Sunday
Morning Bible Study
June 17, 2001
Introduction
When you’ve got a job to do, it always helps to have the right tool.
Illustration
MECHANIC'S TOOL GUIDE
HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to cut hoses 1/2 inch too short.
MECHANIC'S KNIFE: Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard
cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on boxes
containing seats and motorcycle jackets.
WIRE WHEEL: Cleans rust off old bolts and then throws them somewhere under
the workbench with the speed of light.
Also removes fingerprint whorls and hard-earned guitar calluses in about
the time it takes you to say, "Ouc...."
OXYACETYLENE TORCH: Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable
objects in your garage on fire. Also
handy for igniting the grease inside a brake drum you're trying to get the
bearing race out of.
VISE-GRIPS: Used to round off bolt heads.
If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense
welding heat to the palm of your hand.
This morning I want to talk about what it takes to be the right kind
of tool in God’s hand.
:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an
hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.
a Lamb – this is Jesus.
mount Sion – or, Mount Zion. Zion is the hill that the city of
Jerusalem is built on. But the question is, is this the earthly Zion, or is
this a heavenly version of Zion?
If this is the earthly Zion, then these 144,000 are in the earthly city of
Jerusalem, and Jesus is standing with them spiritually (since he doesn’t come
back until Revelation 19).
But I think that this is probably the “heavenly” Jerusalem.
The word “Zion” has been used to describe the heavenly Jerusalem –
(Heb 12:22 KJV) But ye are
come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
And as you read on, there are further references to heaven.
“a voice from heaven” (vs. 2); “a new song before the throne” (vs.3)
In other words, the 144,000 are now in heaven.
an hundred forty and four thousand – These are the people who were
called “the servants of our God” back in Revelation 7. These are Jewish believers who have come to
trust in Jesus after the church has been taken in the Rapture.
Father’s name – Back in chapter 7, we were told that the 144,000
were sealed in their foreheads.
(Rev 7:3 KJV) Saying, Hurt
not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants
of our God in their foreheads.
Now we are told what the “seal” is, it is the name of the Father. The
Father’s name is YHWH (“Yahweh”).
:2 …I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
harps – kithara – a harp
to which praises of God are sung in heaven.
The Greek word is the basis for our word “guitar”.
:3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne …
The 144,000 sing a song that only they can sing.
sung – ado –
to the praise of anyone, to sing
song – ode –
a song, lay, ode
were redeemed – agorazo
– to be in the market place, to attend it; to do business there, buy or
sell
:4 …not defiled with women; for
they are virgins…
defiled – moluno
– to pollute, stain, contaminate, defile; used in NT of those who have not
kept themselves pure from the defilements of sin, who have soiled themselves by
fornication and adultery
virgins – parthenos – a
virgin; one who has never had sexual intercourse
follow – akoloutheo
– to follow one who precedes, join him as his attendant, accompany him; to
join one as a disciple, become or be his disciple; side with his party
he goeth – hupago
– to lead under, bring under; to withdraw one’s self, to go away, depart;
the verb is subjunctive in mood, meaning that “wherever the Lamb should go,
they will follow”.
firstfruits – aparche
– to offer firstlings or firstfruits; to take away the firstfruits of the
productions of the earth which was offered to God. The first portion of the
dough, from which sacred loaves were to be prepared. Hence term used of persons
consecrated to God for all time.; persons superior in excellence to others of
the same class
:5 And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before
the throne of God.
guile – dolos – craft,
deceit
without fault – amomos –
without blemish; faultless, unblameable
The man God uses
Since this is Father’s Day, I am going to address the points this morning
to the men. But in reality, there isn’t a single thing I’m going to say that
doesn’t apply to the women.
Lesson #1
God uses a man who worships
When these guys get to heaven, they have a new song to sing. (vs.3)
God uses men who know how to worship Him.
Jehoshaphat
Jehoshaphat was one of the “good kings”. But one day he found that his
kingdom was about to be attacked by an alliance of three of his enemies, the
Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Edomites. Jehoshaphat knew what he needed to
do, and he called for the people to fast and pray. Then God sent an answer
through a prophet …
(2 Chr 20:15-22 KJV)
And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou
king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by
reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's. {16} To
morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and
ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
{17} Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye
still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem:
fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be
with you. {18} And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and
all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping
the LORD. {19} And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the
children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud
voice on high. {20} And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the
wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear
me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so
shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. {21} And
when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and
that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army,
and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever. {22} And when
they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children
of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were
smitten.
