144,000 Billy Grahams

144,000 BILLY GRAHAMS

As we enter Chapter 7 we are in the period of time known as the Tribulation.  During this time the Church, including us, is not on earth.  By the Church, I mean true believers in Christ.  At some point between Chapters 3 and 4 the Church is called home, along with the Holy Spirit. At that point there is no representation of God on earth.  At that moment, there are no believers in the world.

However, I believe that the book of The Revelation is also a book of “Second Chances.”  One of the clearest examples we will see will be the 144,000 Witnesses that God sends to earth during the Tribulation.  The Seventh Seal will be opened in Chapter 8, after the 144,000 are on earth ready to Evangelize the World.

In Chapter 7 we will have seen two specific groups of people that survive the Tribulation.  The first group are the Martyrs that lose their lives for the sake of Jesus Christ’s Name.  Your first thought is that if they die, then how have they survived the Tribulation?  Their survival and ours is and will always be considered in the view of eternity.

The second group of people we will see will be 144,000 Witnesses that God will place on earth to bring the Saving message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.  These 144,000 Witnesses will be like 144,000 Billy Grahams.  They will evangelize the world for the sake of Jesus Christ.  Now let’s walk through Revelation 7 and see what God has for us.

In Chapter 7 we first see four angels standing at the four corners of the earth:  After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.  (Revelation 7:1)  The people of earth are in turmoil.  They have seen unprecedented death and destruction and according to Revelation 6:16 they know where it is coming from:  They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! as they put it, they know it is the Wrath of the Lamb.

We have yet to see the 7^th Seal opened.  We are in a pause, mandated by God for the sake of those on earth who are still lost, lost as in not knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:8-9)  God does not want anyone to be lost, and throughout the rest of The Revelation we will see opportunity after opportunity for Salvation for those left on earth.

In Revelation 7:2-3 we see an angel coming up from the east, the source of new dawning.  This angel has a Seal, the Royal Seal, the Seal of the Living God.  This Seal is to be put on the forehead of every believer on earth, so that they will be protected from God’s, and Satan’s Wrath.  Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea:  “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”

Then in Revelation 7:4-8 we see God introduce 144,000 Witnesses into the earth.  These are 144,000 men from the tribes of Israel that will cover the earth and spread the Saving Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Unlike what some other denominations would have you believe, these are all Witnesses from the Tribes of Israel, making them obviously Jews.  Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.  From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe of Gad 12,000, from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from the tribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000, from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.

There will be a multitude of people saved during the Tribulation.  Most, if not all, of those saved will be responding to the preaching of the 144,000 Witnesses.  That is obviously God’s intention, wanting no one to be lost to Satan. (2 Peter 3:8-9)  Before the days of the Tribulation, there was another instance of God sealing His people for Sanctification, do you remember it?  And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession — to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14)  We are sealed with the Holy Spirit, thus guaranteeing our deliverance into Glory.

In Revelation 7:9 John sees the results of the work done by the 144,000 Witnesses.  He sees an uncountable number of people standing before the Lamb.  After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.  And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9-10)

These are the people from all over the world who become Christians during the Tribulation.  They are delivered by the preaching of the 144,000 Super Evangelists God places on the earth.  144,000 Jewish Evangelists call uncountable number of people, from every nation, tribe, people and language to Christ.  These before the Throne have dipped their robes in the Blood of Christ and have so been saved.

Are you among the Saved today?

Bostwick UMC 10/3/21