The Last Call

We are going to try to finish up chapter 14 tonight.

Chapter 14 follows directly after the two chapters on the Satanic Trinity

Remember this is a word of encouragement to encourage followers of Jesus after the discouraging news of Satan temporary victories.

Review Questions:

QUESTION: Who are the 144,000?

They are the redeemed people on the earth at the end of time.

Evidence to support this?

Followers of Jesus are referred to as Jews

Revelation 2:9 “‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”

All followers are called bond servants all throughout the this book

144,000 comes from 123 tribes of Israel + 12 apostles + 1,000 (which means a multitude)

QUESTION: What is the mark of God on these servants?

most likely the Holy Spirit

INTRODUCTION

The next section in chapter 14 presents the last opportunity to turn to God

Over and over again God’s mercy is displayed all throughout the Bible. We see it in Genesis with Adam and Eve and all the way through Scripture to the last chapter in Revelation.

But equally so, we see final opportunities for that mercy. God’s mercy is not unending. There is a point when God’s mercy runs out and there is no hope left for a man but judgement awaits him. That is what this next section is about. A final cry of mercy followed by eternal doom for those who refuse to turn to the Lord and repent.

The first angel

Lets start in Revelation 14:6–7“And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; and he said with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.”

The angel preaching the eternal gospel

What is the meaning of the gospel?

It literally means good news. That Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose from the grave three days later.

But notice it is the eternal gospel. And that’s why there is no better news than this news. It is the only thing that will matter when we cross over in to eternity

How will they accept the good news preached by this angel?

Do you see a sinners prayer offered?

Do you see baptism offered?

Do you see an angel asking people to raise their pinky and receive Jesus?

They are called to fear God

QUESTION: What does it mean to fear God?

Think about fear of God in this context in Revelation. What awaits for the worshipers of the beast? JUDGEMENT, GOD’S WRATH, ETERNITY IN HELL

QUESTION:

What does fear of God look like in the life of a person today?

Proverbs 8:13 ““The fear of the Lord is to hate evil”

Philippians 2:12 “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;”

And give Him glory

How do we give God glory?

Tell others about Him

Psalm 96:3 “Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.”

Worship Him

Psalm 96:2 “Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.”

Praise Him

Revelation 19:5 “And a voice came from the throne, saying, “Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.””

This is what the angel preached to the entire world

One last chance to turn to God.

One last chance to hate evil and fear God who made the heaven and the earth

Evangelism with J(Y)asmin Sunday who believed in God yet struggled with Jesus.

Which is the greater miracle: God creating the world and all its inhabitants or the incarnation and resurrection of Jesus?

The Second Angel

Revelation 14:8 “And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality.””

“Babylon the Great”

This term comes from the book of Daniel (which we will dive into next).

Daniel 4:30 ““The king reflected and said, ‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’”

Remember Nebuchadnezzar tried to force everyone to worship his statue of gold.

Therefore, Babylon then represents the spirit of a godless nation IN EVERY AGE that lures people away from the worship of God to worship idols and participate in immorality.

It represents the societal idea to put God and religion forever and live freely.

“She has made all the nations drink of her wine”

This is the influence of that godless nation upon a people and leading them into sin and paganism.

“fallen fallen (a doublet meaning certainty in Greek) is Babylon the Great”

In other words God’s wrath awaits her and all those who drink of her wine

All those who follow these new pagan ideas, immorality, a life where one does whatever is right in his own eyes also has the wrath of God waiting for him

This most would certainly have applied to Rome in John’s day, and many other nations throughout the generations

And sadly this seems to b the direction of our nation

It certainly is headed to godlessness and immorality as the norm

Free abortions for illegal immigrants

Kamala’s VP pick is 100% for planned parenthood

The praise of homosexuality

The greed, gambling casinos, bill boards with lawyers dying to sue someone

Godlessness has certainly progressed in my lifetime

Proverbs 14:34 “Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people.”

It is sin that causes nations to fall

Our nation is only about 300 years old

Rome was 503 years old when it fell

We are foolish to think our nation can glorify sin and not be judged by God

The Third Angel

Revelation 14:9–13 “Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone 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; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

The fate of those who worship the beast

In chapter 13 the threat to those who did not worship the beast would be that they could not buy or sell. It also escalated to being taken into prison or even killed.

Revelation 13:10 “If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.”

Now we see the other side of that to those who worship the beast

They will drink the cup of God’s wrath

In other words, they may be able to buy and sell and eat and pay rent temporarily, but they will face God in judgement

Now the beast represents the antichrist

And in John’s writing that certainly applied to Nero who persecuted Christians

But it also applied to many men throughout the ages who were against God’s people

And it applies to a final Antichrist who will be far more evil than them all and rule the entire world

Here is the point: To give in and turn away from God, no matter how difficult life becomes is to accept the wrath of God. It may bring temporary relief, but it will certainly bring eternal torment. And the price one pays for temporary relief is certainly not worth eternity in hell.

“God’s wrath mixed in full strength”: Than means no mercy at all

At the end of David’s reign he took a census. It was a prideful, sinful thing and he was judged for it

God asked David if he wanted to receive the wrath of his enemies or the wrath of God and David said this: “Please let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are very great. But do not let me fall into the hand of man.”” (1 Chron 21:13)

There is mercy for us while we are here on earth. We know God’s mercy. Have experienced it over and over.

But there will be no mercy in hell. NONE

“tormented with brimstone and fire”: heat, fire, burning

Mark 9:44 “where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.”

It is a picture of torment yet without the relief of death

“in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb”

To make it even worse all of this will happen in the very presence of Jesus and the angels

The same idea seems to be in the story of the rich man and Lazarus

Can you imagine knowing you had a chance to turn to Jesus, refusing, and now suffering tremendously in his presence

Can you imagine being in church your whole life, never really following Jesus whole heartedly, but following the way of the culture or society, and then seeing him and receiving His wrath

Hell is not a popular subject today

Many people will even stop attending churches who talk about hell and judgement.

But the NT never shies away from it, and neither should we

Judgement is real, consequences are real, eternity is real, and one part of fear God is to fear the judgement of God!

1 Peter 1:17 “If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth”

The Encouragement to stay faithful and true

Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.””

“Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on”

Now what is John talking about?

He is talking about those who will have to give up their physical lives to remain faithful to Jesus.

It is “take the Mark” and live temporarily in relief, or STAND FIRM, DIE, AND LIV E FOREVER WITH JESUS IN PARADISE

QUESTION: If Jesus demands this kind of faithfulness then, does that mean He demands that kind of faithfulness now? Explain

Yes

Luke 9:23 “And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”

Not just in one act, but daily!

QUESTION: What does faithfulness to God mean in these verses?

Those who keep the commandments of God

Those who keep their faith in Jesus

ENCOURAGEMENT: PRESS ON SAINTS! Don’t comply to the culture around you! Look different! You should be different! You should live different!

Stay faithful to Jesus no matter how difficult it may seem!

God will never ask you do to do something impossible. If you lean on Him, He will carry you through!

The fourth Angel

Revelation 14:14–20 “Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.” Then He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. And the wine press was trodden outsid…”

THE ANGEL PREACHING THE GOSPEL

Revelation 14:6–8 “And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; and he said with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.” And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality.””

An angel

THE FATE OF THE FOLLOWERS OF THE BEAST

Revelation 14:9–13 “Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone 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; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.””

THE GREAT HARVEST

Revelation 14:14–20 “Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.” Then He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles.