TWO TYPES OF PEOPLE
INTRODUCTION:
1. Of all the ones who are present tonight, at least some of us buy disposable razors.
2. Also, many who are present have bought or at least heard of Gillette razors.
3. What we may not be familiar with is how the razor was invented.
4. For a long time man looked for a way to get rid of his whiskers.
5. To cut off facial hair, some sharpened rocks and scraped off the hair.
6. Other men used clams as makeshift tweezers to pluck out the hair.
7. Shaving was a crude process until the 1800’s.
8. During the 1800’s there was a man named King Gillette.
9. Mr. Gillette was a salesman and as a salesman he wanted to be successful.
10. This man wanted to get rich.
11. This man believed he needed to invent a product that everyone would need.
12. Gillette not only believed he had to design a product that was needed but he
concluded that he had to invent a product that was disposable.
13. People would buy what he offered, use it, and then need more.
14. The additional products, of course, would come from Mr. Gillette.
15. One day this money hungry salesman was shaving.
16. His razor was so dull it hardly worked.
17. He thought, “I need to take this to the barber to get it sharpened.”
I. AFTER THINKING ABOUT GETTING THE RAZOR SHARPENED, AN IDEA RACED
THROUGH KING’S MIND. HE SAID TO HIMSELF, “WHAT ABOUT A DISPOSABLE
RAZOR? PEOPLE COULD THROW IT AWAY WHEN IT BECOMES DULL! THEY
COULD THEN BUY A REPLACEMENT RAZOR FROM ME!”
A. Mr. Gillette took six years to make his idea work
B. This man finally attained the wealth he so badly wanted.
C. Disposable razors exist because a man did some planning.
D. This salesman first planned in a general way – need a disposable razor.
E. After the initial planning, 6 more years of planning were done.
F. Tonight we want to look at two types of people: Planners and Non-Planners.
G. We find both of these types in the book of Revelation – Chapter 14.
H. The planners are described as champions; winners; the saved.
I. The non-planners, according to John, are the losers.
J. Before reading from Rev. 14, a quick review of some material we’ve previously discussed may
be helpful.
K. The people in John’s day were under severe persecution.
1) The devil was trying to draw away Christians from the faith.
2) The book of Revelation says that the devil had 2 helpers (beasts).
a) There was the Roman Empire (massive system of government).
b) There were religious priests who worked for Rome.
3) The devil and his helpers were pressuring Christians.
4) God’s people were threatened and beaten. Many were killed.
5) Unless Christians would say that the emperor was God, they could not have the “mark”.
6) Without the “mark” Christians were prohibited from buying or selling anything.
L. Because of the persecution there were some in John’s day who seemed to conclude:
1) “Life is unbearable. We cannot continue to live this way.”
2) “Our kind God surely does not approve of our intense suffering.”
3) “Living this kind of life is too much to ask.”
4) “Life is so difficult we will acknowledge that Caesar is God.”
5) “We will agree with the Roman religious authorities.”
6) “We do not believe that but we will go along with things so we can have the mark.”
7) “If we just agree with Rome we can feed our families.”
8) “If we acknowledge Caesar as God, we can then keep our home, our job.”
M. While some would surely have done these things, many did not.
N. Let’s begin with a verse that was used last week – Verse 4. READ.
O. John’s readers were “virgins”.
P. These people retained their spiritual purity.
1) Instead of accepting the Roman religious system, these Christians refused to
compromise the faith.
2) They chose to suffer instead of joining in with religious error.
Q. Do we see a connection between this and planning?
1) These people planned to go to heaven.
2) These Christians had a long-range goal.
3) This planning reminds us of Mr. Gillette.
4) This man planned, worked, and struggled to fulfill his plan.
R. The Christians in Revelation had decided to spend eternity with God.
S. Their plan was not a wishful thought.
T. This was not a fanciful dream or a wild idea.
U. These people had found the course to eternal life.
V. They planned to make this journey no matter what the cost.
W. The devil could assault them (and he did).
1) Rome could make their lives as miserable as possible (and it did).
2) The priests could try to deceive God’s people (and they did).
3) Officials could beat, starve, and un-employ God’s people – all this happened.
X. Through thick and thin brethren stuck to their plan.
Y. It might be asked, “Do we know this for sure?”
Z. Yes. Verse 12 of Revelation 14 – READ.
A. These Christians had “patience”.
B. These brethren did not come up against hardships and then quit.
C. These people stayed on course.
D. These people “kept the faith of Jesus”.
E. It would have been easy to stop being a Christian.
1) It would have been easy for the preachers to quit.
2) Some elders surely thought about resigning.
3) Getting volunteers for deacons could have been challenging.
F. Instead of quitting, these people stayed with their plan.
G. They “kept the commandments of God”. (12b)
H. A few nights ago I heard about a man with a plan.
1) This man was familiar with several silver mines that were operating in his day.
2) Like Mr. Gillette, he lived in the 1800’s.
3) This person thought he could increase his wealth by building a tunnel.
4) He had a plan to build a 6 mile tunnel that would meet up with silver.
5) The tunnel would ultimately allow for the mines to go deeper.
6) The man I am describing was a fantastic planner.
