The Testimony of Three Angels | Revelation 14:6-11 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Revelation Bible Study Series)

In Acts chapter 14, verses 16 and 17, the apostle Paul stood

Acts 14:16

before a group of people in a town called Lystra, and he was

conveying to this group of people who are evidently

idolaters, that the true God throughout every generation has

never, ever left himself without a witness.

Even Gentiles who, unlike the nation of Israel, received

direct divine revelation. We're not without evidence of

God. Paul goes on to explain that God

has made himself known through His providential and gracious

provision. He he sent rain, and he gave you

fruitful seasons and abundant crops and harvest, and even

satisfied the hearts of men and women with joy and gladness.

In other words, Paul is communicating by the Spirit that

in every generation God in some measure has revealed himself to

all nations. And as we continue to explore

what God has made known about the final chapter of human

history, there are many new things that we have discovered.

But one thing remains unchanged that God witnesses to the

nation's that God will still, even in that era, make Himself

so clearly known. The only difference is as the

world draws nearer and nearer to its end, God's voice will become

louder and louder. And one of the ways this will

occur is through ready for this unusual angelic activity.

This is what John sees next in the chapter that we started

together in Revelation 14 recently, after getting a

glimpse of Christ standing victorious with the redeemed on

Mount Zion shortly after the the brief reign of the Antichrist.

There's something else that he is going to see extraordinary

events during the Tribulation period.

And in this new passage, we're going to learn that at some

point there will be 3 angels dispatched from heaven, each

carrying a unique message for the world.

And we're going to look at these things more closely today.

And if you want a summary of what we're going to examine this

afternoon, it is this, the testimony of three angels, the

testimony of three angels, particularly in the last days.

Let's read about it in Revelation 14, starting in verse

6. 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 1/3 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 worshippers of the beast and its image, and whoever

receives the mark of its name. Let's pray.

Lord, we know that the testimony of these angels are Your words,

and we ask that You would help us understand them.

And though we know that we are looking into the future, we pray

that we would hear Your voice for today.

Give us Your guidance, Lord, through these passages.

Give us an attentive mind and a receptive heart.

We pray that Your word would build us up and that it would

destroy all lies, all deceptions, all dormant sins,

all these things that seek to captivate us and draw us away

from You. We pray that You would conquer

our hearts afresh this afternoon.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

You know, as I read this passage repeatedly earlier this week,

there were two main questions that arose in my mind that I had

to answer. Before looking at these things

in greater detail, the first question that came to me is

simply this. Are these angels that we just

read about? Are they to be taken literally?

Are they real angelic agents? Are they actual messengers from

heaven? And the reason why I say that is

because with a lot of revelation, there are many who

want to see this as symbolic. And there are strange ideas of

what these angels represent, Everything from printed bibles

to satellites in the sky to a picture of believers throughout

the ages. But we shouldn't find it so

difficult to see these as actual.

Angels, should we? Because this is not the first

time that we see something similar like this in the New

Testament. May I remind you who announced

the good news of the birth of the Messiah to a bunch of

shepherds on a quiet night? What did Luke tell us in Luke

Luke 2:13

chapter 2 verse 13? It was an Angel with a multitude

of hosts in heaven praising God. Now listen, if you're willing to

say that these angels in Revelation 14 are symbolic, are

you willing to say the same about Luke chapter 2?

Luke 2 · chapter mention

I doubt it. So if you're willing to take the

Angel and a heavenly choir visiting a group of shepherds

literally, then why would you be hesitant to see these angels as

actual angels? And if we're willing to see

these angels as literal angels, which we should, then we can

then answer the second question. When will this celestial set of

proclamations happen? And though we don't have the

exact moment we are granted the general timeline, how, we'll

look carefully at the words of the warning of the third Angel.

Again, look at verse 9 of Revelation 14.

And another Angel 1/3 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. That's quite telling, isn't it?

Because of this warning determines the context of it.

What do we see here that clearly for the Angel to say this means

that the Antichrist marking system is already in operation.

