Pentecost 2024:

Good morning. It’s very unusual that we can meet here in the mornings. Very rarely do we do this. A few times in the year. So good morning. Hopefully, you’re all awake.

All right. Well, I wanted to first mention, of course, we’re here on Pentecost. This is a very special day, very special day, one that pictures, of course, as you heard, Mr. Baxter opened the service with... as a song leader, he mentioned that Israel was given the law today. Moses went up to Sinai and received the law at God’s hand and came down, and we all know the story behind that.

That was given on this day, a very important momentous time in the history of God’s true church, church in the wilderness, and then, of course, in the New Testament church. Now the New Testament church, the other thing that happened, major thing that happened on this day was the church was built, the New Testament church was built. God poured out His Holy Spirit on this day. There’s more things that are associated with this, but this is a very, very, very special day. We heard about it in the offertory this morning.

And what’s really interesting about this day is it has many names, maybe more names than any other single Holy Day, at least that I could think of. It has the name of Pentecost, the Feast of Pentecost. It also goes by the name of the Feast of Weeks. We count fifty days or seven weeks past the Sabbath during the days of Unleavened Bread. That’s why it’s called the Feast of Weeks. It’s the Feast of the Harvest. You can read about it in Leviticus twenty-three. Excuse me, in Exodus twenty-three. We won’t turn there, but it’s called the Feast of Harvest.

Before the Feast of Ingathering, which is the larger harvest in the fall. It’s also called the Feast of Firstfruits. But there’s one more name, one more name. If you can think of it, you could write it down. It’s the Feast of something. What is it? See if you can fill in the blank. Now I’ll warn you, it’s a trick question, so you probably won’t get it, but maybe you’ll get it after a little bit here. Turn over to Leviticus chapter twenty-three. Let’s learn a little bit about the day before we get... This introduction will be a little bit longer than maybe normal just because it hits on some of the points about this day before getting into the main subject that, of course, ties to this day.

Leviticus chapter twenty-three. Let’s pick it up in verse fifteen. Leviticus twenty-three in verse fifteen. So prior to verse fifteen, it talks about the days of unleavened bread and Christ was the wave sheaf. The wave sheaf was waived during the days of Unleavened Bread. Then verse fifteen, it says, “And you shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath during the days of Unleavened Bread, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, seven Sabbaths shall be complete.”

Count seven Sabbaths during the days of unleavened bread, that gets you to today after fifty days. “Fifty days shall be counted even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall you number fifty days, and you shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord. And you shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two-tenth deals.” What’s that, wave loaves? God had the wave sheaf, just the wave sheaf occurred during the days of unleavened bread, but now that fifty days have passed, two wave loaves are now to be waved.

Now these wave loaves, the church has always long taught that these loaves represent the Old Testament saints and the New Testament saints. Remember, it’s called the Feast of Firstfruits. Feast of Firstfruits. The Firstfruits in God’s plan, the very first people that He’s working with for six thousand years are all the Old Testament and the New Testament saints. He’s specifically calling people out of the world to be used for a very special purpose.

These wave loaves represent those saints. The Firstfruits. Simple. Continuing in verse seventeen, in middle of verse seventeen, “They shall be a fine flour, baked with leaven, and they’re the firstfruits unto the Lord. And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish in the first year, and one young bullock and two rams.” And we don’t do these things today, the physical sacrifices, as we understand that Christ’s sacrifice changed all of that for the New Testament. “With their meat offering and drink offering and even an offering made by fire of sweet savor unto the Lord.”

Verse nineteen, “Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats for a sin offering, and two lambs in the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings.” Vese twenty, “And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits for a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs, and they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. And you shall proclaim on the selfsame day...” that’s today on Pentecost, “...that it may be an holy convocation unto you. You shall do no servile work therein.” That why we keep services, we have double services. We don’t go to work. We normally wouldn’t necessarily on Sundays. A lot of some people might go to work on Sundays, but we wouldn’t today.

“No servile work therein...” middle of twenty-one, “...and it shall be a statute for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.” Now, what is a first fruit? Think about a tree or a plant that produces fruits. Every tree has the firstfruits that it produces. Every plant has its firstfruits that it produces. Those fruits are the very ones that you pick first, obviously, before you pick the rest of them through the rest of the harvest season or the summer.

So, again, this day points to the very small harvest, if you will, of saints who are going to enter God’s family first. That’s all of us. That’s all of us going all the way back through church history, to the very first saints that have walked this earth in the Old Testament. And all of us go first before the larger Feast of Ingathering in the fall, which pictures the rest of mankind entering into what we get to have initially.

Let’s go back to the question out of the gate. I want to coin a new term for this day. You might think that this is a little dubious, but you’ll understand where I’m going with it. And this name that I’m going to coin has many names within it. So if today is called the Feast of Firstfruits, why brethren, wouldn’t it also be called the Feast of Christ, for example? Christ was the first fruit, the firstfruits among many other firstfruits. Why isn’t it the Feast of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob? This is the Feast of Firstfruits.

