you
you you
you
you you
you
you you
you
you you
you
Now let's keep reading here.
So what we see in verse 3,
he says,
Now this is pretty interesting.
Because he's basically telling him
before the wrath of God is poured out
we need to make sure we signify these servants
of God in their foreheads.
And we'll see later on it's because it's
so that they're not affected by the wrath
of God.
The servants of God that are mentioned here
in chapter 7 is referring to the 144,000.
And
I don't want to get ahead of myself
but I'm going to explain something to you.
Let me read you from Revelation 14
which is a parallel passage to
Revelation 7
referring to the 144,000.
It shows us where the 144,000
came from.
Now there's a teaching out there
that says that the 144,000
are Jews.
And they'll say that these are the
144,000 Jews that get saved
during the tribulation
during the seven years or whatever.
And these
people that get saved, these guys that get
saved, these virgins that get saved
and they start preaching the word of God.
But they're only, they're not even halfway
right. Because first of all it's not all
Jews. Second of all
they didn't get saved during the tribulation.
These are actually saints who are already in heaven.
And
they're not all
Jews. In fact they're of the 12
tribes of Israel minus
the Danites.
The tribe of Dan.
But I'm going to read to you from Revelation 14
verse 1. It says, And I looked and lo, a lamb
stood on the Mount Zion, and
with them 144,000
having his father's name written
in their foreheads. Now
it says that he looks and
he sees a lamb on Mount Zion.
And Mount Zion
is in heaven, right.
Mount Zion is not here on earth.
So when John is
seeing this vision of Jesus Christ,
who's the lamb of God, he
sees him on Mount Zion, which
is in heaven. And who's
with him? The 144,000
having his father's
name written in their
foreheads, the Bible says.
And let me skip down to verse 3. It says, And they sung as it
were a new song before the throne and before the four
beasts and the elders. And no man could
learn that song but the 144,000
which were redeemed from the earth.
Now, what is this
referring to? What's referring to the fact that they were
saved in times past. These are Old Testament
saints.
Okay. And what it is
is that when we get raptured,
when we experience the
resurrection, the dead in Christ rise first, and
we which are alive and remain are caught up with
them together to be in the clouds, to be with the
Lord forever, simultaneously
the 144,000 are actually coming down.
It says in
verse 4, These are they which were not defiled
with women, for they are virgins.
These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he
goeth. These were redeemed
from among men, being the first
fruits unto God and to the Lamb.
And in their mouth was found no
guile, for they are without fault before the
throne of God.
So, these 144,000
actually start off in heaven according to Revelation
14. And when we compare
that to Revelation 7, they're sent down
to the earth to
basically be a witness. They're
sole winners.
They're preaching the Gospel while they're here.
And they're going to go into all different nations.
This is going to be
one of the last Sony
marathons that
the world sees. They're going to go into
different nations and preach the Gospel
and get a bunch of people saved. Now, this is a
pretty unique group.
Because first and foremost,
it says that they're virgins.
Let me
get the description here.
It says that they were not defiled with women.
They were virgins.
They follow the Lamb whithersoever he
goeth. They were redeemed among men.
And so, this
is a pretty select group that
we see here. And we don't know exactly
what it took for them to
earn this position of being able to
come back thousands
of years later to preach the Gospel.
One of the cameras, I think,
went off.
I think it was
this one.
We don't know exactly what
they did, but here's the thing
is that
obviously
there were noble Christians who
abstained from
certain things of this life in order
to obtain this position. Because it says they were
virgins. They weren't defiled with women.
Now, here's my personal belief when it
comes to the 144,000.
In my opinion,
the 144,000
are
men who basically
did not die in the Old Testament.
They were somehow
raptured previous,
kind of the way Enoch was,
or the way Elijah was.
They were taken into heaven. And the
reason I say that, the only reason I really
believe that is because of the fact that
if they were,
if they had died already, for example,
and
they came back in their resurrected
bodies, that there would be no need for them to
receive a mark on their forehead
in order to
avoid the wrath of God that's
going to come upon the world. Because they're in the resurrected
state. They can feel no harm or
pain if they're in the resurrected body.
And here's the thing is
that once you're resurrected,
or once you die,
and you resurrect,
and you're resurrected state,
it's basically like clock out
time.
You're no longer necessarily working to
earn a reward. It's kind of like it's over already.
You understand?
So, once we
die, and we go to heaven, our work
is accomplished, we can no longer
earn more rewards. At that point, it's already
done. Your time is
up. Whereas
these 144,000, they're actually coming back
to preach the gospel. So,
I personally believe that their work
is not accomplished yet. So, they're given this
privilege to come
back thousands of years later
because of the fact that
they abstained from certain pleasures
of this life, or from
marriage, or just
whatever else. They were not defiled
with women. They were virgins.
They followed the Lamb. And
because they dedicated their lives to that,
they're given this privilege to come back thousands
of years later to preach the gospel, see
a bunch of people saved, and
be a part of the greatest
time on earth, where they can
go out and get the last people saved.
You understand? And there is a principle
in the Old Testament where
when people would go and
glean fields,
the owner of that field would
often say, leave the corners
for those who were poor,
so that people who
were down under luck, they didn't
have work, they can go
and work in the field and glean the corners
of the field for their food.
And I think that's a picture of
what we see here, because the
main reaping takes place
at the rapture. It takes place
at the first resurrection.
But then God sends forth
these 144,000 to kind of
glean the corners of the earth, the four corners
of the earth, so to speak,
to kind of harvest the
last souls on this
world that will be saved.
And so,
I believe that
they're going to come back in their regular
bodies, and this is why they have to be
sealed in their forehead, because if not,
Revelation 9, we see Apollyon
with his locusts come out, and they're
harming people
for months, and people are being
killed, people are being destroyed by
these crazy things that God is
pouring out, the trumpets and the vials.
And if it wasn't for the seal that's written in their forehead,
they would be harmed as well. And so I think that
they don't necessarily receive the resurrected
body as of yet, because their work is not yet
accomplished. You know, once
we come back, we're going to work
in the millennial reign, but it's not to earn a reward,
it's just to work. Right now,
we're laboring, we're working
in order to earn a reward
one day in heaven, in the millennial reign,
the new heaven, the new earth, so we can
basically enjoy
the fruits of our labor.
But that's
what I believe is going on here.
Now, here's the funny thing, okay,
because there's a group out there, of course,
known as the Jehovah's
Witnesses, and the Jehovah's
Witnesses, one of the main things that they like talking
about is, you know,
the 144,000, only 144,000
are going to get saved.
And so you have
hundreds and hundreds and
thousands, right? Thousands.
Thousands of
Jehovah's Witnesses
going out
every single day or on the
weekends, Saturdays or Sundays,
evangelizing, you know,
teaching their false gospel,
damning souls to hell,
and they're going out there, but I want you
to notice something about these Jehovah's Witnesses, the ones
who are going out. Obviously, they're striving to
be a part of that 144,000,
right? I mean, who would not want to
strive to be a part of the 144,000 if
that's what you believed? So this is why
they're going out like at 6 o'clock in the morning
and they're putting their little book stand
there with their little pamphlets and
you know, preaching their false gospel.
This is what they're doing.
And they'll use this
passage of scripture to prove the 144,000
are, you know,
only saved people. Well, here's the thing,
the 144,000 are only made
of men.
They're only made up of males.
So, someone needs to go tell
some of these female Jehovah's Witnesses,
hey, they're jipping you,
sister.
You know, I don't know if you notice, but the
144,000 of
Israel or in Revelation 7 are only
made up of males. So, you're
kind of wasting your time here,
you know, striving to get saved and be
one of the 144,000,
you know, these are only males.
Okay?
And it's kind of sad to think that, you know, according to their
theology, only 144,000
people will be saved.
Okay? And of course, the Jehovah's
Witnesses are just wrong on everything else. They're basically
wrong on almost everything.
Anything that they're right on
is just
mixing a little truth
with their lies in order to deceive
people. But for the most part, they
believe in damnable heresy. They're not saved.
Not one single Jehovah's Witness out there
is saved. Okay? Let me just
make myself very clear. They're not saved.
They don't believe in the right gospel. They have a
false version of the Bible called the New World
translation.
You know, they
believe in soul sleep.
They don't believe in hell.
They don't believe in the lake of fire.
They don't believe that Jesus Christ
is God, which is a
blasphemous teaching. Okay?
And so, but they'll
use a passage like this to teach that
only 144,000
are going to be saved, you know,
in the end. And it's like, so
then why do you have all these people
going out on a regular basis
and it's a mixed crowd with women?
Are you telling the women that, you know, only males
are going to be saved? You say, what are
the Jehovah's Witnesses right on? Well, the
Jehovah's Witnesses teach that
Christians will inherit the earth.
And here's the thing, that is true.
They will inherit the earth. Now, the Jehovah's
Witnesses won't inherit the earth because they're not even
saved. They're going to
inherit eternal damnation.
Okay? The only
area that Jehovah's Witnesses
the only area that
they're going to inherit is the
lake of fire. But
Christians will inherit the earth because the Bible teaches
in Revelation
21 and 22
it says that we're going to be
here on this earth with Jesus Christ
and the tabernacle, et cetera.
But just because they're right on that doesn't mean they're
right on anything else, because knowing that
doesn't get you saved. You understand?
Believing on Jesus
Christ for your salvation,
not believing you have to repent of your sins to be
saved. Okay?
If you believe you have to repent of your sins to be
saved, you're not saved.
Because you don't repent of your sins
to be saved, because here's the thing,
no one in this world has ever returned from
all their sins to be saved.
All right, Instagram crowd?
You know, a lot of
people got mad about my little video that I made
mocking the repent of your sins, but sorry
folks. Sorry, but not
sorry. You're not saved by repenting
of your sins, because no one in this world
has ever been able to repent of their sins for
salvation. No one's ever been able to turn from
all their sins to be saved. The thought of
foolishness is sin, and the thought that
you can turn from all your sins is a stupid thought.
So therefore, if you've never
committed a sin before in your life, you did by
thinking that foolish thought.
The Bible
teaches you have to exclusively believe on Jesus
Christ for salvation, and you will never find
the phrase, you know, repent
of your sins to be saved in the Bible.
And I've had many people message me,
what about this? You know, repent and believe
the gospel, repent, repent, repent.
I never said that the word repent is not in the Bible.
I said the
word, the phrase repent of your
sins to be saved is not in the Bible.
And it's not.
You know, and you know, obviously you have
people who want to add to the scriptures there,
but
you know, you better be careful adding to God's word.
No, folks, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.
It's by faith alone, not by works.
And yes, repenting of sin is a work,
according to Jonah chapter 3 and verse
number 10. You know, that God
saw that they turned from their
turn from their wicked ways, and
he considered that to be a work.
So to turn from your wicked ways
is considered a work in the eyes of God. Well, that's
not how I see it. Well, you're not God.
So, you know,
I guess it doesn't really matter what you think.
And so,
um,
I can't hold my phone today.
Got the drop. Sorry, Miss Sheila.
Sorry to hear that.
What was I talking about?
Jehovah's Witnesses. So Jehovah's
Witnesses, you know, this is a passage
that they'll use to try to teach that
only 144,000 are going to be
saved. Not true.
This 144,000 is referring to
a select group of Israel from
the Old Testament that is brought
back in the end times in order to glean
the corners of the earth, to
get souls saved, to preach the
gospel, and to do a
final work. Let's continue reading
here. It says in verse number four,
And I heard the number of them which were sealed, and they
were sealed in 144,000
of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
Of the tribe of Judah were
sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of
Reuben sealed 12,000. Of the
tribe of Gad were sealed 12,000. Of the
tribe of Asher were sealed 12,000.
