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10/3/10. Revelation 14:1-20. Be Ready For The Harvest – Message and Questions

Be Ready For The Harvest

sealed-144000

Revelation 14:1-20                                                                                                         Lesson  14

Key Verse: 14:6,7;                                                                                                          Kevin E.   Jesmer  10-3-10

“ Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7He said in a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water’.”

      In this passage we will take a closer look at the famous group of people, the 144,000. We will also meet three angels and two harvesters, one of which is Jesus himself. Through a study of this passage may we decide, by faith to follow the Lamb of God, Jesus wherever he may go and worship him exclusively. May we have a strong desire to be one of the “144,000”. May our hearts be made ready for the great harvest of souls that is coming.

Part 1: The 144,000 (1-5)

If we think about chapter 13, these believers had gone through a very difficult time. In John’s vision we saw the beast of the sea and the beast of the land.  The faithful had to endure hearing their sincere Christian faith being insulted and their Savior, Jesus, being blasphemed. They saw their properties confiscated. They saw many of their friends and family members tortured and killed. They were forced to take the number of the beast. Many struggled with this, but they had to give in. It was very tough and difficult times for all believers. How easy it would be to despair, thinking that there was no end to their sufferings.  But God did not forget his people. God gave John a great and wondrous vision. Let’s read verse 1. 1Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.” This is the beginning of a very fantastic vision that includes God’s victorious people, the resurrection and the coming of God’s righteous judgment where God’s people will see God’s judgment come.

 

We all need encouragement and God’s vision planted in our hearts from time to time. God understands this and this is what he does this for his servants. Do you remember Abraham when he separated from Lot? This was when Abraham’s name was still Abram. Lot’s herdsmen and Abram’s herdsmen were quarrelling because there was not enough space for them. Abram, being the big hearted man that he was, gave Lot the choice. Lot could choose what he wanted. He chose the well watered land of the plain, towards the sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot did not want anything to do with the life of faith that Abram was called to live. He was just interested in his own benefits, even if that meant moving into one of the most sinful cities of the region. Abram was despaired. He felt alone, in the rocky desert God called him to live in. But God told him, in Genesis 13:14b-17, “Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. 17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.”Lot was gone. Abram was still in the land of his suffering. But God came to him with a glorious promise and godly vision. He encouraged his servant and with renewed spirit and vigor, Abram and his whole tribe could continue to live by faith.

 

.  Sometimes we cannot see beyond our present circumstances. But God will help us to lift up our eyes and look around to see what he sees. In the last days, God had promised great things for us. Acts 2:17-18 read, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.” God has not forgotten about you. He wants to fill you heart with his visions and his dreams and he will empower and equip you to prophecy his word to the people of your generation. Accept the encouragement of his word and spirit. Open your ears and hear God’s word of promise. Open your eyes and see God’s vision for your life. Care about it! Embrace is it. Get excited about it and you will be saved from all the despair that may be vexing you today,

 

In this passage we will take a closer look at the famous group of people, the 144,000. Verse 1, “Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.” So what about these 144,000? In short, in God’s history there were twelve tribes of Israel and twelve apostles. 12 times 12 equals 144. In this case the 144,000 could represent the whole redeemed people of God. The members of the 144,000 were very much different than those who wore the number of the beast. They do not have the mark of the beast on their foreheads, though they were forced to conform. Those who wore the number of the beast worshipped and served a godless leader and system. They tolerated blasphemes against Jesus. They were forced, not willing people. They were living by fear and they made war against the saints of God. (Rev 13:3b-6; Rev 13:14b-17)

 

Lets look a little close at what these 144,000 are like from this Bible passage. They were talking together and singing and praising God, together, so much so that their voices sounded like rushing water. There were offering up their musical talents in their worship of the Lamb. They were singing the song of the redeemed. That means that their robes were washed white in the blood of the Lamb. They knew that they were purchased from slavery to sin and the devil and set free by the redeeming blood of Jesus They knew the grace of God personally and were compelled to sing about it. They struggle to live a pure life before God and they were devoted to following Jesus wherever Jesus led them. There lives were a living offering to God. They were very happy worshipping Jesus and they were not afraid to be around God’s people and stand, transparently before Jesus for they had nothing to hide. They were pure in heart and sincere and honest. These are the characteristics of the 144,000. Some may say, “Well. of course they are like that in heaven. If I was in heaven I would be just like that too.” Maybe? But I’m sure that these saints were putting into practice what they were doing in heaven, while they lived on earth. Let’s examine our hearts and find out how we can exude the characteristics of the 144,000 while we are walking on this earth and have a burning hope and desire to be included in those who will be praising Jesus around his throne.

