What a fitting song for what we're about to discover today in
God's Word. And with that being said, I
gladly invite you to take God's Word and meet me in the Book of
Revelation chapter 14. By God's help, we're going to
accomplish and complete this chapter together as we look at
the final verses of it, beginning in verse 14 of chapter
14. Now we have to remember that
although the Book of Revelation is generally chronological, what
chapter 14 does is pauses that sequence and offers us a few
previews of coming events that have not yet been realized.
And so the play button to the general storyline of Revelation
is going to be pressed again in chapter 15.
But for now, what we find in this text, in this chapter in
particular, is a Lord providing encouragement to his people,
especially after encountering the very bleak prophecy of the
Antichrist in Revelation chapter 13.
That's why when you come to chapter 14, you get the series
of forward-looking predictions and prophecies of what's yet to
come, like Christ standing on Mount Zion, victorious and
reigning the destruction of the Babylonian system that was
exporting all the filth and the sin.
Of the world. The eternal doom of the unsaved,
and with that, the eternal rest of those who die in the Lord.
This is the Lord by the Holy Spirit, reminding the believer
who's reading this that we will be victorious in the end.
Do not lose hope. And yet John receives a final
vision before the natural. Flow of the text of this book
continues and it deals with. The final judgement that Christ
will bring to the wicked, not in eternity, but upon the earth.
Another way of understanding what we're about to read is that
John is describing to us in summary, what we are going to
find out in greater detail from chapters 15 through chapters 19.
And what we're going to see here is essentially a summation of
the final, of the final acts of God's holy wrath toward those
who have denied him just before the return of the Son of God.
Remember, we learned that there are a total of three major sets
of judgments that will be unleashed upon the earth, each
consisting of seven acts. And we already completed the
first two series. We looked at the seven seal
judgments. We consider the seven trumpet
judgments. But there is one more, the seven
bowls of God's wrath, the most intense succession of God's
judgments. Again just before Christ
returns. They will serve to put the last
things in order before He establishes His.
Reign in this world and these verses that we're about to look
at are a trailer to those judgments, A prelude for us to
consider. Let's read from verse 14 down to
verse 20. Then I looked, and behold the
white cloud. And seated on the cloud, like a
son of man with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle
in his hand. And another Angel came out of
the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the
cloud. Put in your sickle and reap, for
the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is
fully ripe. So he who sat on the clouds
swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.
Then another Angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too
had a sharp sickle. And another Angel came out from
the altar, the Angel who has authority over the fire.
And he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp
sickle. Put in your sickle and gather
the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are
ripe. So the Angel.
Swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the great
harvest of the earth and threw it into the great wine Press of
the wrath of God. And the wine press was trodden
outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press as
high as a horse's bridle. For 1600 Stadium Lord, we ask
oh, how we need your help with this text, how we need your
wisdom, how we need your protection.
Lead us to the right conclusions.
Guide us to the right interpretation.
And Lord, we pray that even if we do come to the clarity of
these verses that it would not just sit in our minds where we
pray that they would move our hearts to worship.
You can only do this by the power of the Holy Spirit.
And we pray that his power would be known in this message.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen. Isn't it interesting that the
way that the holy. Spirit wants to describe the
concluding acts of God's judgement upon the earth before
his Son returns is by depicting a harvest, the reaping of a
harvest. Now most of us in here are
familiar enough with the Word of God to understand that the
harvest or a harvest is regularly recognized as a
positive thing, the in gathering of souls saved by the gospel.
And we just sang about it, right?
The harvest is white, it's ready, and that is true in many
cases. A harvest does speak about a
move of God, the salvation of souls, the gathering in of more
into his Kingdom. At the same time, there are many
places in the Bible that depict a harvest and the reaping of a
harvest as an act of judgment. You find this throughout the Old
Testament. You even find in some some of
Jesus parables. And the diligence student of the
Scripture, then, should not be so surprised to consider how
God's. Outpouring of wrath is
illustrated here through this act of harvesting.
But there is another challenge with this text, however.
And the challenge lies in the fact that it seems as though
there are two harvests being explained here.
Did you notice that? Look again at verse 16.
So he was sat on the clouds, swung his sickle across the
earth, and the earth was reaped. OK, that's one.
That's one reaping, and it's across the whole earth, so there
should be nothing left. And then you keep reading and
what do you stumble upon? Look at verse 19.
So the Angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered
the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great
winepress of the wrath of God, just in case nobody sees it.
