Revelation Chapter 14 - The Angels and the Harvests

So, if you want to read ahead, I would

encourage you to go back and read that

chapter again. I went to a West Virginia

University uh college football game back

in September of 2018. It took place in

Charlotte, North Carolina. It was my

beloved West Virginia Mountaineers

versus the villains of Tennessee. Um the

the Volunteers, I guess, instead of

villains. Anyway, um so I went to see my

my team play and I I was very I was

running late because there was a lot of

traffic and I got there about 30 minutes

before kickoff and all the good parking

spaces were gone at that time. So I

wound up parking right in the middle of

a Tennessee tailgate and of course I get

out of my car and I'm dripping blue and

gold and they know obviously that I'm

not pulling for their team but they were

actually wonderful people. They were

very encouraging. Um, when I got out of

the car, they invited me over to their

tailgate and they sold me um a a

Nashville hot chicken sandwich. First

time I ever had that in my life. And a

Moon Pie on the side and it was only

like five bucks. It was wonderful. So,

talked for a little bit to these guys

wearing these creamsicle overalls and no

shirts. Um, and then I I went to the

game. Um, after the game, the vibe was

quite different because West Virginia

University won 40-4.

Um, so when I got back to that tailgate,

they were not as happy to see me. As a

matter of fact, there was a mountain of

beer cans that was stacked right on top

of the hood of my car, and it looked

like some type of Memphis dry rub was

rubbed down the side of my driver's side

window. So, um, there's no such thing as

neutral in a competitive environment.

There's no such thing as neutral in a

competitive environment. And right now,

we are in a competition for the souls of

lost people all around the world. And

our church mission statement is to share

Jesus and to serve others. And as we

pursue that mission, you're going to

find out very quickly, if you don't

already know, that we have an enemy that

is trying to stand in our way as we

attempt to share the gospel. As we've

seen behind the last two doors in

Revelation that God has opened for us,

we have a red dragon. We have Lucifer.

We have Satan and his minions that stand

in the way of our goal of making

disciples. We have an enemy who wants to

attack those of us who are on the front

lines trying to lead people to Jesus by

making us shift into neutral. But

friends, [snorts] there is no neutral in

a real life game of thrones. You choose

one side or the other. You choose to

worship at the throne of King Jesus or

you will choose to worship at the throne

of the dragon. And if you choose

indifference, I want you to understand

that you are still making a choice and

you are choosing the way, as Matt

Chandler says, the way of the dragon.

Indifference is the way of the dragon.

So, we have to ask ourselves, are we

going to choose the way of Jesus or are

we going to choose the way of the

dragon? Now, choosing the way of the

dragon doesn't involve like just Ouija

boards and cauldrons and seances and all

the demonic things that we think about

uh when we think about Satan and what it

means to actually worship him. It it

could be as simple as worshiping

man-made things. It it could be as as

simple as investing your time and energy

into something that doesn't make any

type of an eternal difference. It it

could be when Jesus says to seek first

the kingdom that we decide instead to

seek first our pleasure. Sometimes it's

just making everything about you.

Sometimes it's just discouraging your

brothers and sisters in Christ. Maybe

it's acting holy on a Sunday and then

acting a fool on Friday. That these

simple things that we choose to do are

actually uh leading us to either worship

the way of the Lord or the way of the

dragon. The way of the dragon is a broad

road and it says in scripture that many

will find it. However, there is a way to

life and though it is a narrow road, we

also are encouraged because we know that

we can find that road through Jesus

Christ. Which is why I love Revelation

Revelation 14 · chapter mention

chapter 14 because it it is so

incredibly encouraging because it was

written to show us the way to life and

it was written to strengthen us in our

darkest hours. So let's look at

Revelation 14 today. The first thing you

will notice in verse 6 is angel number

one. You're going to meet three angels

and two harvests today. Angel number one

and verse six. Then I saw another angel

flying around high overhead with an

eternal gospel announced to the

inhabitants of the earth, to every

nation and tribe, language and people.

