Who are the 144,000 in the Book of Revelation?

In the book of Revelation, who are the 144,000 who have the Father's name written on their foreheads? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of Core Christianity. This is Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. Stay tuned right now with your question at 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673.

And you can post your question on our Facebook or Instagram account or email us with your question at questions at corechristianity.com. First up today, we have a good news story for you. A Spanish triathlete did something amazing during a race last week. He stopped at the finish line to let a fellow runner who had taken a wrong turn overtake him and claim third place. British triathlete James Teagle was on the course to finish third at the 2020 Santander Triathlon in Barcelona over the weekend, but he inadvertently ran in the wrong direction just a few meters from the finish line. Well, runner Diego Mantrida passed Teagle, but after noticing his error, he stopped and allowed him to cross the finish line first. For his kind gesture, Diego was awarded honorary third place by the race organizers and given the same prize money as the British runner. Isn't that cool?

That is cool. You know, I think if I ever ran a triathlete, I probably would end up going the wrong way too. I'm just not. I was thinking to signing you up for the running of the bulls. Yeah, I mean, talk about a way to get in shape. I feel like there's no stopping when you got a bull chasing you.

So if you really want some motivation, I mean, we got to have something like that here in the States, sort of with you in the shape. Well, let's get to our first question of the day. Austin emailed us and he said this. I have a coworker who's an atheist. I invited her to church, but she said she had bad experiences as a child because she is lesbian. She said Christians told her God hates gay people and gay people aren't welcome in church. I told her that my church would welcome her with open arms, and I told her God loves everyone. She says she isn't interested in church because of what those people said to her when she was younger. How do I continue to show Jesus to her without seeming too pushy or turning her off to God even more?

Yeah, Austin, I love the way that you put that. How do I continue to show Jesus to her? And I think that that really is the most important thing. There are a lot of people who have negative experiences in churches under maybe abusive leadership or maybe it was bad theology, whatever it was. But their perspective on God, Christianity, the church is skewed. They really don't understand who Jesus is.

And so I think it's what we're called to as followers of Christ to help people know the truth and to know who Jesus is. And I'm continually amazed, just going through the Gospels and looking at how our Lord conducted himself among sinners, among people who were viewed as outcasts, people who weren't allowed around the temple, people who weren't respected by the religious authorities in that day. I think of the scribes and the Pharisees sort of holding their noses up high and looking down upon everyone around them. And yet Jesus didn't do that. He was accused of being a glutton and a winebibber because he would sit with sinners and eat with them and have a relationship with them.

And he never compromised. I mean, he was often rebuked by the religious leaders because they took offense at him, but he never compromised. And he says, I've come to seek and to save the lost. He's the good physician who wants to minister to people who are broken, who are captivated by sin. And certainly we would say, and I think according to the teaching of scripture very clearly in places like Romans 1 throughout the Old Testament, just the Bible sexual ethic, we would say that that is a sin. And we don't want to compromise what the scriptures teach regarding that. And yet at the same time, Jesus didn't stiff arm sinners. He called them to follow him and he extended his love to them and he ate with them.

And so, Austin, I would say, continue to build a relationship with this person, with your friend, to show her that you care about her, to model for her that love of Christ that says, I'm not going to stiff arm you. I'm not going to treat you like you're less than me or like you're disgusting or something like that. No, let's sit down together. Let's have coffee.

Let's have a meal. Let me invite you into what the Christian community looks like. I think if we can model as the body of Christ, that love that Jesus talks about. I mean, Jesus said in John 13 verse 35, the world is going to know my disciples by your love for each other.

If we can model that, it really creates cognitive dissonance in people's minds, people who think they know what Christianity and Jesus is all about. There are so many people today who they assume, all Christians are bigots. They're not educated. They're judgmental. They're not loving.

And yet when they experience, I think, the love of the Christian community, the fact that we're not a bunch of dummies. We have thought through these things. We care about each other. We have respect for one another. We love each other and we love all people as we're called to. And yet at the same time, we don't compromise on the truth. And so I think that there's something that we have to do here.