I’m just making the firstfruits calling them out by name. It’s also the Feast of David, the Feast of Solomon, the Feast of Ruth, Eunice, Lois, Tabitha, Jacob, Daniel, James, Sarah. Now, some of these names are Biblical figures, but some of these names are people that are sitting right here in this room too, which is it. It’s the Feast, brethren. You could write your own name in the blank, the Feast of your name. That’s what this day is about. The Feast of Firstfruits.

Although there have been an estimated one hundred billion, you could say there’s maybe a lot more than that. But let’s be conservative and say that there have been an estimated a hundred billion people that have lived on Earth for the last six thousand years. God has only worked with and called a very, very few people, but just how few? Does the Bible anywhere say how many God has selected to be His firstfruits? You don’t need to turn there, but you can read in Deuteronomy thirty-three. First three verses in Deuteronomy thirty-three show that God is working with what He calls ten thousands of saints. Not millions and millions and millions and billions.

But that word is a little interesting. It can mean myriads, it can mean an abundance, so it’s not very specific. Jude fourteen quotes Deuteronomy in saying very much the same thing, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment. Now, that word in the Greek, you would think, well, maybe that’ll give us a little bit more of a hint as to how many people are in the firstfruits’ group. But it doesn’t, it also means myriads in the Greek, but it’s translated ten thousands both times in the Old Testament and New Testament.

So is there a place that shows us an even more precise number? And, of course, brethren, if you’ve been in God’s church for any length of time, you know that there is, and it’s in Revelation chapter fourteen. Turn over to Revelation fourteen. I’m going to read parts of two verses, Revelation fourteen. Let’s pick it up just in verse one. “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.” What is that number? Can it be, brethren, that for six thousand years of mankind’s existence, only one hundred and forty-four thousand people are going to be called first, not just called, but enter into God’s family first?

How is that possible such a small number? How is that possible? If there’s any question, brethren, about it, and we know what the Feast of Firstfruits is all about, verse four seals the deal if you will. Partway through verse four, it says, “These were redeemed from among men being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.” Brethren, that is why we are here today. We are the firstfruits preparing to enter into God’s family as the hundred and forty-four thousand. Many firstfruits have already died. They’ve run their course, and it’s a very special group. One that, of course, Mr. Pack has explained for many years now that includes all the saints from six thousand years of man’s existence.

So the question stands, how do we remain part of the hundred and forty-four thousand? How do we remain part of the hundred and forty-four thousand? How can we stay in the hundred and forty-four thousand? How can we know that we are going to be there when God comes with ten thousands of His saints? We now know exactly how many ten thousands is both in Deuteronomy and in Jude. There are three necessary qualities we’re going to go over today. We’ll examine for the balance of the sermon, three necessary qualities to remain part of the hundred and forty-four thousand.

But first, let’s study two fascinating passages before we get into those three qualities, two fascinating passages that show just how special it is, just how what a wonderful thing it is to be considered part of this hundred and forty-four thousand. Just the sheer number itself should tell us that we’re very special for being part of it. But let’s turn over to Titus chapter two. If you’re in Revelation, just a few pages back, Titus chapter two. Before the book of Hebrews, Titus two and verse fourteen. Just how special is it to have your name be part of the hundred and forty-four thousand, to be a firstfruit.

Titus two and verse fourteen, verse thirteen, It says, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Peculiar people. They’re defined as having being peculiar because they have zealous, they’re zealous in their works. “These things...” verse fifteen, “...speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority, let no man despise you.”

But God, specifically, Paul to Titus here speaks specifically of how God calls us peculiar people. And that word peculiar means to be beyond usual, beyond usual, unusual, if you will, to be special or one’s own. God is literally calling us out and saying, “You’re special to me.” When He says that we’re part of the hundred and forty-four thousand, He’s specifically saying, “You by name are special to me. You’re my own. You’re peculiar. You’re unusual. I’m going to treat you differently than the rest of this world.” The rest of this world will have their chance. No doubt, they’ll be given the exact same chance that we all have today. But, brethren, he’s calling us out to be firstfruits.

Peculiar people initially before He works with the rest of the world. Jus how peculiar and special is it to be a part of this number? Well, let me tell you, brethren, the odds of being struck by lightning are significantly higher, sixty-five times higher. It’s sixty-five times more likely that you or I would be struck by lightning or anyone in the world would be struck by lightning than they would be called into the hundred and forty-four thousand out of, say, a hundred billion people in mankind’s existence.

Let that sink in. We all know how rare it is to be struck by lightning. It’s sixty-five times more likely to be struck by lightning than to be in the hundred and forty-four thousand. It’s much more common, much more common to have quadruplets naturally than it is to be part of the one hundred and forty-four thousand. How many people know of a family with quadruplets, naturally born quadruplets, where there was no semination and so forth?

