Austin Bible Church
Grace Always Precedes Judgment
Salvation has always been the same in every dispensation and based on faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. Rom. 1:1-5.
“Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name's sake,” (Romans 1:1-5, NASB)
The opportunity of grace will exist in the Tribulation. The Tribulation will be the most religious period of all human history. The Tribulation will also have the greatest period of evangelism in human history. No national entity will be omitted. Rev. 14:1-7.
“Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.” (Revelation 14:1, NASB)
“And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people;” (Revelation 14:6, NASB)
There is always a struggle between religion and regeneration. There is an unseen struggle between demons and elect angels and a visible struggle on earth between the forces of religion under Satan and the forces of regeneration under the Lord Jesus Christ.
The 144,000 Witnesses
The Age of Israel was interrupted by the Church Age. The Tribulation will complete the last seven years of the Age of Israel. In the Age of the Israel or the Age of the Jews, Israel was not only custodian of divine revelation, but also was responsible for its dissemination. They utterly failed. In the Tribulation, the Jews will have another chance. They will do more evangelizing in the Tribulation than they did in all of the 483 years previously in the Age of the Israel. These Tribulational evangelists will all be Jews. Their converts will be Gentiles. Rev. 7:4.
“And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:” (Revelation 7:4, NASB)
Under the fifth cycle of discipline, these Jews are scattered and will evangelize in Gentile languages. Their ministry will be worldwide. They will be saved immediately after the Rapture. The description of the 144,000 is given in Revelation 7:9 and Revelation 14:4. There will be 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. Rev. 7:5-8.
“After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;” (Revelation 7:9, NASB)
“These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb.” (Revelation 14:4, NASB)
“from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.” (Revelation 7:5-8, NASB)
Judah is mentioned first as the ruling tribe. Reuben should have been mentioned first being the first born of Abraham, but he lost the rulership to Judah. He also lost the priesthood to Levi and lost the double portion to Joseph. Dan was omitted because it was the tribe of idolatry.
Joseph, the father, is named with Manasseh, the son, as the double portion tribe, although it actually refers to the Tribe of Ephraim who could not be mentioned because this tribe led in revolt against Judah.
These tribes will be the greatest of evangelists. They will consistently use confession of sin to remain in fellowship. They will all be celibate males and will live under the law of supreme sacrifice and will remain celibate. They will work together as a team. Rev. 14:4-5.
“These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb. And no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless.” (Revelation 14:4-5, NASB)
They will be sealed. Rev. 7:3-4. They will be protected by God and will live through the entire Tribulation. They will be protected from the events of Revelation 6. The validity of the Gospel message will be guaranteed just as it always has been by God’s perfect faithfulness. The results of their evangelism will be the converts found in Revelation 7:9-14.
“saying, "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their foreheads." And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:” (Revelation 7:3-4, NASB)
“After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;” (Revelation 7:9, NASB)
“I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:14, NASB)
World-wide Evangelism
Evangelism is maximum dissemination of the Gospel. The Earth will be evangelized in grace four ways in the Tribulation. There will be the ministry of the 144,000 Jews. Rev. 7:1-8; Rev. 14:1-5.
“Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth. These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb. And no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless.” (Revelation 14:1-5, NASB)
There will be many converts of the 144,000. Rev. 7:9-14; Rev. 6:9; Rev. 12:11.
“After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;” (Revelation 7:9, NASB)
“I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:14, NASB)
“When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;” (Revelation 6:9, NASB)
“"And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.” (Revelation 12:11, NASB)
There will be the two witnesses in Jerusalem. Rev. 11:1-14.
“"And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth."” (Revelation 11:3, NASB)
There will be the angels who will evangelize the entire world just prior to the Second Advent. They will probably take on human form. It will happen only once in all of human history. Rev. 14:6-7.
“And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; and he said with a loud voice, "Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters."” (Revelation 14:6-7, NASB)
Grace always precedes judgment. The catastrophe described in Revelation 6 will take place only after the 144,000 Jews evangelize the earth. There will be evangelism by disaster such as the Vial Judgments in Revelation 16 as a final thrust to awaken the religious person to their need of Jesus Christ as Savior. This maximum pressure is bona fide evangelism, providing it does not tamper with human volition.
There will be four categories of people in the Tribulation. There will be believers who follow instruction and escape judgment and believers who get on the fringe of judgment because they get involved in ecclesiastical religion. There will be unbelievers who make a final negative decision, receive the Mark of the Beast, and become recipients of judgments. There will be unbelievers who have not received the Mark of the Beast, so they will be evangelized by the judgments.