“And I looked, and lo a Lamb stood on Mount Zion and with Him an hundred and forty and four thousand having His Father’s name written in their foreheads” 4 …These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb,” Rev.14:1-5.

So as the redeemed of the Lord, we are partakers of God’s divine nature (2Pet. 1:4).

“Seeing ye have purified (saved) your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren… being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by THE WORD OF GOD which LIVETH AND ABIDETH forever,” 1Pet. 1:21-23.

The Living Bible puts it this way,

“Now you can have real love for everyone because your souls have been leaned from selfishness and hatred when you trusted in Christ (the Word – logos of God) to save you; so see to it that you really do love each other warmly, with all your hearts. For you have a new life. It was not passed on to you from your parents … this new one will last forever, for it comes from Christ. God’s ever-living message to men.”

Now before we proceed, test yourself from the above passage. Do you think you have real love for everyone? Whether they be in your little group of fellowship or not. Even within the local assembly can you pass that test that you have genuine love for everyone irrespective of tribe, colour or status?

Are you convinced you have been able to overcome selfishness, hatred and the likes towards your brethren in the faith because of what you are hearing? Your very answers to these questions will prove to you as to whether you are really born again or not. You will be able to know whether your soul is saved, being saved or not. This is the acid test and you cannot run away from it.

Brethren, let me tell you this. What you are today in your nature in relation to the Word of God and the family of God determines who you will be in the Spirit world, whether you move there by translation or death. Whatever it is, death, translation, etc., will not change your character.

Your perfection does not depend and cannot be affected by transition to a so called heaven, but by the life of God as imparted by the Word. So stop deceiving yourself into thinking that when you get to a heaven up in the sky yonder, then you will became a saint, the holy one. If you cannot become a saint today, all that is left for you as a passage way to your Father, God, is the lake of fire (Rev. 19:20, 20:10, 15, 21:8 Ecl.12:7).

In Jer. 2:2-3, we are told that

“…Israel was holiness unto the Lord, and the FIRST FRUITS of His increase…”

Why? Because they were separated unto the Lord as a bride from “a people of a strange language (Egypt), and Judah became the sanctuary of God and Israel His Dominion” (Ps. 114:1-2).

Telling us that to become holiness unto the Lord or to be a holy person is to be separated from the influence of the beastly system of man.

Then God will take not only delight in you, but you also become the first fruit unto God right here on earth. The question is how separated are you from the influence of the world around you? How is the Word, life within, helping you to overcome your old habits of greed, selfishness, hatred, etc? You must be born again as a first fruit unto God.

THE 144,000 – THE PURIFIED GOD’S IMAGE-CLOTHED SONS

“And in their mouth was found NO GUILE; for they are without fault before the throne of God,” Rev. 14:5.

Now we have come to another wonderful characteristic of the 144,000″ – in their mouth was found no guile.”

What do we mean by this? The word GUILE is the Greek word “dolos” which means “to decoy,” a trick (bait), craft, deceit, guile, subtlety from the root deleazo – to entrap; i.e. delude; allure, beguile, entice.

In the Amplified Translation, it says, “No LIE was found to be upon their lips, for they are blameless – spotless, untainted, without blemish – before the throne of God.”

So what is the Spirit trying to tell us here? Is it just a matter of telling lies or just being crafty in the sense of what we call lies? Or on the other hand, are we saying it is something beyond that?

In Isa. 53:9, we read of how that “Jesus though had His grave with the rich and the wicked in death … He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth.” And again, “…who did no sin, neither was GUILE (lie) found in His mouth,” 1Pet. 2:22.

Now it must be clear to us that a ‘lie’ is the opposite of ‘truth.’ So what is TRUTH? The above scriptures we have just quoted are the testimonies of others about Jesus’ character. What they knew Him to be even before He was born and thereafter.

Now to understand what truth means, we would like to consider two other scriptures. In John 8:43-45 Jesus speaking to the Pharisees said,

“Why do ye not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my word. You are of your father the devil; and it is your will to practice the lusts and gratify the desires (which are the characteristics) of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth. because there is NO TRUTH IN HIM – when he speaks a falsehood, he speaks what is natural to him; for he is a liar (himself) and the father of LIES and of all that is false … But because I speak the truth, you do not believe me” (KJV, AMP).

From this passage, we can see clearly that the telling of ‘lies’ is not just words but a ‘nature,’ that which is natural and the characteristic of certain beings. It is the nature and character of the serpent and not just mere speech or sound of words just as TRUTH is not just words but a person in the very divine nature of God.

For in the words of Jesus, “I am the way, THE TRUTH and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me,” John 14:6.

Therefore, when Jesus said though He spoke the truth the Pharisees do not believe Him, it goes beyond words. He meant, He was the Father personified, a revelation of the very nature and character of the unseen Spirit of God. He meant He was the reality of who God is.

For, “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the father, He hath DECLARED HIM,” John 1:18; see also Matt. 11:27.

The Amplified in John 1:18 says,

“No man has ever seen God at anytime: the only unique son, the only-begotten of God, who is in the bosom (that is, in the intimate presence) of the Father. He has declared Him – HE REVEALED HIM, BROUGHT HIM OUT WHERE HE CAN BE SEEN; HE HAS INTERPRETED HIM and HE HAS MADE HIM KNOWN.”

Therefore, in Heb.1:3, Christ is said to be “…the sole expression of the glory of God – the light being, the out raying of the divine – and He is the perfect imprint and very image of (God’s) nature…,” (AMP)

Christ, and has the nature of God.

He is, therefore, truth personified, and not just about what He says. Not words but a nature.

To be continued…