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Sermon

The Harvest of the Earth

Series
Revelation
Scripture
Revelation 14:14-20

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Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

Revelation 14:14-20 reveals two heaven-directed harvests that anticipate the final judgment during the tribulation period. The Son of Man, wearing a golden crown and carrying a sharp sickle, first reaps the faithful — a harvest of mercy — and then holy angels carry out the grape harvest of the wicked — a harvest of justice. The passage parallels Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the weeds in Matthew 13 and fulfills Joel’s prophecy of treading the wine press.

Key Lessons:

  1. God’s judgment cannot be escaped — the only escape from divine wrath is through faith in Christ, who took God’s wrath upon himself at the cross.
  2. God is longsuffering and merciful, giving humanity ample time to repent, but His divine timetable will eventually run out and judgment will come.
  3. The two harvests reveal that God’s holiness demands both mercy for the faithful and justice upon the wicked — neither can be neglected.
  4. Faithfulness has its rewards — those who persevere in keeping God’s commandments and trusting in Jesus, even under extreme persecution, will be compensated by God himself.

Application: We are called to press on in faithfulness, continue growing in knowledge of Christ, and boldly proclaim the gospel as the way of escape from judgment. We must not be silent about the message of salvation, recognizing that we are the light and salt God has placed in the world during this age of mercy and grace.

Discussion Questions:

  1. How does the image of the two harvests — grain and grapes — shape our understanding of God’s character as both merciful and just?
  2. What does it mean practically to live with urgency about sharing the gospel when we recognize that the “age of mercy” will not last forever?
  3. How can we maintain steadfast faith and perseverance like the tribulation saints described in Revelation 14:12, especially when cultural pressures increase against believers?

Scripture Focus: Revelation 14:14-20 (the two harvests of judgment), Matthew 13:24-30, 39-42 (parable of wheat and weeds), Joel 3:13 (sickle and wine press prophecy), Isaiah 63:2-6 (the treading of the wine press), Hebrews 2:3 (no escape apart from salvation), and Revelation 19:17-21 (the battle of Armageddon).

Outline

Introduction

Okay, let’s take our Bibles this morning and turn to Revelation chapter 14.

And we’re looking at verse 14 to 20 this morning. Revelation chapter 14.

And as you’re turning there, I came across a a story actually when I was in Hebrews.

Hebrews chapter 2 is really about escape.

And the writer of Hebrews, which I think is Apollos, asks the question, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?

How shall we escape?

The Great Escape and the Inescapable Judgment

When we think of escape, we think of deliverance. From the dire and threatening maybe a dire and threatening life situation.

But the most common idea with which we associate the idea of escape is imprisonment.

Not just from jail, but from those prisons that are most notorious that are inescapable like Alcatraz and like the dreadful all French prison the sha chateau defer.

There’s a story a novel that was written. It was about the story of Edmund Dantes who was falsely accused of a crime and unjustly convicted and sentenced to that prison. And he suffered many years in confinement, solitary confinement, until one day he met a co-prisoner, an aged man.

And how he met that man is that man’s been in prison for a long, long time. He started digging a hole. And he calculated to dig a hole outside the prison to escape. But instead he dug his hole and it ended up in Dante’s cell and they both became very close friends.

And this aged man became his mentor and his counselor. He taught him all kinds of things like science and philosophy and even theology.

He also told them of a map that had a vast treasure that was under the sea and exactly where it was. And the old man eventually died.

And by some extraordinary circumstance, his death brought the ability for Edmund Dantes to escape from the chateau defer.

He then found the vast treasure and of course lived off that for the rest of his life.

That was a dramatic story of escape.

As dire and as dreadful the circumstances could be in the chatau defer, there’s even a greater and a more dreadful captivity that any human being can imagine.

And the author of Hebrews speaks of that particular dreadful captivity by asking the question, how can we escape if we neglect such great salvation?

Now beloved, that’s a rhetorical question.

