Visions And Voices

The title of my text is “Visions and Voices.” Look at verse 1. It says, “Then I looked.” There’s the vision. And verse 2 says, “And I heard.” There’s the voice. Also verse 6 says, “Then I saw.” And verse 13 says, “Then I heard.” So we have two things in chapter 14: we see visions—there are six of them (some say seven)—given in anticipation of what is going to happen during the tribulation; and then we have voices speaking, as well. The word “voices” is found seven times between verses 1 and 13. We see it four times in verse 2, in the King James version, once in verse 7, once in verse 9 and once in verse 13.

So I would title chapter 14 “Visions and Voices of Prophetic Anticipation.” “Anticipation” is an important word. It’s prophetic anticipation of things that will happen or unfold during the time of the tribulation. Revelation 14 is a series of six visions and voices that are unfolding.

The contrast between chapters 13 and 14 is that chapter 13 opens up with the beast coming “out of the sea,” who is none other than the Antichrist. He has seven heads and 10 horns with 10 crowns on them. He speaks blasphemy. Then we have the second beast, who is the false prophet, and he brings in a false religious system to lead people astray. Now, as we open up charter 14, it is like a breath of fresh air. John says, “Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion.” So we go from the beast to the Lamb of God standing victoriously on Mount Zion.

Chapter 14 is a parenthetical section, as well. This is important for you to understand. From chapter 10 through chapter 15, we have a parenthetical section of Revelation. It is not chronological; it doesn’t flow in sequential order. This parenthetical section is a pause, which goes in depth into people, events and things that will happen during the tribulation. Some of these things go back, some go forward. But these parenthetical sections give us in-depth information. When we have a parenthesis in a sentence, it is where we fill in information.

Someone described chapter 14 as a lot like a table of contents to a book, where we learn in the book what is going to happen before we get there.

So the visions and the voices describe what is yet future, and that’s picked up in chapter 16, when we move through the book of Revelation, and we’ll deal with that as we go through it and outline the book.

But today we will look at the first five of six visions and voices that proclaim and announce that Christ is coming in victory.

The first vision is of the 144,000 on Mount Zion, in verses 1-5. It is the future, prophetic, anticipation vision of the 144,000 standing victoriously on Mount Zion.

John says, “Then I looked…”—so we have his vision—“…and behold, a Lamb…”—in the Greek it would be “the Lamb”—“…standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, 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 the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.”

Let me unpack some important points in these first five verses. We first see the Savior in verse 1. John says, “Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb.” But it is better rendered “the Lamb.” And I believe it is very clear to any Bible student that this is none other than Jesus Christ. He is “the Lamb of God.” John the Baptist pointed at Jesus and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” I like that picture. So Jesus is the fulfillment of all the sacrificial lambs offered in the Old Testament. They are the type; He is the fulfillment of that which was pictured in type. All the animals that were sacrificed were a picture of Jesus’ death on the Cross. So we open up this heavenly scene—and I believe it is a heavenly scene—with Jesus, the Lamb.

Now notice, secondly, the site or the location of this vision, in verse 1: “…standing on Mount Zion.” There are two ways to interpret this “Mount Zion.” One is literally; that they’re physically on earth, in Jerusalem, and the temple that was built there is on Mount Zion. If you know your Bible, you know that the temple in Jerusalem had been built on a mountain, and it was called Mount Zion. Whenever you read of people going to Jerusalem, they are always ascending. From any compass direction, when you go to Jerusalem, you are always ascending, because it is up high on a mountain. This is a physical view that happens after the Second Coming during the millennium or the kingdom age.

The second view—that I believe is more plausible—is that “Mount Zion” is talking about heaven. In Hebrews 12:22, it actually uses heaven in reference to Mount Zion.

So it seems to me that this could be a vision of the 144,000 now standing victoriously in heaven after having endured all the difficulties of the tribulation period. It doesn’t give us the detail of how they get from earth to heaven. It doesn’t tell us when that happens, but it’s most likely that after the Second Coming they are taken to heaven to be with the Lord.

