The Grapes of Wrath - Revelation 14:9-20

And we probably just cover verses nine through 11 tonight

since we're running up on time here.

Just some really encouraging verses.

So Revelation 14 verses nine through 11.

And another angel, a third, followed them

saying with a loud voice,

if anyone worships the beast and 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 the beast on its name.

Of its name.

So as you can see, just all around,

super encouraging verses here, light, easy reading tonight.

There's actually a really important connection

I want you to notice here.

It connects back to verse eight.

If you look back at verse eight, you'll remember,

it says of Babylon that she made the nations drink the wine

of the passion of her sexual immorality.

And if you remember last week, I told you that word passion

is not a great translation.

The word there is actually wrath.

And so in the same way Babylon made the nations drink

the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality,

the Bible is saying here in verse 10,

that all those who indulge in wickedness

and they satiate themselves with immorality

are drinking future wrath upon themselves.

They are getting just a taste of the wrath that is to come.

This is something that Paul also warned about

in Romans chapter two, verses four through five.

This is what Paul said.

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness

and forbearance and patience,

not knowing that God's kindness is meant

to lead you to repentance.

But because of your hard and impenitent heart,

you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath

when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

So what Paul is saying there is that people often mistake

God's kindness and forbearance as permission.

They engage in evil and they engage in wickedness

and they rebel against God, but then nothing happens.

God doesn't smite them right then and there.

And so they think to themselves,

okay, either there is no God or else,

he must really not care about sin that much.

If I'm getting to do all these things

that his word says not to do, his word says he hates,

and I'm doing them and there's no repercussions now,

he must be okay with it.

Sin must not be that big of a deal.

And what they don't understand is that God's patience now,

his kindness now is meant to lead them to repentance.

They're supposed to see how kind God is, how good he is,

and they're supposed to leave their sin and come to him.

But instead, they continue in their sin.

And so the Bible says they are storing up wrath for themselves.

I mean, this is truly terrifying

when you start thinking about it here.

I mean, if you notice the words in verse 10,

it says he also will drink the wine of God's wrath.

Listen, poured full strength into the cup of his anger.

Can we just think about that for a second?

The wrath of God poured full strength into the cup of his anger.

There are people today who can read that and not even shudder,

not feel anything at all.

They hear about wrath to come and they think nothing of it.

But here's what I know about God's wrath.

When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane and he was praying,

he said, Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.

What was the cup?

It was the cup of God's anger.

Just as you read about here, the wrath of God poured full strength

into this cup.

And Jesus, God in the flesh, thought about drinking that cup.

And he said, Father, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me.

And then what did he start to do after that?

He started sweating.

What?

Blood.

We're reading this and nothing's happening to us.

Jesus thought about drinking that cup

and he started sweating blood.

That is how terrifying the wrath of God

is that it calls the Savior to sweat drops of blood.

And here's what I know about me.

And here's what I know about you.

And here's what I know about everybody else in this world.

We're not Jesus.

Right?

Jesus was going to drink that cup dry.

And by the power of God, he was going to rise again

on the third day.

We would never even make a dent in that cup.

And yet we downplay the wrath of God.

We make light of the wrath of God.

And so I think as believers, one of the things

that we need to understand here is that God is storing up

this wrath now.

This wrath is being poured into that cup.

It is filling that cup up.

And one day, all those who refuse to repent of their sins

and trust in Christ, they are going to have to drink that cup.

And it is the responsibility of Christians

to go and warn everybody of the wrath to come.

We are to tell people to flee the wrath to come,

to turn from their sins and to turn to Christ,

to be hidden in Him.

I think it was a Charles Spurgeon who said this.

He said, if sinners be damned, at least let them leap to hell

over our dead bodies.

And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped

around their knees imploring them to stay.

If hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth

of our exertions.

And let not one go unworn and unprayed for.

That's the heart of a Christian.

That describes the responsibility of the church.

That is what we are supposed to be doing.