Of the tribe of Nethelin were sealed
12,000 Of the tribe of Manasseh were
sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of Simeon
were sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of Levi
were sealed 12,000. Of the tribe of
Issachar was sealed 12,000. Of the
tribe of Zebulun were sealed 12,000.
Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed
12,000. And of the tribe of Benjamin
were sealed 12,000. Now I want
you to notice something. Notice
that it didn't say 144,000
of Jewish.
It doesn't say 144,000
Jews
And this is something that people impose
on the Bible, they'll say that this is 144,000 Jews.
Well, let me just make something very clear.
Jews come from Judah, and according to verse number five
of the tribe of Judah, we're sealed 12,000.
So there's only 12,000 of the tribe of Judah
that's actually in the group of the 144,000.
But it's of the 12 tribes minus, of course,
the tribe of Dan.
That's why the tribe of Joseph is being mentioned there.
A lot of people wonder why is it
that the tribe of Dan is excluded.
We don't necessarily know.
Wasn't necessarily anybody in that tribe
who met the qualifications,
who didn't abstain from relationship or got married.
Maybe God was looking for a specific qualification
in order to meet this standard here,
and maybe nobody from the tribe of Dan
met that standard.
But the point is is that we see everyone else
but Jews here.
I'm sorry, we see everyone else, but it's not all Jews.
Of course, the Jews are mentioned in verse five,
but it's only 12,000 of them.
And so it's important to note that.
You say, well, why do they say that it's 144,000 Jews?
Well, because it fits their Zionismic agenda and theology
that teaches that all seven years are for the Jews.
But all seven years are not for the Jews.
And that's not to say that the Jews don't play a role
in end times Bible prophecy, because they absolutely do.
It's just not in a good way.
Because what we see is that Jerusalem is trodden
under foot for 40 and two months,
and the great day of his wrath has come,
and the Bible tells us in Luke chapter 21,
that these be the days of vengeance upon this people,
and it's referring to the Jews.
Okay, and we'll get into that later on.
But the 144,000 are made up of all the tribes of Israel,
minus the tribe of Dan, and they're being sealed
in their foreheads in order so they're not destroyed
by the plagues, by the wrath of God, et cetera, okay?
Verse number nine says, and I beheld,
and excuse me, after this, I beheld and lo,
a great multitude, which no man could number
of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues
stood before the throne and before the lamb,
clothed with white robes and palms in their hands.
Now, who is this group?
Well, folks, it doesn't take rocket science to know,
it doesn't take a theology major to know,
it doesn't take a doctorates to know
that this is referring to all saved people.
Because if we were to try to number,
if we were to try to tell how many people
were saved from the beginning of time up until this point,
it's a multitude which no man can number.
Because we're not just talking about people who got saved,
we're talking about how about children and babies
and infants and abortions and all these people who died,
this is a great multitude.
I mean, how many babies are aborted every single year?
Okay, how many children die every single year?
And if they have not reached the age of accountability,
they go straight to heaven.
And you add on top of that all people who have believed
on the Lord throughout the centuries,
throughout the millennia for salvation,
it would be a great multitude which no man could number.
People wanna use this to say that this is referring
to the Jews, believe it or not.
Because they're saying, oh yeah, because these are all
the Jews that got saved during that time.
Folks, even if that were so, let's say a bunch of Jews
got saved during this time.
It would not be a great multitude which no man can number.
I mean, folks, we just numbered 144,000.
It's not a whole lot.
144,000 is a lot as far as the number is concerned.
But in comparison to all the salvations
from throughout all ages, it's not very much.
This great multitude which no man can number
comes from all ages, or excuse me, comes from all nations,
which would make sense with the rapture because people
have gotten saved from all different ethnicities
and national backgrounds.
You got Mexicans, you have Chinese people,
you have Japanese, you have Brazilians, you have Canadians,
you have Russians, you have Greeks, you have Jews.
I mean, you have people from every different nation.
It says kindred people and tongue stood before the throne
and before the lamb clothed with white robes
and palms in their hands.
Now, get this.
When he's given this vision, Ulysses,
can you plug in my laptop?
I think it's about to die.
And if it dies, we are in trouble, my friend.
Oh, man, it's at 2%.
Plug it in, man.
If we die, folks, I love you all.
It was great doing this.
You're plugging in on the wrong side, actually,
but let's...
And that one's all taken.
All right, we're good.
I still love you guys, even though we didn't die.
What was I talking about?
Saw a whole lot of numbers, 12,000.
12,000, what about 12,000?
You interrupted my thought process here.
Trying to remember what I was talking about.
All right, oh, the great multitude.
So the great multitude, it's from different nations,
kindreds, people in tongues.
And this proves that the gospel has been preached
throughout all nations.
The gospel has gone forth to every single nation out there.
And there's this false concept out there
that says that there's people out there in the 1040 window
in Southeast Asia who have never heard the gospel.
But here's the thing, they have heard the name of Jesus.
And even if that specific generation has never heard
a clear presentation of the gospel,
there's a reason for that.
And typically nations who have become very pagan,
very idolatrous, are nations that have had ancestors
who have rejected the gospel when it came to them.
So you look at a place like Southeast Asia
where idolatry is rampant, they worship devils
and all these things, first and foremost,
they have heard the name of Jesus,
because if you look at those nations,
they often have Muslim religions there
and people who are Muslim, and even Muslims believe
in Jesus and they preach about Jesus.
I'm not saying they preach about the right Jesus,
but they preach the name of Jesus.
And obviously people are not gonna get saved,
but to say that they've never heard the name of Jesus
is actually not true at all, it's not accurate.
But secondly, even if they've never gotten
a clear presentation of the gospel,
that is actually the consequence of a nation
that has rejected the gospel in times past.