He spoke with a loud voice, "Fear God

and give him glory because the hour of

his judgment has come. Worship the one

who made heaven and earth, the sea, and

the springs of water." Angel number one

takes the gospel message to people of

every tribe, nation, and tongue. So, you

got to ask yourselves, is this like a an

angel that's actually appearing before

people and sharing the gospel? Well, I I

don't think that's what this is

communicating. I I believe that this is

an angel that encourages the church to

reach the lost of every nation and tribe

and tongue. Th this is an angel that

empowers our evangelistic efforts. This

is an angel that gives us what we need

to be effective in our witness. Hey, if

you want to make trouble for the enemy,

if you want to fight back, if you're

tired of reading about how the devil is

is persecuting the church, well, the way

to get back at the devil, the way to

usurp the dragon is to go and to witness

to the people on your street, which is

harder than it sounds. Um, I live in in

a hood. Um, and it's got a lot of stray

kids, my daughter being one of them, and

and they wander my neighborhood and they

do all kinds of crazy stuff that drives

me crazy. Like I middle of the night,

2:00 a.m. there there's four-wheelers

and and motorcycles going by our house.

You know, it's just kids out in the

street all the time, parents nowhere to

be seen. And uh it really kind of hit a

tipping point this year when um these

two young guys, probably 11 or 12 years

old, they had a bunch of bottle rockets.

Don't know where they got those, but

they're walking down the street and

they're shooting off bottle rockets. But

it wasn't just the bottle rockets. It

was the fact that they had an infant in

a stroller that they were pushing and

they they lit the bottle rocket not a

foot away from the baby. And I lost my

mind. I came out of my garage and I'm

like, "WHERE IS YOUR HEAD AT?" Just

yelling at these kids like the dude that

tells him to get off his lawn. That's

me. Um I'm like, "What are you doing?

There's a baby involved." And

immediately I got a text from my

daughter who wasn't even home at the

time. She texted me. She's like, "Dad,

quit yelling at my friends." So

apparently they called her immediately

and told on me. And so I told Susan, I'm

like, "Look, we're done. We're moving.

We're moving out in the middle of a

cornfield somewhere." And uh she just

laughs because she knows I'm not going

anywhere. But after I I thought about it

for a while, God really got a hold of my

heart, especially through this

Revelation study. and he encouraged me

to prayerw walk my neighborhood. I never

even thought about doing that before to

to prayerw walk my neighborhood. And I'm

like, "All right, okay. I I'll give it a

try." So, I'm walking around the

neighborhood and I'm praying and uh I

catch myself praying that the

four-wheeler tires will go flat and that

the police will confiscate the

fireworks. And I'm not really praying

for the people. But then I began to

notice something I never noticed when I

had my headphones in. And I'm kind of

like, you know, walking around the

neighborhood. But this time, I I began

to notice kind of the sadness around me.

I began to notice the fact that, hey,

there's a reason that there aren't

parents around. They're probably working

two or three shifts or maybe there's

divorce. And you you look around and you

you see lawns that haven't been cut for

months and mailboxes that are kind of

tipping over that haven't been fixed and

cracks in driveways. And kind of the the

sadness, the oppression of that

neighborhood started to hit me. And so

then became praying differently. I began

praying for the people that I didn't

even know in these houses just asking

God to to to bless them and to reach

them and to give them what they need.

And it was kind of crazy because not

long after that, I got a phone call from

a local church that asked if they could

kind of partner with us and and figure

out a way to reach some of those

neighborhoods. So now I could pray and

say, "God, open the door for this church

to actually come in and and minister to

these these people and draw them into a

a church environment."

So when you pray for people,

even people you don't know, it it moves

the hand of God. And I don't know how

all that works in the heavenly realms,

but I do know that if you start praying

for people, crazy things happen. Like

the lady in the house that that I'm

praying for that I've never met in my

life, uh perhaps uh she's like starting

to remember things that her vacation

Bible school teacher taught her back in

in third grade. And that's when the

enemy is like, "Whoa, whoa, now now I'm

on his radar. Now I'm making a

difference. And you might kind of

snicker at that, but that is how God

works. When you pray, things change in

ways that you can't even imagine. So now

you're actually a problem for the

dragon.

