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“God's Heart For Mankind” • 10.25.20 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Intro.
- As we re-enter the text, I remind you that we are still in a period of parenthesis. God, through the Apostle John, is taking us behind the scenes.
- The events upon the world stage make it appear that hell's victory was secure and if God did not pull back the curtain, we might be inclined to believe it!
- The world cries out and wonders, "Who is like the beast?" and "Who can make war with him?" The Father answers with "the Little Lamb" and His mighty Jewish evangelists!
- How does God make war, at least initially, against the beast? He makes sure that the truth comes to the forefront of man's attention. Let's pick this up in verse 6 with "Heaven's Invitation."
Text
• Revelation 14:6,7 : "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, tribe, tongue, and people—saying with a loud voice, '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.'" : The last Angel that John saw flying in the air carried a very different message to the Earth. It was a three fold "woe!" (Revelation 8:13)
- This angel is again calling out to the Earth dwellers. I remind you that the word reflects a decision to settle upon this cursed planet in defiance to a God that calls them to honor His intention.
- It would seem to be a lost cause, but the Lord commissions an angel to proclaim the "everlasting gospel" to them. This is the true fulfillment of Matthew 24:14.
- Before the end will come, the gospel of the Kingdom will be preached to every nation on Earth! The angel is calling out to any and all that will listen to him and it's truly incredible to see!
- After everything that mankind has done, every wickedness that they have indulged in, God still makes this final effort to reach them! This is the ultimate cattle call!
- By the way, what an indictment upon the Earth at this time. Men are so wicked and God's people are so few, that God has to charge one of the angels with a Christian's responsibility!
- Think of the value of this message! Think about what is being said in pulpits today! Go survey a few churches and see what they are teaching in place of the gospel message!
- Many Pastors apparently believe that the gospel is not everlasting, but is indeed out of date!
- I cringe at the thought of how many wasted hours there are today and how our generation is responsbible, in large part, to the growing Biblical illiteracy that is crippling "Christians" today!
- When God wants to reach the citizens of this planet, it is telling what is not involved!
- He doesn't give them some self-help nonsense or re-mixed cliche. He sends an angel to proclaim His forgiveness and salvation through belief in the everlasting gospel!
- It's everlasting because it is forever the power of God unto salvation for the Jew first and also for the Greek! (Romans 1:16) It is good news to every man, woman and child that has ever lived!
- There isn't a nation, tribe, tongue or people that are exempt from being saved by it's content and the Savior that it points to! God seeks men and women from every corner of the globe.
- His message accompanying the gospel is simple: "Fear God!" Honor the Lord, don't honor the Antichrist! Revere God and give Him His due!
- When Jesus was tested by the Pharisees regarding the payment of tax, He asked them for a coin and asked whose image it contained. It was the image of Caesar.
- Jesus then told them to render to Caesar the things that we Caesar's, but to render to God the things that were God's! (Mark 12:17) Men are made in the image of God!
- They belong to Him and He deserves their worship! These men from the Great Tribulation must listen! Why? Because there isn't any time left!
- The weeks of years are coming down to the last minutes and seconds of human history! The angel comprehends that this is the hour when God will reveal His verdict upon men!
- That is the word "judgment" here. It doesn't refer to a retributive, singular act. The word refers to "separating" and distinquishing who is and who is not damned! Some can still alter their course!
- There are still some that can meet the requirements of salvation, namely to put themselves in right relation to God! "Fear God, give Him glory and worship Him!" Offer Him praise and adoration!
- He is the Creator, the Maker of all things, either in the air, on the land, in the sea or under the Earth! Again, the Bible refuses to honor evolution in any of it's pages!
- God is responsible for every pleasant and wonderful thing that man enjoys! Give Him praise, if only for that, but know that God is far more generous than that!
- In Jesus Christ, the Father is willing to share all of the riches of heaven! If only the men on Earth, who have chosen to settle here, could know that! That is "Heaven's Invitation."
- As we come into verse 8, note a second angel and the "World's Devastation."