That is rare. It’s about as common to have an IQ of one hundred and seventy-one as it is to be part of the hundred and forty-four thousand. Now, for reference, I did a Google search, and probably this may or may not be on, but when I typed into Google, what is Stephen Hawking’s IQ? It was one sixty, eleven points lower than one seventy-one. Albert Einstein’s IQ, the same, one sixty is what… when you type in Albert Einstein’s IQ comes up with one sixty. Now, maybe there’s other sources that say it was higher and so forth, but it’s basically as difficult to find somebody with one hundred and seventy-one IQ as it is to find somebody that’s part of the hundred and forty-four thousand.

Making a hole-in-one in golf is eighty times easier than being in the hundred and forty-four thousand. How many have made a hole-in-one in golf? I’m not raising my hand unless you count the lake as a hole. Now, Kim Jong Un many, many holes in one, in one course, just one nine or eighteen whole round. He defies all odds, but he’s not part of the hundred and forty-four thousand. He’ll have his chance, okay.

Get this. A mother having twenty boys in a row without having any girls is about the same odds as being part of the hundred and forty-four thousand. If you’re a mother out there and you’ve had twenty boys in a row, you know how rare that would be. I doubt any of you even have twenty boys or twenty girls or whatever. But, brethren, I use all of these examples to show just how special it is and that God isn’t just picking people willy-nilly. He’s specifically selecting you and I. The bar is high. The bar is high, but remember that God has already selected us. He’s picked you and I already, our salvation is settled already as long as we hold fast and we don’t give up. We hold firm to the truth or don’t abandon God’s way. Remember in Romans eight, you could turn over there. These are just two passages that show how special it is to be a part of this number. The one hundred forty-four thousand. Romans chapter eight and verse twenty-eight. God did not just sort of put on a blindfold and point Eeny, meeny, miny, moe at people and decide oh, oh, I guess I’m going to call you over here over the last six thousand years. No, no, no, it was much more pre-thought-out meditated, very careful.

You and I were selected long, long ago, but we can still fall away. We can still make wrong choices, but if we don’t make wrong choices we remain part of the one hundred forty-four thousand. Let’s read in Romans eight, twenty-eight. “We know all things work together for good to them that love God and to them that are called according to his purpose.” God is the only one that calls us. He calls us and selects us specifically. “For whom he did foreknow…” He knew beforehand is what that means. “…He also did predestinate”… or predetermined to call.

“He knew us long ago and predetermined that he would call us to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Verse thirty. “Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified, and them he justified, he will also glorify.” Verse thirty-one. “What shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” He’s already selected us, brethren, we’re here in this room. We’re keeping God’s holy days, just as he asked. We’re obedient to him. So what could anyone else do to us? They can’t take us out of the one hundred forty-four thousand, only we can do that.

“If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” Verse thirty-three. “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?” And the word elect means selected, specifically chosen by hand by God. In verse thirty-seven it says, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” God says that we’re more than conquerors.

Look at all these terms. We’re called, we’ve been foreknown, predestined, justified, glorified, we’re the elect, and we’re more than conquerors. God wants you to make it. He wants you to be part of his hundred forty-four thousand. So let’s turn back to Revelation chapter fourteen and we’re going to go over those three characteristics, those three necessary qualities that the hundred and forty-four thousand must have. We’re here on the Feast of Firstfruits.

Very few times the Bible talks about firstfruits, but when it does it ties it directly to the one hundred forty-four thousand. So, brethren, how can we know and how can we be certain that we will remain part of the hundred and forty-four thousand? These are the three key qualities we will discuss today. How to remain in the one hundred and forty-four thousand. Let’s just read straight through from verse two all the way through verse five.

“And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of great thunder, and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps, and they sung as it were a new song before the throne, a hundred and forty-four thousand, before the four beasts, and the elders, and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty-four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which were not defiled with women, for they are virgins.”

Starting to see some of these specific qualities. They’ve been redeemed from the earth. They’re not defiled with women and they’re virgins in some way. “These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes.” Wherever Christ goes and leads his church, the hundred and forty-four thousand follow, that’s another quality. “These were redeemed from among men.” Another way of saying redeemed from the earth. “Being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile, no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.”

Now all the different qualities that we just read about in there, redeemed, without fault, they’re virgins, they follow the lamb. They’re not defiled with women. There’s no guile found in their mouth. All of those qualities can be summed up in three categories, three categories. Let’s look at the first category. Redeemed from the earth or redeemed from among men. What does that mean? That’s sort of a hard-to-wrap-your-arms-around term. What does it mean to be redeemed?

Redeemed is simple. If we just look up what the word means, it means to be bought or purchased. Bought or purchased. Let’s really take a little bit of time and think about what it means to be bought or purchased. Because if we want to be in the hundred and forty-four thousand, if we want to remain in the hundred and forty-four thousand, I should say, we have to see ourselves as purchased goods. God bought us. Do we see ourselves in such a light, that our lives are not our own but rather someone else’s and that someone else’s is God?

Turn over to First Corinthians chapter six. Let’s understand what it means to be bought. First Corinthians chapter six. You could summarize this first of three qualities, necessary qualities to remain part of the hundred and forty-four thousand. You could summarize it in the word bought. We’ve been bought by God or purchased. First Corinthians chapter six. First Corinthians chapter six and verse fourteen. Let’s pick it up there.

