Reaping His Harvest = Revelation 14:14-16

Reaping His Harvest

Revelation 14:14-16

Have you ever known someone who seemed to live a charmed life? They had no problems in school. Even Jr. High was a piece of cake for them, and I’m sure all you adults remember Jr. High. They got into the best college and made the best grades. They graduated with honors and got the best job. Their work life was not stressful or demanding and they just kind of sailed through each day with enough energy at the end of the day to make sure that their married life was always fulfilling. This person has the perfect spouse, the perfect house, the perfect 2.3 kids and the perfect cars. Nothing seems to ever go wrong in their lives. But then one day something does go wrong, it doesn’t even have to be a big something like they have a minor traffic accident. What happens to that person? They usually have no idea how to respond to adversity, they have never experience it before. I tell that story because I believe that is one of the reasons people in general and Christians in specific experience hardship in this life. I know that is not the cause of hardship but it is a part of the purpose of struggles. For the believer we experience these hardship, trials, tribulations and even persecutions to change us into the image of Christ for sure but also so that we have something much better to look forward to. These hardships cause believer and non-believers alike to long for something better than this world. If we experience heaven on earth then what would be so great about being in the heaven in heaven? So we do long for the paradise of heaven because we know that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us later. Today we are going to look at one aspect of that, not heaven itself, but the promise that has been given to us by God through Jesus that He will come and take us home. Let’s pray then we will have our obligatory review before we get into the Scripture for this morning.

Remember we have already noted that much of Revelation is symbolic and not necessarily in chronological order. So remembering that thus far in chapter 14 we have seen the end results of all of history signified by the Lamb standing on the heavenly Mt. Zion with all the redeemed of God. We heard the song of those who were taken out of the great tribulation. We didn’t get to learn the words because it was a song only they could learn but it seemed to sound like the rushing of many waters, the crashing of loud thunder and the sounds of harps being played all at the same time. Then we heard a description of the redeemed of God that described them as spiritually pure, as those who followed the Lamb and was the firstfruit of God and the Lamb, and they were described as being morally pure. Last week we heard three angels and their proclamations. We heard from them a final call to repentance to the people of the earth. We heard a declaration of doom for a world system that is opposed to God; Babylon is fallen is fallen. And we heard a final warning and judgment pronounced on those who worship the Beast. And finally we heard a voice from heaven proclaiming encouragement and a blessing for all those who follow Christ. Today we are going to look at just three verses, but in those verses we will see the keeping of a promise made back in John 14:1-4 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.”[1]

With that in mind let’s go ahead and read chapter 14 in its entirety then focus in of verses 14-16.

Revelation 14 1Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. 3 They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. 4 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. 5 And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God. 6 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—7 saying with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.” 8 And another angel followed, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” 9 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” 12 Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. 13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.” 14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16 So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. 17 Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 18 And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe.” 19 So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 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.[2]

Just for your information I intended on finishing this chapter today but to be honest I wanted to spend more time on verses 17-20 then I could have if I tried to finish so we are just going to look at God’s promise of redemption and wait until next week to look at His judgment and wrath.

So let’s go ahead and read verses 14-16 again. 14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16 So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.

As I say on a regular basis in our study of Revelation there is some controversy as it relates to these verses. Some people see verses 14 through 20 as two views of the same event. They see these verses as God’s judgment on those who follow the beast. But I must admit that I do not see it that way. And just for the record there are many scholars that agree with me, and probably just as many who disagree. On first look at the description of the “One like the Son of Man” we almost automatically see Him as Jesus. But those who believe that this describes the judgment of God believe that this is an angel that just appears to be like a man and they cite Revelation 4:7 where one of the 4 living creatures in the throne room of God had a face like a man. They also struggle with the fact that “another angel” gives Him instructions in verse 15. The Son of God would not be taking instructions from an angel. And finally many object to this being Christ because the golden crown on His head is not a royal crown but a victors crown; a stephanos. And just for the record those who believe that this entity is just another angel may be correct. There are only a few things in all the Revelation of Jesus Christ that I am absolutely sure of: In the end those who have their names written in the Book of life of the Lamb will receive the reward given them by the work of the Lamb of God who was slain. They will have eternal life with Him based on His righteousness not their own. And I know that those who have rejected God will receive what they have earned on their own, they will be rewarded or consequenced with God’s judgment of eternal punishment in hell. Those who have received the attacks of Satan will be vindicated and those who served Satan in those attacks will be judged worthy of damnation. Those things I am sure of and will not be swayed concerning them. When these things occur, I’m not sure, how they happen, I’m not sure, the sequence of events, I not sure and will not bet my life on it. But I do know that all will happen according to the will of God and in His time for His glory.