How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? And the answer is the answer is we can’t escape.

“How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? The answer is we can’t escape.”

The judgment of God also can’t be escaped.

The Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds

And as we look at this particular passage this morning, the remaining verses from chapter 14 verse 14 to 20 anticipate events to come later in the tribulation period.

Remember we’re looking at the tribulation, the seven-year tribulation period and the final judgment. The apostle John sees Christ in his his judicial role as the son of man and here carrying out his role as the sovereign judge. Jesus the lamb of God has been given the position by the father to judge people.

In John chapter 5 it says for not even the father judges anyone but he has given all judgment to the son. He gave him authority to execute judgment because he is the son of man.

This is another major advance in revelation. The judgment of the son of man upon the world of people. And according to scripture, God’s harvest is ripe and time for God’s judgment to come upon the earth. This section closely parallels the parable of the wheat and the weeds in Matthew chapter 13, if you care to turn there. Matthew 13, look at verse number 24-30.

John 5:22-27: “Not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son.”

In Matthew 13:4 says, “Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field.” But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and swed tears among the wheats wheat and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tears became evident. Verse 27.

The slaves of the land over land over came and said to him, “Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tears?” And he said to them, “An enemy has done this.” The slaves the slaves said to him, “Do you want us then to go and gather them up?” In verse number 29, but he said, “No, for while you are gathering up the tears, you may uproot the wheat with them.” Verse 30. Allow both to grow together until the harvest. And in the time of harvest, I will send to you the reapers.

First gather the tears and bind them in bundles and burn them up, but gather the wheat into my barn.

The Perseverance of the Saints

Now for sure the saints in the tribulation period will live in constant jeopardy of their lives but they will not bow to the dictates of the beast or the antichrist who will be pretty much at this time in charge of everything.

They would rather suffer the most excruciating torture than comply to the beast and be torment with him forever. We saw this up in chapter 14 back in Revelation verse number 11 where it says there and the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever.

They have no rest day and night. Those who worship the beast and his image and whoever receives the mark of his name.

Not having rest is part of the things that are going to be going on in hell. People will never have rest.

They would rather take a firm stance on what the Lord taught them. In fact, it will take a firm stance by everyone who follows the Lord because you must know what you believe theologically and you must know who you belong to.

See, these opposers of the beast demonstrate that they belong to Christ by steadfastly clinging to him in faith and by obeying God’s commandments. Look at Revelation 14 verse 12.

Here is the perseverance of the saints to keep his commandments, the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. That’s what was required. And because the circumstances of those who die under the terrors of the Antichrist are so difficult, a voice from heaven assures them of their special blessedness. Revelation 14:13.

And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” Yes, says the spirit, so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them. That the blessing of the saints is not only that they do get rest, but what they have done for the Lord, they are compensated with. They compensated for by the Lord himself. So the suffering and endurance of these saints will be compensated by God for their losses by an appropriate reward at the right time.

“Being faithful has its rewards.”

So being faithful has its rewards.

Two Heaven-Directed Harvests

So the remaining verses of chapter of this chapter anticipates events to come later on in the tribulation.

Christ does not actually come at this moment in the tribulation and the final judgment.

It’s the Apostle John in his vision which kind of pulls back the curtain and allows us to glimpse in and see Christ in his judicial role as the son of man.

And his judgments are always true and righteous altogether.

That God what he says in his word of God will come to pass. Every single jot and tit will happen.

So here in our passage we have two heaven directed harvests.

“Here in our passage we have two heaven-directed harvests.”

That’s what we see here. In the first harvest, the first judgment harvest is the grain harvest.

And that is the harvest of the faithful.

The Coming Reaper: The Son of Man

Now let’s look at it. In verse number 14, we see the coming reaper. It says, ‘ Then I looked and behold a white cloud and sitting on the cloud was one like the son of man having a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.