But how often are we just like, well, let them go.

They're sinners.

I don't even agree with what they're doing anyways.

I hate the things they're doing.

They deserve what's coming to them.

Let them go.

When the Bible says that we're to go and tell them to turn,

to turn from their sins, turned to Christ to warn them

that this wrath is real and it is coming.

And one day they will have to drink that cup dry.

And he mentions hell here, this eternal torment.

And so I just want to, probably as we close,

given the time, I just want to have us consider hell

for a moment because there's a lot of confusion about it

today.

There's a very popular view today

and it's becoming even more popular.

It recently just split a church in Louisville, Kentucky

over this one issue.

And there's a view of hell that's called annihilationism.

Anybody ever heard of this view?

Couple people?

OK.

So annihilationism, this view claims

that God is not going to send people to hell

for all of eternity.

This view claims that God is going to send people to hell

for a time.

And then after that time is done,

God will basically burn them up completely, annihilate them

so that that person is no longer in existence anymore.

He will destroy the soul, the mind, the body, everything

will be gone.

And that person will not have to be in hell any longer.

They like this view because they believe it's kinder.

They said it would be more merciful for God

if he were to just send people to hell for a time

and then actually end their suffering.

And there are just a few problems with this view.

The main problem is the Bible.

If you read the Bible, when the Bible speaks about hell,

it always speaks about hell as a place of eternal judgment.

I mean, you see that here even in these verses.

Notice what it says.

It says the smoke of their torment

goes up forever and ever, meaning without end.

So how can the smoke of their torment

go up forever and ever if the person eventually ceases to exist

and there is no torment anymore, meaning there's no smoke anymore?

It would mean that this verse cannot be true.

And yet we know God's word is true, as we have already addressed today.

So it's very plain that sinners will suffer the wrath and judgment

of God forever in hell.

But the second problem with this view, and my big issue with it,

besides contradicting the Bible,

is that it undermines and underplays the severity of sin.

And I think we tend to do that as well.

Because people today wonder, well, why does someone

have to go to hell for all of eternity for a few sins?

And I would say, well, it's not a few sins.

Let's be honest with each other.

It's a lifetime of sins.

But even if it were just one,

why would a person have to spend eternity in hell for just one sin?

Now I would like to remind you, the Bible says that God is infinite.

Not only is he infinite, he is eternal.

And so God is above, beyond all things.

He exists forever.

There is no end to God.

He is infinite and he is eternal.

And that means everything about God is infinite, including his holiness.

And what is sin?

Sin is an offense against the holiness of God.

The Bible says when David is confessing against you and you alone,

oh Lord, how by sinned, every sin is a direct offense to God

and his character and his holiness, which are infinite.

And so let me ask you a question.

What would be the appropriate punishment for an infinite offense?

An infinite punishment, right?

The punishment has to fit the crime.

And if the crime is an infinite offense,

the punishment has to be an infinite punishment.

And I want to address one other thing here while we're on the topic of hell,

because it's brought up here in the passage.

It's become increasingly popular today, a misunderstanding about hell.

You'll hear people sometimes describe hell as a separation from God.

Have we heard people say that before?

Hell is being separated from God and it's eternal separation from God.

In fact, that's why some people say hell is so bad.

They say hell is so bad because you are being eternally separated from God.

But did you notice what verse 10 says?

I want you to read it again with me.

It says, 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.

So is it describing hell here?

Yes.

And it says the people in hell are being tormented in the presence of the Lamb.

Now this contradicts one of the major views in our world today.

As we just said, there's this view where people will say,

well, hell is being eternally separated from God.

But I want you to just think a moment about the character of God.

How would it be possible to be eternally separated from God?

We know the three omnis, right?

You've heard the three omnis before in church.

One of the omnis is that God is omnipresent, which means, in purely conversational terms,

that God exists in all places at all times.

So God is everywhere at once.

Every place that exists, God is there at one time.

He's infinite. He's omnipresent.