And if we can accept that, then we know, according to Revelation

13, that the peak of the Antichrist control, his fiercest

control, will happen in the last 3 1/2 years before Christ's

return. And so we know that these angels

making their appearance, racing through the skies to make this

very important announcement, few announcements will occur in the

latter portion of the Tribulation period, namely the

Great Tribulation just before, shortly before Christ comes

back. But just because they are saying

these things in the future, just because this is predictive,

doesn't mean that they can't speak to us now.

In fact, they do, and I want to simply divide our thoughts here

with these distinct messages and consider what they have to say

about the world and what they have to say about us as

followers of Christ. So let's consider message number

one from Angel number one. What will be said to alarm the

world before the last set of judgments will be poured out and

Christ cracks open the sky and makes his way toward the earth.

It's. Not surprising.

The first message is the gospel. It shouldn't surprise us that

the first thing that is heralded to those who dwell on earth is

the eternal gospel. And look at that.

The Spirit of God is so precise. He didn't just say gospel, He

said eternal gospel. And that means more than just

the fact that this gospel is the means to eternal life.

It speaks about how it is the ageless message.

There is no room for alternative interpretations of what this

gospel can be. There is no room for any other

ideas. For it to be the eternal gospel

means it's the gospel that we've always known about.

It's the gospel that has been prepared from eternity past.

It's the gospel that the prophets of old have prophesied

about. It's the gospels that the

apostles spread to the nation's. It's the gospel, the same gospel

that is still saving souls today.

It's that very same gospel. And what moves me about that

very important detail is that even in the last hour of all

things, the Gospel is still the only hope for humanity.

That message has an altered, it hasn't diluted.

It's still the same saving message.

It's the eternal gospel. In fact, the ministry of this

Angel at this time could very well be the fulfillment of one

of the things Jesus said would happen before He returned.

Do you remember what he said on the Olivet Discourse in Matthew

Matthew 24:14

24, verse 14? He promised in Matthew 2414.

And this gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout

the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end

will come. So it is true that up to this

point we've seen the ministry of the 144,000 who very likely were

preachers. And we know that there will be

believers here during this time preaching.

And we know that in Revelation 11, there are two witnesses in

Jerusalem with great power preaching the truth, preaching

repentance. But on top of all of that, you

have an Angel who's suspended in the sky, flying through the

skies and amplifying the gospel, ensuring that not one part of

the world, not one nation, not one tribe, not one hidden clan

would miss it. This is God's grace.

This is his incredible mercy to a very undeserving generation

who have ignored much of his warnings and his pleas.

And yet still 1 Angel is sent from heaven to declare this

gospel, which is an exception because we know that in this age

that privilege has been given to who?

Believers. Angels don't preach the gospel.

We preach the gospel. Even when the Angel visited

Cornelius, I've always wondered why set up a whole meeting with

Cornelius and fetch for Peter and give Peter a vision and have

them meet together in Cornelius's home.

I mean, you already made it there to Cornelius's house.

Why don't you just tell him the gospel, right?

Because that honor has been given to us.

So let's not waste it. Let's not hide it.

But this is a different era. This is a different time.

This isn't surprising. The gospel is the first message.

But what may surprise us is the content of the message.

Supposing that we didn't read these verses, this is just me

telling you upfront, without any further information, that there

will be an Angel preaching the eternal gospel to this last

generation. What would you think he would

say? Confess with your mouth that

Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him

from the dead. What about there is no other

name given among men, no other name under heaven given among

men by which we must be saved. There is salvation and no one

else. Would you think that the Angel

would say something like that? Those are not wrong.

Those are indeed messages that pertain to the gospel.

But look again at verse 15, what he says.

Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment

has come, and worship Him. Fear God, Eternal gospel.

How did these true 2 truths relate?

Well to some they don't and that has LED some to actually say

because of this message, the gospel, this angels preaching

must mean something different than how.

The New Testament generally summarizes it, but remember,

this is the eternal gospel that's being explained here,

which tells us something very, very important about the good

news of Jesus Christ. Fearing God is the appropriate

response to it. There's a lot of misconception

about the fear of God, especially among Christians.

And as many of you already know, one of my favorite passages to

offer clarification is Psalm 33, verse 8.

Psalms 33:8

In that verse we read here, let all the earth fear the Lord.

Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

Poetry was different in that time, and we know here that this

is Hebrew parallelism at work. What's Hebrew parallelism?