Now the judgment and harvest of the son of man we see here that means the risen victorious lamb reaping the harvest of his own people the harvest of the faithful the engathering of the saints by the son of man. And remember, son of man is the title that Jesus most used of himself throughout the gospels that Christ because of his humanity, because he was the God man, he knows what we are like. That means he alone has the only capability for judging mankind because he is the son of man.

“He alone has the only capability for judging mankind because He is the Son of Man.”

So the coming reaper comes and then we notice that there’s the character of the one harvesting act. Actually there’s three characteristics about the son of man that is highlighted in this passage.

Seated on a White Cloud

And here’s the first one. It’s in verse number 14. He’s sitting on a white cloud.

And remember white clouds are symbolic of the presence of God of divine holiness. We saw it back in chapter 1 verse 7 where it says, “Behold, he is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him and even those who pierced him and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him.” Also, a white cloud signifies the glorious victory victory of Christ as he prepares to harvest the earth.

“White clouds are symbolic of the presence of God, of divine holiness.”

Wearing a Golden Crown

White also symbolizes the righteousness and purity of Christ. That’s the first thing it wants us to know. Secondly, in verse 14, he’s wearing a golden crown.

Now, the crown here is this stfanis crown. It’s it’s the crown of actually suffering or someone who gives endurance to something.

And usually it’s just a wreath on one’s head. It’s not a golden crown.

So Jesus has a golden crown of suffering on his head.

It’s it’s the symbol of heavenly honor and authority literally as the symbol of authority worn by a ruler. And the crown is given to a victor.

And this designates the Messiah as the one who has conquered and has won the right now for judgment.

This is not the suffering Christ anymore. This is as it says in Revelation 19. This is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. We see here the golden crown points to Jesus as the sovereign king, the victorious royal ruler who’s about to judge the world.

“This is not the suffering Christ anymore. This is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.”

And no one can get out of it. There is no escape from the judgment of God.

Holding a Sharp Sickle

Everybody will come under the judgment of God. But there’s a third thing it says about this son of man in verse number 14. He has a sharp sickle in his hand.

The sickle is brought out only in times of harvest.

Also in the parable of the growing seed, Jesus said, “But when the crop permits, he immediately pulls out the sickle because the harvest has come.” And any farmer, most of us are not farmers in here, but any farmer would know that you better harvest your crop at the right time or you lose it. All the work you put into it can be lost like that.

The Command to Reap

But then comes the command in verse number 15. The command to reap. Notice what it says. And another angel came out of the temple crying out with a loud voice.

And he said to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle and reap.” See the the sharp sickle in his hand stands for the awesome authority that Jesus has in the final harvest. The sickle is sharp which points to the power and the swiftness and the finality behind the judgment.

“The sharp sickle stands for the awesome authority that Jesus has in the final harvest.”

The passage we read this morning in the Old Testament prophet, the Old Testament prophet Joel, he said this exact same thing. Matter of fact, this is the prophecy of what’s going to happen in Revelation. He says, “I for there I sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle for the harvest is ripe. Come re come tread for the wine press is full. The vats overflow and their wickedness is great.” So the wicked wickedness of the world has reached heaven.

And not only is the wickedness of mankind fully ripe, but the king’s indignation is fully ripe. See, the Lord of Lords is now in a position in human history to carry out the judgment that has been ripening for a very, very long time.

His sickle judgment is ready to be swung.

The Harvest Is Ripe and Overdue

But there’s two things about this harvest that are very important in our text. And if you notice in verse number 15, it says, “Put in the sickle and reap.” It says, “For the hour, for the hour to reap has come because the harvest of the earth is ripe.” that the harvest of the earth is ripe is its condition. In fact, the very use of the word in the original language means to become dry. It is the picture of fruit that is or grain or vegetables that become so ripe that they begin to dry up and wither.

Another in other words, the harvest is is fully ripe and therefore even almost overdue.

And then there is also the timing of the harvest. Notice what it says in verse 15. For the hour to reap has come. In other for the time scale, the the clock has run out.

