This sermon’s title is inspired from the end of Rev. 6 within the context of the 6th seal. When the 6th seal is opened, we have a scene illustrating physical catastrophes that occur as the 2nd coming begins. And above the terrifying calamities taking place floats this survival question, “Who will be able to stand?”

The answer is the144,000. But there are others too, which I’ll describe later. However, 144,000 is our focus today. They are God’s end-time saints who, because of their characters, will be the church- ready cause for our Father sending Jesus back to get us. They will be the ones standing; untouched by all the surrounding, frantic chaos of the seven last plagues – the Great Tribulation.

How does this happen that they are untouched? It happens because they are sealed and covered by the supernatural power of God. Such protection exists because when earth’s probation closes, they will be deemed to possess a firm settling of the truth in their minds, hearts, and characters. Their protection will be akin to the ancient Jews being protected from the angel of death. The death angel passed over them because they were settled in the truth of God’s Word of promised protection. Accordingly, they prepared for the event.

And so will the 144,000. Their preparation will be instigated by God’s prophetic Word that tells of the persecution, death decree, and the heaven-caused calamities to come. And they understood that the only sure way to be steeled during those actions – and to not be deceived by the foretelling Satan’s signs and wonders designed to implement his beastly mark – was to ground themselves in God’ Word.

And speaking of the Mark of the Beast, the 144,000 will correctly, frequently, and loudly identify the mark as a spiritual doctrine originated by the Roman Catholic church. They will be empowered to do so by the outpouring of Holy Spirit’s latter rain. Consequently, they will be bold and clear in their preachings. They will cry for repentance and will bring to attention the urgency of God’s end-time warning of the present, on-going, gospel-based judgment. This to warn the world of God’s plan to pour out His wrath against any who receives the Mark of the Beast. And they will decry doctrines of demons and will plead with professed believers to come out of the failed, doomed, Babylonian system of apostate churches.

Now about the number and people attributed to this group. Is the number, 144,000, literal or symbolic? Here are two reasons I believe the number to be symbolic. First, John hears the number. Scripture doesn’t say he was told the number. So how in the world does one hear a number. Then he turns and sees a great multitude without number, which of course is all the saved from the time of Adam and Eve to beyond us. So then, it appears to me that 144,000 are among this multitude. This I say because when you look at the characteristics of both groups, they are the same. For example, we know this about the 14,000:

• The Father’s name is written on their foreheads (so too all the saved: Rev. 22: 4).
• The group was redeemed from the earth (so too all the saved: 1 Peter 1: 18, 19).
• The group is comprised of all virgins (so too all the saved: 2 Corinthians 11: 2). A
biblical virgin is the concept of one, male or female, who is devoted, exclusively,
to the simplicity and purity of the gospel. They have not allowed themselves to
be spiritually compromised and corrupted by the Babylonian Catholic church
and her Babylonian daughters—the apostate, Protestant churches. I use a
female symbol of these churches because the Bible often uses it to represent a
church.
• The 144,000 follow the Lamb (so too all the saved, being imitators of the Lord:
1 Thessalonians 1: 6).
• The 144,000 are first fruits (so too all the saved: A Jeremiah 2: 3; James 1: 18
• There isn’t any guile in their mouths (so too all the saved: 1 Peter 3: 10).
• The group stands without fault before God (so too all the saved: Jude 1: 24).
• They are called the “servants of our God” (so too all the saved: Rev. 7: 15).

So, if the144,000 is mingled with the unnumbered Great Multitude, what then would be the basis for John to come up with the number 144,000? More than likely, John first thought that he was hearing a large army of souls; that he was hearing God’s kingdom. That being the case, it doesn’t seem far-fetched that he would then think about the kingdom’s foundation being built upon Israel’s 12 tribes and the 12 apostles. He may have thought about 12×12 equaling 144. And because what he heard sounded as an army, John may have added a thousand to the 144, because Israel’s Old Testament army was composed in 1,000 units. Therefore, I believe the number to be symbolic rather than literal, as are most of the numbers in Revelation.

Now, am I going to be dogmatic and insist that 144,000 is symbolic. No, I could be wrong, not really knowing for certain. I’m just saying that I lean that way; leaning on an educated guess that entails two reasons. I’ve just given the first, which is it’s hard to fathom hearing a specific number.

The second reason I say symbolic is because of Revelation’s chapter 7: 4-8. There, the list of tribes isn’t what you normally find in the Old Testament. Dan and Ephraim are removed and replaced by Manasseh and Joseph. But Joseph isn’t a tribe. So how can 12,000 come from a non-existent tribe? No! The list isn’t meant to be literal. It has been re-shuffled and added to for the purpose of delivering a spiritual message.