Well, one way it works is when one line is given, the second

one either expounds on that first thought or clarifies it,

or repeats it with different words.

And that's what's happening here.

Let all the earth fear the Lord. And then the second line says

that all the inhabitants of the world which mirrors let all the

earth. Stand in awe of him, which is

the same as fearing the Lord. Fearing the Lord is being in awe

of the Lord. An awe is a complex emotion.

It can mean different things, but it definitely doesn't imply

that the fear God means to be an absolute slavish dread of Him.

That would cause a lot more problems in our Bibles.

And our understanding of how to worship and relate to God.

But if it means to be in awe of Him, then it makes complete

sense. Now you might still be

wondering, but hold on. I thought the fear of God is

more of like an Old Testament Mosaic kind of emphasis.

But I want to remind you that this Angel tells us that it's

the right response to the gospel.

In fact, this is something that the New Testament confirms

elsewhere. Turn with me to First Peter and

look at these verses with me in chapter 1, First Peter.

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

Chapter 1 Peter is obviously addressing Christians.

And notice what he says in verse 17 down through verse 19, Peter

says. And if you call on him as

Father, who judges impartially according to each one's deeds,

conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your

exile, knowing that you were ransom from the feudal ways

inherited from your father's, not with perishable things such

as silver. Or gold, but with the precious

blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

This is a fascination to me. This is staggering to me because

in between the glorious truths of calling God as Father in

verse 17 and being ransomed with the precious blood of Christ in

verse 19, you have the charge for us to fear God throughout

our pilgrimage on earth. Calling God his Father, being

ransomed by the precious blood of Christ, and in between, that

is what fear God. Well, again, you might run into

some issues that fear means to cower away from God, but if it

means to stand in awe of Him, then it makes sense.

I get to call this holy godfather.

That's awesome. I've been ransomed.

My soul has been paid for. Not with things like silver and

gold. But with the blood.

Of the Son of God, He's worthy of my awe.

So even in this we see that there are gospel realities

attached to the response of standing in awe of God, fearing

God. And that teaches us many things.

And one of the things that tells me that if someone professes

Christ but lacks reverence is void of seriousness, does not

even have a hint of majesty in their worship or on how they

relate to the Lord, I question if they've really tasted the

gospel. Professing Christians who are

overly casual make me nervous because fearing God is the

appropriate attitude that one will possess and grow in if they

really understand the gospel. You can't be trivial with this

gospel. You don't become buddy buddy

with Jesus because of this gospel.

You fear him, you Revere him. Yes, you embrace him as the

lover of your soul. But oh, he is still king.

He is still holy. And as we're about to find out,

even the Lamb supervises Hell. And so we consider these things

what the Angel is saying. Hopefully is becoming more clear

to us, but you may be wondering why this emphasis?

Why couldn't the Angel have highlighted a different

component of our faith? Why?

Why not come with a different angle concerning the gospel?

Well, when you factor in the state of the world, you realize

that this Angel is actually being very strategic with his

message. What's happening in the world at

this point? The Antichrist is ruling and

reigning. And because of that, you have

the masses standing in awe of him, glorifying him, adoring

him. And so this celestial being now

comes and he trumpets this message.

Fear God. Fear God.

Not this man, not this deceiver, not this false savior, fear God,

glorify him, worship him. And notice he highlights also

that God is the creator of all things.

This man didn't do anything even close to that.

So the problem with the nations at this point is not legalism.

The nations are not struggling with self righteousness here.

They're not drowning in their shame here.

What's their problem? Idolatry.

And it's being confronted with this message, misdirected

adoration. That's the issue that this

gospel presentation is pressing on, but it's still relevant for

us today. Listen, as a gospel people, you

and I are called to be God fears.

We're called to be God fears. And I want to exhort you before

we move on with this one thought from Proverbs 23, verse 17.

Proverbs 23:17

Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the

Lord all the day. I love that last part all the

day. Is it possible to fear God some

part of the day? I think so, depending on your

environment, like in this place right now, it's much easier to

stand in awe of God here with the right music and a sermon and

maybe even a building and its aesthetics may give us that

impression that we're in a holy space.

But you know what this charge says?

Fear God all the day. Not just on Sunday afternoon,

not just on Wednesday night, not just not just on Friday evening,

all the day. When your car, fear God.