That's why you have a place like England,
which obviously, I think the tide is beginning
to turn in England a little bit,
there's been a lot of people who are getting saved
and a lot of believers in that area.
But the fact is, is that it was so dark for so long
because of the previous generations
that rejected the gospel.
Same thing in India, same thing in China,
same thing in Japan, all these dark places
that are not for the gospel, the reason for that
is because the generations of times past
have rejected the gospel and God allows that nation
to become reprobate.
And I don't mean reprobate as in like a sodomite,
I'm talking about reprobate as in he removes
the knowledge of God from that nation, okay?
And obviously the United States of America,
we wouldn't necessarily consider it to be a Christian nation
in the sense of everyone here is a believer in Christ,
but the United States as a whole
has housed and Christians have occupied this land.
We've occupied it, we've had churches here,
we have churches here, we're preaching the word of God,
we're preaching the gospel here,
we're sending out missionaries
to different parts of the world here,
and I believe we're reaping the benefits
of those who have stood for the truth in times past
and we are reaping the benefits of a generation
that accepted the word of God in times past.
I mean, our laws were basically based upon the Bible, okay?
And so, but when you look at different nations,
that's not necessarily the case.
But the point that I'm trying to make here
is the fact that in heaven you have the multitude
which no man can number of all nations,
kindreds, people in tongues,
because of the fact that people have heard the gospel
throughout all ages.
And let me just prove that to you.
The Bible says in Romans chapter number 12,
or excuse me, Romans chapter number 10,
in verse number 16 it says,
"'But they have not all obeyed the gospel,
"'for Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
"'So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing
"'by the word of God.'
"'But I say, have they not heard?
"'Yes, verily their sound went into all the earth,
"'their words unto the ends of the world.'"
So the word of God has been preached throughout the world,
throughout all ages.
God has always had a remnant that has been willing
to go on and preach the gospel in all the world.
And this is how it works, okay?
Because people often give this illustration.
They'll say, well, what if there's like some guy
in the jungle of Africa who's never heard the name of Jesus?
What if he dies?
Will he go to hell?
Obviously, yes.
Doctrine and theology doesn't change
just because you come up with a fairly decent illustration,
which obviously is not even a decent illustration
because it's illogical to think that.
And I'm gonna explain to you why.
It's unbiblical.
If someone is out there who's never heard the gospel
and they want the truth,
God will send a missionary or a soul winner to that person.
Because the Bible strongly teaches that
when someone responds to the light that God gives them,
God will give them more light.
And every single human being in this world
is born with light, with a little bit of light, okay?
The Bible says that we have the law of God
written in our hearts, okay?
And the Gentiles have the law of God written in our hearts.
Every one of us knows that there is a God in heaven.
Now, the only thing we don't know is the fact that,
you know, the God that we need to believe in,
His name is Jesus, okay?
But we understand that there is a creator.
The Bible tells us that the heavens declare
the glory of God.
We have the law of God written in our hearts, okay?
But, so when a person responds to that light
and says, I want to know God, or I want to seek after God,
I want the truth, God gives them more light.
And eventually, they come to the saving knowledge
of Jesus Christ.
And every single human being has that light.
So, you know, there's another group of people
known as the Calvinists who would teach that
certain people are elected for salvation
and certain people are damned, and that's not true.
Everyone has the same amount of light when they're born,
okay?
It says in John chapter three, in verse 20,
for everyone that doeth evil, hateth the light,
neither cometh to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved.
But he that doeth truth cometh to the light,
that his deeds may be made manifest,
that they are wrought in God.
And so, the more you respond to the light God gives you,
the more light God gives you,
which eventually leads you to a person
to give you the gospel and get you saved, all right?
So, if there's really someone in the jungles of Africa
looking for the truth, God will send someone there, okay?
And I'll tell you, even by personal experience,
I've had a personal experience where, you know,
I have a testimony, let me give you my testimony.
You know, I've had times where it's almost as if
you get a divine appointment with another individual
who's looking for the truth.
You know, whether it's at a gas station
or you take a different route to work or whatever it may be
and you just end up finding this person,
sparking up a conversation with them.
They start talking about the things of God
and you give them the gospel and they get saved.
I've had many times that that's happened.
In fact, one time, we went to a different city
to get my son's stitches.
He had cut his hand.
And we went back to that same doctor in a different city
because she specialized in stitches for children.
It was like some sort of doctor who did that for children.
And she was gonna remove the stitches.
So what we did is I took my kids to the park instead
while my wife took my son to go remove his stitches.
And we went to some random park and we got Pollo Loco
and we went to this park and we were under the awning there
and we're just sitting at the tables.
And there just so happened to be sitting a man
probably in his 60s and he was reading a Bible.
And start praying for the food and start eating.
And I just kind of kept glancing over at him
and looking at the Bible.
And he noticed that we prayed and he said,
hey, are you a Christian?
I said, yeah, actually I am.
I'm a pastor of a church.
My church is called First Works Baptist Church.
I'm a pastor.
And he's like, oh man, that's great.
I'm reading the Bible here.
I'm like, oh, great.
What kind of Bible do you have?
And he says, I have a King James Bible.
So obviously he's responding to the light
that God gives him because he had the right Bible.
And I said, you know, are you 100% sure
that if you die today, you go to heaven?
And he said, man, it's so interesting that you asked me that
because I've actually been thinking about that.
And I'm reading the Bible and I'm trying to figure that out.
Make a long story short, the guy ended up getting saved.
And he was very grateful.
And he's like, I've never heard it explained that way.
You made it so clear.
But here's the thing.
I would consider that to be a divine appointment.
And what was the basis of it?
Well, the fact that he's responding to the light
God gave him.
He went to a park, opened up the Bible,
is reading the word of God.
The guy's not even saved,
but he's trying to look for the truth.
And in his attempts to look for the truth,
God sent a pastor to go give him the truth
from a different city, far away.
You know?
And so I strongly believe, not just on my testimony,
based upon God's word,
that when people respond to the light that God gives them,
God will make sure that you get the truth.
