EARTH’S FINAL SUMMONS-II—Revelation 14:6-13
Need: Commonly held beliefs...
God always gives a little more time....He doesn’t want anyone to go to hell so things will continue as they are....Science tells us that all things are a result of ‘natural’ cause & effect... Men’s hearts will change when they see God’s power in miracles & judgments....
BUT....
God will not give more time....Will not allow things to continue as is....The course of human affairs is not determined by ‘nature’ but by God’s design....Men’s hearts will not be swayed by circumstances no matter how miraculous.
But God being merciful, summons all mankind to the point of individual/personal decision.
John witnessed God’s final summons to those of earth.
God will extend a final summons to mankind.
What will comprise God’s final summons to earth?
How will God extend His final summons to mankind?
5 avenues for earth’s/man’s final summons.
Earth’s/man’s final summons consists of...
1. A Call to Glory(:6-7) Give God glory
*This section(chapter 14) gives a general preview of what follows in detail (esp. chapters 17-19).
2—Man’s final summons is
A CALL TO ACCOUNTABILITY(:8)
—Explanation:(:8)Judgment/Influence
:8—“And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality.””
Specifically detailed in chapters17&18.
“Fallen, fallen”—piptw—A descent from higher to lower or from erect to prostrate.
“Babylon the great”—Source of evil influences!
Lk. 17:1-5—“And He said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks should come, but woe to him through whom they come! “It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck & he were thrown into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble. “Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; & if he repents, forgive him. “And if he sins against you seven times a day, & returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!””.
Picture/Type of future Babylon:
Jer. 51:41-49—“How Sheshak has been captured, And the praise of the whole earth been seized! How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations! “The sea has come up over Babylon; She has been engulfed with its tumultuous waves. “Her cities have become an object of horror, A parched land & a desert, A land in which no man lives, And through which no son of man passes. “And I shall punish Bel in Babylon, And I shall make what he has swallowed come out of his mouth; And the nations will no longer stream to him. Even the wall of Babylon has fallen down! “Come forth from her midst, My people, And each of you save yourselves From the fierce anger of the LORD. “Now lest your heart grow faint, And you be afraid at the report that will be heard in the land-- For the report will come one year, And after that another report in another year, And violence will be in the land With ruler against ruler-- Therefore behold, days are coming When I shall punish the idols of Babylon; And her whole land will be put to shame, And all her slain will fall in her midst. “Then heaven & earth & all that is in them Will shout for joy over Babylon, For the destroyers will come to her from the north,” Declares the LORD. Indeed Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel, As also for Babylon the slain of all the earth have fallen.”
Rev. 17:5, 18; 18:2-5—“& upon her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”....“And the woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.”....“And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! And she has become a dwelling place of demons & a prison of every unclean spirit, & a prison of every unclean & hateful bird. “For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, & the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, & the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.”....“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, that you may not participate in her sins & that you may not receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, & God has remembered her iniquities.”
“She”—Intimate companion & helper of men. Someone designed for man—by man. Someone to help man reach his full potential—in sin!.
“Made all the nations drink”—
“Made”—Offered no other oprion & having accepted it, become intoxicated & enslaved to it.
—Model T Ford’s—no color but black!—Everyone accepted black. some must’ve been shocked when other colors appeared!
“Of the wine of the passion of her immorality.”—
“Wine”—oinoV—A fermented potent addictive elixir which intoxicates all nations.
“Passion”—qumoV—Wrath, Anger, Heat—
—Speaks of intensity & drive!
—Passion against God’s design—Today’s American society—Buck ‘the system’—Change the boundaries.
“Immorality”—porneia—Illicit sexual intercourse; Adultery, fornication, beastiality &/or homosexuality....Pornography, Prostitution, lap-dancing, strip clubs, etc.
—Argumentation:
1Cor. 12-13—“For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, & we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”
Tit. 2:11-14—“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness & worldly desires & to live sensibly, righteously & godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope & the appearing of the glory of our great God & Savior, Christ Jesus; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed & purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”
—Illustration:
Drug cartels—Organized to promote illegal drug sales/ America attempts to subvert those organization points/ ACCOUNTABILITY
Drug manufacturers & sellers get stiffer penalties than users/ACCOUNTABILITY
Martha Stewart/Insider Trading/Punishable because source is corrupted—Undercuts public trading system/ACCOUNTABILITY
Dam proposal—Formation of a lake/Homeowners bought out/Behoove them to move because water will come/ACCOUNTABILITY
—Application:
?You heard God’s call to ACCOUNTABILITY?
?You heed God’s Final Summons today?
—CONCLUSION—
Action:
Earth’s/Man’s final summons comes thru the avenue of A Call to ...
ACCOUNTABILITY(:8)
GLORY(:6-7) Give God glory
Presented 08/31/03pm to:
Providence Baptist Church
975 Providence Road
Whigham, GA 39897