There is a clear distinction here.
What you have with verse 16 is 1 like a son of man sitting on a
cloud, and he swings his sickle and he reaps from the earth,
which strongly suggests that this is speaking about a grain
harvest. It's from the earth.
No added details. Then you go on and you realize
that there is another Reaper, but it's not one like a son of
man, it's an Angel. And he does have a sharp sickle
himself, but when he swings it across the earth, he doesn't
gather in grain. He gathers in what grapes.
So a lot of people interpret it in this way.
This is speaking about two different kinds of harvest.
The first one with the grain, the one that the Son of Man is
orchestrating, refers to a harvest of righteousness.
This is the Lord sweeping in the remaining of the redeemed just
before he pours out his wrath. Meanwhile, the grape harvest
speaks about a harvesting of the final of the wicked before the
Son of God comes and establishes his government.
And while that may seem plausible, there is evidence in
this text that would suggest a different conclusion.
And there are two main important observations that we have to
acknowledge in order for us to be open to something else.
Number one, what John is doing here is something that he does
so regularly throughout his writings in this book.
He's alluding to an Old Testament prophecy, and the Old
Testament prophecy that he seeks to connect is that of what Joel
said in Joel chapter 3. Turn with me to Joel chapter 3
and look here with me beginning at verse 12 of Joel chapter 3,
because when we turn there, we're going to get more clarity
of what John seems to be communicating here in this
vision in Revelation chapter 14, Joel chapter 3.
Look at verse 12. It's not a common book, so it
may take you some time to get there.
That's OK. Joel chapter 3 verse 12.
Let the nation's stir themselves up and come up to the Valley of
Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding
nations. Put in the sickle, for the
harvest is ripe. Go in tread for the winepress is
full. The vats overflow for their evil
is great. Did you notice how verse 13 is
almost a perfect summary of what John seems to be elaborating on
in his vision? Here you have a sickle.
A sickle. For a ripe harvest.
More than that, it's followed by the description of an
overflowing winepress, just like the two types of reapings that
we saw in our main text. And if you're willing to accept
that, then you also have to understand that what Joel is
speaking about here is judgement.
Everything surrounding this picture is judgment.
There is no hint here of a righteous harvesting or
salvation. Everything surrounding this
imagery speaks of wrath. And it could be that what John,
John is doing is taking and borrowing from this prophecy and
expanding it by the Spirit to convey that the fulfillment of
this prophecy of a comprehensive judgment of all nations is at
hand. Here's a second important
observation. That may lead to a different
conclusion of the two types of harvest in Revelation 14.
It's found in a word in Revelation 14.
So go back to that text and look again at verse 15 and consider
something with me that is so important to unpack.
Revelation 14, verse 15. John sees and writes and another
Angel. Came out of the temple calling
with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud.
Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come.
For the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.
Underline that word ripe. Do you know what that word
means? Well, at face value, seems like
a good thing that the harvest has reached its full maturation,
that it's ready. It's ready to be plucked.
It's ready to be gathered in. It's fulfilled its purpose.
But here's where word studies help.
When you actually look at the original word for ripe here, it
does not mean ready. It actually means.
Over ripe. In other words, it means that it
it's past it's due. More specifically, it says
something that is dry. It speaks of something that is
withered. This is not a good description.
So whatever this harvest is, it's not being gathered in with
joy. It's not being gathered in
because there's good use. It's being gathered in to be
discarded. Here's what's amazing that word
right? In verse 15 is only used in one
other place in all of the Book of Revelation.
Would you like to know where it is?
Go to chapter 16. Look at verse 12, Revelation
1612. Another vision of another
prophecy, but it has a word that's important for us to
understand. The 6th Angel.
Poured out his bull on the great river Euphrates and its water
was dried up. That's the word dried.
It's the same word used for ripe in Revelation 1415, dried up to
prepare the way for the kings from the East.
So when we take all this in consideration, it's very
difficult to arrive at the place and thinking that this first
harvest in this vision is a good one when the ripeness is more
accurately to be understood as rottenness.
How can you think that this is the Lord Jesus gathering in the
redeemed when they are described in such a way?
Does this make sense? So then if John is borrowing
from Joel a prophecy about wide scale universal judgement,
sickle, harvest, grape overflowing, and if this word
ripe actually means something that is dried and withered.
No longer of good use. Then what do these two harvests
mean? If it's not about the righteous
and the wicked, it's not about gathering in the good and
judging the evil, what do we have before us?