God had made a wonderful promise to the people that He
would fight their battle for them. All they needed to do was to go out to the
battle and watch God take care of things.
Note: God didn’t say, “If you will go out and praise my name, then I
will deliver you”. God simply told them to go out and watch what He would do.
It was Jehoshaphat who came up with the idea of sending
the worship team out front to praise the Lord. Jehoshaphat didn’t praise God in
order to have victory, he praised God because he trusted God to keep His
promise.
Are you a man in a battle? Do you know that your God cares for you? Are you
willing to trust Him? Are you willing to praise Him?
Lesson #2
God uses a man who is pure
These men have not been “defiled with women”. (vs.4)
You need to be careful here, because God isn’t saying that there’s
something about women that can make a man unacceptable to God.
If a man is married, there is nothing “defiled” about his relationship with
his wife:
(Heb 13:4 NKJV) Marriage is
honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God
will judge.
Being “defiled with women” means that you have not had relations with a
woman outside of your marriage.
These servants are doubly assured of being pure simply because they are
virgins.
Samson (Judges 16)
We tend to think of Samson as a “man’s man”, as some kind of huge, buff guy
with muscles bulging out of his shirt.
But keep in mind, the Philistines didn’t have a clue as to where Samson got
his strength. If Samson was strong because of his workout program and the size
of his muscles, why did the Philistines have to find out his “secret”? I think
in reality, Samson probably was just an ordinary looking guy, except for his
long hair.
Samson’s real strength was from God. He was a “Nazirite”,
one who was supposed to be dedicated to God and who didn’t drink wine. The
thing that showed a person was a Nazirite was the fact that they didn’t cut
their hair.
Samson had a weakness though, he liked the wrong kind of women.
With his first wife, he wanted to marry a gal who wasn’t a
believer (Judg. 14).
Another time he was almost caught by the Philistines when
he went to visit a prostitute (Judg. 16).
His worst mistake came when he met a gal named Delilah:
(Judg
16:4-6; 15-21 KJV) And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in
the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. {5} And the lords of the
Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein
his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we
may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven
hundred pieces of silver. {6} And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee,
wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to
afflict thee.
First, why does Samson want to hang around with a woman
who wants to bind and afflict him?
Second, if Samson is such a godly man, why doesn’t she
know that God is his strength? Has he never talked to her about God?
As the story progresses, Samson keeps playing games with
Delilah, telling her one lie after another about his strength. And each time she says, “The Philistines are
upon thee” and he’s not fazed.
Why does Samson keep playing this game? Can’t he see how
dangerous it is?
This is exactly how sin gets us. We like the thrill of the
temptation. Like a moth, we like to see just how close we can fly to the fire
without being burnt. But in the end we’re toast.
{15} And
she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not
with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein
thy great strength lieth. {16} And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily
with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; {17} That
he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon
mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother's womb: if I be
shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like
any other man. {18} And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart,
she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this
once, for he hath showed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines
came up unto her, and brought money in their hand. {19} And she made him sleep
upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the
seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went
from him. {20} And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke
out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake
myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him. {21} But the
Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and
bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.
I think one of the saddest statements in Scripture is that
Samson didn’t even know that God had left him. The work of God in his life was
so “natural” that he didn’t even realize that it had gone.
I wonder sometimes if we can simply go too far in testing
the Lord’s patience before He will simply let us fall flat on our face.
Illustration
Who is “WE”?
Once there was a famous organist giving a recital in an
eastern church. The instrument was not supplied air electrically; it had to be
pumped by hand. A young boy was engaged to do this for the occasion. Everything
was going along fine until the lad put his head around the side of the organ
and whispered, “We are doing pretty good, aren’t we?” “What do you mean by
‘we’?” objected the organist. A few minutes later, in the midst of a beautiful
strain, the organ suddenly stopped giving out any music. Desperately the
organist tried all the stops. No use. Then again he saw the head of the boy bob
around the corner, a broad smile on his face. He said, “Now do you know who I
mean by ‘we’?”
Sometimes we can do some amazing things, but do we give
credit to the one who is really putting the “wind in our sails”?