• Revelation 14:8 : "And another angel followed, saying, 'Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.'" : This reads like the cry of an ancient evangel, announcing the results of a war. At the moment, we have not been introduced to Babylon. Chapters 17 & 18 will help in that.
- Historically, Babylon was the first and probably the best "world dominating" government. It was a powerhouse among the nations. It's roots trace back to Genesis 11 and the "Tower of Babel."
- Nimrod, in defiance to God's order to separate, joined all men in an effort to conquer God.
- Later in history, when Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar's dream, Babylon was represented against the universal standard for excellence. Babylon was the "gold standard."
- Every other Kingdom after her failed to live up to that Kingdom's power, that is, until the Antichrist rules. As we have seen, he will consolidate both political and religious power.
- Religion and politics make for awful bedfellows, but somehow, the Antichrist will have succeeded and become a mega power on the Earth.
- In this respect, Babylon represents every attempt by man, civically and religiously, to raise himself to self-sufficiency apart from God! The world system at this time will be his best effort.
- What an awful surprise to the worldling then, when the angel announces her cataclysmic fall! "Men of the Earth! There is nothing here to hang onto!"
- Everything that men have trusted in historically, has come crashing down under the weight of expectation. Nothing can suffice as a substitute for the life that God wants to give!
- John has told us this explicitly when he wrote and warned the church in I John 2:17: The world is passing away! Here is the announcement that it has finally and fully happened!
- This Kingdom of Babylon was doomed from the beginning because of the effect that she had upon the nations that she governed!
- She encouraged and enabled men to drink down a pornographic life. In this context, I believe a wider application of spiritual prostitution is warranted.
- The Antichrist's system will have degraded men by allowing them to indulge their passions without restraint. At the bottom of that proverbial glass is judgment and wrath!
˚ "Teach me . . . that there is no wrath like the wrath of being governed by my own lusts for my own ends!" The Valley Of Vision
- Understand that concept. It is God's wrath that releases mankind unto their own desires!
- Mankind was created to have a fulfilling relationship with His Creator. When he turns that in for anything less, he is not free. He is let go, released.
- He roams from there, following after the slave driver which are his own desires and that master is cruel! Think of the many who have followed their desires to their varying limits.
- How many have surrendered their mental faculties for the illicit substances that they have consumed while seeking satisfaction?
- How many are seeking to dismember their bodies to follow an identity that they have come to believe is more satisfying than the one that God ordained for them physically?
- Men mar themselves in the pursuit of pleasures. God knows that this type of life only ends up degrading that person and causing them to live in utter futility for their entire life.
- Men think that they are saving themselves, but they are in fact, damning themselves!
- For God to let someone go in this manner is to allow them to experience the wrath of their own decisions and ultimately, because they have spurned the God of the Universe, His final wrath!
- We have seen "Heaven's Invitation," the "World's Devastation" and now we come to understand the "Mankind's Destination." Verse 9.
• Revelation 14:9-10a : "Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, 'If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation." : A third distinct angelic being comes upon the scene to impose clarity upon the inhabitants of the Earth.
- Worship of the beast and his image, is tantamount to resigning oneself to eternal damnation!
- Men who worship the beast and his image are bowing themselves before another "god." These will honor and order their lives after this man.
- The action that will prove this definitively will be the reception of his mark. Who can blame them for their act of self-preservation?
- These people will be debating within themselves whether they should or should not take the mark of the beast. "Perhaps the Lord will understand. After all, He is forgiving and merciful."
- This angel makes it clear to every person living that there is only one outcome for those that receive the mark. There will be no coming back from that.
- Men will have willingly sealed their doom by revealing their allegiance to the Devil.
- There are many who are afraid of certain technologies being developed because they believe that they might unwittingly take the mark of the beast. That isn't the case today.
- Men will be supernaturally, specifically warned against taking the mark of the beast! They will know that to take the mark would close off their opportunity to be redeemed.
- The person who identifies with the Antichrist will share in what he will be destined to receive: The wine of the wrath of God! The description does not sound enticing.