Part ll: The Three Angels (6-20)

God did something that would signal the beginning of the end. Let’s read verse 6, “Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and peopleWhat is this eternal Gospel? To put it very clearly the eternal gospel is summed up in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,” Anyone who repents of their sins and accepts God’s forgiveness is forgiven and becomes a child of God. They have eternal life in the Kingdom of heaven. They fear God and worship him and give him glory with their lives. (7) Such people can be one of those who worship around the throne of the Lamb. This gospel is eternal because it does not need to be changed…ever. It is all sufficient to save you and I from our sins and bring us to Jesus in his Kingdom.

     This proclamation of the angel could be God’s worldwide appeal to all people of the world to recognize the one true God. If it is then no one will have the excuse of never hearing God’s truth. Others see this as an announcement of judgment rather than an appeal. In that case the people of this world will be given a chance to proclaim their allegiance to Jesus before God’s judgment was about to begin. This would be comforting, in a sense to suffering Christians. It means that God’s justice has come and all those who have perpetrated evil against them would have to pay for all the evil they have done. Not at the hands of people, but at the hand of God. We need to now that know that God’s final judgment will not be put off forever. Have you joyfully received the eternal gospel? Have you confessed your sins and entrusted Christ to save you? If so, you have nothing to fear from God’s judgment for the Judge of all the earth, Jesus Christ, is your Savior!

We can see the angel’s final appeal for the peoples’ hearts to turn to God in repentance in verses 7. Let’s read these verses together. “He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”  Here we learn some good advice about worshipping God. First, we must fear God. Fearing God is not trembling in fear that the hammer of his judgment will come down on your heads the moment you sin. No. To fear God means to have a deep respect for God and have a sincere desire in our hearts to do what is right before his eyes. We fear him because we love him and he loves us. It is good to fear God. Proverbs 9:10 reads, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” If you want true wisdom and understanding you need to fear God and stop ignoring him. Why should we fear him? There are many reasons, but the angel tells us that we must fear God because he is the Creator God. Ecclesiastes 12:1 says, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them” In 2011 let us make it our goal  to fear God.

The second angel had with it additional words of warning. Let’s read verse 8, “A second angel followed and said, ‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.’” Babylon was the name of both an evil city and an immoral empire that was a center for idol worship. Babylon ransacked Jerusalem and carried the people of Judah into captivity. (2 Kings 24; 2 Chronicles 36). Babylon was the Jews’ worst enemy. The Roman Empire was the worst enemy of the early Christians. John, who probably did not speak against Rome openly, applied the name Babylon to Rome. In that sense Babylon could represent the enemies of God’s people. This Babylon also tempted the people with wine and sinful desires on top of persecuting the people of God. Our western culture is making all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries. Whatever we export people around the world drink up eagerly. Western culture is not persecuting Christians much, but the scene is being set for future persecutions. In the USA Christians are refused funding and receive bad press in the media. Christians are not allowed to advertise their clubs on middle school and high school campus’. In Canada and England, if you are too Christian you may not get elected as Prime Minister. In Canada it is already illegal to read and preach on certain aspects of the Bible publically. Our prevailing post modern philosophy is becoming more hostile Christians and the Gospel message. We need to be ready and prepared spiritually for the future. In this passage Babylon the great is destined to fall.

