself there. It’s the way pornography works, right? People don’t look at porn once. It’s an addiction. It sucks you in. In any era of human history, certainly ours, our only hope of being kept from defilement is that the Lord keeps us.

There’s no other keeping power from a power so great and for a people so frail and weak. How could you not hope to be kept from such perversion and stainness? Notice what the text does not say. It does not say that they’re singing these songs because they are self-redeemed. Does it say that? It doesn’t say that. It says it’s because they had been redeemed. They had been redeemed. Jesus is the one who’s made us new. Jesus is the one who’s purified us. Jesus is the one who’s keeping us. And doesn’t that have to mean something? And I really want you to think about this, and I really want to press you here. If we’re saying that we believe Jesus has spilled His blood and in believing that we’re washed clean and we’re giving God’s Spirit to walk a new walk and talk a new talk and I have a new mind and I have a new heart, like, shouldn’t that mean something radical? Shouldn’t that mean that the things I say, the things that I’m entertained by and the way that I live my life, it should look radically different from the world?

I think it, it should. Can a soldier say he’s a soldier and just wear a uniform maybe sometimes or hold a gun? No, he’s got to go obey his general. He’s got commands. He’s got to go on the battlefield. He’s got to put into practice what he’s learned in training. Can you say you’re a musician if you just own a guitar or you own a piano? No, like let me see you play some notes. Let me see you read some music. Like, show me you are that thing. Friends, Christ calls, if we’re going to carry this label of redeemed over us, Christ demands we have lives that are lived out, walked out in holiness, in redemption and all the implications of that. Could Christ use a stronger term than virgins?

They’ve not defiled themselves with women for they are virgins. Now, I don’t believe that this is teaching perfectionism. Right? Like, once you that’s a terribly unbiblical doctrine. Once you become a Christian, you better never sin again. That’s impossible to sin after you. Some people do believe that. That’s not what this is teaching. That’s not what this is teaching. There’s a difference between sinning and erring versus being given over to something fully. There’s a difference between stumbling and stumbling to the point of falling. That’s not what this or any New Testament text teaches. It’s a question of friends, what is your heart ultimately given to? And am I fighting the good fight? Am I living like one who’s been redeemed? And I’m pushing back in the power of the Spirit. And I’m repenting and I’m repenting and I’m repenting and I’m seeking and I’m seeking Jesus and I’m seeking Jesus and I’m not going to just cave and give in. I’m going to be different.

Jesus says in Luke chapter 9 as they were going along the road someone said to him, I’ll follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said, foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. And to another he said, follow me. But he said, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. Jesus said to him, leave the dead to bury the dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God. Yet another said, I will not go to the kingdom of God. I will follow you, Lord. Let me first say farewell to those at home. And Jesus said, no one puts his hand to the plow and looks back. It’s fit for the kingdom. What is Jesus saying to us there in those many different interactions? There’s no way that you and I have it within ourselves to follow Jesus. I don’t have it within myself to remain pure from the world. But then when I read this text that they follow the Lamb wherever he goes, I don’t have that either. I got a bunch of bad excuses is what I have. Jesus, I got to first go do this. Jesus, I’d love to, but this. Jesus, I’d love to do that. Oh, but I got this really good this. Friends, this text exposes you and I. We would be stained filthy wanderers if we try to follow Christ in our own power.

Jesus, the Lamb, goes to hard places. You read about Jesus in the Bible. Does Jesus go to easy places? No, Jesus went to hard places where he had opposition, both from religious leaders and from hell itself. Jesus went to hard places and did hard ministry. And where did Jesus ultimately go? Jesus went to the hardest of places. He went to the cross. So I’m going to say I’m redeemed, but I’m not trying to live as a virgin and be pure from an impure world. And then I’m going to say that I’m redeemed, but I’m not willing to follow Jesus to the really hard place.

This text calls our blood and says you better not for one second think you can do this. This calls the hypocrite to come clean. Come clean.

Jesus says in John chapter 10, verse 27, my sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow and they follow me.

Oh, friends, because we have been redeemed, do we sing a new song that no one else can sing? And because Christ has redeemed us, do you and I live a life of redemption that’s different from the world? It’s only, really because of Jesus that I can follow him to the hard places. And Jesus calls us to the hard places. He calls us to the really hard places.

