"The Harvest of the Earth"

Well, good morning, church.

Would you turn with me to Revelation chapter 14?

Revelation 14 · chapter mention

That's page 972 in the Pew Bible.

We're going to look at the whole chapter today, Revelation 14.

As you turn there, let me ask, how was it waking up this morning?

Did you wake up with the morning sun, ready to tackle the day, full of joy?

Or did you have to drag yourself out of bed and muscle through and shake your fist at the St. Patrick's Day race on the way to town this morning, whatever it was for you?

You know, the spiritual life, life in God's Spirit as a follower of Jesus, can sometimes be like waking up, ready to tackle the day.

But sometimes it can also feel like needing to drag yourself out of bed and muscle through.

That is, sometimes it can feel hard to persevere, to keep up, and to carry on.

And that's how many of the Christians felt to whom this book of Revelation was originally written.

They lived in the last third of the first century.

The Roman Empire around them was powerful and, for many, comfortable and seemed to promise prosperity and peace.

That is, it promised those things so long as you got with the program, burned your incense to the emperor as God, and got in line with the political economy of the empire,

which went something like conquer, oppress, tax, repeat.

Now, Christians were already on the outside of the dominant culture.

After all, worshiping a crucified Jew from Palestine wasn't going to win you any immediate points with your neighbors.

But as the emperor cult began to increase, Christians found that more costly forms of oppression were on the rise.

Some had even been martyred at this point for refusing to worship the beast of Rome.

And so, they needed strength to endure, to persevere, to keep up and carry on.

And the truth is, so do we.

When hard times come, when it looks easier to just go along with the world around us,

we can be tempted to just give up or give in.

And so, it's to hearts just like our own that Revelation 14 was written.

Before we dive into each section, look down with me at verse 12, if you have it open.

In verse 12, we read,

Here is a call for the endurance of the saints,

those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

John, the writer of Revelation, wants to fuel our endurance.

He's writing this so that we will keep up and keep on, persevere in faith and obedience.

That's the big idea.

And each section of this chapter gives us, then, a reason to persevere.

To persevere in faith, that is, in trust in the Lord Jesus,

and to persevere in obedience to God's commands.

That is, His Word and His ways that are written for our flourishing.

So, let's take a look at each paragraph, then,

and hear these encouragements to endurance, to perseverance in faith and obedience.

The first thing that John is going to point to in verses 1 through 5 is joy.

He's saying here, keep up and keep on, because there is joy for those who persevere.

There's joy for those who persevere.

Let me read verses 1 through 5.

John says,

Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb,

and with Him 144,000 who had His name and His Father's name written on their foreheads.

And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder.

The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps,

and they were singing a new song before the Lord,

and before the Lord, before the four living creatures, and before the elders.

No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.

It is these who have not defiled themselves with women for they are virgins.

It is these who follow the Lamb wherever He goes.

These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb.

And in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.

Now, we saw earlier in Revelation, in chapter 7,

that this 144,000 is a way of speaking about the church.

It's a symbolic number picking up the Old Testament number 12 for the 12 tribes of Israel,

and the number 1,000, which is a complete number, a number denoting fullness.

So we have here 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes equaling 144,000, right?

And then Revelation, chapter 7, immediately juxtaposes that symbolic counting of God's people

Revelation 7 · chapter mention

with a vision of a multitude that no one could number,

from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages,

standing before the throne and before the Lamb.

So these two pictures together show us that this symbolic numbering of the people of God

is giving us a picture of the church in its fullness, in its completeness.

Not one is missing.

Everyone on whom God has set His saving favor and love in Christ,

each one is counted for.

But this numbering of the people of God also reminds us of the Old Testament book of Numbers,

the fourth book of the Old Testament, that begins with God numbering the people He has redeemed from Egypt, right?

And why is God numbering them?

Because they're getting ready to march to the promised land,

and the way to the promised land is through the wilderness.

In fact, the Hebrew title of the book of Numbers is Bamidbar, in the wilderness,

which seems like a more exciting title than Numbers, right?

You know?

The people are numbered because they're getting ready to march through wilderness and trial

and eventually into battle.