One, we have to show, you have to show that you're not going to treat your friend spitefully or that you're going to be judgmental in the sense of treating her like you're better than she is or something like that. We recognize that we're all sinners. And yet at the same time, you want to hold fast to the Bible's teaching on sexuality. And look, you probably know this, the Bible's teaching on sexuality isn't going to make us popular in a culture that treats sex like a casual thing. You often hear it today, you know, what does God care about what I do in the bedroom, that kind of a thing. Well, God cares because he loves us and because he knows that these kinds of things, sexuality in particular, have a huge impact on our lives, on the way we view the world. And the sad reality is, is in society today, so many people are being objectified sexually. We're treating sexuality as either the main thing, you know, where people find their identity and the fact that I identify as gay or lesbian or that kind of a thing.

It's the essence of who I am. Well, that's wrong. That's a wrong understanding. Or they just treat it like it's not that big of a deal. You have this sort of casual sex type of a thing out there in society.

And so we have to model something different. That's what you're going to want to do with your friend. And let me just say, there are a lot of good resources out there. There's a little book by a guy named Sam Albury called Is God Anti-Gay, and he's going to get into passages of Scripture, a lot of some practical wisdom there, that could be a helpful resource for you. Also, Rosaria Butterfield, she has a couple of books that I think can be really helpful, maybe something that your friend would even be interested in. She has one book called The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert and another book called The Gospel Comes with a House Key, which is all about hospitality and the Christian life and how we as followers of Jesus should be loving our neighbors, our neighbors who are different than we are, our neighbors who are gay and lesbian and what that looks like for us to love them while also continuing to hold fast to the truth. And there's one article over at corechristianity.com actually that I wrote that you might be interested in. It's called Why You Still Need the Church, Even If You Have Been Hurt By It. And it sounds to me like your friend has been hurt by the church, like she needs to understand who Jesus really is because it sounds like she didn't get a good understanding of who Christ is from her previous experiences. And so, may the Lord bless you as you seek to extend the love of Christ to her while holding fast to the truth of Scripture. Andrew, let me ask you, what is your perspective on churches that tell people that God has blessed them because they're gay or transgender or that they should even celebrate that as a God-given gift to them?

Boy, you know what it reminds me of, Bill? It reminds me of in the Old Testament, oftentimes when God would talk about the false teachers, the false prophets, he says that one of the things that they would do is they would say peace, peace where there is no peace. They wouldn't deal or address the sins of Israel.

They would just tell them what they wanted to hear. And God said, look, you guys aren't speaking on my behalf. And frankly, when churches or church leaders say, oh, yeah, do whatever you want, if that's what you want to do, no big deal.

I think that's false. And those are false teachers. Those are quote unquote false prophets who are saying peace, peace where there is no peace. What we need is the love of God and the truth of God's word.

And you have to have both of those together. If you don't have the truth of God's word, you really can't experience the love of God because the love of God doesn't just leave us where we are. He calls us up to himself to know him, to turn away from our sins.

And churches that are unwilling to do that, to say that, well, if you're in a church like that, get out of that church because that kind of a church is going to lead you down the wrong path and ultimately going to be harmful for your soul. We need people who are going to be faithful to the scriptures and yet who are going to reveal to us the love of Jesus. The fact that there is hope for all sinners, that his blood is sufficient to cleanse all of our sins and that no matter what it is that we wrestle with, we can cling to him.

He will be with us. And so that's what we need, Bill. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and we actually have a resource that we'd like to offer you today on this very topic.

Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned that, Bill, because it's hard to cover a topic this big in the span of just a few minutes. And so there's more that we want to say about this, and there's a resource we have over at corechristianity.com called Ten Things You Need to Know About the Bible and Homosexuality. It was written by my friend and previous co-host, Dr. Michael Horton, and it's over there at corechristianity.com. You can get it at corechristianity.com forward slash offers, and you're going to want to make sure you get your hands on that as you wrestle with this question. Once again, the title is Ten Things You Need to Know About the Bible and Homosexuality, and it's yours for a donation of any amount by going to corechristianity.com forward slash offers or calling us at 833-843-2673.

That's 833, the core. Adriel, here's a question that was posted on our Facebook page from Amber. And this really reflects what a lot of people ask us on a regular basis here at Core Christianity. She says, I struggle with my salvation and the fruits of obedience. I used to think it was as simple as trusting Jesus, but it doesn't seem that way anymore. I feel lost.

How do I know I have the right fruit or enough evidence to prove that I'm saved? I'm so lost. I don't know where to start.

Please help me. Amber, I know how you feel. And so the first thing I want to do is pray for you. Father, we lift Amber up to you and not just Amber, but everyone who's listening right now who they wrestle with this question.