Notice, thirdly, that they are sealed, verse 1: “…having His Father’s name written on their foreheads.” Now some think this group of 144,000 is different than the group of 144,000 mentioned in chapter 7. I don’t believe that; I believe it is the same group. There are many parallels between the two groups. They are sealed, and there is the same number in each group. So this 144,000 in verse 1 is the same group that is sealed from the 12 tribes of Jewish believers in chapter 7.

Now fourthly, notice the song that they are singing in verses 2-3. “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…”—this would support the idea that they were actually in the heavenly scene—“…before the four living creatures, and the elders…”—I think these are the 24 elders representing the church—“…and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth.”  These 144,000 are in heaven around the throne, and they are worshipping God. These are the 144,000 that were sealed in chapter 7.

What I want to point out is that they had suffered the sorrows of the tribulation, but God had turned their sorrows into songs. Someone said, “The sweetest songs are the fruit of sorrows.” If you really want to smell a rose, crush some rose petals in your hand. When you open your hand, there will be a pungent fragrance coming from that rose.

Many times when God wants His fragrance to flow from our lives, He crushes us. He doesn’t hurt us, He has a purpose and plan, but He wants His fragrance to flow through our lives.

So God takes these who went through the tribulation and were persecuted and suffered, though they were protected by God, and now He gives them a song that is all their own; no one else knows it or can learn it. It will be the song in heaven of the 144,000.

There is going to be a lot of singing in heaven. I say that because I’ve had people say to me, “Well, I went to your church and I liked it. The sermon was fine, but you sing too much.” Really. Then they’re not going to be very happy when they get to heaven. They’ll say, “Oh, no! This is like Revival Christian Fellowship.” Not only that, but King David will be there playing his harp. We’re going to be singing and worshipping.

I like that stanza in John Newton’s Amazing Grace that says,

“When we’ve been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Then when we first begun.”

So we’re going to be singing, praising and worshipping the Lord with these 144,000 in what they were doing in glorifying Him. What a marvelous thing that is!

Another point I want to make is that back in chapter 7, 144,000 Jews were sealed, sometime at the beginning of the tribulation. Now they have gone through the tribulation. By the way, they are not the church; we’ve been raptured before the tribulation. Now these 144,000 are in heaven. How many made it safely to heaven? 144,000. He started with 144,000 and He ended with 144,000. My point is that the Good Shepherd never loses a sheep. He leaves the 99 and goes into the wilderness to find the 1 sheep He lost. He puts it on His shoulders and brings it back rejoicing. How wonderful! It speaks of His security. So He seals them, secures them, keeps them and takes them safely home to heaven.

That’s why Romans 8:38-39 says that “neither death nor life…nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:1 opens with, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” And the chapter closes with there is no separation.

In Jude 24, Jude says in his closing benediction, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy….”

So He had 144,000 and He ended with 144,000. So if you begin in grace, you will end in glory.

Fifthly, notice their sanctification, in verses 4-5. They are called “virgins,” and I believe it means spiritual virgins. They didn’t worship the beast or his image or take his mark; they didn’t turn to false religions or idolatry. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 11:2, he said, “For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” So this is spiritual virginity, referring to the fact they were not adulterated by turning away from God but were worshipping God completely and totally. They followed Christ, verse 4, and went wherever He went.

And also in verse 4, they “were redeemed…being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.” Redemption is God purchasing us by the blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross. If you’re a Christian, you’ve been bought and redeemed out of slavery; you belong to God and He set you free. You are the firstfruits unto God.

In the Old Testament, they had the Feast of Firstfruits. It meant that when they would ingather the harvest, before reaping the whole field, they would take a corner of the wheat field, wave it before the Lord, put it on the altar and give it to God. The harvest was first given to God in recognition that it all comes from God and all belongs to God. So the firstfruits was symbolic of the believer consecrating and dedicating their life to God.

So it could indicate that the 144,000 were the first to be saved in the tribulation period and are dedicated unto God.

They are blameless before the throne, also in verse 5. “In their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.”