So the image of 144,000 in Revelation is a picture of God's people,

not just numbered and known,

but counted and prepared for trials and even spiritual battle.

And when you consider the context of chapter 14,

it makes sense that John would return to this particular image of the church.

Why?

Well, because in chapters 12 and 13, leading up to this,

John has been showing us the great spiritual battle between Satan, the accuser, and the church.

At the end of chapter 12, the dragon is pictured as raging against the church,

and then in chapter 13, he raises up two beasts that will make war on the saints to conquer them.

And it seems in those chapters as if the whole world goes after this unholy trinity,

this counterfeit God of the dragon and his two beasts.

And as Pastor Matt showed us last week,

this strategy of counterfeiting and beastly deception and violence

isn't just describing something that happened in the past,

nor is it just talking about something that will happen in the future,

but it's describing an ongoing pattern of this spiritual war throughout the church age.

But the question is, how?

How's the church going to fare in the midst of this war?

What will become of God's people known and loved?

What will happen to the church while the many beasts down through history

do their best to take the place of God and sweep the nations up

in their programs of power and propaganda

and attempt to trample the church of the crucified and risen Jesus?

Well, chapter 14 shows us.

The people of God we see here are safe.

They are preserved.

Not one is lost.

They numbered 144,000 in chapter 7,

and despite the wilderness, despite the war,

144,000 they remain.

Jesus says in John 10, 28,

I give them eternal life,

and they will never perish,

and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Jesus preserves his church.

He preserves them here in number,

and we see he preserves them here in purity and holiness.

Look at verses 4 and 5.

Verse 4 speaks of holiness of body.

Verse 5 speaks of holiness of speech.

And then right in the middle,

we see a picture of holiness of heart, right?

They follow the Lamb wherever He goes.

They belong to Him like the first portion of the harvest

was gladly given to God, the first fruits.

Now, this picture of holiness is obviously painted

with broad strokes by John.

Verse 4 doesn't mean that every single Christian

ought to remain single their whole life, right?

No, sex we know is a good gift from God.

It's meant to be enjoyed in the context of marriage,

and there's forgiveness and healing

for those who have fallen short, right?

What is it that makes the church blameless?

It's the grace of God

and the righteousness of Christ,

not our works.

But the point that John wants to drive home here

in verses 4 and 5

is that the church,

despite all that the dragon and his beasts

throw against it,

the church remains wholly devoted to the Lamb

who stands firm in his heavenly Zion,

reigning as the world's true king,

even though imposters try to usurp

his rightful place in every age.

Now, that brings us to the center of the paragraph,

verses 2 and 3.

This 144,000 who are preserved in number

and preserved in holiness,

they hear a song.

Flooding down from the hills of Zion

is the sound of an orchestra,

and on it,

waves of a new song are brought forth

from the throne of God.

And this new song is not one

that just anybody can sing.

No, this song,

this song only finds its place

on the tongues and the hearts of whom.

The church,

the 144,000,

those saints who have marched

through the wilderness,

who have known the scars of battle,

this song is theirs,

and it's theirs alone.

You see, Christian,

there's a special joy for you,

a unique song for you,

because you have fought the good fight.

A song that only you will sing,

a joy that only you will know,

together with those who have fought by your side.

And of course,

it's a song that we can sing right now.

This joy that's being described here,

this song,

isn't only for a future day,

it's flowing down the slopes of Zion

and into our ears even now.

From what we've seen from Revelation,

how might we trace out the contours of this new song?

The crucified lamb has conquered.

Sin and death have been defeated.

My sin, though great,

has been forgiven.

And even the worst that the dragon throws against you

will be turned to your good

because of God's sovereign purpose,

plan, and love for his people.

When the enemy sends his scorching heat

and you think your streams will all be dried up,

God causes that heat to produce clouds.

The clouds grow heavy with rain,

and in season,

God causes the rains to fall,

and they bring you refreshment and joy.

What Satan meant for evil,

God turns to good.

Or when the enemy sends his dark coldness

and you think that all life and light and heat are gone,

God causes the snow to bring,

God causes that cold to bring snow.

And the snow falls gently,

and the landscape that once seemed barren

is now white and beautiful once again.

The new song is the song of the redeemed.