What we have before us is a. Description of judgment in two
major phases. That's what we have.
What we have here is God's final judgment against the wicked.
Occurring just before Christ's return in two massive segments.
And that makes more sense when you think about it a little
further. Remember how he said Revelation
14, especially these verses previews what we're going to
find, chapters 15 down through chapters 19.
What's in chapters 1516? Primarily the seven bowls of
God's wrath. And those bowls will be poured
out until Christ himself comes and directly deals with his
enemies on the earth. And it seems as though these two
harvests are indicating those two major manifestations of
God's wrath. In other words, the first
harvest could be pointing to the seven bowls.
And then the grape harvest right after seems to be paving the way
and describing Christ personal confrontation with his foes.
This is what seems to be making the most sense here.
But that's not where we want to end.
What we want to consider, and the rest of this time here
together is these two types of harvest in more detail.
What do we learn about God through them?
How do they speak to our hearts? What message do they convey for
our day-to-day lives? And that's how we're going to
split our thoughts today. I want us to look at the first
harvest reaping and then the second one.
The first one again is a preview of the seven bowls that are
going to be poured out. And then the second one, which
is much more graphic, is it not? Did you notice the imagery here?
The grapes being trodden, blood being splattered, a river of
blood it seems to be gushing forth.
Why is the second one more graphic than the first one?
Because as severe as the bold judgments will.
Be what Christ is going to do directly is going to be much
more intense. Let's reel back here.
What can we learn? From the first harvest there are
two descriptions here that are interesting.
We see one like a Son of Man who is seated on a cloud, and he has
a golden crown. Now one, like a Son of Man, only
appears in one other place in the Book of Revelation, in the
very first chapter, where Jesus is described in his glorified
state. And one of the characteristics
that he emulates is that he has this golden sash around them and
he has this robe and it speaks about His Majesty.
And it's in that place in Revelation 113 where we read
that one like a son of man is carrying these these garbs.
So John is making it very plain here.
I I'm referring to to Christ in this vision, the one who is
seated 1 like a son of man. That's Jesus.
Not just because of Revelation chapter 1, but because of Daniel
Chapter 7, where he too saw one like a Son of Man descending
with the clouds, approaching the Ancient of Days.
Which tells us that John and his prophecies are in total
alignment with the old. Prophecies.
He is not writing anything new. He's in total alignment with the
prophets of old. And more than that, however, it
tells us something about Jesus that we often neglect.
He is a judge. He is a coming judge.
The Lord doesn't want us to skim over this so quickly because He
provides these descriptions around Christ's judgement that
we have to meditate on. There are three things about
Christ being judge and how he judges that we have to face that
we have to come to terms with. And the first thing is this.
Christ Jesus judges with divine authority that golden crown.
Him sitting on that cloud speaks of his divine origin, and it
speaks about the divine authority that he possesses now
and that he will manifest in the days to come.
This is Christ, the one who died.
Yes, this is Christ, the one who created the world and the One
who upholds the universe with the power of his Word.
But this is also Christ who will come and deal with the wicked
once and for all. Here's why that's important.
You and I are making a very serious mistake.
If we're willing to believe in a God who has created the world
and save the world, but not judge the world, our God is a
judge. He will hold this world
accountable. And though in a very broken way,
this world is set up where we have mutual accountability.
We have judicial systems. What the Bible teaches is all
systems in this world are ultimately answerable to God
himself. And there's a day coming of
reckoning. Now some take issue of this
being Jesus because he seems to be taking orders from an Angel.
Did you notice that in verse 15? And another Angel came out of
the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the
cloud. And so.
They do all these gymnastics with who this one like a Son of
man is. There's no way that Christ can
be taking orders from a created being, even if it's an angelic
being. But read your bibles carefully.
This is not an Angel speaking from his own authority.
Where did the Angel come from? And another Angel came out of
the temple. This is the temple in heaven
according to the context. So what is this Angel doing?
Well, he's coming out of the very place where God's presence
dwells. So it seems to suggest that this
Angel is relaying a message from God the Father.
And we know that throughout the Bible, angels are messengers in
many ways. They, they participate in God's
Word, even in delivering a message or two.
So this Angel is delivering a message from the temple, and the
Father is signaling to the Son that the hour of judgement has
come. And here's all you need to know
at this point. Jesus will judge the world
because he has divine authority to do so.