That is true of you and me right now who are “in Christ.” So many Christians beat themselves up and say, “I’m not worthy. I’m such a bad Christian. I’m not a good person.” They forget that they are a sinner that is saved by grace. When you get saved, you are first of all positionally—there’s the word—in Christ or perfectly righteous. That’s what is known as “justification,” which is the act of God whereby He declares the believing sinner to be righteous, based on the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. You can’t improve on that, you can’t grow into that; you instantaneously, the moment you are saved, stand “in Christ” perfectly righteous before a holy God. How can a man be right with God? By faith. Not by works.

The next word is called “imputation.” That is when God takes the righteousness of Christ and He imputes it to your account. It’s a banking term. If you had a bank account that went down to almost a zero balance, but someone with a lot of money deposited money into your account on your behalf, it would be said they “imputed” money to you. So we stand bankrupt before a holy God at the Cross, but when we believe in Jesus, He takes the righteousness of Christ and deposits it into our account. Then we are standing perfectly righteous. That’s our position.

Now “sanctification” is the process that begins at justification, and it is a life-long process. That’s your practice. So you go from your position—being perfectly righteous, which can never change or never be lost—to your practice, which is sanctification, a life-long practice by which the Spirit, through His Word, trials and troubles, is making you, shaping you and fashioning you to be more like Christ. The goal of sanctification is likeness to Christ. It won’t be completely obtained until you get to heaven.

That’s the third phase of salvation. It’s called “glorification.” So you are justified positionally, you are being sanctified practically and you will be glorified when you get to heaven, completely and totally. That means no more sin. Praise the Lord! You’ll be done with your earthly body of sin, and you’ll be in the presence of the Lord without sickness, sorrow, weakness or memory loss. There will be no more cancer or disease. And the list could go on. We’ll be glorified in heaven.

I mention all that because of verse 5: “…without fault before the throne of God.” In Jude:24 it says, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory….”

Verses 6-7 is the second vision. It is the vision of the Gospel-preaching angel. There are three angels. This is angel number one. He is the Gospel-preaching angel who will preach the Gospel during the tribulation, probably during the last half of the tribulation just before the Second Coming. He will be calling people to turn to God. “Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation…”—that’s the Greek word “ethnos”; we get our word “ethnic” from it—“…tribe, tongue, and people—saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for…”—here’s the reason—“…the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.’” I think it’s interesting that we’re glorifying God because “His judgment has come.”

For the first time in history, an angel is going to be allowed to preach the Gospel. Before that, God had entrusted the Gospel to human beings; not to angels. Angels are curious; they look into our salvation, Peter tells us. They are amazed that God would bother with us flakey human beings and that God would send His Son to become one of them to redeem them. They’re just in awe of God’s redemptive plan. But they can’t preach.

Let me give you an example. In Acts 10, there was a Gentile, a Roman soldier named Cornelius. He was a devout man who probably wanted to find salvation through Judaism. He was fasting and praying and seeking God. God then sent an angel to him. But the angel didn’t share the Gospel with him. The angel told Cornelius that he had to send men to Joppa, which is a seaport village, to find Simon Peter. Cornelius was to instruct his men to tell Peter that he had seen an angel who told him to send men to Peter’s house to ask Peter to come to Cornelius’ house to tell him all the words of life. So the angel didn’t preach the Word to him.

If I were Cornelius, I would ask the angel, “Why don’t you just tell me? Why do I have to go find Peter and hang out on a housetop somewhere?” But angels weren’t given that privilege of preaching the Gospel.

So instead God sent an angel, Cornelius’ men find Simon Peter, whose heart God had prepared while he was on the housetop. The men asked Simon Peter to go to the Gentile’s house. When he showed up at Cornelius’ house, Simon Peter said, basically, “You guys know that I’m not supposed to be here, because you’re all unclean. But God told me to come, so here I am. What do you want?” That’s a real enthusiastic preacher. So Peter preached to them and Cornelius’ whole household got saved. It’s the first time Gentiles come in mass to believe in Jesus Christ.