It is no mistake that the Lord’s divine time scale has come to an end.

“It is no mistake that the Lord’s divine time scale has come to an end. No one can accuse God of judging too soon.”

No one can accuse God of judging too soon.

God’s Patience in the Age of Mercy

God has been very very long-suffering with mankind in his great mercy that he’s displayed to humanity.

Even as he is right now, still in this age we live right now is the mer the age of mercy and grace. And the Lord is still displaying his patience toward us.

Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Not willing to stop the preaching of the gospel, but the gospel continues to go out and show God’s mercy and his grace to people. So, they come and believe, and they’re rescued from the judgment of God because of what Christ did in their place.

2 Peter 3:9: “Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

It is a crucial time in which we live.

Because time is short.

You get a sense of that time is short.

That we’re closer to the end than that than than we’ve ever been.

So, see, it’s it’s time to put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ if you have not done so so far before time runs out. And don’t ever believe the lie of Satan. If you are young, you have plenty of time. And if you are old, it’s too late. Don’t ever believe that. That’s his great lie. You have plenty of time to work on it. No, you don’t. What? How much time you have? Right now.

Because tomorrow, you don’t know if you’re going to wake up. You don’t know if you’re going to get hit by a car. You don’t know if you’re going to die of some disease. You don’t know. There’s a million ways to die more than that. We don’t know that. But right now, you’re hearing, you’re receiving, you’re listening, you’re taking heed. Hopefully and you want to be blessed by what the message is and that’s to come to Christ.

Christ Reaps His Own First

So there there are two that swing the sharp sickle in our passage.

The first one is the risen Christ and the second are the holy angels.

So there are two harvests but and these harvests are directed from the heavenly temple. These commands are coming from heaven itself.

But look at what the angel, this angel that comes out of the temple in heaven does in verse number 15. He cries out with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud.

Now, some may say, “Well, I thought this judgment here was just the judgment of all the wicked.” Why are you interpreting this as the grain harvest of the faithful? At least the first part because I’m doing I’m interpreting it that way because it’s Jesus who’s doing the reaping here.

So, why does the angel call out to Jesus first? I believe it is because now remember the angels are given the authority to do the reaping.

That’s what God gave them to do. But this angel doesn’t do this reaping. He calls out to the one who sits on the white cloud, the son of man.

And why does he do that? But I believe because Jesus is the only one who’s able to judge who are his children and who are not his children that the harvest here is of believers and centers on mercy. So the two harvests are very distinct.

“God’s holiness demands mercy, but God’s holiness also demands justice.”

God’s holiness demands mercy but God’s holiness also demands justice.

In fact, the harvest here is positive at least the fir these first verses because the harvest imagery goes back to the harvest of the 144,000 refer to as the first fruits. Look back at verse number one of chapter 14 and it says this.

Then I looked and behold the lamb standing on Mount Zion and with him 144,000 having his name and the name of his father written on their foreheads.

Then down to verse four of chapter 14.

These are the ones who have not been defiled with women who for they have kept themselves chasteed. They 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. So in other words, that this judgment also is the judgment that rescues those of the 144,000 because they are the first fruits of the harvest to come. But then notice the the certainty of the reaping. In verse number 16, it says this. Then he who sat on the cloud, remember that is the son of man, that’s Jesus Christ, swung his sickle over the earth.

So the final ripe harvest of the saints occurs here.

This harvest is not followed by a description where the branches are picked up and thrown into the fire to be burned. Nor is there a threshing of the grain here or the trampling of the grain or winnowing of the grain where they throw the wheat up in the air where it separates from the chaft. You don’t see any of that happening here.

Here is here there is no hint of final destruction as the grape harvest which we’ll look at next. Jesus the son of man swings his sickle in a decisive act to harvest the redeemed from the earth.

In verse 16 it says then he who sat on the cloud swung the sickle over the earth and the earth is reaped. And the reason why the angel calls out to Jesus because the angels were given the responsibility to reap is because Jesus is the only one who could reap.

“Jesus is the only one who could reap — swiftly and precisely — because He knows who are His own.”

Do it swiftly and precisely because he knows who are his own. The swinging of the sickle means the judgment. The harvest day has come and cannot be delayed any longer. Jesus cast the sickle to the harvest to harvest the righteous. And this is the only way to escape God’s judgment to be rescued by Jesus. Now, saying all that, I do want you to notice a passage of scripture before I go any further because I’ve been saying that the angels are the reapers, yet Christ does the reaping here.

The Grain Harvest Confirmed from Matthew 13

Look at Matthew chapter 13. Take turn your Bibles and turn to Matthew chapter 13. Just look at in verse number 30 and then verse 39 to 42 because this is kind of sets up what the Lord said when he preached and taught these messages when he was alive on earth in Matthew 13. Look at verse 30.

Verse 30 says, “Allow both to grow together until harvest. And in the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, first gather up the tears and bind them in in bundles and burn them up and but gather the wheat into my barns. Then look down to verse 39 of Matthew 13.

And the and the enemy who swed them is the devil and the harvest is the end of the age. And the reapers are are angels.

So we have a progression here. We see that the devil is the one behind it all.

Planting tears among the real people who are God’s children. That the harvest is the end of the age, the end of time. The Jews always looked at history in two ways. This age and the age to come.

That’s it. So this is the age to come.

This is the end of the age. And then the reapers are angels. And then notice in verse 40, so just as the tears are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. And the Son of Man will send forth his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire. In that place there will be weeping and nashing of teeth. So yes, the angels are the reapers and the reaper who are in charge call out to Christ and Christ reaps his own first.

“The angels are the reapers, but Christ reaps His own first.”

The Grape Harvest: Judgment of Unbelievers

That’s the first judgment. That’s the judgment of the faithful. Now we see the second judgment from 17-20 back in Revelation 14. The second judgment is the grape harvest, the harvest of unbelievers, right? This is the crushing harvest.

The harvest of the heavenly angels here.

They reap the harvest of those destined for judgment.

Holy angels have been given charge of the end time harvest and it is their responsibility to carry out this harvest in an orderly fashion.

So the angels are used in the endtime harvest of the earth. That’s how God arranged it and that’s their job. But then I want you to notice something in verse number 17, the coming of the grape gathering.

It says, “And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven.

He also had a sharp sickle.” So this second angel, it’s actually the I think the fifth one in this whole section here, but I’m going to call the second angel comes out of the temple of heaven, but does not come with the with inherent righteousness like Christ. He comes with derived authority from God.

He has been given a sharp sickle also.

And so the holy angel also with this sharp sickle comes in judgment and it will be a severe judgment. It will be the final judgment of those on the earth. So this second harvest is because of God’s holiness that demands justice. The harvest of the earth is ripe because of ungodliness and wickedness that is on the earth. The rotten moral and spiritual condition of the world must be dealt with by God. See, God is even longsuffering in his judgment of the wicked. He gives them plenty of time.

“God is even longsuffering in His judgment of the wicked. He gives them plenty of time.”

And we’re going to find out in the rest of Revelation that with all the bold judgments that are poured out, they still don’t repent. They still don’t turn to God. It just shows the deep dark depravity of man’s heart. Men cannot choose God unless God does a work in their heart.

So the harvest of the earth is ripe because of ungodliness and wickedness.

And the wicked of the earth are pictured as clusters of grapes on a vine. Grapes that are fully ripe, bursting with juice, fruit bursting with wickedness and corruption.

Not a second can be delayed any longer.

The time has come for the final harvest.

The Angel from the Altar

So look at the angel and the position and power of this angel. Another angel in verse number 18. Here’s a a third angel.

But he is not coming. This angel is not coming out of the temple in heaven. He is coming from a different section of heaven. It says the next angel is coming out of from the altar. Now put your eyes on verse number 18 of chapter 14. It says, “Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar.” Now, that that’s different. And that’s important. And why is it important? Because the altar is connected with the prayers of the saints for the vengeance on their enemies. This was the cry in Revelation chapter 8.

Another angel in that passage came and stood at the altar holding a golden sensor and much incense was given to him so that he might add to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which is before the throne. In other words, this angel at the altar comes now out and he comes for for what reason? To vindicate the saints.

It’s symbolic of the the rising prayers of the saints. And of course, this angel also has power of fire.

And the reason for that is because what it actually says in our text in Revelation 8. It’s the response to prayer. In Revelation 8 verse number 5, it says, “The angel took the sensor and filled it with the fire of the altar and threw it to the earth. And there followed peels of thunder and sounds of flashing lightning on the earth. And then it goes on to say then he threw it to the earth in judgment.

So the incense is a picture of prayers rising from the saints to the throne of God.

The altar of mercy is now the source of divine judgment.

“The altar of mercy is now the source of divine judgment — God’s vindication of His followers.”

God’s vindication of his followers for all they have suffered.

The sovereign majestic God who is in charge of judgment now falls upon the earth.

In verse number 18 of chapter 14, we see the angel’s petition, it says this, “And he called with a loud voice in the middle of the passage and said to him who had the sharp sickle.” So this angel now in other words the saints prayers have been reached have reached God and in answer to their prayers God sends his angel to carry out this judgment. So the third angel calls loudly to the second angel and says it’s time to put in your sickle.

It’s time to judge the ungodly.

The Wine Press of God’s Wrath

It’s time to judge the unrighteous. So in verse number 18, it says, “Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth.” So the sickle is ready and the grapes in verse 18, because her grapes are ripe.

So we see the certainty of gathering the grapes.

So the angel in verse number 19 swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God.

Now of course judgment is depicted here as a wine press.

Now, if anybody knows anything about a wine press, it really consisted of an upper and a lower trough connected with a channel. And the trough might be hollowed out by a rock or could be made of brick. The grapes were put into the upper trough and it was because it was slightly higher in level and the grapes then were thrown in there and trampled.

Yes. With the feet and the flow of the juice would run down connecting to the connecting channel to the lower trough.

That was the picture because God’s judgment is often likened to the trampling of grapes. In fact, that’s what it said in Joel that we read this morning. Put in the sickle for the harvest is ripe. Come and tread for the wine press is full. The vats overflow.

Wickedness is great. That’s what’s overflowing. The wickedness of humanity, the corruption of humanity, the immorality of humanity, the ungodliness of humanity is coming all out of that wine press.

And so what does the Lord do? We see the wine press comes up in chapter 14 also verse number nine.

He it says in verse 10, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God.

So we see this is the anger of God coming upon the world and it’s like someone stomping on grapes until everything is crushed. And the grapes of course and the juice of the grapes is going to be synonymous to the blood of people being slaughtered in this last battle that’s going to happen on the earth. The battle of Armageddon.

Joel 3:13: “Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come and tread, for the wine press is full.”

So there is a certain crushing of the grapes.

And notice in verse number 20, here’s the picture of ultimate judgment.

There’s a geographical setting. And in verse number 20, the first part, for the wine press was trotten outside the city.

And most of the thing the Lord is protecting Jerusalem and he is getting things ready. So the wine press can be the the battle could take place but not right there within Jerusalem but outside of Jerusalem because of the carnage that’s going to take place.

And the scene will be the most gruesome scene ever in any battle that has ever been fought at any time in uni in human history until this time. This will be the worst of all battles. It will be the last one though. It will be very very very bloody.

Isaiah’s Prophecy of the Treading

Now Isaiah the prophet spoke about this He tells us in the in Isaiah chapter 63 of what’s going to take place. And because this passage of scripture is so important, I’d like you to turn there.

Isaiah 63, just a few passages, verse two to verse number six. I want you to notice what Isaiah says here about what’s going to take place.

At the end time harvest, especially those of the unfaithful, the unbelievers, the ungodly.

In Isaiah 63, look at verse number two.

It says, “Why is your apparel red and your garments like the one who treads in the wine press?” Question.

Verse three, I have trotten the wine thro alone, and from the peoples there was no man with me. I also trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath, and their lifeblood is sprinkled on my garments, and I stained all my reignment. Verse four, for the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption has come.

I looked, and there was no one to help, and I was astonished that there was no one to uphold. So my own arm brought salvation to me, and my wrath upheld me. Verse six, I trod down the people in my anger and made them drunk in my wrath and I poured out their life blood on the earth. That’s an awful scene.

Isaiah 63:3: “I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath, and their lifeblood is sprinkled on my garments.”

That’s a scene of an ocean of blood from the victims of judgment. Now, some people have said, “Well, that’s just a spiritual thing. That’s just an illustration.” But the problem is there’s a real battle and real people are going to die in that battle.

The Battle of Armageddon and Its Carnage

Now, if you go back to Revelation 20, notice what he says there. This awful scene, this ocean of blood from the victims of God’s judgment, he says in the middle of verse 20, it says, “And the blood came out from the wine press up to the horse’s bridal for a distance of 200 miles.” Of course, this is in reference to the battle of Armageddon.

That will be the final battle where all the nations of the world will gather against Israel. And of course, we know who wins that battle. Christ steps out in a word and consumes them. It’s done.

It’s over. He does it by the power of his word.

And it specifies an area in this passage within a 200 mile radius from Jerusalem.

It will be the center part of the final carnage where the armies of the world will will gather at the time of the second coming of Christ.

It could also mean though because Israel covers about 200 miles, it’s about the same size as New Jersey from north to south that it could mean the whole area is in view. I don’t know. We’re going to have to find out when we get to heaven about some of the facts.

But in any case, the the spurting of the grape juice under the the bare feet of those treading the grapes in the wine press is compared to the spurting of the blood that speaks of the awful human carnage that will take place in this final battle.

“Blood came out from the wine press up to the horse’s bridle for a distance of 200 miles.”

See, the wicked were trotten down in the wine press of God’s wrath where blood came out in a stream of 200 miles long and 4 feet deep enough to reach the bridles of horses. Now whether it’s that deep or not, the point is the completeness of the judgment and the carnage that will take place. In fact, the carnage is so great that God calls the vultures of heaven, the vultures of earth to come to a great feast and to clean up the mess. Look what it says. Turn there. Revelation 19. Look at verse 17.

Come and clean the mess up.

But this is where this is where humanity goes to without God.

Revelations 19:1 17 says, “Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, come, assemble for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders. Ers and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and those who sit on them and the flesh of all men both free men and slaves small and great. Verse 19. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against him who sat on the horse and against his army.

Then in verse 21, and the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. See, that’s a the carnage that were now cleaned up by the vultures of the earth or all the birds that clean up the mess that people make. See, that doesn’t that’s not a good ending.

But that is the ending of someone who wants to do it their own way. That is the ending of those who reject God. What? That’s nothing compared to what hell is going to be.

This is maybe a picture of hell.

Man without God.

God’s Ultimate Justice Will Triumph

So God’s ultimate justice will triumph.

The wicked will be judged and the saints will be rewarded.

That’s going to be the bottom line and God will take care of that and he will make sure it’s done correctly.

“God’s ultimate justice will triumph. The wicked will be judged and the saints will be rewarded.”

But if I make just a few observations about this present age, the utter futility of hope for a converted world before Christ comes is not in the Bible. The emphatic and unmistakable testimony of scripture is that during the Lord’s absence in this present age, there will be no universal re reception of the gospel of grace.