“And God has both raised up the Lord and will also raise up us by his own power. Know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ?” Know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ. “Shall I then take the members of Christ...” already sounds like our bodies are not our own, they’re Christ’s members. “Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a harlot? God forbid.” We wouldn’t take our bodies and commit fornication or go out and find a prostitute and defile our bodies in such a way.

God says that we’re taking, we would be taking what are considered the members of Christ, our own bodies, and defiling them in a wrong way. Using them in the wrong way, in a way that God did not intend. This might be a more extreme example, but it drives home the point. Let’s keep reading. Verse sixteen. “What? know you not that he which is joined to a harlot is one body? For two, says he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he that commits fornication sins against his own body.” “What?”

Verse nineteen. Again Paul says, “Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own?” How are we not our own, because verse twenty says, “For you are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” Again, like I said, this is an extreme example of somebody who’s going out and taking, let’s say they’re converting, going out and taking their body and defiling it with a harlot. That’s an extreme example of how we can misuse our bodies, the very bodies that God has purchased.

It says here, even in verse twenty, “In your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” Our physical body and our spirit are God’s. In the price that’s described in verse twenty, for you are bought with a price was not a cheap price. Christ shed his blood. We came out of the Passover season a number of weeks ago. We understand very recently and fresh on our minds the very price that Christ paid and God the Father paid so that we could be purchased.

We can be bought. Christ died as a physical human being, but also God in the flesh who sinned not at all so that we could be bought by God. Think about that. We weren’t bought for cheap. We weren’t bought on discount, if you could say. We were bought with the very blood of Christ. Both our body and our spirit. So therefore, we ought to glorify God in our body and in our spirit, it says. So being purchased or being bought, those are defined as being redeemed. That’s what being redeemed is. We’ve been purchased and it means we see ourselves, both our body and our spirit, as not our own anymore. We are not our own, brethren.

Yes, we have free moral agency, but that’s the key, is we have to see ourselves as no longer having any real control in a certain way over our lives. We’ve given our bodies and our minds to God to use how he wants to use it. We’ve become, in effect, a tool used by him. Completely in the hands of our owner, which is God. Let that sink in. Let it sink in that we are in effect, if we see ourselves as tools in God’s hands. That’s how we should see ourselves in order to remain part of the hundred and forty-four thousand, because, remember, this is the first of three qualities. We’re redeemed from the earth.

What does redeemed mean? We’re bought. We’re like a tool that we go over to Lowe’s or Home Depot or Menards and purchase so that we can use that tool for our own good. The tool can’t use itself, brethren. No tool can operate on its own. If you get a hammer from Lowe’s, that hammer, when you buy it, it’s yours to use. You can use that hammer to hang drywall, you can use that hammer to put together a piece of furniture. I’m sure there were hammers used to create this lectern, but the hammer is completely... it can’t operate on its own. It must operate the way that the owner operates it.

Turn over to Romans chapter six. This concept of being redeemed or purchased is all through the Bible. If you think about it and you understand that you’re just bought, that’s it. This concept is all throughout the Bible, and we’ll read another example here in Romans chapter six. Romans chapter six, and let’s pick it up in verse eleven. “Likewise, reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it, and the lust thereof. Neither yield you your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”

God wants us to be like a violin or like a piano. We heard beautiful piano music when we took up the offering today. God wants us to see ourselves as nothing more in many regards than an instrument to be played. An instrument. That word instrument can mean tool, it can mean other things, but think of it like an instrument, that piano cannot play itself. We have to allow God to play it. So I’ll ask you this question and I’ll ask myself this question. What kind of tool are we? What kind of an instrument are we?

There are different kinds of tools. What kind are you. Are you a rusty, worn down, broken tool? Are you made out of cheap plastic, brethren? I don’t think so. We shouldn’t be made out of cheap plastic, or are we reliable, well-oiled, finely tuned, and calibrated. A tool that functions well, making it easy for God to use how he wants. We all know that there’s different qualities of tools out there. When you pay a little bit more money, just like Christ did, just like God did with Christ’s own blood, the highest price, we are not cheap tools.

God bought us with a very high price. So imagine we’re now going to Lowe’s and we’re getting the highest quality tools we can get. We wouldn’t expect that tool to be rusted or not function properly. It better function smoothly, easily in our hands. That’s what God wants. That’s what God wants. That’s the goal. That’s the goal for all of us is to function as well-oiled, finely tuned instruments in his hand. Now we all have our spots of rust, proverbially speaking, here and there. No one’s going to be perfect. We’re not going to be perfectly played instruments in God’s hands.

We all want to be, and we all strive to be, but we’re not. That’s just the reality of being a human being, but we do strive to be used by God how he wants and not how we want. The more we get ourselves out of the way, the more we get our own will out of the way, the easier we are played in God’s hands, if you will. Turn over to Isaiah sixty-four. Isaiah sixty-four.