But the point is that angels don’t preach the Gospel.

In Matthew 24:14, Jesus, in His Olivet Discourse, described what will happen before His Second Coming and the end of the age. He said, “And this Gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” For years, I believe the church has misinterpreted that. They thought that the Lord can’t come back until every language group, every people group, every hidden tribe hears the Gospel. Yes, are we told to “go into all the world and preach the Gospel,” but Jesus isn’t saying, “Hurry up, guys, and get the Gospel to all the world; I want to come back.”

So you ask, “Then why is God now allowing an angel to preach the Gospel?” I believe it’s because God is going to reach the whole world through this angel during the tribulation. That’s what Jesus could be referring to in Revelation 14:6-7: that the Gospel “will be preached in all the world…and then the end…”—or the Second Coming—“…will come.” That’s not to say we shouldn’t be motivated to preach the Gospel to the whole world. He did give us the great commission. But it could be that Matthew 24:14 was alluding to this Gospel-preaching angel of Revelation 14:6-7.

It’s interesting that this angel, in verse 6, flies “in the midst of heaven.” The very word used for “heaven” indicates it is where the sun and moon would stop straight up over the earth, so that the greatest number of people could see it. So it’s possible that this angel just hovers in the upper atmosphere, and as the earth turns in its 24-hour cycle, everyone would see this angel. I’m sure his voice will be plenty loud to be heard on the earth.

He will be preaching “the everlasting gospel.” What is that? It’s the Gospel. There is only one Gospel. In Galatians 1:8, Paul said, “Even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed,” or anathema, cursed to the lowest hell. So there is only one Gospel. And the Gospel is that Jesus, the second person of the Godhead, came from heaven, took on humanity, lived a sinless life and died for our sins on the Cross. So the Gospel is good news; Jesus paid for your sins. Jesus was buried, Jesus rose from the dead and by faith in Jesus Christ, you can be saved. That is the Gospel.

That’s what this angel is going to be preaching—this “everlasting gospel”—and the fact that it doesn’t change and it is universal. Verse 6 says, “to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people.” It’s the same Gospel for every culture. It’s not a gospel for the eastern world and a gospel for the western world and a gospel for Africa; it’s one Gospel for the entire world.

Then notice what this angel said, verse 7. “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.” So he had three points to his message: fear God, give Him glory and worship Him.

One of the problems in our culture today is that we’ve lost our fear of God. And as we will see in this text, it doesn’t help that we’ve taught evolution, so we have no need for God. It was just a big bang and we all just evolved; there was no creator. When you take God out of the equation, there is no fixed point, no absolute authority and whatever you want to believe, you can believe. And it may only be right because it is advantageous to you socially in order to get along with others. But there is no absolute truth, no fixed point, so it’s all relative. So if you don’t believe in God, how can you say there is a moral standard that you can be sure about?

So there is no fear of God, we’ve denied the existence of God, we don’t give glory to God, therefore God has given the culture up, in Romans 1:28, “to a debased…”—or “reprobate”—“…mind.” They get rid of God, then they degenerate and go down. When you take God out of the equation, there is only one way to go, and that’s down. The word “reprobate” means “does not work.”

I’m always looking at what’s going on in our culture, especially in America right now. I’m thinking, These minds don’t work anymore! People are reprobate, completely insane. That’s because they’ve rejected God and they’ve rejected His Word.

Notice at the end of verse 7, the angel said, “…worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.” The Bible does not teach evolution. Evolution is a lie from the pit of hell: the idea that there was a big bang and we just all evolved. You don’t even have to go to science to prove the fallacy of evolution. The Bible is very clear; either you believe God or you believe man. Genesis says, “In the beginning God….” Either you believe that some form of matter, time, space, energy must have existed—but what caused the bang to “bang”? What banged? Where did it come from? What’s the origin of matter, time, space and energy? What caused all that? There must be a greater cause—and that is God. Either you believe in an eternal, all-existing God or you believe in some form of matter. Either one you take by faith. Which one makes more sense? “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

So you were made by God. He made “heaven and the earth, the sea…”—I like that—“…and springs of water.” Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God…Day unto day utters speech.” It’s a revelation of God’s existence. The Bible is a revelation of God’s existence. It’s the Word of God. The Son of God, the living Word, is the revelation of God, as well. He was born of a virgin, performed miracles, rose from the dead and ascended back into heaven. The Bible does not teach that we are the product of evolution.