Do we get that, right?

Is that true?

Is God omnipresent?

Yeah?

Okay, is it true that hell is a place that exists?

Okay, if hell is a place that exists and God is omnipresent,

it would mean, therefore, that God has to be present in hell.

So hell is not eternal separation from God.

That's not what makes hell horrifying.

Hell's pretty horrifying already because of the torment, the fire, the sulfur.

All that stuff is pretty bad.

But the most terrifying part about hell is the fact that God is there and is present there.

And yet, the only attributes of God that people in hell see are His judgment, His anger, and His wrath.

And that's terrifying, is it not?

To think about being in the presence of God, to see Him there, to know that He is watching you,

and to know that He is there without mercy, He is there without grace,

He is there without His love extended towards you, He is there only in His judgment,

and in His wrath, and in His anger.

And that's what makes hell terrifying.

It's not the absence of God.

It's the presence of God.

To see Him there and to know that He offers you no help because He already did,

and you refused it time and time and time again.

The thing that God wants for people now is the thing that they are going to want from God when they are in hell.

And they can see Him but have no help from Him.

And as you see here in verse 11, it says,

As 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.

That's one of the worst parts about hell, is that people in hell have no rest.

I mean, can you imagine?

You know what it's like to be tired.

I mean, dead, dog, tired.

You can't even make it another day.

You're barely staying awake, you're exhausted.

And to be like that for all of eternity, there is no rest.

That's what God's people desire.

We desire rest, and that's what God offers to His people.

We read in Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 1,

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us fear,

lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.

And Hebrews 411 says, let us therefore strive to enter that rest,

so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

The people in hell, they never get to experience this rest.

They have endless suffering, and it's a restless eternal existence that is exhausting.

But I want you to notice verse 13 and how different it is for God's people.

This is actually my favorite verse to read at the graveside of a believer at a funeral service.

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. How good is that?

That's why it's my favorite verse to read at a graveside,

because when we're laying a believer to rest,

we're saying that they actually are entering into that rest.

It's not just a colloquial phrase that we use.

It's become part of the culture that phrasing.

But what we're doing is we're actually laying them to rest.

They are entering into the rest of God.

They are no longer working.

They're no longer striving.

They're no longer fighting against sin and temptation.

They're no longer wrestling with the cares of this world and all that we have to deal with.

They finally get to rest from all of their labors

and enter into the peace, the shalom of God,

which is great, is so good.

And it's a contrast to the existence of those in hell who have no rest.

But I do want us to understand these verses correctly,

because I want you to notice it does say there that their works follow them.

Did you notice it said that their works follow them?

And there are a lot of different views on this.

You end up a lot of different denominations in the Catholic Church and things like that.

When it comes to this issue, there are more than one way to fall off a horse.

Some people fall off the horse this way and it's legalism.

And they're the type of people who say,

well, your works contribute to your salvation.

You need to work in order to be saved.

You see this in the Catholic Church.

You see it with Jehovah's Witnesses.

I mean, I can remember witnessing two Jehovah's Witnesses

and I asked them, hey, what role do works play in our salvation?

And they said, well, Jesus died on the cross

and that basically put you at zero.

And now it's up to you to get into the positive.

And I'm like, no, what in the world is that?

I'm like, that's a complete misunderstanding of the gospel.

Jesus is sufficient. Jesus alone.

It's not Jesus plus your church attendance.

It's not Jesus plus your good works.

It's not Jesus plus.

It's Jesus alone is salvation.

But there are people who believe that very thought,

that basically Jesus, he got us out of the negative,

but it's up to you to get yourself in the positive.

And so you need to work hard in order to earn God's love,

to merit God's favor, to receive rewards,

all this kind of stuff.

That's one way you can go wrong.

There is another way though.

So you fall off the horse this way.

That's legalism.

You fall off the horse this way.

It's something called antinomianism.

Okay, I know that's a big word.

Right, Michael, don't make that face, Mick.