But church, if we choose to shift into

neutral, if we choose to be indifferent,

then we are absolutely not a problem for

the enemy. We are no threat at all. And

as a matter of fact, we're doing exactly

what the dragon wants us to do. But when

you step out and you share Jesus and you

serve others and partner with this

angel, you get to experience the the the

Holy Spirit and the joy of serving the

Lord in a way that you just will become

addicted to if you do it long enough. So

that's angel number one. We get to

partner with this angel. This angel

helps the church reach the nations with

the gospel. Angel number two we see in

verse 8

and another a second angel followed

saying it has fallen. Babylon the great

has fallen. She made all the nations

drink the wine of her sexual immorality

which brings wrath. This angel is

exposing the lies of Babylon. And of

course, Babylon's just a placeholder for

any nation or influential group, any

government that promotes anything that

would be immoral. It's exposing the lies

that are encouraging people to sin. This

angel is waking people up to the

consequences of their sinful choices.

This angel flies around and says,

"Babylon the great has fallen. The lies

have been exposed. what was done in the

darkness is now being brought out into

the light. Th this angel is testifying

to the fact that there are people who

are being forgiven and healed and

restored. There there are people who

have the broken parts of their soul that

are being mended. There are people who

have open wounds who are now allowing

those wounds to turn into scars. We get

to partner with this angel to help the

broken people find restoration in Jesus.

Isn't it awesome to be a part uh to be a

a conduit of God's grace in the life of

someone else? Well, the reason we get to

do that is because we all have an angel

that is propelling us into that mission

field to expose the lies so people can

see the truth, giving us an opportunity

to lead them to their savior. And then

we see angel number three in verse 9.

Angel number three and another angel a

third angel followed them and spoke 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 of the wine of God's wrath

which is poured out into the full

strength into the cup of his anger. He

will be tormented with fire and sulfur

in the sight of the holy angels and in

the sight of the lamb. And the smoke of

their torment will go up forever and

ever. There is no rest day or night for

those who worship the beast and its

image or anyone who receives the mark of

its name. This calls for endurance from

the saints who keep God's command in

their faith in Jesus. Now, we have to

resist the urge to read this scripture

as if it is some angry God who is

excited to devastate and torture people

who do not believe in him. And I know a

lot of people that read it that way and

they're reading it incorrectly.

Revelation chapter 14 is an encouraging

Revelation 14 · chapter mention

chapter. It is not a discouraging

chapter. So let's break this down. This

angel is a picture of God's love because

love cares about what other people do.

If you love someone, you actually care

about the things that they do. Love

acknowledges the fact that actions have

consequences. Love does not ignore your

bad decisions. Love steps in and points

out the consequences of those decisions.

This angel is a motivator. It It's

reminding us of the truth of the reality

of people that will set under the

judgment of God. It should motivate us

to stop being indifferent about church

and worrying about all kinds of little

things that don't matter and start

worrying about the thing that matters

most, which is the soul of the people

who are lost and headed toward this this

judgment. This angel is a reality check

because the more you love, the more

capacity that you have for wrath. So if

you want to mess with me, that's fine.

We'll figure it out. It's okay. But if

you start to mess with my family, then

it's a lot harder for me to overlook

those offenses because the more you

love, the more capacity that you have

for wrath. So if I was indifferent

toward my family, then I would never be

it couldn't provoke wrath out of me,

could you? No. Because I love my family,

then I can be vengeful in a way. So God

is love. He is literally made up of

love. Therefore, he is infinitely

capable of wrath. So, the choice to

follow the way of the dragon is the

choice is according to Matt Chandler to

participate in the destruction of human

flourishing. The dragon seeks to break

the shalom, the peace that God wants to

give to all of us. So what kind of a

loving God would not push back against

the choices of people who have hurt the

ones that Jesus laid down his life to

save? So remember this, God is full of

grace and mercy and he is long-suffering

and he is patient in his wrath. He even

encourages us through Jesus in Matthew

Matthew 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6 to to go the extra mile and to

