Truth Matters - Weekend, 9

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Share it. But most of all, thank you for listening to the Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network. Welcome to the weekend edition of Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis.

Heard daily on this station at 8 20 a.m. and 5 20 p.m. Truth Matters is a ministry of the Truth Project whose mission is to empower men and women in the Christian faith to teach biblical truth in the culture and marketplace of ideas, using the Bible as a sacred trust of truth and sharing the message of Jesus. Learn more about the ministry of the Truth Project at www.projecttruthmatters.com.

And let's join Dr. Cheryl Davis for this week's extended edition of Truth Matters. This week she winds up chapter 13 and introduces Revelation chapter 14. If you remember in Revelation chapter 7 verse 3, I'm going to read that saying, Do not harm the earth to see in the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. The Lord caused a mark to be put on the foreheads of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists. We see that also in Revelation chapter 14 verse 1.

But what God does Satan also imitates. It's his way of counterfeiting. It's a form of control to mark those who are loyal to the beast. Those without the mark will be deemed traitors and boycotted by the commercial system that the beast controls. Those without the mark will die from exposure or starvation or illness as a result of not being able to purchase what they need. We tend to think that only those without the mark will suffer, but really those with the mark will suffer as well. And we can see that in Revelation chapter 14 verses 9 through 11. People really are going to face a choice. One, to reject the mark and suffer at the hands of the beast or to accept the mark and suffer at the hands of God.

I'm all about getting the temporary suffering here on earth so that I can spend an eternity at peace and prosperity with God. Verse 18, this really presents the most complex issue regarding the beast and his mark as found in verse 18 where we are told that the number of the beast is 666. You know we know that six is the number of man, the Bible tells us that. If you remember Goliath was six cubits tall, his spear's head weighed six shekels and he had six pieces of armor.

Nebuchadnezzar's statue in Daniel was 60 cubits tall, six cubits wide and six musical instruments surrounded the worshipers. These are all observations. I'm not saying that they mean anything, but there is a correlation. We do not know what 666 means or how it will be used, but we know that this is the number of man and that it will be calculated for the false prophet. Remember when we began studying Revelation, I taught about when reading prophetic portions of the Bible, every prophetic event casts a shadow. That means while the event itself happens in a moment of time, there are shadows of that event which touched those who live prior to the event.

Think about it. While the church will not be on earth to experience the difficult days of the tribulation, the storm clouds of that period will gather long before. What I'm trying to say is I believe that storm is brewing on the horizon and this is really how I know. Now I was around a group of people recently when they asked, you know, what is the most pressing issue in the world today? And these a group of people answered that is the pandemic. This conversation was about mandating vaccination as a condition of employment and I think not that the vaccine is wrong as I have, I'm a physician myself, was vaccinated myself, but I think this concept will be very similar to the concepts of how the antichrist and the false prophet will be able to control people. If we can take a vulnerable situation and unite people around solving this vulnerability, which is what the antichrist will do, he will come up with creative solutions to solve massive national problems, the mark of the beast will be the same concept.

He will say get this mark, we can nationalize, we can order everything to ensure that we can all solve these issues and bring about peace. And if you see now we are using vaccination in order to attend school as a condition of employment to get on cruise ships. France and Italy are offering proof of vaccination for social activities and as we see this it will go faster in other countries.

It's not going so fast in the U.S. I'm not saying that the vaccination is wrong because I believe that the vaccination is basic science and it has proven to save lives in this pandemic. What I'm saying is that this type of concept will be similar as to how the antichrist will work and I think we are getting to see how people can change their opinions and they change their convictions when certain vulnerabilities happen and they don't have access to certain things. Where I've seen some people who are anti-vaccine who realize gosh I can't travel, I can't go on a cruise and all of a sudden they change their view of the vaccine in order to go do certain things. And again I'm not saying that the vaccine is wrong as I am a proponent of vaccination.