However, this list is normally interpreted by the great majority of mainstream Christianity as being literal. The view is that the 144,000 will be comprised of ethnic male Jews, all coming from the nation of Israel. But that doesn’t make sense because the 10 northern tribes of Israel were captured by the Assyrians in 722 BC. And there, in Assyria, they interspersed with non-Jews, mainly through marriages. And they did not return to the homeland; unlike the southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin, which were later conquered and brought to Babylon. Afterwards, those two tribes did come back home.

That means the only possible pure Jews from Rev’s list are the latter two tribes and most of the Levites who migrated to Judah and Benjamin to continue serving as priests. Also, Rev’s list of the tribes, as I’ve said, isn’t pulled from the Old Testament in the usual order. This obviously, then, is not a genealogical record. It has been reshuffled for theological reasons that are symbolic.

You see, each name denotes character traits and has a spiritual meaning. For instance, (1) Judah means “Praise;” (2) Reuben = “Behold a son;” (3) Gad = “A Troop/Overcomer;” (4) Asher = “Happy/Blessed;” (5) Naphtali = “My wrestling;” (6) Manasseh = “Forgetfulness;” (7) Simeon = “Hearing;” (8) Levi = “Joined or Attached;” (9) Issachar = ”Rewards/Wages;” (10) Zebulan = “Dwelling/Home;” (11) Joseph = “God will Add/Increase;” (12) Benjamin = “Son or my Right hand.”

Put together, the character traits spell out a message.; a message denoting spiritual traits — not ethnicity. From these twelve spiritual tribes, we get: Praise → Sonship → Overcoming → Joy → Wrestling → Forgetting the past → Hearing God → Joining God → Serving → God dwelling in us → Growth → Victory.

The reshuffled names in Rev.’s list are a spiritual code to help us understand the character traits we should be striving for as part of the kingdom. Certainly, the 144,000, as spiritual Jews, and coming from all walks of life, will possess these character traits.

In other words, this list tells us that, yes, it is about those from Israel. But not the literal, physical nation in the Middle East. The list is comprised of spiritual Jews who are in Christ Jesus. He is Israel. The biblical meaning of the name Israel is Prince with God; Jesus, as true Israel, is the spiritual tree that ethnic Jews were broken off from; to be replaced by the grafting in of Gentiles. To be grafted in makes one a spiritual Jew. I’m referring to all of us who are in Christ Jesus. All of us who are striving to perfect the character that our father has called for; that the 144,000 will achieve.

So now, the question is am I right about believers being spiritual Jews? Yes, I’m right because the Bible tells me so.

Romans 9:6–8 says,
• “Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel… It is not the children of
the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise.” So, true
Israel = children of the promise. Jesus – true Israel – is the Promise. We’re
talking then about Christians being rightfully called spiritual Jews.

Then, Romans 2:28, 29 tells me,
• “A person is not a Jew who is one outwardly… but a Jew is one inwardly, and
circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit.” Can’t you clearly see here
that the Word isn’t speaking of the physical nation of Israel? Pls get it through
your noggins that Christians are the true Jews, having been turned into a new,
spiritual race.

Also, we’ve got Galatians 3: 7 and 29 that speak plainly, saying,
• “Those who are of faith are the sons of Abraham.” And “If you are Christ’s, then
you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.

Okay, I’ve made my point. Nonetheless, most of you evangelical, Sunday-keeping Christians will insist that the nation of Israel is still all so divinely special. That’s because you don’t want to listen to the Word of God. Therefore, your focus remains on physical Israel as the center for the end times. That’s what Satan wants you to do; for it distracts from what Holy Spirit teaches through the Word. You see, Jerusalem on earth is not what we’re preparing for. It is the New Jerusalem above that requires our preparation for the coming of Jesus.

Look, I’m just going to be harsh, and matter of fact about physical Israel still being God’s people. The popular belief that receiving a blessing or a curse, depends on whether you bless or curse physical Israel is a lie. You say these things because you don’t pay attention to the Bible. I know this because the nation of Israel as a whole, has long stopped being God’s people. Over the centuries through now, they rebelled, apostatized against God, and rebuked the Messiah. So much so, that God put them on 490 years of probation. You can read about it in Daniel 9: 24. And then verses 25 through 27 shows how they didn’t pass probation, closing it with the crucifixion of Jesus.