We’ll just read one verse here in Isaiah sixty-four and verse eight. It says this. Another analogy, another way that we can see ourselves as being redeemed or being bought is in Isaiah sixty-four and verse eight. “But now, O Lord, you are our father. We are the clay, and you are our potter, and we are all the work of your hand.” If you’ve ever worked with pottery on a pottery wheel. I used to do that when I was a kid. We’d take field trips to, you know, this pottery factory, and they would show us how to turn the wheel on, and you push the pedal with your foot, and the wheel would spin.

You’d slap the clay down. It’d have to be wet clay so that it’s malleable, so that it’s moldable, and when you slap that clay down and you start spinning the wheel, you could form the clay, you could push the clay up and it would begin to create a column. Then you’d have to put your thumbs in and you could maneuver the clay in such a way that you could create a bowl or a pot. God is the potter. He’s the one manipulating. He’s the one working on us. You could say, the wetter we are as clay, the more malleable we’ll be.

If we’re dry, you slap that dry clay down and it’ll hit and you won’t... it wouldn’t work, it wouldn’t work, you’d start spinning the clay around, it won’t mold if it’s dry. We have to see ourselves as malleable, moldable by God, easy for Him to use. Back to Isaiah forty-five, just a couple of chapters earlier, we see much the same. Isaiah forty-five and verse nine. Isaiah, just a few chapters beforehand, uses a very similar analogy.

Forty-five, nine says this, “Woe to him that strives with his Maker. Let the potsherds strive with the potsherds of the earth.” If you’re going to strive, that’s just between you people, but do not strive with God. “Shall the clay say to him that fashions it, what make you, or your work? He has no hands.” Verse ten, “Woe to him that says unto his father, ‘What beget you?’ Or to the woman, ‘What have you brought forth?’ Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and His Maker, ‘Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands, command you me.’”

God created everything, He is the potter. And, brethren, the whole point of this section of the sermon is simply this. It really is a mindset change. If we see ourselves in our minds and we regularly remind ourselves that we are bought, that we have been purchased or redeemed by God, if we remind ourselves of that, it will help us change our actions. When we see ourselves starting in our minds as being nothing more than an instrument, it humbles us, it changes us.

Our actions will follow after. It will be easy for God to use us if we just simply start in our minds by recognizing and constantly reminding ourselves that we’re tools and nothing more. If we start to see ourselves as more than tools, then that clay begins to dry up. That tool begins to rust. That instrument begins to have broken strings. Keys, they’re broken and don’t work. It’s out of tune. But the more we simply see ourselves in our minds as instruments and tools and nothing more, the easier it is for God to work with us and we will be part of the hundred and forty-four thousand. Because, brethren, this is just the first of three qualities. Necessary qualities.

Okay, let’s go on to point number two. This is a bigger point. Bigger in the sense that it covers more ground in Revelation fourteen that we just read. Recall in Revelation fourteen it said that the hundred and forty-four thousand are not defiled with women. They’re virgins. It says that there’s no guile or deceit found in their mouth and they’re without fault. We’re going to lump those four points into one. They’re virgins. No deceit. They’re pure. That’s another way of putting it, brethren.

Brethren, the second point is we remain pure. The hundred and forty-four thousand are pure. That’s what a virgin is. Somebody who’s without guile, doesn’t speak guile. They’re pure. Somebody who is not defiled with women. We just read about that in Corinthians. That person is pure. Somebody who is without fault, pure. What does it mean to be pure? Virgins are pure. We’re pure in doctrine. Those who are the hundred and forty-four thousand, they’re pure in doctrine.

They don’t allow the doctrines of this world to creep into their minds and begin to make way, pushing out the truths of God. Pure people allow pure doctrines into their minds. To be pure is to be pure in thought. When we have thoughts that come in that are wrong, we push them away as opposed to allowing them to stay in and fester, if you will. They’re pure in words. What we speak is pure. Not like the conduct or the words that you see in the world. And finally, those that are pure are pure in conduct. Pure in every way.

That’s what God wants. That’s the second qualification to be in hundred and forty-four thousand. Turn over to Colossians chapter one. We might say to ourselves, wow, okay, pure. I am not pure, exactly. How do I remain pure? How do I become pure? That is an incredibly high standard or an incredibly high bar to reach. How do we become pure? Colossians chapter one. Let’s read in verse twenty-seven.

Colossians one, twenty-seven, “To whom God would make known that is the riches of the glory of this majesty among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Whereunto I also labor...” Paul speaks of laboring and working to help make the brethren pure or perfect. That’s the job of a minister. If you want to get to the very basic root elements of what is a minister, the minister’s job is to serve in such a way that it helps make brethren perfect or prepares them to make them perfect.

“Striving according to his working which works in me mightily.” So, brethren, ministers in the body of Christ, the government of God, their function is to help not only themselves but help all of you and all of us become perfect. That’s the job of a minister. Paul said it himself. “And teaching every man in wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” A true minister’s job is defined here as working, laboring to present all of God’s people under his care perfect before God in Christ. But clearly, none of us are perfect, brethren. We’re not. We’re not.