I believe that this is to help develop immunity to save people's lives and those that are chronically ill especially I have pushed vaccination from my professional standpoint and from being that of a physician. But all I'm saying is that this type of concept in solving a problem, this nation's vulnerability in pushing vaccination to get us back to some point of normalcy will be a similar platform in which the antichrist will use in the end times. I just think we're getting a view of that before the tribulation. You know if you ever listen to John Hagee's sermon about dress rehearsal for the new world order it's a very similar concept to that. He actually said in that sermon that he thinks that the antichrist will come to power very quickly much similar to how this nation was shut up in fear in 40 days. He believes the antichrist will come to power in 40 days. And it's very plausible you know when you see the number of rules and quick decisions that and how quick we've had to pivot during the pandemic you can see how quickly people will surrender certain rights in order to solve big problems and what they perceive as being the greater good. So I hope you've learned a lot in this chapter in looking at the antichrist and really the last chapters and see how horrible the tribulation is going to be and that you really agree with me in an urgency to evangelism now and in the last days before the rapture as coming to Christ will be much more difficult and terrible in the tribulation.

We've been in Revelation for a long time so I just want to thank everyone for listening as we continue through the book. We covered the antichrist and the false prophet with the mark of the beast and I talked about how the you know these tribulation events cast shadows before them and I talked about how using current situations to solve world problems much like vaccination and some of you have reached out to me about vaccination so I welcome those inquiries so if you would like to contact me at Cheryl Davis at projecttruthmatters.com I'm willing to help you to get through this issue. But the concept of solving a global problem is the platform for urgency in which I think the antichrist will use in the last days. By limiting travel and commerce related to solving the global problem is the concept we already see that at play in our society some today but really it's not about vaccination. I don't want to make this subject about vaccination but really you can substitute anything for vaccination. You can say using a cashless society. Actually I went to a gas station last week to get a drink and the cashier refused to cash my ten dollar bill for a two dollar drink.