When you're, when you're at work, fear God.

When you go on vacation, fear God.

Stand in awe of God always. And I can assure you this if you

and I fear God all the day. It's much more difficult to sin.

Throughout the day, so stand in constant awareness of the

majesty of God, the beauty of God, the holiness of God.

And the way you do that is you coat your mind with the

scriptures. You spend time with him, you

pray without ceasing, you include him in your plans and

your worries. Let him be in the forefront of

your thinking, your meditation. Fear God all the day.

I love Joseph in that story when he's alone with his boss's wife.

Nobody's insight. They could have gotten away with

it. But you know what?

Joseph had had it with a very difficult history and past.

He had an awareness that God is in this place.

How can I do this great evil against?

God, I wonder how Potiphar's wife reacted to that.

I would love to have gotten a picture of her face.

No, no, no, it may be you and me here.

But listen, I know God is here actually.

So we may get away with it with your husband, we may get away

with it from the employees, but God sees it all.

That's a man who fears God. That's a man who fears God all

the day. May we be the same.

So the first message that the first Angel preaches is the

eternal gospel. But the emphasis here is fearing

God, which teaches me that if I really know the gospel, there's

going to be in seed form this fear of God, and that's going to

grow. The more I know my God, the more

I understand the depths of the gospel.

Message #2 from Angel #2 Look back again in Revelation 14 we

go from the eternal Gospel. To the world will pass away.

That's the second message. Look again at verse 7 and verse

8. Verse 8.

Says another Angel. A second followed, saying

fallen. Fallen is Babylon the great shoe

made all nations drink the wine of passion of her sexual

immorality. Babylon.

Why is Babylon, this ancient capital city of a former world

empire, being mentioned here? Interestingly, this is not the

only time it appears in the Book of Revelation.

This is the first time. It's going to show up a total of

6 times in this book. And so we're considering this

Babylon, and we're going to see this in greater detail,

especially in chapters 17 and 18, where chapters 18 details

the destruction of this Babylon. Here's how we make sense of this

Babylon, according to the Bible, is more than just a historical

city. It is actually a symbol of a

worldly system that opposes God, that rebels against God, that

hates God. It is often a picture of a

center of idolatry that promotes hostility against God's Word,

His will, and His people. And that is something that is

acknowledged in this way elsewhere in the New Testament,

primarily with Peter. Turn in your Bibles to first

Peter in chapter 5 and look at how he ends this letter to his

audience. First Peter 5 verse 13.

1 Peter 5:13

Peter says as he is wrapping things up, she who is at

Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings.

And so does Mark, my son Babylon.

Some are satisfied to say that Peter's speaking about literal

Babylon here, but it's more likely that he's using coded

language to his audience. Describe a location of a

particular St. or a church that is sending their greetings.

This audience that Peter's writing to is aware of she who

is at Babylon. So you have to understand that

there was persecution in Peters day and even their letters could

have been confiscated by the government.

And so in order to protect those especially who are under

persecution, he would use cryptic language to identify

them. And that seems to be what's

happening here. But what's more important is

that this proves that this Babylonian analogy was common to

the early church, and it's no different with John in

Revelation. Why is John applying Babylon

here in Revelation chapter 14? Because he wants to use it to

Revelation 14 · chapter mention

describe the empire of the Antichrist.

That the system the Antichrist has built in these final hours

carries the same defiant spirit that we see in Genesis 10 with

Nimrod who founded Babel and the Tower of Babel in Genesis

Genesis 11 · chapter mention

Chapter 11. As though to say that what we

find here at the final moments is the culminating expression of

this Babylonian spirit. One of the main features of

Babylon in the Bible is that it seeks to create a one world

government and unified false worship.

Again, think about the Tower of Babel.

You have the collective world coming together to build this

edifice, to make a declaration that we want to have governance

apart from God. That's what that was.

Come, let us make a name for ourselves.

And you Fast forward and you go to Daniel, and you realize that

Babylon is still in existence and it's at its strongest point

ever. Nebuchadnezzar is the king, and

what does he do? He gets a dream of succession of

kingdoms. He's the first one, and he's to

be replaced. And that wants to be replaced,

and that bothers Nebuchadnezzar. And So what does he do?