Okay?
So that was a rabbit we chased, but it was a good rabbit.
Just showing you here that there's a lot of people,
you know, a great multitude that we're looking at here,
getting saved, or that got saved.
And it says in verse 10,
and cried with a loud voice,
saying, salvation to our God,
which sitteth upon the throne and into the Lamb.
And all the angels stood round about the throne
and about the elders,
and the four beasts fell and fell before the throne
on their faces and worshiped God,
saying, amen, blessing, and glory, and wisdom,
and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might,
be unto our God forever and ever, amen.
And one of the elders answered, saying unto me,
what are these which are arrayed in white robes,
and whence came they?
So the implication of that statement is the fact that
that group of people, you know, the group which,
the multitude which no man can number, they just got there.
What was that?
Because he says, whence came they?
In other words, like, where did they come from?
Because they just got there,
because this is after the rapture.
The rapture takes place and they just show up there.
And he's like, where did they come from?
Because they just got there.
And he said unto him, sir, thou knowest.
And he said to me,
these are they which came out of great tribulation,
and have washed their robes,
and made them white in the blood of the lamb.
So he's saying, look, these are all the souls
that came from that specific event
called the great tribulation.
Now you think of it, well you say,
well, if it's saying that it's those
who came out of great tribulation,
and you're saying that this is the rapture,
how does that fit?
Well, here, this is how it fits.
It's because everyone,
even if they died in the Old Testament,
are being resurrected after what?
The tribulation.
So even if they died 2,000 years ago,
3,000 years ago, 4,000 years ago,
everyone is gonna be resurrected
after that great tribulation, okay?
And I'll give you proof of that.
The book of Daniel, chapter number 12,
you know, God tells Daniel that he's gonna stand
in his lot at the end of days.
You know, Daniel lived thousands of years ago,
and he's telling them that he's gonna be resurrected
at the end of days, and it's referring
to this specific time here.
So every saint from the beginning of time
up until this point is being resurrected,
they're all coming out of great tribulation,
because the great tribulation is the marker
to show us, you know, when the rapture's gonna take place.
It's after that tribulation.
Does that make sense to everyone?
He says, they 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 this temple.
And He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
Now, here's something pretty cool
for you guys to think about.
We're looking at Revelation chapter seven,
and it's the great multitude which no man can number.
Well, if you're saved, basically John saw you.
I mean, there's a potential that he saw you,
because he's getting a vision of the future,
and this great multitude includes us.
You know, it includes me, it includes believers,
it includes saved people, it includes you if you're saved,
you know, it includes Christians who are saved.
And so that's a pretty crazy thought if you think about it,
that when John is getting this vision 2,000 years ago,
he's looking into the future, I mean, way into the future,
even into our future, and he's seeing this great multitude
and you and I, if you're saved, you know, are there.
So he's looking upon us during this time.
He said, how is that possible?
Well, because all these things are taking place in eternity.
Like he's viewing this from eternity's perspective.
This is why the Bible says that Jesus Christ
is the Lamb of God who was slain
before the foundation of the world,
from the foundation of the world.
So in God's mind, you know, from eternities past,
Jesus Christ was already slain,
even though from a time perspective,
he was slain 2,000 years ago, first century AD.
And from eternities perspective,
he was already slain long ago,
because God views everything from a panoramic view.
You know, he doesn't deal with things necessarily in time.
He's looking at it as though it already happened.
And I'll give you an example of this.
You know, Jesus, while he was here on this earth,
the disciples came to him and they were really excited
because, you know, they were able to cast out these devils
and, you know, the devils were subject unto them.
And he told them, you know, don't rejoice in this,
but that your names are written in heaven.
And he said, I saw Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
And he says he saw, but that actually doesn't take place
until Revelation chapter 12.
Well, how did he see it?
Well, when he was in eternity's past.
And of course, God is omniscient.
He's omnipresent, he sees everything at all times.
He knows the future, he knows everything.
So pretty crazy thought there to think that that was us
in there, in that group.
Verse 16 says, and they shall hunger no more,
neither thirst anymore, 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 leave them
unto living waters, unto fountains of living waters.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
And so that is the conclusion to Revelation
chapter number seven, and it concludes it with the rapture,
showing that we're gonna be with the Lord forever.
And at this point, all believers are in heaven
with Jesus Christ.
The 144,000 come down on this earth to preach the gospel.
And we're actually only in heaven for about
three and a half years, because then we return with him
in Revelation chapter nine at the end of Daniel's 70th week
for the battle of Armageddon, where Jesus Christ
destroys the Antichrist, his armies and the false prophet.
He cast them both into the lake of fire.
Then you have Revelation chapter 20, where he,
what camera was that?
Revelation chapter 20, where he establishes
his millennial reign and the kingdoms of this world
are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ,
the Bible says.
So we're there in heaven for three and a half years,
then we come back down three and a half years later
to rule and reign with Christ for a thousand years.
And so that is the case there in Revelation
chapter number seven.
And that's pretty much it, folks.
It was about a 45 minute lesson, I think,
maybe a little more than that.
Let me look at some questions here on Instagram.
I haven't even looked on YouTube, actually.
I'm looking on YouTube, there's no questions.
No questions, all right.
Well, let's look on Instagram real quick.
God sent his only sons, whosoever believeth in him
shall not perish, but I have eternal life.
Okay, let's see here.
Do we have any questions on here?
I used to believe in works, but I don't anymore.
Amen.
What else do we got?
Oh, there's a question thing here.
Eternal Security Baptist asks, is there scripture
to back the idea that there's a certain age
where children can't understand?
No, not necessarily.
I've never read a scripture like that.
The Bible doesn't even make clear
when the age of accountability finishes.
We just know that it happens when they have
an understanding, what the Bible says,
that they're slain by the law, okay?
And if from a practical perspective,
you know, you think of Adam and Eve,
it's when they knew that they were naked, okay?
