Hopes Grace Filled End time Message

Introduction

We are heading into another lockdown, church buildings will be closed for congregational worship, and as you listen to the news it can unsettling.

We hope and we plan, but ultimately we must realise we live in uncertain, end times.

God is still on the throne, working out His good end times.

Last Monday night, when reviewing the second message from Mark Finley, we did a high level fly by of Rev 14.

We first talked about the 144,000 of Rev 14:1-5.

Then we looked at each message of the Three Angels in Rev 14:6-12.

We finished by looking at the execution phase of judgement in Rev 14:13-20.

The first harvest of the redeemed will be carried out by one like the Son of Man.

The first harvest is carried out by Him who is the one who made it possible for us to be part of the first harvest through faith in His work, death and resurrection.

The second harvest is for those who will be gathered and thrown into the great winepress of God’s wrath.

Revelation 13-14

We discussed how we believe the 144,000 number is symbolic, in terms of representing completeness and character.

12 * 12 * 1000.

It echoes Rev 7, and the description of 12*12*1000 from the tribes of Israel.

God’s name is written on the foreheads of the 144,000.

This represents God’s redemption, and the full commitment of these people to the Lord in grateful love.

Revelation 13

How very different is this picture in Rev 14 from what we see just before in Rev 13.

In Rev 13, we have this Beast arising from the Earth.

At the same time that the Beast from the sea is declining and receives it’s deadly wound.

Most interpret that as the capture and exile of the pope in 1798.

The beast from the earth, interpreted by most as the United States, is rising at the same time, in a different less populated part of the world, with its declaration of independence in 1776.

The second beast is allowed to give life back to the first Beast , who had a deadly wound.

Now we have crossed over into the present and future.

Rev 13:16 says,

Revelation 13:16 NKJV

He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads,

These people are fully committed to the beast or go along to get along, as it were.

Remember we don’t have Chapter divisions in the NT, they have been inserted to help us.

So John is shown this scary picture in Rev 13.

The first beast

The second beast

The mark of the beast.

The death decree.

Ending with this scary number, 666.

7 is the number of God’s perfection.

6 is just one less.

It is almost there, but it is totally fake.

Revelation 14

Then after all that in Rev 13, John is immediately shown the Lamb and the 144000 in Rev 14.

Right from that scary scene to Jesus wins!

Yeah!

Happy dance!

The 144,000 have God’s name on their forehead.

They are redeemed by the Lord.

They are fully committed to the Lord.

No mention of the right hand this time.

We are either committed to the Lord or not.

There is no, going along to get along. in God’s Kingdom.

It is God’s name on our forehead or nothing.

The 144,000 are then described with symbolic language.

We read in,

Revelation 14:4–5 NKJV

These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.

It must be symbolic language, as they are all men.

Sorry ladies.

Let me ask you, how do the redeem get perfect?

Only thorough the blood of Jesus and the word of their testimony!

Two Peoples and Two Destinations

Rev 13 ends with 666.

Rev 14 end with another scary number, one thousand six hundred.

Revelation 14:20 NKJV

And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses’ bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs.

It represents the ultimate destination, destruction and fit for this 666 power and those who commit to the Beast, or just join in, to get along.

The New Jerusalem

But soon John is shown a very different ultimate destination and fit.

We hope on over to Rev 21

What do we see?

The 12, 12000 and the 144 numbers again, in reference to the New Jerusalem.

12 Gates, 12 Angels, 12 Tribes, 12 foundations.

Revelation 21:10–14 NKJV

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Then John observes the measuring of the city , and we see the numbers, 12000 and 144.

Revelation 21:15–17 NKJV

And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are equal. Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.

John is shown the perfect city, the new home Jesus went to prepare for His people .

It is custom made and the perfect fit for God’s redeemed people.

That is what we need to remember.

Especially at these times.

As we face uncertainty.

Jesus wins. We win in Jesus. It is for certain.

The everlasting hope filled, grace filled, Gospel

So let’s do a second look now at last Friday Nights session.

It looked in detail at the first Angels message.

The everlasting, hope filled, grace filled, Gospel.

Let’s go through the questions on the worksheet and have some discussion.

1) Look at Rev 14:6, and summarise it in your own words?

Read

Revelation 14:6 NKJV

Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—

What is meant by “flying in the midst of heaven”?

Read

Revelation 8:13 NKJV

And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!”

Note the three fold woe in Rev 8:13, corresponding to the last three trumpets.

Now we have the threefold, three Angels message.

It signifies the urgent and universal nature of the message.

In Rev 8:13, to the inhabitants of the earth.

In Rev 14:6, to every nation, tribe, tongue and people.

The Gospel

2) How does the Apostle Paul define the gospel?

1 Corinthians 15:1 NKJV

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,

Gospel, noun, Lemma, used 77 times in NT, εὐαγγέλιον evan-kel-ion

The “Good news.”

The word “gospel” refers to the “good news” that the Messiah had indeed come to earth, as foretold by the prophets.

The term also applies to the narrative of the life of Jesus, and later, to the various documents, or Gospels, which the record is preserved.

In the context of Revelation, the gospel includes the good news of Christ’s Second Coming, in which He rescues His people.

The Eternal Gospel

It is described here as an everlasting gospel, the only place that is found in the NT

Literal is “Gospel everlasting preach”. Preach is a verb form of the noun, gospel.

This is not a new Gospel, it is the same gospel that went to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, to Moses, and down through all generations.

There is only one gospel.

There is only one way to be forgiven and to be redeemed by the Lord.

Based on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Son of Man.

The one John just saw standing with the 144,000.

The one that John will shortly see gathering His harvest, the first harvest.

3) Summarise the meaning of grace and the gospel. (Romans 3:23–25; Romans 5:6–8)

Read

Romans 3:23–25 NKJV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,

Romans 5:6–8 NKJV

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

To a generation starved for genuine, authentic love and longing for meaningful relationship, the gospel speaks of acceptance, forgiveness, belonging, grace, and life-changing power. It speaks of a God of unconditional love who cares so deeply that He will go to any length to redeem us, because He wants us with Him forever!

4) How far-reaching is heaven’s final message to the human race? (Revelation 14:6)

The first angels message shows the fulfilment of Jesus words in,

Matthew 24:14 NKJV

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Conclusion

According to the urgent, end-time message of the first of the three angels, the “everlasting gospel” is to be proclaimed “to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people” (Revelation 14:6). Here is a mission so grand and so comprehensive that it is all-consuming. It demands our best efforts and requires our total commitment. It inspires us with something larger than ourselves and leads us out of the narrow confines of our own minds to a grander vision.

What can be more rewarding than being part of a divine movement providentially raised up by God to accomplish a task far greater than any one human being could ever accomplish on their own?

This is the destiny to which you are called. This is Christ’s appeal to your soul. Will you answer Christ’s call? As a debtor to grace, will you give all you have to this Christ who paid such an infinite price for you? Will you participate in His mission of sharing His last-day message with a dying world?