Well, if I'm the gold part of that statue and I'm only part of

it, I'm going to make a golden statue of myself saying I'm not

going nowhere. No kingdom's going to replace me

from head to toe. If this statue symbolizes the

timeline of history, then Babylon is going to rule and

reign forever. Worship this image.

So again, this combination of one world government and unified

false worship. With the Tower of Babel, they

were dispersed by God's power. With Nebuchadnezzar, both he and

Babylon were humbled. Now we come to Revelation, and

Babylon is making a comeback. And it will reach the highest

point of its success. It will achieve what it's always

longed for, global dominance. Babylon is here, John is telling

us. And we're going to learn more

about it because the Revelation, the Book of Revelation, has a

lot to say about it. But what we have learned up to

this point is enough for now. What should grip us, however, is

how we see here that this Angel is speaking about the fall of

Babylon as though it had already taken place.

Did you notice the language? Fallen, Fallen is Babylon the

Great. Well, hold on for a second.

The fall of Babylon doesn't occur until chapter 17, namely

chapter 18. So why is it being spoken of

here in Revelation 14 as a past event?

And This is why this Angel is declaring that the future doom

of this evil wicked system is so certain that we can address it

as though it had already occurred.

Fallen. Fallen is Babylon the Great.

You can imagine just how astounding and alarming this

would be. For those who hear this

resounding proclamation, you got to remember the nations here are

going to be under a very complex infrastructure and a network of

commerce and military and policing.

It's going to be something that the world has never seen before.

It's going to be so impressive and so widely accepted that this

Babylonian system that the Antichrist is going to support

will appear indestructible. In fact, look back at Revelation

13 verse four, what the people said about the beast.

Revelation 13, verse four. And they worshipped the dragon,

for he had given his authority to the beast.

And they worshipped the beast, saying who is like the beast and

who can fight against it. So they're under the spell

thinking that no one can defeat Antichrist, and with that no one

can overthrow the empire that he has built.

And all of a sudden, this Angel whisked through the skies and he

says fallen. Fallen is Babylon the Great.

Why is he saying that? Remember, he's addressing the

nation's all the earth dwellers. He's saying that to help them

believe the first angel's message.

Fear God, Glorify Him, worship Him.

The world as you know it, with all its pomp and all its

possessions and all its pleasures and all its promises,

will come to nothing one day. This world is passing away, and

you're giving your soul to something that will vanish.

You're trading eternal life for somebody that's going to be

taken. Away.

For something that is so certain to be demolished and destroyed

that we can speak of it as though it already happened, this

is a message that the world needs to hear now.

And if we're honest, this is a message that Christians need to

hear from time to time. The same John who's telling us

what this Angel would say to the masses of unbelievers tells us

this in his first epistle and 1st John 2 verse 17.

John 2:17

And the world is passing away, and the world is passing away

along with its desires. But whoever does the will of God

abides forever. I love that.

This is in the same breath where he tells believers, do not love

the world or the things of the world don't love it.

And he gives the reason why, at least one reason, because it's

all passing away. You and I are just walking

through the corridor. There is a door that's going to

lead us into eternal life, which is true life.

Don't camp in the corridor. Keep walking.

Keep your eyes ahead. This world is passing away with

all its desires, all those cravings that keep you up at

night, all the things that you slave over, all the dreams that

you want to see fulfilled, all of that is going to disappear.

Those things that you think will bring fulfillment and identity

and wholeness, that's going to pass away as well.

It's not lasting. It's not designed to.

It has an expiration date on it. But those who do the will of

God, they will abide forever, forever and ever and ever.

This world will pass away. Then we come to the final

message, and you almost get the sense that they're building on

one another. We have the the eternal gospel.

Then we have a reminder of this world that has unfortunately

sabotaged so many people's faith and trust in Christ to this last

message. Here in verse 9 down to verse

11, hell is real and another Angel 1/3 follow them saying

with a loud voice, If anyone worships the beast in its image

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

also drink the wine of God's wrath poured full strength.

Highlight that 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 land.

We'll pause there before we go to verse 11.

If you remember Revelation 13, what we have there is

instruction to believers of how difficult it will be for those

at that time to refuse the mark of the.

Beast, you won't be able to buy or sell.

You won't be able to do the things that you think are your

rights today. And the reason why I know that

it is in part addressing believers because in Revelation

Revelation 13:10

13, verse 10, the last part of that verse, there's an there's a

call for the endurance of the faith of the Saints.

So yes, it's speaking about the future and yes, it is addressing

what the world will look like. But what God has in mind through

his word is the believers in that time to be able to endure

because it will be challenging to reject the mark of the beast

on a daily basis. But then you come to Revelation

14 and you have this Angel informing the unbeliever how

difficult they will be to embrace the mark of the beast.

And even though this is a warning to the lost, it still

carries instruction for the Christian.

How do I know that peak at verse 12 of Revelation 14?

Here is a call for the endurance of the Saints, those who keep

the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

He's talking about hell here in verses 9 down to verse 11 and

immediately after he addresses Christians.

What do Christians have to do with hell?

It's not really about hell. It's about comparing and

contrasting experiences. Again, Revelation 13.

It's going to be challenging for those to stand for the truth and

reject this mark, but it's going to be even more tragic for those

who take it. One thing to learn from this is

that we must view our sufferings from Heaven's point of view.

This Angel is not only warning the lost, he's also reminding

believers your suffering will be temporary.

Their suffering will be eternal. You know one of the ways for you

and I to endure anything, even the maniacal dictatorship of the

Antichrist. Is to frequently meditate on

eternity, to compare everything in light of eternity, to inform

your heart that there is something more real, more

lasting than whatever you're experiencing now.

And I wonder if one of the reasons why eternity is not

spoken of as much as it should in Christian circles is because

it forces us to confront an aspect of eternity that makes

people very uncomfortable, namely the reality of hell.

And if pastors and churches don't erase hell from their

teaching and their evangelism entirely, they try to redefine

it to make it more palatable. But whatever theologians or

podcasters may say about hell, no matter how clever or

compassionate they may seem, every claim and every conclusion

has to be measured with Scripture.

And given the recent debates about hell among prominent

evangelicals, my question is this Do the most prevailing

interpretations agree with the testimony of this Angel?

Is hell eternal? What does this word say?

Is hell a conscious place? What does this word say?

Is hell a place of uninterrupted torment?

What does the Bible say? And according to this testimony,

hell is eternal, hell is conscience, and.

Hell is unending torment for the wicked.

Doesn't mean it's easy to speak about it.

That doesn't mean that we should enjoy thinking about it.

But what it does mean is what God says is true and we need to

submit to the truth no matter what.

You know I've. Come to realize that one of the

main reasons we struggle to understand hell is because of

our inability to truly grasp God's holiness.

If we're honest, sin rarely outrageous us, even the best of

us, and that's partly because we are tainted by sin.

And if you can testify, however, that there are moments where you

have sensed righteous indignation and disturbance or

being unsettled due to wickedness around you or even in

you, then. How much more does the Lord feel

being infinitely more pure and holy than us?

There's something to say about the eternality and the severity

of hell and God's holiness and how sin is not.

Just about us fooling around here on earth.

It's an assault against God and His law.

I won't say more about hell now because we will see it again at

the end of this book, but one thing I want to highlight is how

Christ is identified in the sobering passage about hell.

Look with me here again in verse 10.

He will also. Drink the wine of God's wrath

poured full strength. You know what that means?

Full strength undiluted. There is no mercy mixed with

this wine. Full strength of God's wrath.

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. This would make more sense,

perhaps to us if it's said in the presence of the king capital

K, in the presence of the lion, in the presence of the judge in.

The presence of the ruler of rulers in the presence of the

Lamb. You know this very well, that

the Lamb is a consistent symbol associated with Christ's

substitutionary atonement and sacrifice.

It speaks of his humility. It speaks of his loneliness.

It speaks to his willful surrender for our salvation.

What is it doing here in a passage about eternal wrath?

And I believe one reason it's there.

Is to highlight as a reminder that hell is ultimately for

those who have rejected the one who drank the cup of God's wrath

on our behalf. That's what hell is ultimately

all about. Notice the imagery here.