It's a song for all those in Christ.

It's a song of joy for those who persevere.

Christian, do you know something of this song?

The song of joy?

Perhaps you need to spend some time

with an older saint,

one who has faced more trials than you,

and listen to their life and to their story

and learn some of the notes of this song of joy.

But be assured of this,

God will grant you his joy

as you persevere in faith and obedience.

It is not a lifeless or endlessly somber road

that he calls you to walk.

No, God will meet you on the road with joy,

and the strains of the heavenly new song

will come to your ears

and encourage your heart.

So keep up and keep on,

because there's joy for those who persevere.

In the next section of Revelation 14,

John will turn our sights from joy to rest.

Keep up and keep on,

because there is rest for those who persevere.

Let me read verses 6 through 13.

John writes,

Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead

with an eternal gospel

to proclaim to those who dwell on earth,

to every nation and tribe and language and people.

And he said with a loud voice,

Fear God and give him glory,

because the hour of his judgment has come,

and worship him who made heaven and earth,

the sea and the springs of water.

Another angel a second followed,

saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great.

She who made all nations drink the wine

of the passion of her sexual immorality.

And another angel a third followed them,

saying with a loud voice,

If anyone worships the beast or its image

and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,

he also will drink the wine of God's wrath,

poured full strength into the cup of his anger.

And he will be tormented with fire and sulfur

in the presence of the holy angels

and in the presence of the Lamb.

And the smoke of their torment goes up

forever and ever,

and they have no rest,

day or night,

these worshipers of the beast and its image

and whoever receives the mark of its name.

Here is a call for the endurance of the saints,

those who keep the commandments of God

and their faith in Jesus.

And I heard a voice from heaven saying,

Write this,

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.

Blessed indeed, says the Spirit.

That they may rest from their labors,

for their deeds follow them.

You know, when we face hardships or trials

in the Christian life,

it can feel at times like there's simply

no rest and no comfort to be found.

And then, you know, when we get into that place,

kind of spiritually and emotionally,

we can be tempted to look at the world around us

and think that we see there a picture of just the opposite.

You know, we think,

they're not struggling with faith or obedience.

They've cast those things aside

and now they seem at ease.

They seem at rest.

Why not just join them?

Why not just give in?

Life is short.

Am I really supposed to take up a cross

and follow Jesus?

What sort of life is that?

It's easy to get in that place.

But remember the words of Jesus, friends.

What does it profit someone, Jesus once said,

to gain the whole world

and to lose your soul?

Life is short.

There is no doubt about that.

But friends, eternity is very long.

James Joyce in his novel,

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,

describes eternity using this powerful metaphor.

I'm just going to paraphrase it.

You know, he says,

imagine a beach and all those grains of sand.

And then he says,

take those grains of sand

and pile them up as high as you can go.

A thousand, ten thousand,

a hundred thousand miles.

Make a pillar of that sand.

Now picture a bird coming

and taking one grain of that sand

and flying away.

And every year the bird returns.

How many years would it take

for the bird to diminish that pillar of sand?

And Joyce says,

when it gets to the bottom,

eternity's just begun.

Friends, eternity's very long.

And what verse 13 tells us

is that there is a rest to come

for those in the Lord

that far outstrips

any temporal rest or ease

this world might be able to offer.

Whatever rest you feel like you're forgoing now,

oh, friends, it's no sacrifice at all

compared to what waits in eternity.

You know, this rest was written

into the very fabric of creation.

This rest.

God embodied

in the Old Testament instructions

this rest

as he told his people

to keep the Sabbath day

over and over and again.

It was this picture.

This weekly Sabbath rest

was pointing to something

much greater

than a simple temporary pause

and our labor

as necessary as that is.

Right?

This pattern of Sabbath

was pointing to an even greater Sabbath,

a greater rest,

an eternal Sabbath rest.

And this real gift

of this eternal rest,

what is it?

How would we describe it?

Well, friends,

it is to be welcomed

and to be unashamed

in the very presence of God.

You know,

what you and I

were created for,

what the real deepest longing

of our heart is,

is communion with God,

union with Him.

And that's why verse 13

can say something

that sounds, you know,

almost paradoxical to our ears.

