Today we’ll continue our study here in Chapter 14
John sees visions of peoples and events that are going on in the tribulation period. Chapter 14 prepares the way for the climatic events, which will follow from chapter 15 and on.—chapter 14: you could say is a mini picture of the Tribulation.
In this chapter we get a backward look to the beginning of the Tribulation unto the end as Jesus sits on His Kingdom Throne and reigns with His saints.
I believe we got through verse 8, we’ll read down to there and briefly make a few comments and try and continue on.
1And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, **and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. *** [CP 7]
2And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder:***{ is associated with the multitude before the throne of God }
and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: ***{HEAVENLY ANGELIC CHORE}
3And they sung {angelic chore} as it were a new song before the throne, {heavenly scene- vs.2} and before the four beasts, ***and the elders: [church} - and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.*** {Remember this singing is coming from heaven according to verse 2, the 144000 are on earth}
The 144000 were a special body of men taken from earth for a particular mission this is not the church.—they were on earth for the entire duration of the 7 year tribulation, they were Jewish Missionarys.
4These are they which were not defiled with women; {in the tribulation all manner of elicit sex will be going on as never before, the devil is having a hey day, but these will not be defiled by it.} for they are virgins. [This means that they never married, it was not good to take a wife because of what was ahead for these dear people}
These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. {these are kingdom words. Being Jews, they are the “first-fruits” of Israel in the Tribulation. The harvest has be-gun but there is more to follow. Just as God gives the first-fruits, so He can be depended upon to give the greater harvest which will follow.}
5And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
These were truthful. The tribulation period in which they live is one when deceit and falsehood reigns. The Antichrist will come in the power of Satan with “lying wonders”
6And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
THE MESSAGE—
7Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
“The everlasting gospel.” There is nothing in the message about grace, the blood, redemption, or forgiveness. “The gospel of the grace of God” does that, that’s the message of the Church today.
The 144000 will preach the gospel of the kingdom during the tribulation. –MATT 24:14--
The message of the everlasting gospel is essentially that which has been proclaimed since God’s earliest dealings with man, namely, God is sovereign, and true happiness comes to those who recognize His sovereign right in the earth. The Creator only, and not the creature, must be worshiped.
It is everlasting in the sense that it is ageless, not for any specific period. It is an announcement of the hour of judgment of God and the command to worship Him.
The everlasting gospel seems to be neither the gospel of grace nor the gospel of the kingdom, but rather the good news that God at last is about to deal with the world in righteousness and establish His sovereignty over the world.
This is God’s last call to a wicked and apostate world, for the hour of judgment has come. vs.7 The Creator has a claim upon His creation. Presently He at-tempts to woo men by the Holy Spirit on the grounds of Christ’s death in that He paid the sin debt for all who will receive Him.
But here He summons men by an angel to recognize and reverence Him as the Creator and Sustainer of the universe.
8And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
This should be a comfort to believers even today as we see the growth of religious and commercial Babylonianism in our time (REV17:** - REV.18:)**
It’s no great mystery why our economy and most others in the world are in disarray, all of this is leading to the “one world money, and the one world government”.
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Ø AND NOW TO VERSES 9-20
9- And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Vs.9 - If any man that rejects Christ will experience and face alone these horrors and pain.. The torture will be physical, mental, and emotional. The lake of fire is prepared for Satan and his angels ( (Matt.25:41).
It is not God’s desire for anyone to have to endure eternity in the lake of fire, no one will spend eternity, it cannot be spent, and it will never cease to be.
We can spend a dollar and it’s gone, but we can’t spend eternity.
God sends no one to hell or to the lake of fire; unbelievers make that choice of their own accord.
Hell; and the lake of fire are two different places, “hell” is the holding place of all lost people that die in their sins, their waiting for the White Throne judgment of chapter 20:, where they’ll be judged and according to their wickedness will be then be cast into the “lake of fire” for ever.
10The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
-- 10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God
When used of God it refers to the expression of God’s divine justice in white-hot anger.
--vs. 10 fire and brimstone-
vs.10- the wine of the wrath of God
Is a figure adopted from the Old Testament.
In Psalm 75:8 For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them
God was patient and let man go on and on in his sin, but when the cup of wrath was filled, then God would press it to the lips of a godless society.