love our enemies. But according to this

scripture, there is a cup of God's

wrath. And it is daily being filled. And

one day when it fills all the way up,

it's going to be poured out upon those

who worship the dragon and persecute the

church. See, God is not indifferent

toward you. He loves you and therefore

he will take up for you. So this angel

is demonstrating the complete outworking

of God's gift of free will. That's the

main thing to take away from this. This

angel is demonstrating the complete

outworking of God's gift of free will.

So look at John 3:1 19. It says, "This

John 3:1

is the judgment. The light has come into

the world." That's Jesus. And people

loved darkness rather than light because

of their evil deeds or because their

deeds were evil. Romans chapter 1 verse

Romans 1:28

28. And because they did not think it

worthwhile to acknowledge God, God

delivered them over to a corrupt mind so

that they will not do what is right.

Jipacker sums this up the best. He says,

"Nobody stands under the wrath of God

save for those who have chosen to do

so." So, let me read that again. Nobody

stands under the wrath of God save for

those who have chosen to do so. God

leads with love, not judgment.

So make sure we read this in the correct

order. John 3:1 16 before those other

John 3:1

passages, it says, "For God loved the

world in this way that he sent his only

son so that whoever believes in him will

not perish but have eternal life. For

God did not send his son into the world

to condemn the world, but to save the

world through him.

Some people like the stuff that God

created more than the creator himself.

Some people choose lies over truth. And

as Matt Chandler says, the essence of

God's wrath is to give humans what they

choose. God will honor your free will

for all of eternity because it was his

gift to you. So if you choose an

eternity separate from God in this place

of judgment that we just read about,

then that is your choice and he will

honor your choice. But know this, God

loves you and he's standing at the door

of your heart and he is knocking on that

door. So I'm telling you that you do not

have to stay under the wrath of God. You

have a choice [snorts] and that choice

is do I worship the lamb or do I worship

the dragon? And friends, it doesn't

matter who you who you are. It does not

matter what you have done. It doesn't

matter if you've done a lot of good

things or a lot of bad things. You don't

have to climb some religious ladder to

try to earn God's approval and salvation

because Jesus came down that religious

ladder keeping every step of the law

along the way. He came to earth to

rescue you. All you have to do is accept

his free gift of salvation.

So, we get to partner with this angel

when we step out from under God's wrath

and into God's grace. And that leads us

into harvest number one. Revelation

Revelation 14:14

chapter 14

verse 14.

Then I looked and there was a white

cloud and one like the son of man was

seated on the cloud with a golden crown

on his head and a sharp sickle in his

hand. Another angel came out of the

temple carrying crying out in a loud

voice to the one who is seated on the

cloud. Use your sickle and reap for the

time to reap has come since the harvest

of the earth is ripe. So the one seated

on the cloud swung the sickle over the

earth and the earth was harvested.

Everything in Revelation is found

elsewhere in the Bible. And so where do

we see this before? We see this phrase

in John 4:35.

John 4:35

Jesus says, "Don't you say there are

still four more months and then comes

the harvest. Listen to what I'm telling

you. Open your eyes and look at the

fields because they are ready for the

harvest." This is right after Jesus met

the woman at the well. This is before

Jesus went to the cross. And he's trying

to make a point. He's saying, "Look,

there's not enough workers. There's not

enough people out there to harvest the

the fields right now. And so what we

need is more workers. And now on this

side of the cross, because of the power

of the Holy Spirit in us, we now have

the workers to reap the harvest that is

being talked about here. This harvest is

taking place every single day. It's my

story. Angel number one came to me and

brought me the gospel and I heard it.