With all of that out of the way let me go on to tell you what I believe verses 14-16 describe. If you have been paying attention throughout this series of sermons on the Revelation of Jesus Christ you know that I do not hold to the view that the church is taken out of the world before the tribulation. I don’t believe it because I cannot find it clearly stated in Scripture without jumping all over the place to piece things together to make it fit. Those who say that God would not allow His people to go through that kind of tribulation know nothing of church history or just ignore it. They tend to think that the church everywhere and throughout time is like the church in the west today. It is pretty easy to be a ‘Christian’ or at least a church member in the US, all of North America and most all of Europe, Australia and South America. However the church historically has been through great tribulations. Rome persecuted the Church. At times the Catholics persecuted the Church. The Apostles were all persecuted and all but one of them martyred. Baptists were particularly persecuted in England at one point by the Church of England. Muslims have always and today persecute and kill Christians and China has cracked down - as the Church in China thrives. You can go back to the Exodus and see the principle of God’s people suffering tribulations borne out in the 10 plagues God put on Egypt. The plagues affected everyone in Egypt until the plagues began causing death. At that time God protected His people from His own wrath towards Pharaoh, Egypt and their gods. I could go on but the truth is the Church of Jesus Christ, the people of God, has already experienced grave persecution and tribulations and will experience more with greater intensity as the day of the Lord approaches. The Church will experience the wrath of Satan, the fiery red dragon, but the Church will not experience the wrath of God, Jesus experienced that in our stead. Therefore I believe that verses 14-16 describes God’s plan of deliverance for His people before He begins to pour His wrath out on those who worship the Beast and take his mark on their right hand or forehead. I do not believe in the pre-tribulational taking out of the church or rapture but I do believe that Jesus will come for His own, to harvest His people from all the globe pre-wrath. And I believe that is what we see borne out in verses 14-16 and then the wrath of God in verses 17-20.

In Acts 1 right after Jesus gave His apostles their marching orders into Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth He ascended into heaven in a cloud. And in Acts 1:9-11 we read this: 9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”[3] So here is Jesus sitting on a cloud waiting for His opportunity to do what He promised His disciples in John 14:3 I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself. Another angel that is the Temple (throne room of God) sends the message from the Father – The harvest is ready; “Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” In my mind’s eye this is what I see: God is in His throne room in the Temple and Jesus is lounging on the cloud. He is lounging because He has finished preparing all the places for all of those His Father has given Him. His Father turns to the nearest angel and says; Tell My Son to go get the kids. All the names that have been written in the Book of the Life of the Lamb have received Him and all those who will be martyred have been so it is time to bring them home. Over and over again in the New Testament God’s people whom Jesus redeemed are likened to a grain harvest; think of the parable of the wheat and the tares in Matthew 13. Look at Mark 4:26-29 26And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, 27and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. 28For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. 29But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” I believe that this is what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 24:40-42 40Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. It also describes very well what Paul was talking about in 1 Thes. 4:16-17 16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Jesus Christ the victor over death and the cause of death which is sin, (the golden victor’s crown) comes to take those; His redeemed home when all who would receive Hm has done so. In these three short verses we see the consummation of the promise of God through Christ in John 10:28-29 28And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. To that I say that the church should celebrate with a shout of halleluiah.

But preacher why should we celebrate? You said that if we are here during that time we will be going through a terrible tribulation period. Yep, and the church has been going through tribulations since they hung our Lord on the cross. We, in the US, have been sheltered and gotten fat, soft and lazy for the last 245 years but that will not last forever. I have heard and read many, many times that the only hope for the United States is a revival. And I won’t say that I don’t agree but do you realize that if there truly was a revival in the church that the persecution and the attacks on our beliefs and morals would receive even more persecution? I do not believe that a revival would slow down the plan of God to pour His wrath out on evil therefore the purveyor or evil Satan would use the culture and the government to intensify his wrath on the redeemed of God. If God does bring revival it will be one in which the church begins doing what the church is called to do. There will be evangelism in the streets at the expense of the evangelizers being persecuted. There will be service to those who are in need while those providing the ministry are being turned in for wrongdoing. Today we think we are being persecuted and what we do is complain on social media about the government taking our rights away.

What I’m about to say is not a particularly American thought but it is a particularly biblical one. Yes you were born into this world with certain unalienable right. I believe that with all of my being. But when you were born again you forfeited, not those rights but the privilege of not suffering the consequences of exercising those rights. Let me give you an example from Scripture. Peter and John were thrown into prison for preaching in the name of Jesus (Acts 5). During the night an angel came and let them out. They are now fugitives so what did they do? They go back to the Temple and preach Christ crucified and risen knowing full well the possible outcome. They were arrested again and taken to trial again. They were reminded that they were told never to preach Christ again to that came Peter’s response; Acts 5:29 29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men. [4] Then they got quiet said nothing, right? No, they understood the possible consequences but they didn’t demand their rights they simply preached Christ to those who had just finished telling them they could not. This time they were released and in verses 41-42 we read this: 41 So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. 42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.[5] History tells us that later on Peter was executed, crucified, in Rome and John was exiled to Patmos to be worked to death in the mines. There he wrote the Revelation.

You may be thinking that I wandered far afield from the subject of God taking His people out before the wrath of God is poured out on the enemies of God. But the reason I went the way I went is because I have to ask this question of the Church: If we are sure that God will fulfill what He says He will fulfill, taking those He gave to His Son to redeem from sin and its consequences, then why are me more inclined to demand our rights as citizens of the United States than we are to fulfill our responsibilities as citizens of the Kingdom of God? If we are not willing to fulfill our responsibilities now then what makes us think that we will fulfill them when there is real persecution? We cannot be like the person in our opening illustration. We must be prepared for persecution knowing what the final outcome is. Live and behave as citizens of the Kingdom not as citizens of the world. Let’s pray.

[1] The New King James Version. (1982). (Jn 14:1–4). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[2] The New King James Version. (1982). (Re 14:1–20). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[3] The New King James Version. (1982). (Ac 1:9–11). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[4] The New King James Version. (1982). (Ac 5:29). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[5] The New King James Version. (1982). (Ac 5:40–42). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.