- Wrath will be poured out without dilution into the cup of His fury! What does this mean? Ancient and modern distilleries soften their alcoholic content by adding water.
- That is essentially how one discovers the "proof" of certain alcohols today. Alcohol by volume is measured crudely by a certain ratio. The higher the "proof," the more alcohol is contained.
- Watering down their alcohol allows them to lower their price, while at the same time, providing enough of a kick to stimulate a desire for more.
- For those that align themselves with the Antichrist, there will be no dilution, no mercy!
- God promises a full, 100 proof measure of His wrath against those that mark themselves as belonging to the Antichrist. He is not in for anything good! Verse 10.
• Revelation 14:10b,11 : "He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone 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.'" : There isn't any relief in the original language. The person who has taken the mark will be tormented, tortured, consciously before the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. Don't miss that.
- Those who side with the Antichrist will share in what he deserves to receive! They will drink of the cup of God's wrath! This is the exact opposite of the gospel.
- Jesus drank down the cup of God's wrath when He was crucified for our sins! When we die we will get to share in what He deserves to receive!
- God's justice will demand that every person who has rejected Christ be tormented before an audience! These will live with the knowledge that they have offended an eternally holy and just God!
- They will live in torment remembering eternally that they had the chance to choose differently. There will be a living reminder, as the Holy Angels and the Lamb will be present!
- "What? I thought that eternal hell was the absence of Christ!" Wrong. It's the absence of the presence of Christ's love and mercy! Hell will be the home of Christ's perfect justice!
- How long will this last? "And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever!" Eternal life swings both ways! Let's consider this for a moment.
- It's one thing to sin against another person that is similar in influence to yourself. What happens when you sin against a congressman? A President? A King?
- To blaspheme the Holy Spirit by refusing to submit to the eternal King of Kings is a crime that demands eternal punishment, especially given the image of God that you and carry through life!
- He has created us with the faculty to believe and trust in His Name. Instead, humanity has committed high treason against the King of the Universe by refusing to believe anything He says!
- Additionally, it took a perfect Man to pay for the sins of all believing mankind. If a person refuses to accept that payment on their behalf, what is the alternative? They must pay until it is paid!
- How can an imperfect sinner pay for his own debt when he is locked away in prison!? That is why the term is eternity! He won't get out until he has paid the last penny! (Matthew 5:26)
- Humanity deems themselves to be gods, adopting images and naming so-called deities that are ultimately a reflection of our own psyches!
- Such a foolish decision is not merely so because it ruins our lives and mars the image of God, but because the term for that crime is eternal in it's sentence! The language is incredibly clear.
- Those that argue for annhilation have very little ground to stand on. John's words leave us with no room for an alternate interpretation! There is no escape!
- The smoke of their torment from the eternal fires of hell will rise eternally without relief!
- Day and night refer, not necessarily to a literal cycle, but to an unending period. This is not a work day and then, you have a nice quiet evening to ready yourself for the next day.
- This is endless, conscious torment that will be connected to men's identifying themselves as Satan's people through the receiving of the mark of the beast!
- They will have saved their temporal lives, but will have lost their souls to eternal conscious torment before God. What an awful destination for the sinner! What of the Saint? Verse 12.
• Revelation 14:12,13 : "Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. 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.'" : This is the patience of the saints. This is what the saints must endure. Who are they? They are those that keep the commandments of God and who keep the faith of Jesus.
- Saints view the commandments of God as non-negotiable standards that naturally flow from a right relationship with God! These commands are not given to the natural man.
- That person without Christ has no motor within him to be able to honor Christ by keeping His commands. Only those born of the Spirit can honor the Lord's commands, God working in them.
- The saints are also found keeping the faith of Jesus! A Christian puts their trust in Jesus and receives from the Spirit, the same faith that Jesus had!
- It is a faith that is able to look at impending death and say, "Not my will, but yours be done!" It is the faith that is willing to lay down one's own life if it means pleasing God!
- Why do I believe that this is the key? Look at what heaven declares next: "Blessed are those that die in the Lord from now on!"