That they were slain, so to speak.
And so the Bible doesn't give us an age
when that takes place or, you know.
I personally believe that that age can be accelerated
to a younger age.
I'm not sure how young, based upon what that child
is exposed to, but I think that's a rare case.
The Bible does talk about cursed children,
but in context, in 2 Peter chapter two,
it's just referring to the children of the devil,
referring to just false prophets and reprobates.
But that's not to say that reprobate
does not reprobate teenagers out there, okay?
I'm sure they exist.
But I don't think, you know, I don't think
the Bible actually teaches when that could be.
It's just when, you know, they recognize
that they've sinned against God
and they're slain by the law, okay?
Hope that made sense.
It says, the Bible just says those who do not know
right from wrong, I think mentally disabled
are not liable for this.
I agree with that.
You know, some people who are mentally disabled
are handicapped, you know, they often remain
in that stage of, before the age of accountability
due to their inability to comprehend certain concepts.
And so sometimes I believe a person can remain like that
for their entire life.
Let's see here.
All right, I don't think there's any other question.
Hello, I am new.
Do you have a podcast?
I do, actually I have two podcasts.
So the one that you're currently listening to
is actually the Olive Crown podcast.
And we're doing a little differently
because we had some problems with the live stream.
We typically tether YouTube and Instagram together.
And there's a high quality video that comes on Instagram,
but this is, we're not doing that tonight.
If you want the higher quality, you can go on YouTube.
So I have the Olive Crown podcast,
and then we also have the Rod of Iron podcast.
You guys remember that podcast?
It's called the Rod of Iron podcast.
Now we didn't cancel that one.
We finished off with episode number eight of season two,
but we took a little bit of a break
because my wife was about to have the baby
and so I needed to be home a little more.
But we're gonna kick that off in the coming weeks.
And so watch out for new episodes.
We actually have, let's see, one, two, three, four,
we have four more episodes of the Rod of Iron
for the completion of season number two.
And then we'll take about a month off
and then we're gonna come back for season number three.
And so tune in for that.
You guys on Instagram, if you go on YouTube,
you type in FirstWorksBC, that's my YouTube channel.
Subscribe to the channel, like the video,
put a comment on there, threaten me,
rail on me if you want, you know, all that good stuff.
And so you'll enjoy the content that's on there.
Let's see, somebody asked what?
Let's see here.
What do you say about the people who say circumcision
and the law are two different things?
Well, here's the thing, they're halfway right
because circumcision was part of the mead strings
and diverse washings and carnal ordinances, right?
And obviously we understand that those things
were imposed upon the people until the time of reformation.
So that's an aspect of the law
that was done away with in Christ
that the Bible says in Colossians chapter number two
was nailed to the cross, okay?
But here's the thing, to say that that's the only part
of the law that exists, that's not true
because we have the law of God that says, you know,
that you shouldn't murder, you shouldn't lie,
and then you have the moral laws that exist
in the book of Leviticus and the book of Deuteronomy.
And here's the thing, okay, if the laws,
if those moral laws were done away with,
then why is it that the law of God is written in our heart
according to Romans chapter number two,
which is in the New Testament, right?
So people want to say that these laws are done away with.
Well, you got a problem because, you know,
you have the law of God written in your heart.
And that law of God existed prior to Moses
even getting the law from Mount Zion.
You know, people knew that murder was wrong
before Moses came along.
They knew that sodomy was wrong prior to Moses coming.
And if you don't believe that, then read Genesis 19,
which is before Exodus, okay?
And so the law of God, God's moral law
has always been around, it will always be around.
Circumcision is part of that, those diverse laws,
ordinances that were imposed upon the people
until the time of reformation,
and the time of reformation is referring to
Jesus Christ bringing in the better covenant,
which was established upon better promises,
which came to fruition when he died on the cross.
Because in order for a New Testament to begin,
there has to be a death of a testator,
according to Hebrews chapter number nine.
And that's how it can bring in the full effect
of the Testament, after the testator dies.
But here's the thing is that God's moral laws
are still around.
And that could point to dozens of scriptures
in the New Testament that still advocates
for the death penalty, okay?
And here's one, Romans chapter 13,
talking about the powers that be,
they don't bear the sword in vain.
They're there to punish evil doers,
and I don't know about you,
but you don't use a sword to spank anybody,
or to slap a wrist for a misdemeanor or something.
A sword is for capital punishment.
So I hope that made sense.
Does the following scripture have any meaning
concerning the tribe of Dan not having any men
in the 144,000?
Amos 8.13 says, in that day shall the fair virgins
and young men faint for thirst.
I don't think it does.
That's a pretty obscure scripture.
Could be, but I don't think it has anything to do
with the tribe of Dan not being mentioned.
Good questions.
What else we got?
Miss Vicki Perez is on here.
How's it going, Miss Vicki?
She's from, I've known her from years ago,
my old church.
I think, let's see, there are questions on YouTube.
It says hike.
What's a good way to learn the Bible?
Where to start?
Well, here's some good ways to learn the Bible, okay?
From a practical perspective.
Number one, you have to have a Bible, right?
And more specifically, a King James Bible.
And here's my advice to people.
If you've never read a book in your life,
which, unfortunately, a lot of people in this generation
have never even picked up a book,
but if you've never read one book in your life,
I would recommend to start reading the book of Proverbs.
And you just turned off, you just,
all right, there we go, go for it.
Good?
Read the book of Proverbs,
because it has 31 chapters of just content-filled wisdom,
and it's very easy to read, or short chapters.
And I would say build the habit
of just reading the Bible consistently,
even if it's the same book for the next three months,
because it's better to build a habit of reading,
and then you can basically optimize your reading
by reading the entire book thereafter.
It's better to standardize before you optimize.
Standardize your ability to read consistently
every single day, and then optimize your reading
by starting to read Genesis to Revelation.