Blessed are the dead

who die in the Lord

from now on.

Well, they're blessed

because they're present

with the One who created them.

And in the Lord,

all their sins are forgiven

and they are welcomed

and unafraid.

And there's this wonderful phrase,

they rest from their labors,

but their deeds follow them.

Think about that.

On the one hand,

the day is coming

when we will get to rest

from our labors.

No more striving,

suffering,

persevering.

We will step into

the eternal Sabbath.

The rest of Christ

will be ours forever

forever because He

is our Sabbath rest.

And at the same time,

John says,

our deeds will follow us.

Now, what does that mean?

Well, do you remember

Ephesians 2

where Paul says

that God has saved us

by His grace,

but He's prepared

in advance for us

good works

that we ought to do?

We've been created

by grace

for the works

that God prepared

in advance for us to do.

And what John's

pointing us to here

is that those works

of faith and obedience

that God prepared

in advance for us

to do in the strength

of His grace,

they won't be lost.

They aren't meaningless

or absurd.

God in His infinite grace

will take our imperfect labors

in this life

and sweep them up

into His eternal kingdom

and into the new heavens

and new earth to come.

And friends,

that will be ultimate rest.

To know not just

that your labors

can finally cease,

but that all you've struggled

and strived for

will play a part

in the new world

God is creating.

So don't give up,

brothers and sisters.

Keep up and keep on.

But John here also issues

a warning.

For the Christian,

there is eternal rest

that awaits them.

But for those

who've rejected Christ,

there is eternal unrest.

As the angelic messengers

ring forth in John's vision,

they proclaim the gospel

that Christ died for sinners

and that all who turn to Him

shall be saved.

And then they announce

that Babylon,

the worldly city,

will fall.

And that for those

who have rejected God

in Christ

and who have knowingly

or unknowingly

given their allegiance

to the evil one,

God's judgment will come.

And their eternal state

will be one of conscious,

unending unrest.

The smoke of their torment,

John says,

goes up forever and ever,

and they have no rest

day or night.

What keeps you up at night?

Anxieties?

Fears?

Guilt?

Shame?

Regret?

Friend, to die

and to be without Christ,

without His shed blood

forgiving your sins,

to be separated

once and for all

from the presence of God,

what will be left for us?

There will be no rest,

John says.

Having spent your whole life

refusing God's mercy,

the time will come

when God says,

once and for all,

thy will be done.

And when God removes

His mercy,

all that remains

will be the undiluted

opposition of God

to sin.

The wine of God's wrath

poured full strength

into the cup of His anger.

In the ancient world,

when they served wine

at a party,

they would often dilute it

with water

to kind of make it go

a little further

and to take the strength down.

The image here is of a cup

utterly unmixed,

utterly undiluted,

handed to drink.

This is what you've wanted,

and now in judgment,

it is what you receive.

The scriptures teach

quite clearly and terribly

that for those who refuse

the gospel of Jesus Christ,

the only future for them

is conscious,

eternal,

and horrible.

Many have questioned

whether we can believe

such a thing.

Doesn't this kind of seem

a little unfair of God,

we ask?

How could eternal punishment

be a just sentence

for finite human rejection

of God, right?

We've only, like,

rejected God

for a finite number of years.

How can an infinite punishment

be at all just?

But the problem, friends,

is that we're thinking

about things in that way.

When we frame things that way,

we're thinking about things

in a very human-centered way,

not in a God-centered way.

You see, God is infinitely beautiful,

good, and merciful.

And to sin against

an infinitely worthy object

justly requires

an infinite sentence.

You know, if I visited your home

and kind of maybe intentionally

sort of broke one of your mugs,

you know,

it's like,

you know,

I don't like the chiefs,

you know, whatever.

What would the penalty be?

Like,

five, ten bucks,

you know?

Maybe you had to order it

on the internet

so it's like,

twenty,

because they're shipping.

But what if I broke

the heirloom vase

in your china cupboard,

the one that's been passed down

in your family

for generations

that's, like,

not replaceable?

Like, what would the penalty

be then?

Thousands of dollars?

Tens of thousands of dollars?

You see,

it's the object of the offense

that determines

the kind of weight

and justice of the punishment,

right?

But what if it wasn't

a mug or a vase,

right?

What if I harmed your spouse

or your child?

What would be the cost then?

Can you even put

a dollar amount to that?

Would a million dollars

even begin to repay

what I've done?

And now,

what about the infinitely

worthy God

who made you

and the world

and everything in it,

who keeps you

and everything beautiful

in this creation

existing every single second?

What if I live

not just one day,

but every day

rejecting Him,

ignoring Him,

dishonoring Him,

using His creation

for my own ends

to His dishonor,

rebelling against Him?

sin.

Sin against the eternal God

justly demands

an eternal punishment.

And that's why

the first angel

flies forth

proclaiming

the eternal gospel.

There's only one

who could pay

the eternal sentence

of sin.

Who is worthy enough

to pay the penalty

not just for one sinner,

but for every sinner

who repents and believes?

Who could possibly pay

that infinite mountain,

that pillar

of infinite sand

that we've accumulated

because of our rejection

of God?

It's obvious, right?

Only God

is worthy to pay

that penalty.

Only if God

were to descend

into the darkness

of wrath and sin,

only if God

were to experience

the terrible unrest

of sin's penalty,

only then

could we ever hope

to be saved,

only if God chose

to do that

in our place.

And friends,

that

is

exactly

the gospel,

the good news.

In Jesus Christ,

God took

human flesh

to live

and to die

to pay

that horrible

sentence.

On the cross,

Jesus descended

into the depths

of wrath

to pay sin's

awful,

infinite cost.

And on the cross,

do you know

what Jesus said?

It's finished.

The infinite cost

has been paid

because the infinite

God became finite

and died for you.

And now the offer

comes forth.

Will you receive

that gift

or will you continue

to push it away

to your own demise?

Friends,

there is eternal rest

for all who trust

in Christ.

And he says

to all of us today,

come to me,

all you who are weary

and heavy burdened,

and I will give you rest.

He's the only one

who can do it.

He's the only one

who can give you

that rest.

You're not going

to get it

from church attendance,

although church attendance

is good.

You're not going

to get it

from trying to be

a good moral person,

although we need

more of those around,

right?

And you're not going

to get it

from trying to be

a more spiritual

or religious person.

It's not going

to be external religion

or good moral effort

or spiritual connection

with the divine.

You're not going

to find the rest there.

It's only in Jesus.

Come to me,

he says,

and I will give you rest.

Have you stopped

trying to rest

in your own record

and your own efforts

and your own

supposed goodness?

Have you stopped

resting in those things?

And have you rested

in him?

That's the invitation

for all of us today.

And if you do rest

in him,

then this is the promise

for you,

that there is eternal

rest for you

now and in the age

to come.

So don't give up

and don't give in.

Well, let's look finally

at the last section

of chapter 14.

John has held up

for us joy and rest,

and lastly,

he's going to point us

to justice.

Keep up and keep on

because there is justice

for those who persevere.

Let me read

verses 14 through 20.

Then I looked,

and behold,

a white cloud

and seated on the cloud

one like a son of man

with a golden crown

on his head

and a sharp sickle

in his hand.

And another angel

came out of the temple

calling with a loud voice

to him who sat on the cloud,

Put in your sickle

and reap,

for the hour to reap

has come,

for the harvest

of the earth

is fully ripe.

So he who sat

on the cloud

swung his sickle

across the earth

and the earth

was reaped.

Then another angel

came out of the temple

in heaven,

and he too

had a sharp sickle.

And another angel

came out from the altar,

the angel who has authority

over the fire,

and he called

with a loud voice

to the one

who had the sharp sickle,

Put in your sickle

and gather the clusters

from the vine

of the earth,

for its grapes are ripe.

So the angel

swung his sickle

across the earth

and gathered

the grape harvest

of the earth

and threw it

into the great winepress

of the wrath of God.

And the winepress

was trodden

outside the city

and blood flowed

from the winepress

as high as a horse's bridle

for 1,600 stadia.

Now we've seen

that Revelation

presents the return

of Christ

multiple times

throughout the book

and from multiple perspectives.

And here's another

one of those pictures

of Christ,

the Son of Man,

the one on the cloud,

his return in glory

to save and to judge

at the end of history.

And here the image

is a harvest, right?

And actually,

there's two harvests here.

In the first harvest,

the Son of Man,

that is Jesus,

gathers the ripe grain

into his barn, right?

And I think this is

a picture of Jesus

gathering his people

into his presence

at the end of the age.

And it's a comforting picture.

Harvests were times

of rejoicing

and celebration

and that day

will be one of great joy

as Christ comes

and gathers us

to himself.

But there's a second harvest

in verses 17 through 20.

And this image

strikes us at first

as very troubling.

What's pictured

is a grape harvest

and the grapes

are gathered

and then crushed

in a winepress.

But we're told

that this winepress

is the wrath of God.

That is God's

ultimate rejection

of evil.

And what flows

from the winepress

is a shocking scene.

1600 stadia

was about 200 miles,

give or take.

And that's approximately

the length

of the Old Testament,

the length of the

Old Testament land

of Israel, right?

And in the symbolic

language of Revelation,

what we're meant

to take away,

I think,

is that this is a picture

of complete

worldwide judgment.

Now what are we meant

to take away

from this picture?

Well, we've seen

many times in Revelation

that the coming judgment

is meant to be

a warning.

It's a warning

calling us

to turn to God

and receive

his forgiveness.

forgiveness.

But judgment

and justice

is also meant

to be a comfort.

A comfort

not for the comfortable,

not for the powerful,

not for the emperor

and his wicked,

self-exalting designs.

But justice

is meant to be

a comfort

for the powerless

and for the comfortless,

for the downtrodden,

for the weak,

for the oppressed,

for the poor.

For the Christians

in the first century

and in the 21st century

who are being unjustly

persecuted,

imprisoned,

killed,

the coming justice

of God

is good news

because it means

one day

evil will end.

Wickedness will end.

Injustice and oppression

will end.

It will all be gathered

into the winepress

of God

and crushed

no more

to threaten

his people

or his world

anymore.

And God's judgment

will be perfect.

You know,

our system of justice

is far from perfect,

right?

Mistakes are made.

Lawyers and judges

can be corrupt.

Humans cannot possibly

judge perfectly.

But God can

and God will.

On that day,

no one will question

the rightness

of his judgment.

It will be seen

as perfect justice.

And that means

oppression will cease

and wars will cease

and hunger

and violence

will be no more.

They will go

into the winepress

of his wrath

never to return.

Yes,

it's a sobering picture,

but for those

who are crushed

under the weight

of evil

and sin

and oppression,

it's a picture

of hope

that it will not last.

Do you see how

this message

of God's coming justice,

this harvest,

is meant to help

suffering Christians

persevere in faith

and obedience?

Evil and wrong

won't have the last word.

The tyrants

and the bullies

that prey on the weak

will come to an end.

So John is saying,

keep up and keep on.

Though it looks like

evil is winning.

Though it looks like

every effort

to stand up

for love

and forgiveness

and peace,

even though that looks

like a lost cause.

Though it seems like

living in righteousness

and praying for justice

are a dead end.

When you're so tempted

to pick up

the means

that this world

holds forth

as the means

to an end.

Don't do it.

Don't give up.

The seeds

that you are sowing now,

though they seem

like a mustard seed,

they will grow,

they will take root,

and the harvest

will come.

Evil and death

and all the world systems

that prop them up

will be crushed

never again to rise.

And the mustard seeds

of faith

and hope

and love

will be seen

to be the real

lasting fruit.

And the Son of Man

will gather it

to Himself

and His kingdom

will be forever.

And the new heavens

and the new earth

will be a garden

and a city

where righteousness

dwells forever.

True and lasting justice

is coming, saints.

Persevere in faith.

Persevere in obedience.

Don't give up.

Let's pray.

Amen.

Father, we ask

that you would,

by your Holy Spirit,

work into our hearts

a perseverance

born

from the deep joy

that we have in you,

from the rest

that you promise us,

and from the great justice

that will come.

Lord, help us to run

this race with endurance,

looking to Jesus,

the author and finisher

of our faith.

In His name we pray.

Amen.