But the second way that he judges is with perfect
precision. You know, when we look at Christ
in the Book of Revelation, there are a lot of things that he
holds in his hand symbolically. And now we have something new,
something that perhaps we've never thought about.
In this vision, Jesus holds a sickle.
Have you heard of a sickle? It's a single handed
agricultural tool. It has kind of a swoosh.
It's like a hook and it's used to harvest or to cut.
What moves me though, is that Jesus with this sickle, as
strange as that might be, furthermore, is holding a sharp
sickle. Why do I need to know it's
sharp? In fact, that appears more than
once in this vision. Sharp sickle.
Sharp sickle because the sharpness indicates something
about the effectiveness and the precision of his judgement.
Jesus Christ is not dull in his discernment.
He's not dull in his perception. He's not dull with his verdicts.
Jesus Christ is error free with his justice.
He's razor sharp. He's always accurate.
He never exaggerates, he never goes overboard.
It is surgically precise and how he.
Evaluates men's hearts and what he determines concerning their
fates, and this is shown throughout the scriptures in so
many different ways. One of the.
Ways that has ministered me the most as a follower of Jesus
Christ is seeing how Christ handles a particular case in the
Old Testament. How the Lord appears to Abraham
with two angels, and before he judges Sodom and Gomorrah, he
decided to actually tell Abraham what he was going to do to.
Sodom and Gomorrah and when he explains it to Abraham, he says
something that is so insightful about his character as a judge.
Genesis 18. Look at this with me in verse
20. It says here in Genesis 18,
verse 20. Then the Lord said, because the
outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin
is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done
altogether according to the outcry that has come to me, and
if not I will know. You know, when I first read
this, it surprised me because this is clearly the Lord
speaking to Abraham and he's telling Abraham, hey, I've come
down. I've descended upon the earth to
actually examine what's going on in these cities to see if they
match the outcry that has arisen because of them.
I have heard, and I have read of some people who use this text to
teach that God can't be all knowing.
Why? Because it seems as though he
needs to descend into creation and verify the facts at a closer
look. Is that what's happening here?
Is that what the Bible teaches about God?
No, what you have here instead is the Lord graciously revealing
something about His character in a way that we would understand,
going out of His way to exemplify something so crucial
about His nature. And here's what that means.
Before executing judgement, he takes great care to gather all
the evidence before rendering A verdict.
He takes time to investigate in way every matter.
That's what he is showing here. It's not that he needs to do it,
but he wants to show us what he's willing to do, the length
that he's willing to go to, what he is willing to provide in
terms of his patients and his his care and his fairness.
It's meant to show that he is never cruel or impulsive and how
he deals with the wicked. He is precise, He is perceptive,
and he is perfectly just the sharp sickle.
So we learned that Jesus, according to this vision, judges
with divine authority. He judges with perfect
precision. And lastly, he does so with
incredible patience. Remember that word ripe in
Revelation 1415? That's the true condition of the
harvest. It's overdue.
And though that says something about the wickedness of the
generation that Christ will deal with, it also says something
about His heart. God waited for the harvest to
get to that point. He didn't even wait for it to
get ripe. He waited till it became over
ripe. What does that tell you about
God? That he's not hasty in
judgement. He's not quick, He's very slow.
He is steadfast. He waits and he waits and he
waits, and he convicts and he convicts, and he provides
presentation of the gospel after presentation of the gospel.
And when you deny, deny, deny, ignore, ignore, ignore,
suppress, suppress, suppress, then God.
Sees your unwillingness and is willing to act accordingly.
And this is true about God for nations, and this is true for
God with individuals. Do you remember the seven
letters to the churches earlier in this book?
One of them was being plagued by a false prophetess whose name
was Jezebel, and she was leading the congregation, at least most
of them, into sexual immorality. She was teaching them strange
things, contrary things to the truth.
And God has John write this letter to this church in
Thyatira, and he says something so staggering about her in a
single verse in Revelation 221. Listen to these words.
This is what Jesus says about this woman.
I gave her time to repent. I gave her time to repent.
Now be honest with yourself. If you were in charge of a
church and there was somebody who took control of the
leadership, that was false, that was in blatant disobedience to
what God designed for the local church, what God wants to be
said in the local church, how swift would you be in dealing
with the matter? And yet Christ, in his perfect
wisdom, in this specific case, I gave her time.
We don't know what He did in that time, but this seems to
suggest that in that time he warned her, He convicted her, He
revealed Himself to her and what happens in the rest of hers.
But she refuses to repent of her sexual morality.