I. When the tunnel was finally completed (took 10 years):
1) The passageway was within 1” of where this man planned.
2) Going 6 miles underground and being 1” off is nearly perfect.
3) This man’s plan caused him to reach his goal.
J. However, by the time the tunnel was completed, it was no longer needed.
K. The miners had found another way to go deeper into the mines.
L. Though the man completed his plan, the project was a failure.
M. This is not the story in the book of Revelation.
N. These Christians planned for eternal life.
O. These brethren put their heart and souls into heaven.
P. What did they find at the end of their tunnel?
Q. Verse 13 – READ.
1) We may complete a plan, but the outcome may be unsuccessful.
2) God says to us in Rev. 14:
a) If we are a planner; if we are seeking heaven; if we are like those keeping the commandments
of God; we will find success at the end of our journey.
b) If we plan to go to heaven, and we follow through with this plan, we will not be disappointed;
we will come to a place where we can “rest”.
R. Our works that were done upon the earth will be remembered.
1) The souls that we saved; The people we taught;
2) The weak Christians we helped strengthen;
3) The hands we held when people were dying;
4) The drywall we hung on church ceilings and walls;
5) The sick we visited, called, and took food to;
6) The hours we spent cleaning a church building;
7) The Bible classes we taught; the visits we made;
8) The times we stepped in to substitute teach; full time classes we taught;
9) The phone calls we made; the cards and notes we sent;
10) The houses we may have cleaned for others;
11) Every missionary we supported in an individual way;
12) Every good work will be remembered.
13) Each work may be considered as our plan to reach heaven.
II. GOING TO HEAVEN TAKES SOME PLANNING. IN FACT, QUITE A BIT OF PLANNING IS INVOLVED IF WE DESIRE TO GO TO HEAVEN.
A. Christianity was not designed to be a deathbed religion.
B. Some treat it that way.
C. Not a few have wanted to live as they wanted.
D. These people lived by few restraints in life.
E. Now the body is worn out. Old age has come.
F. Death could come any day.
G. An urgent call is made to a Christian, “Come see me. I am dying and I want to be right with God.”
H. The Bible says in 2 Cor. 6:2 – READ.
I. The people who want to wait until the end of life to get right are not planners.
J. They are procrastinators.
K. Tonight we could deal with procrastination but that is not the theme of our study.
L. Our remaining time will be spent on those who are not spiritual planners.
M. These persons may be good at planning in the secular realm.
N. They may be like King Gillette.
O. Some plan to be wealthy and be retired by the age of 40.
P. If this sounds like good planning, it is not.
Q. Jesus spoke of such a planner in Luke 12 – called him a fool. Luke 12:16-20.
R. The foolishness on this man’s part was not based upon money.
S. This man had a plan on how he could and should use his worldly wealth.
T. This man had no plans that were of a spiritual nature.
U. The same was true for many in John’s day. Some failed to think about eternity.
V. Verse 9 – READ.
W. If wrong worship was offered to the Empire, there was a $ benefit.
X. If citizens sided with Rome, they could buy, sell and trade.
Y. Siding with Rome was financially wise.
Z. This type of secular planning would and did open up doors.
A. This choice failed to take into account the God of heaven and eternity.
B. Look at the consequences for the lack of spiritual planning – Verse 8 – READ.
1) There was no “Babylon” in John’s day.
2) There was Rome. We have a lot of figurative language in this book.
3) It is generally conceded that this “Babylon” is a metonymy.
4) The word “Babylon” means “Rome”.
5) If John had used the word “Rome”, and the Romans had found this …
think of “Babylon” as a code word.
6) Rome had encouraged people to depart from Jehovah.
7) Rome had discouraged people from proper spiritual planning.
C. As a result, this great society was going to be overthrown.
D. The overthrow was so certain that John said, “fallen is”.
E. The people who failed to properly plan would experience judgment. Verse 7
F. Some read these verses and see the 2nd coming. It’s not.
G. This judgment is upon a nation (power); not the whole world.
H. This judgment was going to be severe.
I. The grandiose empire of Rome would crumble.
J. Not only would these people pay on earth, their eternal fate is mentioned in Verses 10-11 – READ.
CONCLUSION:
A. At times we hear people faulted for their lack of planning.
B. People do not allow for enough time; some do not save enough money; others wait until the last
minute to do something.
C. A lack of planning can, in some cases, be life threatening.
D. In the spiritual realm, a lack of planning and following through is deadly.
E. If we want to be a spiritual winner, we must plan.
1) We look at our life and plan it around going to heaven. Matt. 6:33
2) We set our sights on eternal life and we plot a course to get there.
3) No matter what obstacles come our way, we stay on track.
F. Have you started to plan your spiritual journey? Perhaps some are simply stumbling through
life hoping to “make it” to heaven.
G. If you do not have a plan, there is not a better time than now to put one together.
H. If you once had a plan, are you like some of those in John’s day?
I. The course has become difficult so you have folded your plans and gone on to other things?
J. Planning to go to heaven and fulfilling this plan is the most important.
K. Perhaps some present tonight need help with your trip. You need a starting place.
L. You need to become a Christian.
M. We are ready to help as the Bible describes.
N. If you have taken this step but need encouragement to stay with the plan we are here to help you.