So number one, in order to learn the Bible,
you obviously have to read the Word of God, right?
So you start with there, the Bible says,
give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
Give thyself wholly unto them.
The second way to learn the Bible
is by being a part of a local New Testament church.
And the proof of that is actually found
in Ephesians chapter number four,
because the Bible literally says
that God gave us pastors and teachers,
evangelists, for the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ.
And it says that we henceforth be no more children
tossed to and fro, carried about with every wind
of doctrine, by the sleight of men,
and cunning craft in this,
whereby they lie in wait to deceive.
So a great way to learn the Bible is by being in church,
because you're gonna get doctrine there.
And even aside from the doctrine
that you get from the preaching of God's Word,
a lot of the times, I think of, for example, our church,
even after the service, the men get together,
and we fellowship, and we just kind of talk about
biblical ideas and doctrine, and things of that nature.
And you just learn the Bible in that way.
So one way to learn the Bible is by picking up
a physical Bible and putting a plan together to read it.
Two is by getting it from preaching.
And three, get this, you learn the Bible
by doing what the Bible says.
Because if you're faithful and little,
you shall be faithful and much.
So if you're a doer of the Word, and not just a hearer,
you will learn the Bible.
Because the more you obey the Word of God,
it's basically the concept of light.
The more you respond and obey the light that God gives you,
the more light He's gonna give to you.
And of course, I would say another way
is by meditating on God's Word.
That's a good way to do it.
In fact, actually, I have a video called,
what's it called, you lying?
Five ways to learn the Bible.
You can link it on the YouTube comments.
I have a specific video called
Five Ways to Learn the Bible.
Some to that extent, and I go into detail
on how you can learn the Word of God.
I hope that helped.
Let's see here.
Are you texting it to me?
I don't see it.
Do you believe Melchizedek was an Old Testament
appearance of Jesus?
Yes, it was.
I believe it was definitely an Old Testament
appearance of Jesus.
We see that in the book of Hebrews.
There's a lot of terminology that's being used
in the story of Melchizedek to show that he is,
it was a pre-incarnate Christ.
He's without father, without mother, et cetera.
And of course, we know that from an eternal perspective,
that would be Jesus Christ, because it's referring
to without father and mother on an earthly aspect,
perspective.
Let me answer this one here.
It says, James 2, 26 says, faith without works is dead,
but James 2, 10 says, whosoever offends the law
and at one point is guilty of all.
If that's true, how can you go to heaven only by faith?
Okay, so let me answer this question here.
And I'm glad someone asked this because of the fact
that Instagram is filled with a lot of repent of your sins
people, and if you've ever talked to people
who are just hardcore repent of your sins,
they love pointing to James chapter two.
I mean, forget the rest of the Bible, right?
Forget the book of John, where Jesus literally says
to believe on him, forget every other portion of scripture
where it clearly says how to be saved by faith alone,
let's just go to the book of James, okay?
But that's okay, if people wanna do that
because it's easily debunked, okay?
James 2, 10 says, for whosoever shall keep the whole law
yet offend at one point, he is guilty of all.
Now, when it says in James 2, 26,
that faith without works is dead,
it's referring to the fact
that if you don't exercise your faith,
you have a dead faith.
Now, notice that it doesn't say
you have a non-existent faith.
It says you have a dead faith
and there is a difference between the two
because nobody would go to a funeral where there's a casket
and there's a corpse in the casket
and say, this person does not exist in this casket.
There's a corpse there, right?
We would just say that person is what?
Dead, why?
Because it's without the spirit, okay?
Well, in like manner, God compares that to our faith
if we're not coupling it with works.
It's not alive, okay?
And more specifically in context in James 2,
James 2 has actually nothing to do with salvation.
When it says in verse number 14, it says,
what doth it profit, my brethren,
though a man say he have faith and hath not works,
can faith save him?
And automatically people say, oh, there you go.
It has to do with salvation.
But folks, you have to understand
and expand your vocabulary a little bit
and understand that when the Bible says save,
yeah, sometimes it's referring
to the justification of the soul,
but other times it's just referring
to like a basic deliverance of your flesh.
For example, when Peter was drowning,
when he walked on water and he began to sink,
he said, Lord, save me.
Now, let me ask you this.
Did that mean Jesus, can you save my soul?
No, he's saying physically pull me out of the water.
He wanted a physical deliverance and he said, save me, okay?
And that's exactly what this is referring to.
This is not referring to the salvation of the soul.
This is referring to the salvation of the flesh.
And I'll prove it to you.
He says, if a brother or sister be naked
and destitute of the gospel,
no, it says destitute of daily food.
And one say unto them, depart in peace,
be warmed and filled, notwithstanding,
you give them not those things
which are needful to the body.
What doth it profit, even so faith,
if it hath not works as dead being alone?
So he's saying this, if you say you have faith
and a brother or a sister comes to you and says,
I'm in need of a physical, you know, food, clothing,
I'm in need of resources, I'm starving,
or I just need some monetary help.
And if you tell that person, be warmed and filled.
In other words, you're just like,
well, I hope everything goes well for you.
Hope you get warmed up somewhere.
I hope you get to have a meal somewhere.
Your faith is not profiting that person
because the way you profit another person
is by exercising your faith, okay?
So faith without works is dead being alone
is absolutely true, but not sure when it comes to salvation
because this has nothing to do with salvation.
It has to do with delivering a brother or sister
who is destitute of food and naked, okay?
If you say you're a Christian
and you love your brother or sister,
but you see them, they have need of something
and it's in your hand, you know,
you possess the power to actually help that person
and you choose not to, you have a dead faith.
It doesn't mean you don't have any faith.
It just means your faith is dead.
It's not living, okay?
You're not exercising your faith.
And he says,
yea, a man may say thou has faith and I have works.
Show me thy faith without thy works
and I will show thee my faith by my works.
Thou believeest that there is one God.
This is a verse that a lot of people like to use.