Antinomianism.

It's gonna make its way into the book.

Basically, that just means without law.

It's from the Greek, anti-nomos.

So the people on antinomianism basically say,

hey, because Jesus died for our sins,

you don't have to do anything.

Right?

So they're saying you don't have to do anything good.

You don't have to have any works.

You don't have to have any obedience.

I know people who call themselves Christians who say,

you do not have to confess your sins.

You do not have to repent of your sins.

You don't even have to ask God for forgiveness.

All you have to do is say, thank you, Jesus,

that you did what you did.

And I'm gonna live my life however I want to,

because there are no consequences now.

Do you see how you can overcorrect?

Right?

Like, oh, I don't wanna go legalism.

You overcorrect.

You say, I can just do whatever I want, right?

There are two ways to fall off that horse.

And I want you to understand that the works are important,

and they are gonna follow us,

but we have to understand what role do they play

in the final judgment?

And the Bible says that our works in the final judgment

are going to be the assessment of our life

and the evidence of whether or not we have true faith.

Right?

So your works do not make you saved,

but they are the evidence that you are saved.

Does that make sense to everyone?

So God is going to look at all that we've done

in the flesh in our lives,

and he is going to say, based on this body of evidence,

is this in alignment with what a true Christian actually is?

It actually reminded me of this video I saw recently,

and it was this video where they had five people,

and the goal was you had to identify the imposter, right?

So it was four military people,

and one of them was not a military person.

There was five people total,

four were actually military,

one was pretending to be military.

And so they were gonna put people through a series of tests,

and you're gonna run obstacle courses,

you're gonna be on the gun range,

you had to answer military trivia,

you even got interrogated by the other people,

and they were gonna ask you questions

that only military people would know.

And at the end of the goal, the end of the test,

your goal was to judge based on people's works

and how they did, can you identify the imposter?

And it was pretty interesting,

and I thought that's a pretty good example

of what it's gonna look like at the final judgment, right?

Because there are a lot of people

who are like that imposter

who are playing the part of a Christian, right?

They're going to church on Sunday,

they're dressing up nice and neat, Sunday best.

They're participating in all sorts of religious activities,

they're serving in the church,

they're doing all sorts of stuff.

They are playing the part really well,

and they might have everyone else in the world deceived,

but God knows who the true believers are.

The Bible says God knows His own.

And so at the end of our lives,

when we stand before God in judgment,

He's going to look at all of our works,

and He's gonna say, based on all of this,

it is evident that you are truly saved.

He's gonna look at other people and say,

hey, based on all this,

it's pretty evident that you're not saved.

That's the role works play.

They give evidence of true faith.

And so your works, listen to me church,

your works cannot save you.

They are good, you're meant to have good works,

you're meant to do good things for God,

you're meant to be obedient to God.

They cannot save you.

And you also do not have a license to sin

because Jesus died on the cross.

May Paul address this in Romans as well?

Do you all remember where Paul says,

what then shall we say?

We're sin abounded, grace abounded all the more.

So should we just keep on sinning

so that grace would abound?

And he says, no, absolutely not.

That should be evident to everybody.

Of course you should not just keep on sinning

because God is abounding in grace.

That would be a disgrace to him.

And if you have that kind of heart that says,

well, I just want to be able to sin and do whatever I want

because God's gonna forgive me anyways,

that's evident that you're not actually right with God.

It's evident that you need to be reminded

of the severity of sin.

You need to go back to the verses we've already read

where it says there is coming a day

where that cup is already being filled up

with the anger of God and the wrath of God.

And one day you're gonna have to drink that.

We need to be reminded that God hates sin.

Even if our world loves it,

even if our world promotes it,

even if our world agrees with it,

God hates sin.

And if you're a Christian, you should hate sin as well.

You should warn people about the sin in their lives

and you should warn people about the wrath that is to come.

Speaking of wrath, the children are here.

It's actually just Monica's kids.

All right, we'll conclude it.