Vision number three, the fall of Babylon, is predicted and prophesied in verse 8. “And another angel followed, saying, ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she…”—that is, “Babylon”—“…has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.’” This is spiritual or material fornication or turning from God to materialism.

This voice of prophetic anticipation is repeated two times: “is fallen, is fallen.” It is given twice for emphasis and to indicate the certainty of the fall of Babylon. When we get to chapter 17, we’ll see the fall of religious Babylon. When we get to chapter 18, we’ll see the fall of commercial Babylon.

What does Babylon represent? While there was an actual place or city or nation called Babylon, it represents Satan’s rebellion, opposition and war against God and God’s people. It represents the Satanically empowered, false religions of the world and attack against God and His people.

Notice the reason for Babylon’s destruction, in verse 8: “because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” This is spiritual fornication. So it is the introduction of false religions and the introduction of materialism. It’s the idea that there is no life beyond the grave, and there is no God. Man is only a material being; there is no eternal spirit in man. He dies, goes back to the earth and that’s it. It’s a lie from Satan. This whole system of Satan’s opposition will be destroyed by God. Jesus will triumph over Satan’s evil systems, in chapters 17 and 18.

The fourth vision, in verses 9-12, is the vision of the voice of judgment on the beast worshippers. Remember that this is parenthetical; this is not in sequence. But in the end God will judge those who worship the image of the beast and take his mark. “Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the beast…”—this is the false prophet—“…and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself…”—that is, the one who worships the image of the beast and receives his mark, 666, in chapter 13—“…shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God.” Notice the statement “the wrath of God.” A lot of people deny the idea that God would judge sin.

Continuing, “…which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation.” Now here’s a graphic description of hell. “He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone…”—or “sulphur”—“…in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.’”

In verses 9-11, you have the prediction of this judgment upon those who worship the beast. But the point is that God will judge sin. People who are doomed, in verse 9, are those who worship the beast. They are unsaved, they’re not Christians, they’re not a part of the church, they’re not believers who are “in Christ” and safe and secure in heaven. Their punishment is hell.

The Bible taches the existence of a real, literal hell. Here are some facts about hell. In Matthew 25:41, Jesus said, “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” So God doesn’t send anyone to hell; you go there if you reject Jesus Christ. All you have to do to go to hell is nothing; don’t believe in Jesus, don’t repent of your sins, don’t put your faith in Christ. You’re born in sin, separated from God and you’re on the road to destruction. If you’re not a Christian, you’re on the road to hell.

I hear these crazy people who say, “Well, if I go to hell, all my friends will be there. We’re going to party and play poker. We’re going to have a great time. It’s going to be wonderful.” No, it’s not.

Jesus talked more about hell than anyone else. He said that the fires never quit. He said that it’s “outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Jesus knew of the dangers of hell and warned us. Verse 10 says it is a place of torments. It is eternal and a place of “no rest,” verse 11. So you don’t want to go to hell.

You ask, “Well, what do I have to do so I don’t go to hell?” You need to repent. You need to change your mind about your sin and turn around and believe in Jesus Christ.

Now notice the closing encouragement of the perseverance of the saints, in verse 12. “Here is the patience…”—or “perseverance”—“…of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” The fact that they kept God’s commandments is because they trusted in Jesus by faith and are saved.

Don’t twist this around and say, “In order to be saved, you have to keep God’s commandments.” No; “By grace you have been saved through faith.” You don’t add any works to salvation. But once you are saved by grace through faith, you keep God’s commandments as evidence that you are a child of God.

But what this is in verse 12 is a word of encouragement that the saints in the tribulation period—not the church—will persevere, knowing that judgement is coming upon the wicked at this time and that their suffering is only temporary, not eternal.

The fifth vision, in verse 13, is the voice of blessing on those who die in the Lord. “Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.” So John heard this voice and wrote what he heard.

“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.” Now you’re saying, “‘Blessed are they who die’? I don’t get this. You’ve already freaked me out, because you’ve talked about the wrath of God. Now you’re saying that people who die are blessed!?” It’s “in the Lord.” The Bible says that “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.”

When a Christian dies, it’s time to celebrate. When John Miller dies, I don’t want you to cry for me. Cry for yourself; you’re still stuck in Menifee. I’m going to be in heaven praising God! When a Christian dies, immediately they go into the presence of Jesus Christ. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:8, “To be absent from the body [is] to be present with the Lord.” He also said to the Philippians, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” How glorious is that.

I once heard somebody say, “You’re not ready to live until you’re ready to die.” Until you’re ready to die, you’re going to be living with the fear of death. Jesus conquered sin, death and the grave. When you’re a born-again child of God, you don’t need to fear death, because “to be absent from the body [is] to be present with the Lord.” It’s so blessed.

This is the second beatitude of seven beatitudes in the book of Revelation. The first beatitude is in chapter 1, verse 3, which says, “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it.” So if you just come on Sunday and read the book together, hear and obey, you’re blessed. And if you are a child of God, for you to die means that you only move to your new, permanent home in heaven. What a glorious prospect that is!

But the opposite, if you are not a Christian—and the Bible is clear on this—is that you go immediately to hell. We just read about it in our text. Jesus also described it in very graphic details in Luke 16. He said there was a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus. He said that the rich man died and went to hell. When Lazarus died, he was carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom; he went to the place of paradise. This is an Old Testament description of where you go when you die; you either go to torment or you go to paradise. So is the case today.

At the end of Revelation, we’ll see this place called “Hades” or “hell,” which is the term used in your English Bible New Testament, and in the Greek it is “Gehenna.” All the wicked dead who are waiting there will be resurrected at the end of the 1,000-year millennium. They will stand before the great white throne judgment. Books will be opened and their names will not appear in them, so they will be thrown into a “second death.” It’s called “the lake of fire,” burning with brimstone. So Hades gives up the dead, they are resurrected and stand before God, their names are not in the Book of Life so they are then cast into “the lake of fire.” That is where the beast, the false prophet and the devil will be forever. You don’t want to go there.

You have two options: heaven or hell. If you’ll repent of your sins and believe in Jesus Christ, you can have the hope of heaven in your heart. You can know your sins are forgiven. You can know that when you die, you’ll go to heaven.

You say, “What do I need to do?” Admit that you are a sinner, that you fall short of God’s standards. “There is none righteous, no, not one.” Admit that Jesus Christ came from heaven to pay the full penalty for your sins on the Cross and rose victoriously from the grave. Then receive Jesus Christ by faith and be saved.

If God has spoken to you through this message today, and you’re not sure you’re a child of God—maybe you don’t know that if you died today, you would go to heaven, you’ve never really trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior—I would like to lead you in a prayer right now inviting Christ to come into your heart and to be your Savior.

So as I pray this prayer, I want you to repeat it out loud, right where you are, after me. Make it from your heart, inviting Christ to come in and be your Lord and Savior. Let’s pray.

“Dear Lord Jesus, I’m sorry for my sin. I pray that You’ll forgive me and come into my heart and make me Your child. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit, and help me to live for you all the days of my life. I believe in You. I receive You as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

If you prayed that prayer and you meant it, God heard that prayer and God will and does forgive your sins.

We’d like to help you get started growing in your walk and relationship with Jesus Christ. God bless you.

If you just prayed with Pastor John to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, we are so excited for you, and we’d like to send you a Bible and some resources to get you started in your relationship with the Lord. Simply click on the Contact link at the top of the page and tell us something like, “I prayed to accept Christ.” We’ll get your Bible and resources mailed out to you right away.

God bless you and welcome to the family of God.