“Fire and brimstone” refer to the contents of the lake of fire that has already been prepared for Satan and his angels (Matt 25.41). The lake is the place and the fire and brimstone the contents.
I would not be at all surprised if the lake of fire is not the sun that we see so often, almost Dailey.
Here is a warning as well as a pronouncement of doom on all who will be falling in line with and accepting the beast and his system. It looks at men in the process of joining up with the beast.
God in His grace will be warning them; do not do it, it means your doom! For those who will have already done so it becomes descriptive of the results of their choice and actions.
There are untold multitudes that are in hell today that will receive this same punishment.
Anyone who believes in and receives the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior may be saved; there still is hope for you sinner friend that might be listening.
John 3:16 can save the whole world if only people would believe it;
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
But anyone who rejects Christ and receives the beast during the tribulation will be lost (an evidence of unbelief and rejection of Jesus Christ) and shall suffer eternal doom.
People today scoff at the coming of the Lord and acts as though there is no coming judgment. “Just get all the gusto you can for you only go around once and that’s it.”
But that’s not what these verses say.
2 Peter 3:3-4 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4And saying, Where is the promise of his coming?
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11And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
--for ever and ever: tells us how long its going to last, it never going to end.
--and they have no rest day nor night—tells us that there’s not going to be any let up at all, there’ll not be any time outs to get a drink of water , there’s not going to be any water, its on going, no rest day nor night, unending pain, no one will ever die, just unending excruciating unparallel pain and suffering and it was all so unnecessary, there’ll not be any unbelievers in hell, they will all now believe, they didn’t believe before, if only they could have another chance, but their chances are over, they trampled on the Blood of Christ all their lives while on earth and now its to late, there’ll never be a moment that goes by that they’ll not remember their wasted times on earth that they could have been saved. They’ll remember all the ungodly things they said about Christ, they’d remember cursing His name, they’ll remember using His name in a profane manner, now its payday.
He don’t always pay off on Friday but He does always pay-off.
Jude 15- To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
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12Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
13And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.
This “voice” was probably the Lord’s. The voice told John to record that it would be a blessing for the believers who live during the great tribulation should they die martyrs.
There are two reasons given in this verse for the blessedness of dying in Christ.
1. The first is that by dying they will “rest from their labors.” The term “labors” stresses the pain and the persecution of living as witnesses in a wicked world, which seeks to overcome them. If there are consequences for wickedness and unbelief, so there are consequences for righteousness and perseverance.
2. It must be remembered that not all will share the experience of the 144,000 sealed ones, in that nothing can harm them, Many will suffer martyrdom in the period- also to die will be preferable to living, because they will be spared the remaining portion of the Great Tribulation.
But there will be many that will live through the 7-year tribulation according to chapter 7:
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14And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
“Crown” is the Greek stefanos which refers to the victor’s crown rather than diadem, the crown of royalty. Christ is coming to conquer, having the right and power to do so as the victorious Savior.
The sickle is sharp teaches us this harvesting will be complete, thorough, and effective.
The harvest of the earth proceeds from the holiness of God who in His perfect righteousness must judge a Christ rejecting world. The world will be reaped according to its own sowing.
15And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. 16And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
This is to do with the battle of Armegeggdon, the Lord Jesus will defeat the armies of the antichrist, He simple speaks His Word and its done, this will be the most one sided battled that has ever been heard of.
Mankind was to be a productive vine for God’s glory but the nations turned from God. Then God chose and called out the nation Israel who was to be a choice vine, but she too turned away (ISA.5:}
So God brought forth the True Vine, the Lord Jesus Christ {JOHN 15:} who alone brings fruit and glory to God and only those who believe in Him and abide in Him can be productive. Everyone else must wither and be gathered for judgment.
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17And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
18And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
We see in these verses that another angel is dispatched from heaven and he also has a sharp sickle, and then we are told of another angel that comes from the altar there in heaven, he is the same angel that had power over the sun that we’ll read about in chapter 16:, he tells the angel before him to thrust in his sickle on the earth and gather the “vine of the earth”.
The inhabitants of the earth are withered, lifeless and fully ready for judgment,
19And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
20And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.
AGAIN A REFERENCE TO Armageddon, I believe the blood will be as deep and long, 200 miles as it says here.