Thou doest well.
The devils also believe and tremble.
I can't even count.
If I had a penny for every time someone quoted this verse
to try to debunk faith alone,
I'd be a very wealthy dolinaire.
People use this verse all the time.
And they said the devils also believe and tremble.
And this is my response to them.
Devils can't get saved.
So that argument is completely null and void
because Satan and the devil can't get saved
so it doesn't even matter.
The point that this verse is making is the fact that
Satan and the devil have mental assent to truth.
Doesn't mean anything.
They tremble.
Doesn't mean anything.
One like manner, if you have faith
but you're not exercising your faith,
it doesn't mean anything to anybody.
You don't profit your brother,
you don't profit your sister
if you're not putting into practice
the things that you've learned.
Now notice that it doesn't say you're not saved from hell.
Notice that it doesn't say you don't have eternal life.
Notice that it doesn't say
you're not going to heaven when you die.
It says you don't profit.
You don't profit.
You don't give your brother or sister.
Now let me just give you the coup de gras though
in this chapter to show you
that this is not referring to salvation.
Because I'm assuming anybody who's listening right now
and even people who don't agree with me,
they would clearly understand that the Bible,
all scripture is given by inspiration of God
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, instruction, and righteousness.
There's no mistakes in the Bible.
There's no contradictions in the Bible, right?
It's written by God.
Well, it says in verse 21,
was not Abraham our father justified by works?
There you go.
He's justified by works.
Hold on a second.
When he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar.
Now it's saying that Abraham is justified by works
in James chapter two and verse number 21.
But in Romans chapter four,
because I know people just hate the book of Romans,
that pesky book of Romans that teaches so much
about salvation by faith alone.
Why can't you just stick to the book
of James chapter number two?
I'll tell you why.
Because when you read the word of God
and you study the Bible,
you're supposed to study it holistically.
You interpret the word of God holistically.
You don't just stick to Matthew seven and James chapter two.
You got to take the whole Bible.
And Romans four says this in verse number one.
What shall we say then that Abraham our father
as pertaining to the flesh has found?
For if Abraham were justified by works,
he has to wear off to glory, but not before God.
For what sayeth the scripture Abraham believed God
and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Now to him that worketh is the reward,
not working of grace, but of debt.
But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him to justify the ungodly.
His faith is counted for righteousness.
The Bible says.
So he believed on God.
Okay.
And it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Years later, when he's like a hundred,
he offers Isaac upon the altar
and he's justified before who?
Before man.
So he's justified before God when he believes on God
and it's counted unto him for righteousness.
Years later, he offers up Isaac upon the altar
and the Bible says he's justified by works
before who?
Before man.
Just as the brother or sister who's destitute of food,
who's naked, of necessities.
If you exercise your faith, what happens?
You're justified by your works before that person.
Simple.
For as the body without the spirit is dead,
so faith without works is dead also.
So, sorry folks.
You know, if you're saved,
yeah, you should work,
but not to maintain your salvation before God.
Not to even prove your salvation before God.
Because the Bible says to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him to justify the ungodly.
His faith is counted for righteousness.
Not by works of righteousness, which we have done,
but according to his mercy, he saved us.
For by grace are you saved through what?
Faith and that not of yourself.
Oh, I'm sorry.
It's for by grace are you saved through repentance of sin?
No, it's through faith and that not of yourselves.
It is the gift of God, not of works.
Lest any man should boast.
Good question.
Let's see here.
Boom, boom, boom.
I recommend starting in John
for people who don't regularly read.
James is about,
James is about justification before men.
You can be 100% sure you will go to heaven
if you trust in Christ.
Yes, absolutely.
Yep.
What do you think about those homosexuals
who say they believe in God?
They do believe in God.
The thing is they don't want to retain God
in their knowledge.
People can believe in God and not be saved.
People can believe in God and be damned eternally.
In fact, let me just say this.
Everyone who's in hell today
knows that Jesus Christ is the savior.
All right, let's see.
Oh, yeah, I already skipped that one right there.
People will claim to believe with their mouth.
I think that's pretty much it.
Hey, brother David Newgira.
Been praying for you, brother.
Heard some good news from you.
Glad you're doing well.
All right, better be a good one.
Just kidding.
Do you believe that God gives us the ability of faith,
but not faith unto salvation like hyper-Calvinism implies?
I just believe everyone is born
with a certain amount of faith.
And I'm not gonna step out and say
that God is the one who gives us that faith
because the Bible never really implies that.
And more so it actually says thy faith hath saved thee.
So that debunks the whole teaching
that God gives us the faith to believe in him
because throughout the gospels,
you see Jesus Christ saving people
and he says thy faith hath saved thee.
Let's talk about the faith that that person has.
Obviously we understand that those people
have more faith than others,
but it doesn't require an insurmountable amount
of faith to get saved.
It just requires the faith that you have to get saved.
So yeah.
All right, folks.
Well, thank you so much for tuning in
to the Olive Crown Podcast.
Lot of great questions.
Make sure you share this with someone.
And I'm trying to say hi to everyone on here.
Wave, wave, wave, wave, wave.
Hit the wave.
Brother Chris.
Wave at brother Chris.
Good to see you, brother.
All right, folks.
Well, thank you so much for tuning in
to the Olive Crown Podcast.
We might go live on Friday around five o'clock.
And so I'll give you an update on that
because I wanna kind of catch up on the series here.
And I wanna start with the wrath of God
in Revelation chapter number eight.
And so it's a very interesting chapter
and I know we got off on some other topics here.
But thank you so much for tuning in on Instagram.
And folks, I wanna encourage you
that when we go live on Instagram,
put it on your stories, share the videos,
get the truth out there as much as possible.
And it's great.
And so thank you so much for doing that.
And on YouTube, thank you so much, folks, for tuning in.
We'll see you guys in the next live stream.
God bless.
Bye.
["Pomp and Circumstance"]