She refuses. The fact that these seven bulls
are going to be poured out is because this final generation of
the Tribulation period refused, refused, refused, refused.
Can I ask you something today before we move on?
Are you rejecting Christ today? How many times have you heard
the gospel presentation from this pulpit alone?
How many times down deep inside you know, you know that your
conscience is ringing because what you're doing, how you're
living, is wrong? You haven't surrendered.
You haven't. You haven't given up that sin
yet. You haven't given your heart to
Christ yet. Don't test his patience.
Translate. His patience as His great love
to you and give yourself to Him. Don't waste any more time
because you and I can never determine exactly when Christ
will change His mind of how He deals with us in our sin.
He judges, judges with incredible patience.
So this order of reapings show us that this is how the Lord is
actually going to deal with the last group of people on the
earth before the 2nd harvesting will take place.
And that is going to show Christ's judgement at His
coming. You're saying?
Is that really what's about to be said in this next harvest?
Yes. Let me give you a clue.
Can you look at something with me here?
Consider this verse in Revelation 14, verse 19.
So the Angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered
the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great
winepress of the wrath of God, and the winepress was trodden
outside the city. Fast forward to Revelation 19.
Now this is the chapter, at least half of it, that shows us
the actual coming of Christ. And notice a similarity between
the preview in chapter 14 and the realization in chapter 19.
Look at verse 15 of chapter 19. From his mouth comes a sharp
sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule
them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of
the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
Do you see it? Do you see how the first harvest
is speaking about the seven bowls?
And then this next one that we're about to look at in
greater detail speaks about what's going to happen when
Christ comes himself. There are so many details from
verses 17 down to verse 20. We don't have enough time to
look at all of them. So I have a feeling that some
may approach me after this and say what about this and what
about that? Unless you want to stay here
longer. We can look at them.
But let's carve out a few key things just with the time that
we have left. So the Son of Man who is going
to do this reaping is now eclipsed by another Angel in
verse 17. Look at this.
Then another Angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he.
Too had a sharp sickle and another Angel came out from the
altar. The Angel has authority over the
fire and he called it a loud voice to the one who had the
sharp sickle. So you have now 2 angels
interacting with one another. Beforehand you had an Angel
relaying a message from the Father to the Son.
Now you have another Angel who comes out of the temple, and
another Angel is coming out of the altar in heaven.
Now, what's that all about? Well, we've learned at this
point that the altar in Revelation in Heaven signifies
the intercession of the Saints. So in one way, what we're about
to see with this preview of a judgment.
Is God fulfilling the answers to those prayers of the martyrs who
said vindicate us, do something with our murders?
Who shed all this blood? And this, this little subtle
hint is, is a sign for us to see.
Jesus is about to answer that. God is about to answer that.
But notice that these angels are interacting and saying, listen,
put it, put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the
vine of the earth for its grapes are ripe.
Now the grapes are ripe. The harvest was ripe.
And we looked at that original word.
It's over ripe, it's dry, it's withered.
There's nothing good about it, and the grapes now are ripe.
Here's the thing. The word ripe here is not the
same as the first one. This word for ripe concerning
the grapes actually speaks about ready.
They're full. They have reached a point of
completion. The normal sense of ripe is
what's in view here. Why the difference?
Well, obviously to convey a different message.
So when it comes to this grape harvest, which speaks about what
Christ is going to do with the wicked, it means here that
because of humanity in this time has reached the bursting point
of wickedness, Christ is going to meet them in that state.
Which is an amazing thing to consider.
After all the seal judgments, after all the trumpet judgments,
after the witnesses and the miracles and the obvious crying
out to the loss to be saved, what does this grape harvest
teach us? That humanity, experiencing all
of that, will only become more and more evil.
They're going to grow more and more in the rebellion, that
they're becoming more and more vicious and vile and despicable.
And what this word right means according to?
The judgement it signifies as Jesus is going to say enough is
enough. I've given them enough chances,
they don't seem to be changing, and so I'm going to harvest them
in and discard them from the earth.
And this presents a very difficult challenge for those
who believe that the world is only going to get better and
better before Jesus returns. There are people who believe
that. You know, how do you reconcile
that notion with this vision? Humanity is only going to swell
up more and more in their sin, to the point where it reaches a
peak that invites the swift and sudden judgement of Christ
Himself. And notice where the grapes came
from in verse 18, the second part where the Angel actually
speaks. Put in your sickle and gather
the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are
ripe vine of the earth. What an interesting way to
describe the systems and the philosophies of this world.