We know that there are so many people who they struggle with assurance. They wonder, am I truly saved? And God, for your children, for those who know you by faith, I pray that you would grant them peace. Think of what your word says in Romans, that the Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are your children. And so would your spirit bear witness with Amber's spirit that she belongs to you. And may she rest, Lord, in the simplicity of the gospel, in the fact that you do receive her by faith. You forgive all her sins through your son, Jesus, and that as you're working in her by your spirit, you're going to sanctify her, Lord. And that's a process.

It takes time. It's never completed this side of heaven, Lord, but you're at work in her. And so would you give her the comfort in that knowledge? Would you help her, Lord, to just rest in and receive what you have accomplished for her in your son, Jesus? In his name we pray.

Amen. I was just thinking about this this last week, Amber, because I'm preaching through 1 John right now. And in 1 John 2, verse 3, John says this, And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. That's sort of interesting there because, you know, the commandments that he's referring to, I think in particular it refers to the commandment for us to love his children, the body of Christ, his people. I think this because, you know, in places like John, chapter 13, verses 34 and 35, Jesus said, A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, so you ought to love one another. And then that's when he says, by this all people will know that you're my disciples, by your love for each other. Or in John 15, I think it's verse 12, you know, again, Jesus sort of reiterates the same thing. This is my commandment, that you love one another to his disciples. And then in the next chapter of 1 John, in 1 John chapter 3, verse 23, John said, And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another. So, you know, one of the defining characteristics of a Christian is love. The mark of a Christian ought to be love.

I mean, you think about what Paul says in Galatians, the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Love begins with love. And I think that this is important, because a lot of times we're trying to find confidence in some sort of mystical experience we had. You know, I said a prayer years ago at summer camp, or maybe in the fact that we have all the right knowledge about God, but John says very clearly, By this we know that we have come to know him, that we keep his commandments. What commandment? Well, the commandment to love. Now there's a challenge here, and I think that you understand it, you've articulated it, is that when we as Christians, when we look at our own lives, and we take stock, and we say, Okay, how well do I love? Immediately, I think, each of us has to confess, Well, Lord, I want to love your people, and I want to love you, and I strive to do it, you know, to the best of my ability, but I fall short.

I fall way short. I have a hard time loving the people who are similar to me, much less the people that are different than I am within the body of Christ, and then much less loving my enemies as Jesus commands me to, you know, in the Sermon on the Mount. And so, love is a defining marker of a Christian, and yet, all of us, Amber, even as followers of Jesus, we fall so short, and I think that's why it's really important that we understand this. John doesn't stay there in 1 John 2, verse 3, By this you know God, by your love for each other. We're not saved by how well we love each other, Amber. You know what we're saved by? How well Jesus loved us. And what we need to understand, what you need to understand, this is where assurance comes from, it's looking outside of yourself to Jesus and laying hold of His great love for you.

The fact that He Himself, Amber, is your Advocate. And isn't that exactly what John says a little bit earlier there in 1 John 2? My little children, I'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin, but if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And so what we need to grasp as we wrestle with this question, as you wrestle with this question of assurance, what you need to understand, Amber, is you can be confident, you can rest, because you have an Advocate in Heaven, Jesus the righteous one, whose blood was the propitiation for your sins. And even when you sin now, even when you fall short, and we all do, we fall short of that command to love God perfectly and to love our neighbor as ourselves, even when you fall short, He's still your Advocate. That's precisely why we need Him, why He is our Advocate, because we need Him to plead our case, and He does. And I think in that sense, I mean, you said it in your question to us, Amber, you know, I used to think it was as simple as just trusting in Jesus.

Well, it is. When you trust in Jesus by faith, you are united to Him, and He is your Advocate, your High Priest, and that's what gives us confidence. And the sweet thing is, He promises never to leave you or forsake you. So we're all, as followers of Jesus who have trusted in Him, we're justified by faith. That's what gives us confidence, that's what should give you confidence. And now, day by day, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, He's renewing you, He's drawing you closer to Himself, He's transforming you as you grow in grace, as you grow in the Gospel, in apprehending His great love for you.

As I said, I know exactly how you feel, I remember feeling the same way, that sense of, I feel lost, how can I be sure? I look at the evidence in my own life and I feel like it falls short. Well, it's going to fall short until the day that we're in the presence of the Lord, because we're never going to be sinless, this side of Heaven. And so your confidence can't be in yourself, and how well you do look to Jesus. Have confidence in the fact that He is your Advocate, and that His blood was the propitiation for all your sins. Let me just say one more thing, propitiation, that's kind of a big word. It refers to the fact that His sacrifice for you removed the wrath of God from over you.