Angel number two came to me and exposed

the lies that my culture was trying to

teach me and I understood them. Angel

number three came and told me that I

don't have to stay under wrath. I can

actually move into God's grace and I

accepted that free gift of salvation. I

am a part of the harvest. I am one that

has been brought in so to speak. And if

you're a Christian here today, you are

too. You're a part of this harvest.

And let me point out, nowhere in

scripture, nowhere in scripture is

harvesting ever used as a sign of

judgment.

Never. I know there's some teaching out

there that makes you think when you read

these this picture of the harvest, this

some type of a judgment. No, that's not

at all what it is. Harvest is always

used in a redemptive context and it is

always followed by a celebration. And so

you are a part of something that the

heavenly realms are celebrating. When

you give your life to Jesus, you become

a part of that harvest. And it says the

heavens, the angels, and Jesus himself

celebrate the fact that a lost child has

now come home. So, so clearly harvest

number one is Jesus redeeming the people

of every nation and tribe and tongue in

our day. But then there's harvest number

two and that happens in verse 17.

Then another angel who had a sharp

sickle came out of the temple in heaven.

Yet another angel who had authority over

fire came from the altar. And he called

with a loud voice to the one who had the

sharp sickle. Use your sharp sickle and

gather the clusters of grapes from the

vineyard of the earth because the grapes

have ripened. So the angel swung a

sickle over the earth and gathered the

grapes from the vineyard of the earth.

And he threw them into the great wine

press of God's wrath. Then the press was

trampled outside of the city and blood

flowed out from the press to the hor's

bridles. So about four feet tall and for

about 180 miles. So let's try to break

this down so we understand what's going

on here. First of all, we see a sickle

that is swung by an angel who had

authority over fire. Fire in the Bible

represents the presence of God. Moses

spoke to the burning bush. The pillar of

fire led the people out of Egypt. When

the Holy Spirit came to earth, people

spoke with tongues that were of flame.

So, we know this is God involved in this

process. The sickle is also swung by an

angel who is focused on reaping the

vines of the earth. Six times in

scripture, we talk about vines and and

they always represent the people of God.

So, again, this harvest that we're

talking about, this is a good thing.

It's representing the people of God that

are are gathered. In John 15:5, it says,

John 15:5

"I am the vine and you are the branches.

The one who remains in me, in him, I

will produce much fruit because you can

do nothing without me." But the most

important part of this passage of

scripture to help us understand what's

going on is the fact that this event,

this great pressing happens outside of

the city, which takes you to Hebrews 13

Hebrews 13:10

verse 10. We have an altar from which

those who worship at the tabernacle do

not have the right to eat. For the

bodies of those animals whose blood is

brought into the most holy place by the

high priest as a sin offering are burned

where?

Outside of the camp. So in the Old

Testament, the sacrificial system, the

offerings that were made to God, the

worship that took place was done outside

of the camp. Therefore, Jesus also

suffered where?

outside of the gate so that he might

sanctify the people by his own blood.

Let us then go to him outside of the

camp bearing his disgrace. For we do not

have an enduring city here. Instead, we

seek the one to come. Harvest number two

is Jesus death on the cross. The the

wrath of God towards sin is presented

here like a divine wine press. Jesus is

being poured out like a drink offering

for the salvation of the world. Jesus is

the one who is absorbing God's wrath

toward our sin. The blood that we see

here which was 4 feet high and 180 miles

wide is approximately the length of the

ancient city of Palestine. So for the

first century readers of revelation,

they would have understood this to mean

that there is enough blood flowing from

Jesus sacrifice to cover the entirety of

the city. There's enough blood for

everyone. There's enough redemption for

everyone. It covers all.

Christ's death fully absorbed the the

cup of God's wrath so that you are no

longer condemned. You no longer have to

live in guilt and shame for your

previous sin because Jesus has gone to

the cross for you. So now you have the

right to choose. Do you choose the way

of Jesus or do you choose the way of the

dragon? See this horrific imagery that

we just read did not discourage people

when they read it initially. It inspired

them because it reminded them that they

are not lost beyond salvation. It

reminded them that they are not broken

beyond repair. You can choose to be

under God's grace and you don't have to

live under God's wrath.

But what you can't choose to do is be

neutral because there's no such thing in

the kingdom of God as neutral.

Indifference is a choice to follow the

dragon.

So, if you're one of those people like,

"Well, I'm going to live the way I want

to live now, and then later on in my

life, I'm going to get things right with

the Lord." That's indifference. That's

choosing the way of the dragon. And you

might not have that that part of your

life to look forward to. You never know

what can happen. And I'm not trying to

scare anybody into salvation. I'm just

being honest because God loves you and

he wants to make sure that you move out

from under his wrath as soon as you can.

So we got to ask ourselves which throne

are we going to choose to worship at?

Which way are we going to choose to

follow? The way of the dragon or the way

of Jesus? Judgment or cross?

Judgment or grace? Well, today you get

to make that decision. So let's bow our

heads for a moment. I do want to give

you a chance to respond to this powerful

passage of scripture.

The choice is it's yours.

No one can make this choice for you. You

cannot inherit your

your grandfather's faith. You can't

inherit your mother's faith. This is a

choice that you have to make for

yourself. And if you are old enough to

know the difference between good and bad

and you're old enough to understand the

gospel, then this is a choice that you

need to make for yourself.

Are you going to choose the way of Jesus

and his grace and his cross? Or are you

going to ch choose the way of the dragon

that leads to judgment? So father, I

just want to pray for those in this room

that may be wrestling with that choice

today. But we know that the schemes of

Satan as the father of lies are are

difficult to see through sometimes. And

what he really likes for us to do is

just kind of shift into this neutral

state, this indifferent state where we

just kind of maybe come to church out of

a routine, but it's not something that

really matters to us. And maybe we just

kind of do the the Christian thing to

kind of fit in or whatever. But Lord, we

know that there's no room for neutral in

the kingdom of God because choosing

neutral is actually a choice to not

worship at the throne of Jesus. And so

Lord, I just want to give my brothers

and sisters an opportunity to pray this

morning for those who may be lost.

There's probably some names that have

come to your mind as I was preaching

this message. And I just want to

encourage you today, if that name comes

to your mind, immediately pray for that

person because there is power in prayer.

You may never even know the way that God

reaches this person, but he did call you

to pray. And you could play a a huge

part in them making a choice to move out

from under God's wrath and into his

grace. And for those in the sound of my

voice that maybe have not made that

decision yet. I'm not trying to talk you

into anything. I'm not a a salesman. I'm

just someone that studies the Bible and

presents the message of God to you. And

the message is very clear. Jesus loved

you enough to choose to go to the cross

for you to be put into that divine wine

press to drink the cup of God's wrath

toward sin to be have his blood poured

out as a a drink offering for you.

No one forced him to do that. He climbed

up on that cross on his own. He could

have got off that cross at any point.

But it says in Hebrews that for the joy

that's you that was set before him, he

endured the horror of the cross.

For the first time in his life, he was

separated for his father for three days.

And he did that because he wanted you to

have a free gift of salvation. Something

that you could never earn on your own.

It's not enough good works in the world

for you to be able to earn your

forgiveness.

All you have to do according to

Ephesians is accept [music]

the free gift that Jesus has given to

you. So if that's you today and you want

to accept that gift, you want to make

things right, you want to move under the

grace of God and worship at the throne

of King Jesus and experience that

immeasurable love, that that that

amazing grace. If you want to to [music]

do that today, to be at the foot of the

cross, then all you have to do is say

something like this. You can say it out

loud or just say it in your head.

[music]

But just pray something like this. Say,

"God, I know I'm a sinner

and I need a savior

and I know that savior's name is Jesus.

I believe he's God's son.

I believe he lived a perfect life.

And I believe he died a sinner's death.

But I also believe that he came back

from the dead three days later,

proving that he was God's son.

So forgive me of my sin.

I give my life to you

today. I choose the way of Jesus.