What is this trying to teach? Well, it shows here that these
grapes who speak about the wicked derive their sustenance
and life flow from the world as their source.
They have attached themselves to the ideologies of this world.
They have connected themselves to the ambitions of this
unbelieving realm, and they are producing the fruit according to
its influence, the vine of the earth.
The Lord wants us to make a connection here.
There are different vines in the Bible.
Did you know? Do you remember what Jesus said
of himself in John 15 verse one? I am the true vine and the
Father is the vine dresser. I love that because Jesus didn't
just say I am a vine, He says I'm the true vine.
I am the. True source of life, of
sustenance, of the fruit that your soul yearns for.
I am the true vine that you must abide in.
I'm the true vine that can offer the satisfaction and the joy and
the peace and the love and the wholeness that you're craving.
Don't link yourself to the vine of the earth.
Link yourself to the heavenly one for Christ to to speak in
this way. And, and John was the one who
wrote it. He wrote John obviously, and
he's writing the Book of Revelation.
And you and I are the branches. According to John 15 verse five,
I'm the vine, you are the branches, and the only way that
you can draw out the glories of this vine who is Jesus, is if
you abide in him, you allow Him to dwell in your heart, you live
for Him, you walk. With him.
And here's the question I want to ask in light of this truth in
Revelation 14. Which vine are you attached to?
Every single one of us in this place and the sound of my voice
is attached to 1 Vine. You are drawing out life from
one thing or another, and if you're drawing it from Christ,
it will show. The way to verify which vine am
I linked to is not by verbal confession, it's by the evidence
of the fruit in your. Life, it's observable and it's
no different if you are attached to the vine of this earth,
whether you intend to or not, it's going to show.
There's no way around it. But Jesus, never forget this
says I'm the true one. I'm the true vine, so the choice
is yours. Will I go to the vine of the
earth, or like, disconnect from that false cheap substitute and
link myself to the true vine? And to reject the true vine is a
very foolish choice, because there's a day coming when all
who have done the opposite will be gathered into the great
winepress of God's wrath. For those who have replaced
Christ with something else will be held accountable for it
because you are denying God, you're rejecting His will, you
are despising His provision, and you are claiming there's
something else that can give me what only God himself can grant
me. Notice what's going to happen
with these grapes that are going to be removed from the vine of
the earth. It says here in verse 19.
So the Angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered
the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great
winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden.
Trodden. What does that mean?
Means to step on means to walk on the way.
In many places in the world today, grape juice and wine is
made where you have these vast you have these.
Hewn out stones and you would step on it and it would create
the juice. And this is very vivid imagery
here. It's actually very graphic that
this preview of the judgement that will come when Christ
arrives on the scene. Will be like one who is stepping
on grapes. The question is who's doing the
treading here? And the answer is actually in
Isaiah. You know, one of the most famous
prophecies of Jesus Christ in Isaiah, Isaiah what, 53 But you
know what doesn't get as much attention?
Isaiah 63. Isaiah 63 holds the answer of
who's doing the treading here in Revelation 14.
Look at Isaiah 63. Isaiah gets this astounding
glimpse of Messiah in a way that makes a lot of people
uncomfortable. Notice what he says in Isaiah 63
verse one. Who is this?
Who comes from Edom in Crimson garments from Basra.
Basra is believed to be the capital of Edom.
Edom is located in modern day Jordan, the southern part.
But let's read it again. Who is this who comes from Edom
in Crimson garments from Basra? He who is splendid in his
apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength.
It is I speaking in righteousness mighty to save
that exclusive language. This is no ordinary man.
And Isaiah now has more questions.
Verse 2. Why is your apparel red and your
garments like his? Who treads in the wine press?
Verse three I have trodden the wine press alone and from the
people's. No one was with me.
I trod them in my anger. I trampled them in my wrath.
Their lifeblood spattered on my garments and stained all my
apparel. And you look at the context of
speaking about the judgment of many peoples.
You see what John is doing here Now by the Spirit, he's taking
the same kind of description and he applies it to the Lord Jesus.
You don't see that clearly in chapter 14.
It's in chapter 19 when when Christ actually comes, his
garments are stained with blood. Here's what's the most
interesting part. Look at verse 4 of Isaiah 63.
The Lord is continuing to speak and he says for the day of
vengeance was in my heart and my year of redemption had come.
Does that bother you? This is Jesus.