Just like we might have some rust spots on us as tools in God’s hands, we’re not perfect. But, brethren, that is the goal, okay? Understand that God is going to give us the standard by which we ought to measure ourselves. He’s not going to lower that standard or give us a standard below perfect. He’s going to say, “My standard is perfect. My standard is pure. Strive for that.” If His standard were below that somehow, brethren, none of us would actually reach pure. Guarantee you. We wouldn’t even have it as our goal.

We would be setting the bar too low. God would be setting the bar too low. So what He does is He sets the bar high. Knows that none of us in this life, physically speaking, are going to be perfect. Which is why you read in Matthew five, forty-eight, “Become you therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” That is the standard, brethren. But God doesn’t say, “We have to be perfect right now. Right this second. You better be perfect or you’re not going to be in the hundred and forty-four thousand. You better be pure or you’re not in the hundred and forty-four thousand.” No.

Become perfect. That’s the goal. That’s what we’re striving for. Turn over to Ephesians chapter four. Ephesians four, and we’ll just read one verse. God gives us the standard by which we must strive for. What is that standard? Let’s read it here in verse thirteen of Ephesians four. “Till we all come...” Excuse me, let’s read in verse nine. Verse ten, excuse me. “He that descends is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. And he gave some, apostles, some, prophets, some, evangelists, some, pastors, some teachers.”

Why? Why is God’s government in place, brethren? This perfectly aligns with what we read in Colossians. God’s government is in place for the perfecting of the saints. That word perfecting actually means equipping. The equipping of the saints “...for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man.” That’s what we will be, brethren, when we enter into the hundred and forty-four thousand, when we enter into God’s family. We will be perfect when we become God too, in the God family.

Until then, our pursuit is perfection. We should be seeing ourselves on an upward trajectory toward perfection. What is that measure of perfection here in verse thirteen? At the end it says, “The perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Christ is the standard. He’s our elder brother. He’s the one who came down in the flesh and showed us that it is possible to be perfect. Now, none of us will be perfect in this life. We’ll all sin, we’ll all fall short, but do we see Christ as the standard? Do we see perfection as the standard? Are we still striving for that or have we in our minds lowered the bar in some way?

We can’t lower the bar. The bar has to remain perfection, purity, to be part of the hundred and forty-four thousand. So, brethren, because God gave His government for the perfecting of the saints, if ever we find ourselves in a position where we might be receiving correction or guidance in some way by the ministry, it’s not because the ministry hate you or don’t like you or are out to get you. That’s not it at all. It’s the exact opposite.

If we ever find ourselves in need of correction or being put back on the center of the road, you’ve heard we can fall into two ditches. We’re on this path, on this road in life, and we can easily fall into one ditch or we could fall into another ditch. We should stay in the middle of the road. Sometimes if we don’t see ourselves going off to a ditch it takes some guidance by God’s ministry to help us correct our path. That’s only because, brethren, those ministers want to see you standing before Christ and God and part of the hundred and forty-four thousand perfect, pure. That’s why correction comes.

Philippians two and verse twelve. Just a couple of pages forward. Philippians two and verse twelve says this. Philippians two, twelve, “Wherefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” If we want to become perfect, brethren, we can’t just put on a good show at Sabbath services in front of the minister or if we work here at headquarters, put on a good show during the week, during the work hours.

Becoming pure is a twenty-four-seven responsibility. It should be a mindset just like the mindset of changing your mind to see yourself as a tool or an instrument purchased by God. Should be a mindset in this way, too. To see ourselves for twenty hours out of the day, seven days out of the week, three hundred and sixty-five days in a year, see ourselves and strive to become pure. Could be at home, behind closed doors, in our bedrooms. Could be out and about in public. We’re supposed to be lights at all points in time in our lives. We’re never supposed to take a minute off.

We can never just let our hand down and say, “Okay, now I don’t have to be pure anymore. This is my off time on being pure tonight.” No, no, no. That’s not how it works. We have to remain pure all the time or strive to remain pure all the time even when the ministry aren’t watching. Titus chapter one, back to the book of Titus, Titus one. So to be pure in this life, we have to understand what it is to be pure now. Can we be pure in a certain way now? Yes, we can. Here’s how.

Titus one in verse nine says this, “Holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught...” Don’t let go of any truth. Hold fast the word as you’ve been taught “...that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.” Remember, one of the elements of being pure or part of the hundred and forty-four thousand is not defiled with women. They’re virgins. They don’t allow the doctrines of this world to pollute their minds. So we can do that by holding fast the faithful word as we have been taught. That’s what separates us from the other splinter groups. They did not hold fast to what Mr. Armstrong taught in its entirety.

Verse ten, “For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake. One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, ‘The Cretians are always liars, evil beasts, and slow bellies.’ This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith.” We can’t fall into that kind of mindset where we just are subverted by falsehoods.

Verse fourteen, “Not giving heed to Jewish fables.” Stay pure in doctrine, pure in truth and commandments of men. Stay pure in traditions that turn from the truth. Verse fifteen, “Unto the pure, all things are pure, but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure, but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” What does it mean the phrase “To the pure, all things are pure?”