She asked for the exact change or a credit card. So really we can put certain things in society to direct behavior and what I'm trying to say is that the antichrist will use this concept in the last days to change the behavior of society to become more dependent on the government. But when we get into chapter 14, chapter 14 is a contrast to chapter 13. Chapter 13 mainly was about the beast and the false prophet where chapter 14 verses one through five talk about the lamb and the 144,000. So let's just read the first five verses of revelation chapter 14. then i looked and behold a lamb standing on mount zion and with him 144,000 having his father's name written on their foreheads and i heard a voice from heaven like the voice of many waters and like the voice of loud thunder and i heard the sound of harpists playing their harps they sang as it were a new song before the throne before the four living creatures and the elders and no one could learn that song except 144,000 who are redeemed from the earth these are the ones who are not defiled with women for their virgins these are the ones who follow the lamb wherever he goes these were redeemed from among men being first fruits to god and to the lamb and in their mouth was found no deceit for they are without fault like i said before there's a contrast between chapter 13 and chapter 14 if you look at chapter 13 we have satan's lamb who is the false prophet but in chapter 14 we have god's lamb who is jesus christ in chapter 13 the beast and the false prophet spew a false religion but in chapter 14 we see a true religion in chapter 13 we see idolatry everywhere but in chapter 14 we're going to see worship everywhere in chapter 13 we see the mark of the beast and in chapter 14 we see god's mark which is the mark on the foreheads of the 144,000 in chapter 13 we know the number of man is 666 where in chapter 14 the number of those that are redeemed from the earth are 144,000 but the major distinguishing feature of revelation chapter 14 is its seven visions but the first vision is the vision of the 144,000 which we just read in verses one through five so let's look at the person of the vision first the lamb of god is the central figure in the book of revelation it is a major theme the lamb is slain in revelation chapter 5 verse 6 the lamb is worshipped in revelation chapter 5 verse 8 also 12 and 13 the lamb is feared in revelation chapter 6 verse 1 the lamb is glorified in revelation chapter 7 9 through 10 but in chapter 14 the lamb is vindicated jesus christ the lamb of god who takes away the sin of the world is the central person of the vision of the first five verses of revelation chapter 14 he stands on mount zion in jerusalem with 144,000 saints who have his father's name written on their foreheads so that is the person of the vision the person of the vision is the lamb of god and he is vindicated in this vision but let's look at the place of the vision notice in verse 1 of chapter 14 it says a lamb standing on mount zion so the place of the vision is mount zion which mount zion is an important place in prophetic truth the majority of references to mount zion refer to the mountaintop that is part of jerusalem and we find that in psalms 2 verse 6 yet i have set my king on my holy hill of zion it declares that god has set his king upon his holy hill this is a messianic psalm which places the center of control during the millennium on mount zion there are many other biblical references about mount zion you can find those in psalms 48 1 through 3 also 11 through 14 and psalms 132 verse 13 but really a key verse about mount zion can be found in isaiah chapter 2 verses 1 through 4 and i'm just going to read that the word that isaiah the son of amos saw concerning judah and jerusalem now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains shall be exalted above the hills and all nations shall flow to it many people shall come and say come and let us go up to the mountain of the lord to the house of the god of jacob he will teach us his ways and we shall walk in his paths for out of zion shall go forth the law and the word of the lord from jerusalem he shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks nations shall not lift up sword against nation neither shall they learn war anymore actually mount zion is the high hill on which david built a citadel which was the southeastern side of the city but isaiah is talking about the future house of god mount zion was the capital city of king david isaiah 2 refers to a time in the future during the millennial reign from mount zion the 144 000 are being rewarded by god for their faithfulness from the most significant place on earth and that is mount zion so we've covered the person of the vision we've covered the place of the vision the person of the vision was the lamb of god the place of the vision is mount zion let's look at the people of the vision they are the 144 000 that is in chapter 14 these are the same people that we covered back in chapter 7 but let's talk about who they are not some people think and in reading this that these people represent the church this group does not represent the church the 144 000 are not the body of christ the church is in heaven at this time but let's talk about who they are the 144 000 are jews representing the 12 tribes of israel there are 12 000 from each tribe if you multiply that times 12 that's how you get 144 000 in chapter 7 the 144 000 were evangelizing the world they will be sealed with the mark of god on their foreheads chapter 14 focuses on their rewards not necessarily their labor so let's talk about the characteristics of 144 000 they are preserved in their ministry the 144 000 are different if you look in chapter 13 the people that are living in the time of the tribulation have to receive the mark of the beast here they don't just avoid the mark of the beast they are they take a proactive position by taking the mark of god on their foreheads you know and i've talked about this before doing nothing is not necessarily doing nothing um you can not take the mark of the beast but not take anything but in being proactive they actually take the mark of god on their foreheads which is a more aggressive position in evangelism than not taking any mark there is no doubt to whom they belong they are all preserved through the tribulation and chapter 14 is the vision of their reward after the tribulation but i learned this from dr david jeremiah years ago and he made this statement and it has stuck with me for a long time when you're a god's person doing god's will you are immortal until god is finished with you this means that you are under god's protection in his control until your job is finished so i want to say to those of you out there and understanding what goes on in the tribulation to know that god often works in remnants and he has preserved a remnant of the 144 000 through the tribulation to accomplish his will and to evangelize you've been listening to the weekend edition of truth matters with dr cheryl davis truth matters is a ministry of the truth project a north carolina-based ministry dedicated to teaching biblical truth and sound theology to those inside and outside of the church if you'd like to listen to these messages on demand go to project truth matters dot com and click on the podcast link dr davis is also available to speak to your ministry group or church function she can be reached by email at cheryl davis at project truth matters dot com or if you'd like to send a letter the address is project truth matters post office box 159 st paul's north carolina 28384 you can hear truth matters devotionals on weekdays at 8 20 a.m and 5 20 p.m until next time let's all work together to teach of biblical truth to assist equip edify and encourage one another and bring the gospel to the world because truth matters this is the truth network