Do you know what Jesus says? The day of vengeance is in my
heart. He's saying wait.
I understood Christ's heart way differently than this.
You're saying it's in his heart to actually judge?
Yes. Why?
Because of the second part of verse 4.
And my year of redemption had come because by way of
judgement, there will be a greater redemption for those
that. Belong to Him.
The judgement will lead to a greater salvation, will lead to
a greater rescue, will bring to completion the salvation that He
began at his first coming. And Speaking of his first
coming, do you remember which passage Jesus quoted early on in
his ministry to authenticate his Messiahship?
Well, since you're in Isaiah, just scroll back a couple of
chapters in Isaiah 61. You remember this right?
And Isaiah 61 verse one. Jesus quoted these verses.
What does it say? The Spirit of the Lord God is
upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news
to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the
broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the
opening of the prison to those who are bound.
Look at verse 2, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the
day of vengeance of our God to comfort all who mourn.
Now when you look at when Jesus quotes it in the book of Luke,
he stops it at a certain point. He stops it after to proclaim
the year of the Lord's favor. Why?
Because at his first coming, the day Avengers of our God was not
supposed to happen, He closed the book.
He closed the scrolls after that first part in chapter 61 verse
2. Because he's not coming in his
first coming to judge. He came to bring salvation.
But did you notice something between Isaiah 61 and Isaiah 63?
Oh, just look at it again. Look at Isaiah 63, verse four.
What does the Lord say there? For the day of vengeance was in
my heart, and my year of redemption had come.
Did you notice the order difference?
Go back to Isaiah 61, verse 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's
favor and the day of vengeance of our God.
It switched. So in Isaiah 61, what is
presented first? The year of the Lord's favor.
But in Isaiah 63, what's presented first?
The day of vengeance. Isaiah 61 speaks of Christ's
first coming. Isaiah 63 speaks of Christ's
second coming. When he comes again, it's with
vengeance. When he comes again, it's going
to be to judge, not to save, not to die for sin again, but to
deal with sinners once and for all.
And through the day of vengeance, the year of
redemption will come. But notice again, yes, the day
Avengers is in his heart, but look how?
Look how precise the Holy Spirit is in both cases, Isaiah 61 and
Isaiah 63. When it comes to the vengeance,
it's a day. When it comes to redemption and
salvation, it's a year. Did you notice that He's much
more excited and much more longing to save than to judge?
Yes, it's in his heart, but the reason why it's in his heart is
because that day needs to come for the year of redemption to be
experienced. So Christ ultimately wants to
save. He he wants none to perish, none
to experience his holy wrath but his holy love, his embrace, his
compassion, his salvation. But.
There will be many who will refuse.
Now, everything that we've seen up to this point in Revelation
14 is highly symbolic, right? I mean, it's almost a mix.
But I don't think we need to understand Christ sitting in
heaven with an actual sickle. It's something that we need to
fight for to be totally literal. It's it's symbolic imagery.
And yet, with all the symbolism, there's something quite literal
about the last part of Revelation 14.
Let's go there and end our time together.
Look at verse 20. And the winepress was trodden
outside the city. What city?
Jerusalem. Why?
Because there's Old Testament prophecies and New Testament
clues that show that Christ is coming specifically to Israel.
And more than that, look at this description.
And blood flowed from the winepress as high as a horse's
bridle for 1600 stadia, a horse's bridle talking about
that instrument by the horse's mouth, you're, you're looking at
something about four to five feet from the ground.
So when this judgement is actually realized, whom we know
to be Christ issuing it, the result of it will be from just
the face value, a river of blood 4 feet deep for how long and how
wide? According to 1600 Stadium, if
you translate that in miles, you're looking at 180 something
miles. Now this is this is really
confounded people. It seems incomprehensible.
You're telling me that there's going to be so much bloodshed
that you can essentially swim in that blood for miles upon miles?
One, that suggests that whenever Christ does come, there's going
to be a lot of people there who are going to try to face him.
And we're preparing for that in Revelation 16, where all the
nations are going to be led by demonic spirits to come to
Armageddon, north of Jerusalem. But when you consider these
other prophecies, like Isaiah 63, it seems as though the
masses of the allies against Christ will be so grand that it
might even reach down to Basra. It might even spill over into
Jordan and they will surround this holy city to one try to
Vanquish the Jewish people. And more than that, the Jewish
Messiah. So is this actually going to be
a deep, long river of blood? We don't know.