The wine of God's wrath poured full strength into the cup of

his anger. That's a a very common symbol in

the Old Testament. A cup speaks of God's judgement

being poured out. There are different cups in the

Bible and this should remind us of the words of Jesus and Luke

when he was in the garden in chapter 22, verse 42.

And he said, Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from

me. What was that cup?

It was the cup of God's wrath, God's anger and justice against

every sin that has and will ever be committed.

That was what was in the cup. And what Jesus asked here was if

it's possible, Father, let it be removed from me, yet not my

will, but yours be done. And guess what?

It was the Father's will for Christ to drink the cup, and he

drank every drop of it. You turn that cup over and there

is not one drop that will come out.

He absorbed all of God's justice for our sin.

And here's what the gospel looks like.

It's you being willing to admit and joyfully accept the truth

that Jesus Christ, the Son of God drank your wrath.

And here's what millions are doing today.

They reject that. And because they reject that,

there's another cup reserved for them, and that's the wine of

God's wrath. You reject the cup of salvation.

You will have the cup of God's wrath to drink and it is

eternal. It will never run dry.

It is ongoing. Jesus Christ drank the cup of

God's wrath and for those who choose not to believe it and

surrender to the truths associated with it, there is a

cup they will have to drink. It will be forced down their

throats and they will be reminded for all of eternity

that the reason why they are drinking it is because they have

denied the Son of God salvation, the Lamb of God.

And the question for us today, though I hope that all of us

here are followers of Jesus Christ, is if you have put your

trust in the finished work of Jesus.

You know what's amazing here is the first Angel began with the

gospel and he ends with wrath. The third Angel comes to

complete the message, and this is very descriptive, it's very

direct, but it's needed for a generation that has been lulled

to sleep because of a Babylonian empire and system.

Let's not think that we're more wise than God and how we should

address the lost. Are there different vantage

points and ways of communicating the gospel?

Absolutely. But for you and I to deny the

reality of hell is a great disservice to a people who need

to know what's coming if they don't receive the free love of

Jesus. The testimony of three angels

for a future time are so relevant for us today.

Are they not the eternal gospel? The world as we know it will

pass away, and hell is real. Let's pray.

Father, we thank You that you have given us a snapshot.

Another snapshot of how you're willing to go so far to get the

attention of a lost world. And Lord, we think about this

message this afternoon, how it is an extension of your grace.

Also because love warns, Lord, we pray that we would be

faithful to the word no matter what, no matter the trends that

are being set by people who have great platforms online.

Help us stay true to Your word, every part of it.

And Lord, thank you for the wisdom of Your word that in the

same imagery of hell, we have vision of the Lamb.

We pray that even through this message, people would see Christ

and his love and sacrifice and they would embrace him.

And Lord, for us who have put our faith and trust in You, help

us grow in our fear of You. Help us not get entangled by the

things of this world. Help us see it as all passing

away. Our money, our bank accounts,

our clothes, our cars, our homes.

It would all pass away and the only thing that will last.

Forever is the will of God, our service to you, our obedience to

you. So Lord, we pray that even this

message would recalibrate us. And Lord, even with the subject

of hell, help us to know how to communicate it, when to warn

about it. May that message even energize

us to be more zealous with the gospel, for so much was said,

but we trust that You'll help us retain it.

And now, though we want to worship you because you have

saved us from hell, we never have to fear going there.

It is not our portion. We will rest with You forever

and ever, and we are undeserving of it.

Thank you for drinking the cup of God's wrath.

Thank you that we don't have to take a sip of it.

We are free forever, and for this we glorify you.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

If you are free in this place because of the gospel, sing with

your heart, knowing that even though everything is taken from

you, no one can take your salvation.

No one can take my salvation. I'm secure forever in Christ

Jesus, and so are you. Let's stand and worship the Lamb

of God. I remember years ago after

preaching at a conference, somebody approached me and they

want to have a long talk about hell and how this was the

greatest struggle for them. This was not a Christian.

This person admittedly said that they were living in sin.

And after a long dialogue, one of the things that stood out to

me was this person saying, why can't God just leave us alone?

I just want to, I just want to live my life.

Why do I have to have this thought that I can go to hell?

Why? Why can't he just let me be and

do what I want to do? And I thought, that's exactly

it. People don't want God.