We’re supposed to be pure, brethren. What it means is if we’re pure in mind, if we’re striving for perfection or purity, we see everything in the world for exactly what it is. To the pure, all things are pure. You see with pure eyes, with clarity of vision, everything for what it is, you see the world and its filth, you see the conduct and the standards that they have in the world for what they are as not in line with God. So pure people, when they come up against the sin, if sin approaches them of sorts, they see it for what it is, they’re able to recognize it. That’s what being a pure person is. To the pure, all things are pure.

They’re easily recognizable for what they are. That’s what we ought to strive to have, brethren, whatever we come up against in life, do we see it for exactly what it is? If it’s good, great. To the pure all things that are pure, including things that are good. If something comes up to you, you’re confronted with a situation in life and it’s okay, it’s good. To the pure, all things are pure. You recognize it for what it is, and it’s okay to engage in that activity, but if a bad something comes up against you, what do we do about it? Do we see it for what it is and do we flee from that? Or do we give in because our eyes are blinded, our eyes are kind of hazy on this subject, or we don’t know how to address it? To the pure, all things are pure.

One final verse in this subhead, it’s James chapter one. The hundred and forty-four thousand are not defiled with women. They’re virgins. They speak no guile. They’re without fault and, brethren, again, in summary, they are pure. So let’s read one final verse here in James one verse twenty-seven to understand purity even better. Verse twenty-seven, James one, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this...” We want to be pure, here we go. We better understand this and adhere to it. “To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

To the pure, all things are pure, brethren. So if spots from the world, if you will, spots from the world start approaching you and attacking you, flee from them. Keep yourself unspotted from the world. That could be in your thoughts. That could be in your conduct. That could be in your... just anything in your mind. It could be anything in your words. Keep yourselves pure. Set that standard that Christ has. The standard, the fullness of Christ. Perfect. That is our standard. That is how we will become pure. And that is the second point.

Let’s go on to the third and last point discussed today. It says in Revelation fourteen, verse four, that the hundred and forty-four thousand are they which follow the Lamb withersoever, wherever He goes, they follow the Lamb. They follow Christ wherever Christ leads them. Now, if we understand that we’re redeemed or we’re purchased or we’re bought by God, it makes it easier to fulfill this final quality of the hundred and forty-four thousand. Go over to Acts chapter nine. If we see ourselves as bought, in our minds we see, “Okay, God has purchased me, I’m nothing more than a tool in His hands.”

If we see ourselves like that, it becomes much easier to fulfill this third quality of the hundred and forty-four thousand to simply follow Christ wherever He goes. Follow the Lamb wherever He goes, because, remember, we’re just tools. We’re just tools in His hands. Acts chapter nine. Paul was, we all know his history. We’ll read a little bit about his history here in chapter nine, verse one, before the turning point in his life. And let’s see what happened.

Paul in Acts chapter nine, verse one, it says this, “And Saul...” at the time before being renamed Paul by God. “Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, any who followed God, who followed Christ, whether they found any of this way, whether they were men or women, they might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven, and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, ‘Saul, Saul, why persecutest you me?’”

“Why do you persecute me?” Christ speaking. “It is hard for you to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said...” This is his turning point, brethren. This is all it took. “‘Lord, what will you have me to do?’ And the Lord said unto him, ‘Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told you what you must do.’” From that moment, he was literally on the road to Damascus, pursuing more saints. You saw there in verse one and Saul yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples went to the high priest and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound into Jerusalem.

He was on the way to Damascus with that mindset before a light struck him from heaven and Christ said, “What are you doing, Paul? Why do you kick against the pricks? Why are you fighting your own purpose? What are you doing?” That’s all it took for Paul from that moment forward to begin to follow Christ as opposed to persecute Christ and of course, Christ’s disciples. “What will you have me to do?” This response tells us everything about Paul and set the tone for the rest of his life.

At that point, he decided to live following Christ wherever He led Paul. Literally, that very same verse, he said, Christ told him, what will you have me to do? Christ told him, “Go and do this and wait for instructions.” Paul literally from that moment began to follow Christ. Think about this, brethren. Many Bible greats were confronted with the very same, different situation, but very similar choice. Abraham, remember what happened with Abraham in the land of Ur he came out of. He was asked to get up and leave and he just simply left. He didn’t know where he was going, he didn’t know what was going to happen, but he obeyed. He just simply followed God and the instructions given to him.

Turn over to Matthew chapter four. The Bible is filled with people who were simply called by God to follow Christ and they up and left. They just left whatever it was that they were doing so that they could follow Him. Think about Paul. Think about Abraham. Now, let’s think in Matthew four about these four people. Matthew four and verse eighteen. Amazing, truly, put yourself in the shoes of these people and imagine doing what they did. Would we do the same? We could ask ourselves.

Matthew four and verse eighteen, “And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea for they were fishers.” And here’s what He said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” And they straight way left their nets and followed Christ straight way. “Follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men.” Again, another responsibility of a minister. But that’s not it, brethren. Let’s keep reading in verse twenty-one. “And going on from there, He saw two other brethren, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, James and John of Zebedee, in a ship with Zebedee, their father, mending their nets, and he called them.”