You might say, “Well even though Samson had a problem with women, look at
all the incredible things he did in his life!”
I think that God did incredible things despite
Samson’s problems. In reality, the greatest thing Samson ever did was
accomplished by his own tragic death, after he had been captured, blinded, and
humiliated by the Philistines, and he ended up bringing down the entire temple
of Dagon upon himself and the Philistines.
Samson is the example of what not to do.
Lesson #3
God uses a man who follows Jesus
One of the qualities of the 144,000 is that they “follow the Lamb
whithersoever he goeth”. (vs.4)
Should the Lamb head west, they go west.
Should the Lamb go north, they go north.
They get their directions from Jesus.
They go wherever Jesus goes.
To be able to get your directions from Jesus, you need to be able to hear
His voice.
The prophet Elijah learned that God doesn’t always speak with a loud
voice. Sometimes God speaks with a
“still, small voice”.
The problem is, sometimes our lives are too noisy to be able to hear God’s
voice.
Illustration
The Cricket
A Native American and his friend were in downtown New York City, walking
near Times Square in Manhattan. It was during the noon lunch hour and the
streets were filled with people. Cars were honking their horns, taxicabs were
squealing around corners, sirens were wailing, and the sounds of the city were
almost deafening. Suddenly, the Native American said, “I hear a cricket.” His
friend said, “What? You must be crazy. You couldn’t possibly hear a cricket in
all of this noise!” “No, I’m sure of it,” the Native American said, “I heard a
cricket.” “That’s crazy,” said the friend. The Native American listened
carefully for a moment, and then walked across the street to a big cement
planter where some shrubs were growing. He looked into the bushes, beneath the
branches, and sure enough, he located a small cricket. His friend was utterly
amazed. “That’s incredible,” said his friend. “You must have superhuman ears.”
“No,” said the Native American. “My ears are no different from yours. It all
depends on what you’re listening for.” “But that can’t be!” said the friend. “I
could never hear a cricket in this noise.” “Yes, it’s true,” came the reply.
“It depends on what is really important to you. Here, let me show you.” He
reached into his pocket, pulled out a few coins, and discreetly dropped them on
the sidewalk. And then, with the noise of the crowded street still blaring in
their ears, they noticed every head within twenty feet turn and look to see if
the money that tinkled on the pavement was theirs. “See what I mean ?” asked
the Native American. “It all depends on what’s important to you.”
Do you spend time listening to Jesus?
Do you spend time in God’s Word?
If God spoke to you, would you be able to hear Him?
Lesson #4
God uses an honest man
“In their mouth was found no guile”. (vs. 5)
One of the things that happened in the earliest days of the church, was
that people learned to share with those in need. In fact, you received quite a few pats on the back if you would
give a large gift to the give to the poor.
(Acts 5:1-11 KJV) But a certain man named Ananias, with
Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, {2} And kept back part of the price, his
wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it, at the
apostles' feet. {3} But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart
to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? {4}
Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in
thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast
not lied unto men, but unto God. {5} And Ananias hearing these words fell down,
and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.
{6} And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.
{7} And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing
what was done, came in. {8} And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye
sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. {9} Then Peter said
unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the
Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door,
and shall carry thee out. {10} Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and
yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and,
carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. {11} And great fear came upon
all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.
What did Ananias and Sapphira do wrong?
It wasn’t that they didn’t give everything to the church, it was that
they pretended to give everything they had to the church when they hadn’t. They pretended to be something that they
weren’t.
The man that God uses is a man who has learned to be honest about where
he’s at. The man that God uses is a man
who always speaks the truth.
Lesson #5
God uses a man who has been washed
These servants are those who have been “redeemed”. They are “without fault before the throne”.
(vs. 4,5)
Though this does mean that these were guys who did the right things, in
reality it is impossible for a person to live their life without sinning. The only way for a human being to be
“without fault before the throne” is to have been washed clean of all his sins.
The Bible says,
(1 John 1:7 KJV) But if we
walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
And,
(1 John 1:9 KJV) If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
The Gospel – Jesus died on the cross to pay for all of your sins. He offers to you complete forgiveness for
everything you’ve ever done if you will simply turn to Him and ask for His
help.
You may have failed terribly in some of the things that we’ve talked about
today, but God offers you this morning a fresh start. He offers you a second chance.