Did you Get the Message?

We often speak of preachers bringing “messages.”

What a thought… that a preacher is bringing a message.

A message is a communication containing information.

When a preacher preaches whose message is he bringing? It better not simply be his thoughts, or some things he gathered from the various sources. His task is to bring a WORD FROM GOD AND FROM GOD’S WORD!

The word Angel means “messenger.” And in today’s passage we see that God is sending three angels with messages to those on the earth. Boy we should pay attention to this.

Revelation 14:6–13 HCSB

6 Then I saw another angel flying high overhead, having the eternal gospel to announce to the inhabitants of the earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7 He spoke with a loud voice: “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.” 8 A second angel followed, saying: “It has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen, who made all nations drink the wine of her sexual immorality, which brings wrath.” 9 And a third angel followed them and spoke with a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, which is mixed full strength in the cup of His anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb, 11 and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or anyone who receives the mark of his name. 12 This demands the perseverance of the saints, who keep God’s commands and their faith in Jesus.” 13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write: The dead who die in the Lord from now on are blessed.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “let them rest from their labors, for their works follow them!”

Good News

Revelation 14:6–7 HCSB

6 Then I saw another angel flying high overhead, having the eternal gospel to announce to the inhabitants of the earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7 He spoke with a loud voice: “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”

There are very few commands or imperatives given in the book of Revelation.

Most of the commands are given to John, but even then they are few and far between.

But this angel bringing the Good News to those who are still alive on earth as the 2nd half of the Tribulation unfolds, wants people to respond.

He gives three commands in short order.

Fear God. Often much is made of this meaning “reverential awe or respect” . The word is PHOBEO. The unrepentant, unbelieving, lost sinner needs to realize that there is bad news in order for the good news to matter. The other two angels will give the bad news. If you don’t repent, if you don’t surrender to God as the LORD of the universe, there will be hell to pay. CHARLES CARTER ILLUSTRATION.

Give Him Glory. Give God the reverence, deference, and respect that He is due. Giving God glory elevates Him in our eyes to the place He really already is, and giving Him glory also puts us, in our eyes, in the proper spot where we already are. the word glory- DOXA =Doxology.

Worship Him. Lower yourself and kiss toward. MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. When Jesus was on the earth he spoke of the need to strive to enter in through the narrow gate (Jesus is the only way to God, but thank God there is a gate at all) He said there would come a day when God would say to lost people, DEPART I NEVER KNEW YOU! Can you imagine God saying that and someone saying. GOD YOU ARE SOOOO JUDGMENTAL!? Well yes He is but HE is GOD The creator of everything including me and you!

Good news is That God loves you and wants you to spend your whole eternity (eternal Gospel) with Him.

Bad News

JUDGEMENT. It would seems that for the most part the first angel’s message was unheeded. That’s the way it is today!

Revelation 14:8 HCSB

8 A second angel followed, saying: “It has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen, who made all nations drink the wine of her sexual immorality, which brings wrath.”

We are now introduced to a new phrase that shows up many times in the next few chapters. Babylon, or Babylon the Great.

This is not the first time something like this happens. John mentions “the beast” in Revelation talking about the two witnesses. But he doesn’t explain the beast at all. Its not until we get to chapter 13 that we learn the Beast is the Antichrist.

Now we have the phrase Babylon the Great mentioned, and no explanation to what that means. And it will not be until chapter 17 that we begin to understand what Babylon the Great is.

So just a brief explanation here.

Babylon is no doubt related to Babel, the place where people rebelled against God by building a tower reaching into heaven to make a name for themselves and to keep from scattering as God had told them to do.

Babylon was the Kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar. The mighty world-wide Kingdom that stood against God’s people.

3. Here that Kingdom is seen as “fallen.” I believe this angel is announcing what is about to happen as though it has already come to pass. It is as good as done.

4. We will see going forward that Babylon represents the Empire of Antichrist, and may even be the name of his headquarters or capitol.

5. The city is called She. In chapter 17 the city will be called a harlot or a whore.

6. You have to see that this world system has gotten people “drunk” on sexual immorality.

A. While this certainly refers to a hyper-sexualized culture, much like what we see today there is more.

B. It refers to a kind of seduction away from God and to Antichrist’s false religion.

We are reminded again that evil will not last forever. No matter how bad things get, God is going to fix it all. He is going to redeem all those who trust in the good news of Jesus. He wants to redeem and restore you today.

But He is also going to judge all those who do not love him and walk with Him. It bears repeating that in order for God to make everything good, He must eliminate what He deems to be evil.

Judgment will come. And we see that judgment in the message of the 3rd angel.

Consequences

Revelation 14:9–11 HCSB

9 And a third angel followed them and spoke with a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, which is mixed full strength in the cup of His anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb, 11 and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or anyone who receives the mark of his name.

Remember that the mark of the beast is the number of a man. 666. And I said as best as I knew how that we should stop assigning that number to every modern thing we see. The mark is not a vaccination. Come on! The mark is related to worship of the Antichrist.

In ancient times people were marked as slaves. People could also mark themselves in affiliation with whatever god they worshipped.

The mark is not taken accidentally. It is intentionally received as allegiance to the Antichrist and worship to him.

There are two Kingdoms. One is God’s Kingdom. We enter it by placing our faith in Jesus. The other is the Kingdom of this world. It is always under Satan’s domain. BUT NEVER more so than during the final parts of the Tribulation. Satan wages all out war against God by empowering and indwelling this evil beast of a man, the Antichrist. Please don’t make the mistake of thinking… I’d never worship Satan or the Antichrist. If you aren’t part of God’s Kingdom, you are already part of Satan’s Kingdom. You must be born again.

During the Tribulation all gray area is removed. There won’t be any middle ground or fence straddling and there should not be now either.

In verse 8 Babylon is seen as making people drink wine of sexual immorality, her God has some wine for people to drink, and it is his wrath. Undiluted. And we see God as angry. Remember it is the Lord’s loving kindness that leads men to repentance. But that does not negate His HOLY ANGER AND WRATH.

Modern day thinking is to reject anything we consider harsh about God. But it doesn’t change who God is . I read all the time where people make fun of God and say they don’t want a God who doesn’t do this, or who does do that. Or is so lame or uncaring that he lets bad stuff happen. Or that he doesn’t want people to “love who they love”. It’s not my job to try to redefine God to make him more acceptable. It’s my job to simply accept who God is and worship Him.

I am simply reporting to you that whoever does not come to faith in Christ, and love God, and walk with Him and serve Him is headed to Hell. Not just those in the Tribulation who worship the beast, but all who reject God, or just give him lip service.

God has been so good and patient and long suffering. He gives good gifts. He has beautiful things planned for the future. But you have to receive him to receive what He has.

So we see this final encouragement in verse 12-13

Revelation 14:12–13 HCSB

12 This demands the perseverance of the saints, who keep God’s commands and their faith in Jesus.” 13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write: The dead who die in the Lord from now on are blessed.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “let them rest from their labors, for their works follow them!”

We have to persevere. Believers in the Tribulation have to persevere. Don’t give up living for Jesus. Don’t be wishy washy and on again and off again. Do what God tells you to do and keep having faith in Jesus.

God gave those people in the tribulation a promise. Those who die in the Lord are blessed. And they get to rest because their good works follow them! That will be true for them and it is true for each one of us.

Keep walking with Jesus. Keep persevering. Keep doing God things. Keep trusting Him.

Three messages.

Good News Jesus saves.

Bad New. Judgments Coming

There will be consequences.

A final word.

keep Going~