In London, England, on one particular street, Leinster Gardens is the name of it. You know how English homes are all butted up against each other, I guess kind of like what we call condos. House 23 and house 24. If you were to drive past, they look just like all the other houses. But if you didn’t know it, you wouldn’t know that house 23 and house 24 are fake. It’s just a five foot wall thick slab of concrete and it’s a fake aid. There’s nothing behind it. The reason is back when they put the underground railroad throughout London, the steam engine needed to be able to come up periodically. It let off steam and the community didn’t want this big ugly steam locomotive coming up and blowing off steam in the middle of their neighborhood. So to make them happy, they built a faux wall to keep between 22 and 25 looking smooth. Looks like a house. Looks like an uppity English little townhouse there, but if you look behind it, there’s nothing there. There’s nothing there.

All that you can appear to be before others, all that you can even think you’re appearing to be before God. Friend, what are you? Are you living as one who’s been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb? Are you living as one who has the Holy Spirit of God inside of them? The outcome of your life don’t be fooled. The outcome of your life will show it.

This text should encourage you because anywhere that God would lead you, whatever the hard place is, His Spirit will give you all that you need to fight that fight. I’m encouraged by those of you who are figuring that out in the workplace right now and figuring out what it looks like to fight the good fight and be faithful to the Lamb. It’s not easy. And so I’m grateful and commend those of you who are figuring out how to live faithful to Jesus in an unfaithful time. Let us follow the Lamb wherever He leads.

Verse 5.

It says, And in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless. I think it’s an interesting descriptor, but they’re not, because who has all the lies in His mouth? The devil. He’s the father of lies. They’ve been given the very description that’s the opposite of the kingdom they’re not a part of. They’ve been defined as something that’s outside, apart from the kingdom of Satan. There’s no lie in their mouth. That’s a quality of the enemy. But this is their blameless, and this is the connotation of Old Testament sacrifices that are without blemish. You couldn’t bring some blemish messed up, you know, ram or goat to sacrifice to God. You couldn’t bring some three-legged animal you didn’t want anyways. This is talking about being a pure, perfect offering to God. God’s redeemed people, they’re standing with the Lamb, looking like the Lamb, and all holiness, and righteousness, free of every blemish.

I want to just read to you as we close here out of Joel. Joel chapter 2, verse 31. It says, The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord, shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape. As the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls. And you think, well, that’s some random Old Testament obscure prophecy, isn’t it? What does that have to do with? It’s not obscure at all. It’s actually quoted twice in the New Testament. First by Peter at Pentecost preaching to the Jews. Acts chapter 2, verse 21. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And again, Paul, that apostle to the Gentiles, he says it in Romans chapter 10, verse 13. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How can you not get to the top of that mountain and imagine that we could stand with the Lamb? Friend, it’s not because of anything that you and I could do. It’s no song that we already have in our mouth. It’s no bit of holiness that’s already in our hearts. The Bible makes this very simple and plain for us. If we would be redeemed, what does the prophet Joel say, and Peter echoes, and Paul echoes? Cry out to Jesus for redemption, and you’ll be redeemed. It’s on God’s mountain that God perfects His people, and His people stand with the Lamb. Cry out to Jesus, friends, and you will be redeemed, and you will have a new song in your mouth, and you will have a new everlasting life. And yes, it will lead to hard places in the here and now, but ultimately, it leads to that mountain with God and in that city that has no end. And that, friends, is worth living for and giving our all to. So let’s sing on. Let’s sing, and let’s sing, and let’s sing. And let’s follow the Lamb wherever He goes. Let’s pray.

Father, Your Word convicts us. It cuts us to the quick. It exposes our sloth. It exposes our carelessness. It exposes our sin.

But Lord, it also renews us, purifies us. It shows us the way we ought to go. Father, Father, we want to go Your way. We want to be found faithful in our time. We don’t want to waste the days we’re given, Lord. We want to shout for joy and sing of who You are. But Lord, we want to live holy lives in the power of the Spirit. We want to be Your redeemed people in an unredeemed wicked time. Lord, as the world seems to go from bad to worse, Lord, let us go from one degree of glory to another in sanctification.

Only because You’ve called us out. Only because You’ve redeemed us, Jesus. I want to trust that promise.

Father, we’re going to hope. We’re going to know that in Your Son, Jesus, is the final victory. And it’s in His name we pray. Amen.