But on the contrary, there would be a willful rejection and opposition by the world, by our own flesh, and by the devil himself till the end comes. That the professing church, and I don’t mean the good professing church, the professing church as a whole in its worldliness, having a form of godliness and denying the power thereof that church that Satan would take advantage of the situation and sew seeds of tears by substituting ritualism for righteousness, formality for faith, civilization for Christianity.

And institutionalism for spirituality.

That the organized religion of the world will grow in number and strength, deriving the their sustenance from the wisdom of the world and providing a shelter of respectability for the children of the wicked one. It will be respectable to be part of a religious system that he’s in charge of.

See, Christ would have his own elect, the wheat, gathered out of the world unto his name and ready for him in the day of his coming. And that’s what he will do. So the eye idea of a golden age, a utopian republic without the literal and personal return of Christ is nothing more than a wishful shadow of a baseless dream.

The Age of Mercy and the Call to Faithfulness

The implication of the implication of what is true of the tribulation rings true in our present day that God will ultimately judge all people and today. However, in our situation, we still live in an age of mercy. We still live in an age of grace and the invitation is still open to those who will trust in Christ to save them from the condemnation of their sin and place them before God clean, washed in the precious blood of the lamb. That’s still open. And that’s the message that we cannot be silent about.

That’s the message we must be bold about because that is the only message that saves someone from the judgment of sin.

See, in other words, we provide the way of escape through the message we preach.

And not only the message we preach, but the message we live. We provide the way of escape.

We are the light that God has put in the world. We are the salt of the earth that provides flavor and prevents corruption.

“We provide the way of escape through the message we preach. We are the light God has put in the world.”

See, we are that people. So what? For you and I. If you are a believer, press on.

Be faithful to the Lord. Keep his word.

Keep growing in your knowledge and wisdom of Christ. Do not stop. No matter what the world does, no matter how your flesh lies to you, and no matter how Satan tries to deceive you, do not stop because you have the truth.

Jesus Is the Only Escape

If you neglect so great a salvation, there is no escape.

But if you take that salvation, that is the escape.

Jesus is the only escape from God’s wrath because Jesus took the wrath for your sin on the cross of Calvary. He paid the full price to satisfy the father’s justice. He put your sin on the cross and he put his righteousness on your account. So when the father looks down at you, he sees the righteousness of Christ.

“Jesus is the only escape from God’s wrath because He took the wrath for your sin on the cross.”

See, we could have never provided our own righteousness because our righteousness are like filthy rags.

Amen.

This day is coming. The church, the true church must be ready with the message and continue to preach it no matter what. And I don’t see, this is my only personal opinion, I don’t see it getting easier for believers, for what’s happening to believers all over the world. Just finding out our ally South Korea is jailing pastors right now because they are not going along with the narrative of the government. That’s not very far away from us. Once this government that we have right now is gone, we’re in big trouble.

So, thank the Lord for the mercy and time and grace he’s given us. Now, let’s be faithful. Amen.

Closing Prayer

Let’s pray. Lord, thank you so much.

Lord, your word’s so clear.

It’s so convicting. It It pierces right through the darkness, right through the the deception.

And Lord, sometimes it hits us right between the eyes. And sometimes that’s what we need. Lord, keep us awake.

Keep us aware of what’s going on.

Don’t allow us to be deluded or to be deceived by the wicked one.

Especially in this these days which we live that we don’t even know what truth is with AI coming and this deception that AI can produce has already and is already producing. You don’t even know what you’re looking at is even true. So Lord, give us discernment these days to stand close to you, to be faithful to you, to have the truth so wash our minds and transform our minds that we definitely would know the good, the acceptable, and the perfect will of God every day of our lives. And Lord, when we feel weak and our legs feel feeble, I pray you would strengthen us again by your spirit.

Make us people that are strong in faith.

And because we’re strong in faith, we p persevere every day right to the end. No matter how dark and glooming it gets around us, that we would be faithful to the end. Thank you, Lord, that you help us persevere to that last day.

Lord, make us faithful.

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