After Jesus died, 3-1/2 years remained of probation. At the very close of it, marked by the first recorded Christian martyrdom of Steven, the gospel and God’s oracles were given to the Apostles, who then spread it to the Gentiles. Now I don’t care what any of your preachers say otherwise. I listen to God’s Word. And His Word says that His church is now made up of believing Christians. We Gentiles and any individual, believing, ethnic Jew are now God’s people. Faithful people in Jesus, not ethnicity, are the people of the New Covenant. So, the 144,000 will be made up of those from around the world who keep their faith in Jesus.

Now, because John heard the 144,000 from among the Great Multitude, that tells us they will indeed be a separate group of evangelists. But the preaching is not what makes them different; for other professed, informed, well meaning, but unempowered Christians will preach the same message. What differentiates the 144,000 is they will be the only living, professed, Christian group that will survive the future event — the Great Tribulation.

The Great Tribulation immediately precedes Christ’s second coming. It comes after earth’s probation has closed; the time when our High Priest, Jesus, stands to say, “Let him who is unjust, be unjust still. Let him who is filthy, be filthy still. And he who is righteous, be righteous still, and he who is holy, be holy still.” – Rev. 22:11. At that point, the 144,000 will be spiritually sealed to not be touched by the plagues.

The 144,000 are sealed as servants of our Lord because they will pass the test of the Mark of the Beast. That is, they will take a stand against the Mark of the Beast and not wilt under the Beast’s persecution. They will be the group that the Bible identifies in Rev. 14: 12 as the patient saints who keep their faith in Jesus and keep all of God’s Ten Commandments. That includes the 4th one that says to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. It is the Commandment that specifies the 7th day as blessed and set apart; the day we call Saturday.

Seeing such perseverance, God knows they have actually sealed themselves in His Word. They did so by surrendering to and allowing Jesus to live through them. That’s how God’s commandment s will be settled in their heads and take root in their hearts. After all, it is Jesus who perfectly kept God’s commandments. In us and through us, if allowed, He will do the same. It is Jesus’ righteousness by faith that motivates them; permeates them. They will not be shaken, for they will be settled and rooted in God’s truth. This is why God fulfills His prophetic promise from Psalm 91that they would be shielded as others fell at both their sides.

So, the main question should not be about the symbolic or literal number of this group. It should be, can we be like this group? And the answer is yes! All of us have the capacity and power through God’s grace to be like the 144, 000; to be overcomers of our sin nature. And we should be preparing to be like them right now. Because preparation shouldn’t entail the goal of being the ones standing through the plagues and Jesus’ coming. For we are not promised tomorrow. Today is the day of salvation. We should be prepared for when we die, which could happen long before the plagues fall. Should that happen, we want to die in the character traits of the 144,000 – settled in God’s truth.

And when we get to heaven, we will easily be able to identify the 144,000. They will be the only professed Christian group singing a that stood through the time of trouble—the Great Tribulation of the plagues. They will be the ones able to sing a special song about the Tribulation experience. But praise the Lord, that being submitted to His grace through Holy spirit, we can be like 144,000 now before reaching heaven.

In conclusion, as promised, I’ve got something else to tell you about who will be standing at Christ’s return. If we die before the plagues and Jesus’ return, and if we too have the character traits of the 144,000, we can join the 144,000 as they watch Jesus come the second time. What I’m saying is that before the general resurrection takes place, there is to be a special resurrection. In this resurrection, spoken of in Daniel 12: 2, there will be two groups simultaneously raised: one group is raised to everlasting life, and the other group is raised to shame and everlasting contempt.

This last group is comprised of those who pierced Jesus, according to Rev. 1: 7. But the other group in this special resurrection can be you and me; that is if we died with the same characteristics and the same settled mind and heart as the 144,000. We can stand with the 144,000, watching as Jesus descends with the voice of the archangel and hearing Him blast His trumpet — a special treat from our Lord.
So, here’s the full answer to the question as to will be standing at Christ’s coming. Technically, it’ll be those who pierced Jesus on the cross. But they are not John’s focus. The focus is on those who prepare; on those who develop the character traits found in Revelations list of twelve spiritual tribes. Those who died with these traits will stand alongside the 144,000.

And yes, even today there are those who possess the traits of the 144.000. They are part of God’s worldwide church: the Seventh-day Adventist and other Sabbatarian denominations that believe in keeping all of God’s commandments and their faith in Jesus.

So, please, come out of Babylon and join us as the one flock under the one Shepherd.