It could be that he's speaking about the blood splattering up
to the bridles of horses. It could even be speaking about
the bodies piled up that high. But one thing is for certain,
when Christ came the first time, he actually came into this world
to die and to raise from the grave.
And when Christ comes the second time, we're not talking about
some invisible return. We're not talking about some
spiritual advent. We're talking about a real
bodily return of Christ. Who's going to deal with real
people with real judgment? Do you know Jesus Christ today?
I know this isn't a popular message, but I am tethered to
this word. I will be held accountable and
every preacher too, who dares to get up on a pulpit and say, Thus
says the Lord, and here's what I'm bound to say.
According to the scriptures, judgement is coming.
Sinners will be judged, and those who have not placed their
faith in Christ will be harvested in to be trampled upon
by the Holy Son of God. But here's what I want to tell
you also. The same one who has a sickle on
his hand, with those same hands were pierced, And the same one
who will use his feet to trample on his enemies, were put
together and nailed to a cross. And the same one who has a
golden crown in this vision took upon himself a crown of thorns.
He suffered under God's wrath. He took and absorbed the fury of
the Holy One for you, for you, for every single one of us here
in this place, no matter how gross and disgusting your sin
may be, no matter how hideous your past looks like Jesus
Christ knows it all. And because of His Holiness,
there is a day of vengeance. But I want to let you know what
makes his heart really beat. And that is your salvation, your
redemption, your renewal. And listen, this is the hour of
salvation. Today is the day, now is the
time we're looking at what's ultimately going to come.
But we have this window of grace and I make this appeal to you on
the Sunday afternoon, Come to Christ, come to Jesus.
Listen, I'm talking about a real Savior here.
What what are we doing here? What do you do?
You think we just, let's just look at another lesson today.
And this isn't tradition, This is God's word telling us about a
real God who's going to do real things in this world.
So I want to let you know that this isn't a game.
This isn't a social club with a little bit of religion sprinkled
on it. This is a matter of life and
death. This is a matter of eternity.
I believe with all my heart. Because I believe this book that
there's a real judgement coming. I don't want you to experience
it. You can be delivered from it.
Oh, I pray that you would take this seriously.
I pray that you would realize that this is indeed true.
And if it is true, what are you going to do about it?
Just sit there and think about lunch.
Come to Christ today before it's too late.
Bend your knee, receive Him. And I can give you the absolute
assurance, based on the authority of this word, that if
you are sincere in your repentance.
You will know not a flow of judgement, a flow of love that
you've never experienced before, that this holy, brilliant, pure
being is more amazing in His love than you've ever
experienced in this life. And that's what He wants to
offer you today. His heart and love come to
Christ. Let's pray.
Lord, we thank you that your word is true.
And Lord, in your presence we declare that we are not
embarrassed about your word. We're not ashamed of it.
In a world so filled with lies and confusion and deception,
make us more bold about the truth than ever.
Your word has never failed. And Lord, at this moment, you've
given us a text about judgement. We will not downplay it.
We will not ignore it. We will not skip over it.
We will come to terms with it. And Lord number one, we want to
thank you that you've saved us from our sin.
Thank You that because of Christ we are no longer objects of your
wrath, but we are adopted as children forever.
But Lord, that is not true for 1,000,000 today.
And we ask, Lord, that in this place that if there's anybody
who does not have the absolute confidence that they are saved,
that they would not be so foolish or stubborn to deny the
free gift of salvation. That they would realize that
you've died for them and that they would give themselves to
this truth, that they would receive your love.
So Lord, we pray as we've done what we can in the service.
We've sung the songs and we've preached the message, and we've
given Scripture quotation after Scripture quotation.
But only you can convict. Only you can touch the heart,
Lord, and we admit that gladly. So, Lord, move freely in this
place and bring more into the harvest of righteousness.
Bring more into the fold of God through your love.
We give you thanks Lord, and help us be ambitious to be
ambassadors to those who only have judgment to look forward to
if they don't give their lives to Christ.
We ask these things in Jesus name, Amen.
Amen. Let's stand together.
God is so real that at any point in this service moving forward,
if you, if you were to just speak to him, he hears you, even
if you don't sing these songs right now and you sit in your
seat, you sit in that Pew and you say, Lord, I just, I need to
be saved. Forgive me.
God will hear that prayer. And believer, I hope your song
will be strong at this point because you were reminded today
of what you were saved from. You have heaven, you have
eternal life because of Christ. Let's sing about it together.