INTRO

The world is moving in the direction of Glory.

Revelation 14:14 ESV

Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand.

Revelation 14:15 ESV

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.”

Revelation 14:16 ESV

So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.

Revelation 14:17 ESV

Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.

Revelation 14:18 ESV

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.”

Revelation 14:19 ESV

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.

Revelation 14:20 ESV

And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.

- So is your life, my life, the life of God’s people

o Nothing is meaningless – everything is a piece of the puzzle of God’s glory

o Your struggles and persecutions – pieces of the puzzle

§ This is why Paul says – Romans 8:28

Romans 8:28 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

The picture seems bleak: The great dragon and the two beasts monsters of chapter 13 offered a bleak picture to John’s first readers. Satan had the upper hand. His two greatest triumphs—Antichrist and False Prophet—have enlisted the worship of the whole world.

Many believers have entered the lists of martyrs.

Many are suffering around the world

The only advice the chapter offered to Christians was: “Be patient.” When will God and his forces ever prevail?[1]

BUT CHAPTER 14 IS FULL OF HOPE – POWERFUL HOPE!

[1]Easley, K. H. (1998). Revelation(Vol. 12, p. 246). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

TODAY’S SERMON

HOW TO HAVE HOPE IN YOUR PRESENT TROUBLE

I. REMAIN FOCUSED ON YOUR ETERNAL REALITY

· This is a picture of victory (new song – explain this reality)

o From a unified voice (‘a voice/the voice (v2) – “they were singing (v3)

o “New song” (Rev 5:9) – finality of God’s work through the slain but standing Lamb

Revelation 5:9 ESV

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,

ONE THING ABOUT THE REDEEMED: THEY ARE BLAMELESS

BECAUSE THEY ARE SEALED WITH THE NAME OF THE LAMB AND GOD – THEY ARE BLAMELESS

- WHAT DOES Blameless mean?

o Innocent

o Faultless

o Unblemished

o Perfect

- All of this is made a reality by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit

ANNOUNCING THE COMING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE BEAUTY OF THE NEW COVENANT - AND WHAT THIS WILL MEAN FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD, JEREMIAH SAYS

Jeremiah 32:40 ESV

I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.

WE STAND, RIGHT NOW, BEFORE THE PRESENCE OF GOD

o Innocent

o Faultless

o Unblemished

o Perfect

NOT BECAUSE WE ARE ANY OF THOSE THINGS IN OUR PRESENTLY CONSTRUCTED BODIES, STILL BATTLING THE INFLUENCITAL EFFECTS OF SIN

BUT BECAUSE WE HAVE BELIEVED AND TRUSTED THE GOSPEL THAT TEACHES US THAT:

BY FAITH IN CHRIST ALONE WE HAVE RECEIVED HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HE, OUR SIN, SUCH THAT - AS THE HYMN WRITER SAID

“Bearing shame and scoffing rude, In my place condemned He stood He sealed my pardon with His blood Hallelujah! What a Savior!”

WE STAND BLAMELESS BEFORE THE LORD - NOW - NOT BECAUSE OF OUR OWN STRENGTH BUT HIS GRACE

1. WE were protected from a lifestyle of unfaithfulness (virgins)

Revelation 14:4 ESV

It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb,

2. WE were blessed to want to follow the Lamb wherever He goes

Revelation 14:4 ESV

It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb,

3. WE were kept from a lifestyle of speaking lies

II. REMAIN FAITHFUL IN YOUR PRESENT REALITY

NOW-NOT YET

LAY-AWAY

So, God has given us the assurance of grace that, if we trust in the Lord we are sealed (that’s the now”)–

but my present trouble reminds me, that deliverance is (not yet)

FROM THIS POSITION OF BEING PRESERVED THEY MUST NOW, IN THE PRESENT, PERSEVERE IN LIGHT OF THE COMING JUDGMENT OF GOD.

IN OTHER WORDS:

WE MUST REMAIN FAITHFUL TO THE GOD WHO HAS BEEN FAITHFUL TO US

THIS IS WHAT WORSHIP IS: OUR FAITHFUL RESPONSE TO HIS FAITHFULNESS

SO, WHILE I REJOICE AND CLAIM TO HAVE BEEN GRANTED GRACE BY THE LORD AND HAVE BEEN SEALED - THIS IS PROVEN ONLY BY MY PERSEVERING IN CHRIST IN MY PRESENT TROUBLES

JESUS HIMSELF SAID:

Matthew 24:9–10 ESV

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.

Matthew 24:11–12 ESV

And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.

Matthew 24:13 ESV

But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

JOHN CALLS US TO REMAIN FAITHFUL BY SHOWING US WHAT HAPPENS TO THE UNFAITHFUL WHO WORSHIP THE BEAST AND NOT THE LORD

VERSES 6-13

A. The first angel speaks a final word of the gospel of grace

Revelation 14:6 ESV

Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people.

Revelation 14:7 ESV

And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

Right now, men and women are under the preaching of such grace of God being extended to them

The first part of the message is: ‘Recognize God as Creator and Judge, the Beginning and End of your existence, and all will be well.’[2]

B. The second angel speaks of destruction of godless world systems

Revelation 14:8 ESV

Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.”

This angel’s message is that the spirit of Babylon has infected all nations, and rendered men incapable of responding to the first angel’s gospel; but for all her power, she is doomed to destruction.[3]

If men cannot accept this message of the gospel (first angel) it is not because it is not clear: but because they have become so intoxicated by the sensualities of this life that they are unable to hear it

Jezabel

Revelation 3:20 ESV

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

3. The third angel speaks about the wrath of God on those who worship the beast by rejecting Jesus

Revelation 14:9 ESV

And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,

Revelation 14:10 ESV

he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

NOTICE SOMETHING ABOUT HELL

a. It is not the absence of God

b. It is the presence of God with the full knowledge of His grace and a desire to have it but the inability to taste it

Revelation 14:11 ESV

And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

FROM THIS COMING TERROR - THAT WE KNOW SEE WILL TAKE PLACE

REMAINING FAITHFUL IN THE MIDST OF YOUR TROUBLES MEANS

1. Knowing and Trusting the Word of God to avoid deception

Revelation 14:12 ESV

Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

2. Seeing the eternal troubles of the unfaithful

Revelation 14:13 ESV

And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

THE WAY THE JOHN CALLS US TO REMAIN FAITHFUL IS BY SHOWING US WHAT HAPPENS TO THE UNFAITHFUL

3. Understanding the Power of the Body

Revelation 14:2 ESV

And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps,

“a voice”

“the voice”

[1]Wilcock, M. (1986). The message of Revelation: I saw heaven opened (p. 134). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. [2]Wilcock, M. (1986). The message of Revelation: I saw heaven opened (p. 134). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. [3]Wilcock, M. (1986). The message of Revelation: I saw heaven opened (p. 134). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.