Remember, there’s three there, two brothers and their father. “And they immediately left the ship and their father and followed Christ.” There was no hesitation. Would we do that same thing today, brethren? It’s actually shocking to read that, but that’s the mindset that we must have. We must be willing at whatever cost it is. We might have family issues or struggles between our coworkers because of the truth. We might have problems again at home with the spouse or our children or our parents. Doesn’t matter who it is or how it comes about, but brethren, conflict can come because of the truth.

Who knows, there may have been some residual conflict after the fact with Zebedee and his children. We don’t know that, but what we do know is those two sons of Zebedee immediately followed Christ. Are we willing to do the same despite, even if it means we might have more troubles with our family members or our friends or our coworkers? I remember when I was called out of college, it was a very interesting thing. I was rooming with two other guys, and I was being called and they could tell that stuff was changing with me.

And I remember it was during the days of unleavened bread, this place, I mean, try to imagine an apartment, a college apartment, okay? Three-bedroom college apartment. Try to imagine during the days of unleavened bread pulling the refrigerator out and looking and seeing what on earth was behind that thing. And the stove college men, mind you, this is not women, okay? It’s inexplicable, brethren, what happened, what was behind that fridge? But so try to imagine being my roommates during the days of unleavened bread and, you know, I was a little overzealous, I might not have realized at the time, I only had to clean my quarters. I didn’t need to clean the communal.

But anyway, I did out of zeal. And it did not, I mean, my friends were like, “What are you doing?” Nobody has ever been back there since this entire apartment complex was built probably forty years ago or something. That kind of seeking the truth and holding to the truth or what I thought to be holding to the truth at that time, that put a little bit of a wedge between me and my roommates. Did it not? From that point forward, they thought I was a little bit strange. “What’s going on with this guy? What’s happening to him?”

Okay? Well, we’ve all got stories. We all know that the truth can separate us from our relatives and so forth, but in a way, brethren, God doesn’t concern Himself as much with that. He wants us to be peaceable with all men, not to try and create a wedge between us and the world or us and our friends, or our coworkers or our family members. He doesn’t want us to seek to create a wedge, but if we’re doing the best that we can and a wedge is formed, we have to allow it to stay there.

Even if it means friction between you and that other person at times or many times. But the cost is, brethren, we have to follow the Lamb wherever He goes. And remember that when we follow the Lamb wherever He goes, the whole point of this is so that we can be part of the hundred and forty-four thousand. Do you realize, pull way back, if we follow the Lamb wherever He goes now, we’ll be part of the firstfruits. All of the rest of them will be cleaning their kitchens too later on, will they not?

They won’t think that I was so weird for doing it when I was in college. It’s because we’re the firstfruits. We’re doing the same things that they’ll be doing, just first as the hundred and forty-four thousand. When you think about that, we’re just on the cutting edge. We’re doing all the things that all those people out there in the world today will be doing, we’re just doing it before them and in a much more difficult time because we get persecuted and have friction with our family members because of it. Just remember that.

If we follow the Lamb wherever He goes now, we’re just doing what all of our friends and relatives will be doing in the future. Just first. So is it that strange that Peter, Andrew, John, and James straight away, immediately left and followed Christ? Is it strange that Shadrack, Meshach, and Abednego just up and went into the fiery furnace? Then Christ was there with them, the fourth because they did whatever it was that God wanted them to do. All of Israel was led by Moses and followed Christ through the wilderness for forty years. Forty years, brethren.

And before that, for forty years, Moses was tending sheep, just doing what God wanted him to do for forty years. And then another forty years wandering around the wilderness leading Israel. Luke chapter nine, and we’ll conclude with this. Luke chapter nine and verse fifty-seven, “And it came to pass that as they went by the way, a certain man said unto Him, Lord, I will follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said unto him, foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nest but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. But He said unto another, follow me. But he said, Lord, allow me to first go and bury my father.”

He didn’t have the same mindset that the other disciples did. “And Jesus said unto him, let the dead bury their dead, but go you and preach the kingdom of God. And another said, Lord, I will follow you, but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto them...” this is key for us too, brethren, “No man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.” We can’t begin to follow Christ and at some point just decide, “Oh, no, no, no, these things over here are more important in my life than following Christ.”

We must always follow Christ. Brethren, in conclusion, never forget God has already called and designated you as part of the hundred and forty-four thousand. Remember, hundred and forty-four thousand out of a hundred billion minimum who have ever lived. You are in a category more exclusive than those who have been struck by lightning or those with an IQ higher than Einstein’s. And all it takes to remain part of God’s firstfruits boils down to the three points we covered in this message. And let’s summarize them with single words.

Remember that you are redeemed or bought. And that our lives are not our own. Remember that we are virgins or that we’re pure striving for perfection, pure from this world in every way possible. And, brethren, never stop following Christ wherever He leads His little flock. Remember the holy day, this holy day was built for you. We are all the firstfruits and part of the hundred and forty-four thousand so long as we hold to these three points.