And whenever it comes to this debate or this discussion about

hell, you know, what's rarely brought up, what's really in

focus is our suffering. It's eternal, it's conscience,

all these things. Nobody ever talks about the

suffering Christ had to endure to help us escape it.

Nobody ever talks about it. That's what I've come to

realize. Nobody ever thinks about what

the Son of God had to endure. And people say, well, he endured

a few hours of suffering. That's blasphemy.

That's blasphemy because not of the duration of the suffering of

the one, rather who suffered, who didn't deserve a millisecond

of suffering and the the quality of that suffering.

Things so deep, things so profound that we dare tread even

exploring what happened on that cross for those hours.

Nobody talks about what Christ had to endure in order to rescue

sinners from hell. And today, perhaps you're in

this place and you don't believe on Christ.

I want you to at least think about the implications of what

he suffered on your behalf. And even if you're in this place

and you struggle with the concept of hell, take your eyes

off yourself for a moment and plant them on Calvary and ask

yourself, what did Christ suffer and why did he suffer?

And you'll come to different conclusions.

Lord, we pray that you would help us, although we're so

broken and fallen in our thinking, always thinking of

ourselves. Or thank you that you're not a

God who just threatens and warns.

You're a God who is much more willing to save us and redeem

us. You don't desire that any would

perish. Help us believe that.

Help us believe that hell itself was not created for humanity

intentionally. It was created for they, the

devil and his angels. Lord, so we just asked in this,

in this final moment, that you would win every heart to

yourself and that we would accept what you suffered for.

We thank you for your grace in this in Jesus name, Amen.

Amen. Would you be seated for a

moment, please? Last week we made a very

important update that a building came to our attention out in

Barrington and it is a beautiful building.

And we spoke to our members about the potential of this

building and we have had a majority approval, virtually

almost 100% people saying this is, this is what we desire.

We believe that this is an answer.

To God's prayers. And so with that in mind, the

leadership announced last Sunday that we would make an official

offer and we did do that this past Tuesday.

We made and we signed a purchase agreement for the church that

currently owns that property. Been an interesting week.

And the recent update is as of last Friday, they accepted our

offer. Yes, you could do that, yes.

So it is my absolute privilege to announce to the church

officially and for the first time, that we have a new church

home. We have a new church home, yes.

So here's what this looks like from this point forward.

The official closing date on paper is May 4th, so that's a

couple months from now. It could be earlier, it could be

later. These things get complicated

sometimes. So we are going to leadership is

going to be working very hard in these next few weeks.

There's inspections, there's paperwork, there's conversations

with the village and all these matters have to be addressed.

So please be praying for us in these next few weeks.

Also, Please remember that as we approach the closing that we're

still saving up and asking God that we would enter into this

new phase debt free. And so we're believing God for

1.5 million in the next 30 days or so.

And we trust that these funds will come in.

He's already proven Himself so strong.

I wish I can take the next 10-15 minutes to explain to you the

many miracles attached to all of this.

To deny it would be to deny a gift from God.

I'm, I'm, I say that with total confidence.

There is so much happening in the background in our favor that

it is absolutely astounding. And there will be a time where

we will be able to sit down together as a family and look at

all these details. But for now, I mean, it's

amazing to think that we've been looking and praying and

searching for 4 1/2 years and things turned around within a

matter of a. Week and a half, two weeks, and

so you've seen pictures. God willing, if all clears,

there will be a day where you'll enter into this property, and I

have no doubt that when you see it, you'll be even more happy.

It's an amazing piece of land. There's going to be, again, many

meetings that we're having, especially in the next couple

weeks. So Please be patient with the

elders and the deacons and others who are working because

this has already been a very busy time leading up to this

point, and it's only going to get busier.

So all hands on deck, you might be called upon to help us as

well because this is our home. This is our new home.

This is the home for your children, and this is going to

be the home for many other souls who will receive God's word.

This is going to be the home for fellowship and hopefully future

conferences. This is very likely going to be

the home of a school in the days to come.

Everything that we've ever hoped and dreamed for in a facility is

offered in this place, and God and His great mercy extended it

to us at this time. So rejoice in fellowship, give

glory to God, and we will keep you up to date as much as we

can. All right.

God bless you, God is good. Have a wonderful week.

Take care.