Jesus has propitiated for you, and so you can rest in Him. You know, Adriel, I'm struck by the fact, and this is not just Amber's question, but we have so many listeners I know who struggle with this on a regular basis, that so much is based on how we feel at a given time, or our circumstances, rather than the truth of God's Word. And that we, even though God doesn't condemn us, we condemn ourselves on a regular basis, and we need to keep turning back to those promises that you just mentioned, because otherwise we can really get stuck and even feel depressed about our Christian walk. You are absolutely right, Bill, and I like the way you put it there. I think the temptation for all of us is to rely on how we feel.

Well, guess what? That's going to change every single day, every hour. You know, it's just like, man, there are times where I feel really close to the Lord, and there are times where I don't feel the presence of God like maybe I have at other points in my life. And this is a part of Christian maturity. We have to learn to rest, not in our feelings. I mean, that's going to be exhausting, because they're not going to give you any rest.

It's going to be a rollercoaster, if that's what you're looking to. We have to rest in God's Word and in His promise. And so that's so important, because God's Word, unlike our feelings, is stable. So when God says to us, you're forgiven by faith in my Son, we cling to that, we hold fast to it, and we can rest there regardless of how we feel. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

We have time for one more question. It deals with one of Adriel's favorite books of the Bible, Revelation. This one's from Jasper. He posted this on our website at corechristianity.com forward slash radio. He says, who are the 144,000 mentioned in the book of Revelation? Yeah, well, they're mentioned in a couple of places. They're mentioned in the book of Revelation in chapter 7.

They're also mentioned later, I believe in chapter 14. And there are differences, different interpretations as to who these people are. There are some people that think, oh, this is kind of an end time group of Jewish people who are a remnant, who are going to go out and evangelize during this time of Great Tribulation. There are others, and I tend to be in this camp, who believe that the 144,000 refer to the fullness of God's people, God's people throughout history. And you have to remember that the book of Revelation, there's so much symbolic imagery in the book of Revelation. Even numbers are often used symbolically in the book of Revelation. I mean, John talks about the seven spirits of God, even the number 12, you know, throughout the Bible. You have the 12 tribes of Israel, you have the 12 apostles. Here you have 144,000 followers of the Lord.

You have this sort of multiple of 12, but it's magnified. It seems as if John is referring to the whole of God's people throughout history. And so that's how I take it. One thing I'll say is I remember we were just talking about, you know, how many of us and many people who call into this program have wrestled with or are wrestling with this question of assurance. And I remember when I first heard about the 144,000, I thought, I just assumed that meant that only 144,000 people are going to be in heaven. And actually, that's something that some groups teach. I think of the Jehovah's Witnesses, for example. So I remember thinking, goodness, only 144,000 people are going to be. It's got to be like the best of the best Christians. And I remember sort of resolving as a newer Christian, God, I'm going to do whatever it takes to be among the 144,000.

I have to be like a super Christian to make it into heaven. Well, I can assure you that that's not the right interpretation of who the 144,000 are. No, there aren't just going to be 144,000 people in heaven. The beautiful thing is there's going to be this innumerable group of people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. That's what the book of Revelation tells us. And it isn't on the basis of whether or not we were elite super Christians.

It's on the basis of the fact that we are washed in the blood of the Lamb. And so I think, Jasper, what God is giving us here, what John is giving us here in this vision that he has of the very end is a picture of the people of God throughout history, the fullness, the whole of God's people. It's not meant to be taken as, you know, exactly 144,000 people know. It's this multiple of 12, the number of the people of God, the 12 tribes of Israel, the 12 apostles.

And I think that's the best way to take it. Now, let me just say one more thing about the book of Revelation, because it really is confusing for a lot of people. You do have all of this symbolic imagery, this apocalyptic literature, but you know what? At the end of the day, it was written to comfort persecuted believers and to fix their eyes on Jesus and the fact that he rules over the whole world. And isn't that something we need to be reminded of right now with everything going on around us?

I mean, the election season, the pandemic, everything. Jesus Christ right now is on the throne. He rules over all things. And no matter what we experience as the church, no matter what we face, guess what? We can be comforted by the fact that he has conquered all things and that in him, we too are victors. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this podcast. And be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's Word together.