- The world will look upon Christians who refuse to receive the mark as men who are cursed. That is not the way that the Lord looks upon them! In reality, they will be blessed by God!
- Remember these words church: They will be blessed by God AND they will lose their lives! That is unthinkable to many Christians today.
- These assume that the only way to measure blessing is in happiness and happy endings.
- Wrong! Blessing from God is found in obedience in whatever circumstance you are called to live through! When God the Father commands this, the Spirit agrees!
- They will be blessed with rest. Keep the contrast in mind. God has just promised that men who receive the mark will have no rest. They will have their "best life now!"
- They will be at relative ease here upon the earth, having saved their own lives.
- They will have their "rest" while they live and live without rest for the rest of eternity!
- God's people will find no place to rest on this Earth, but will enter into rest for eternity and their works will follow them! The Lord is reminding us that there are rewards waiting for us!
- What has been done in the Name of, for the glory of God, will be remembered by God in Heaven!
- We have taken note of "Heaven's Invitation," the "World's Devastation," the "Mankind's Destination." Note finally, "Heaven's Evaluation." Verse 14.
• Revelation 14:14-16 : " Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, 'Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.' So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped." : When John sees this "brilliant" light cloud, he sees that it's not just a wisp of air, but a seat.
- On it sits One like the Son of Man. Who else can this be but Jesus? He's seated with a golden crown, the Ruler over this planet and He is armed with a sharp sickle or gathering hook.
- The word "sickle" is used 9 times in scripture to denote judgment. Of those nine times, six of them are used here in this and the next section of scripture!
- Understand that He is "seated." He's not anxious or in any hurry. He's patient and knows when to use this implement. The only time God runs is at His repentant son! (Luke 15:20)
- Jesus is holding it and must be prompted to use it when an angel from the Temple calls out to Him to begin work. "Thrust in the sickle! The harvest of the Earth is ripe!"
- The word "ripe" here speaks to nearly being dry. Jesus has waited as long as possible to gather in all of His people. The believers are nearly extinguished!
- It is time to get them into the barn, so the Lord begins the work of separating the righteous from the wicked, the wheat from the tares! The end of the age has come and every saint is secure!
- God's people, the ones that are left, are safely gathered, as the angels fulfill Matthew 24:31 and gather His elect from one end of heaven to the other! What about the wicked? Verse 17.
• Revelation 14:17-20 : "Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, 'Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe.' So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs." : Yet another angel. This one out of the temple, carrying a sharp sickle. He is prepared to participate in the harvest. Then, yet another angel comes from the altar.
- Remember who else was under the altar of heaven? The saints who had cried out for justice way back in Revelation 6:9. This angel is coming with the power of fire and with the cry of the saints!
- This time, Jesus is gathering grape clusters and these are "fully ripe." This word is different from the last word, in that it actually denotes an "over ripe," nearly corrupted condition.
- These are the men of Earth who are opposed to the Lord! They are past the point of redemption! They are fit only for the winepress of God's wrath! Wine is produced by pressure.
- In the ancient days, men would stomp upon the grapes and the juices would flow. The picture here is of the King stomping out His enemies! Consult with Joel 3:9-14 and Isaiah 63:3-6 later.
- Both passages reveal a picture of a blood soaked King, who has ridden throughout His land and brought an end to His enemies as well as His own fury!
- Mankind's over ripe condition will splatter His garments with blood, so much so that it will reach up to His horses' bridle, 4 feet in the air for over 180 miles! What is John referring to?
- This will be the final battle between men and the Lord, which will take place in the Valley of Armageddon. We'll study that more closely when we get there.
- For now, understand that the Lord has already shown mercy and grace in His first coming. At His second, He will be known as a Warrior and conqueror of this planet!
- Men will have had every chance to choose mercy. Those that forsake their chances will be the victims of a slaughter of epic proportions, unseen by any previous war!
- The Lamb will win! Isn't it better to surrender to Him now? I pray that we will have the wisdom to choose mercy over judgment!
Conclusion
- Let's pray!