The third angel give another warning to the people of the world. Let’s read  verses 9-11, “A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: ‘If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, 10he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.’”  Those who worship the beast, accepting his mark on their foreheads, will ultimately face God’s judgment. How hard it will be to resist getting the number of the beast. Without it you cannot buy or sell anything. We can not go to Wal-Mart to buy groceries. When we swipe our cards it will say, “not approved” or worse, “Arrest this person” We would have to compete with geese for corn left on the fields. We would be eating road kill, or squirrels and growing gardens in our yards. We can not buy gas to go drive to work. We would loose our jobs. Our gas would be cut off. Christians would be forced to make an illegal economy in order to survive. How easy it would be to simply make a small act of worship or devotion to the beast and receive the mark and be able to feed your hungry children. It may sound OK to do that. We may rationalize that God understands. But if you do you too will face the judgment of God.

In this passage we also learn some characteristics of God’s final judgment on those who are not found in Jesus. Let’s read verses 10-11, “he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.” This is an image of hell. Even though the Bible speaks very little about hell, there are times that it does and here is one of those times. Hell is real. Hell is not a place that you simply cease to exist. People who cease to exist do not feel torment and experience no rest. In hell there is conscious suffering that goes on forever and ever. It is the only alternative reality that exists outside of the kingdom of God.

In this life sin always brings misery and heartache. Sin separates us from God and us from one another until we are left all alone to struggle with our sin problems and be tempted and goaded on by the devil. In eternity there will no longer be any opportunity for repentance. If in this life we choose to be independent of God, we will be separated from him forever. Nobody of forced to choose eternal separation from God, and nobody suffers this fate by accident. But praise God that in this life we can choose to repent and restore our relationship with God through his eternal gospel. Jesus invites all of us to open the door of our hearts to him. Listen to what Jesus says in Revelation 3:20 “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”  Let’s take Jesus up on this most gracious invitation! If we do we will be saved from our sins and enjoy eternal life with him in his beautiful kingdom. God really wants this to happen.

      Verse 12 reveals what should be the practical results of accepting this very gracious invitation from Jesus. Let’s read verse 12 all together. “This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.” The news about God’s ultimate triumph should encourage God’s people to be faithful through every trial and persecution. They need to endure, patiently continuing to trust and obey Jesus daily.

There is more great news for those who choose to faithfully trust and obey Jesus. Let’s read verse 13. “Then I heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’  ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.’”  We will rest from all our labor. We will not be constantly running here and there to get things done at a fevered pitch with no point. We will find true rest. As the famous Johnny Cash gospel song says, But when I take my vacation in heaven…What a wonderful time that will be. Hearing concerts by the heavenly chorus, and the face of my Savior I’ll see. Sitting down on the banks of the river. ‘neath the shade of the evergreen tree. There I’ll rest from my burdens forever. Won’t you take your vacation with me?”  God will remember all of our deeds born out of faith and a desire to please him. He will remember our love, kindness, and faithfulness. We will be rewarded by God for helping others to accept Christ through our witness. Let’s decide today to produce fruit that pleases God and lasts forever.

      In this passage we see two harvests. The first mention of a harvest is in verse 14, “I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one ‘like a son of man’with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.” This is an image of Judgment: Christ is about to separate the faithful from the unfaithful. The angel urges Jesus to take his sickle and gather the grapes. Look at Verse 15, “Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, ‘Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe’.”  And Jesus obliged him in verse 16, “So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.” This first harvest is the harvest of souls to eternal life. It is revealed in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” How can we be part of this first harvest? Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” (Jn 5:24)

Then came the second harvest that all people should fear being part of. Let’s read verses 17-20, “Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 18Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, ‘Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe’. 19The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.A winepress was a large vat or trough where grapes were collected and then smashed. The juice flowed out of the spout that emptied into a large holding container. The winepress is used in the Bible as a symbol of God’s wrath and judgment against sin. The blood of billions of people poured out of that wine press for it created a stream of blood 5 feet tall and it spread out for 180 miles. This shows us the urgency of proclaiming the eternal gospel. Billions of people are going to perish in their sins. We should care about this and respond accordingly. Again true Christians need not fear this harvest, but anyone who is not in Christ musts take head and repent and come to Jesus today.

In today’s lesson we learned that we need to open our eyes and see God’s words of encouragement and vision so that we will never become weary and loose heart. We must desire to be one of those who sing the song of the redeemed around the throne of God and begin to exude some of the characteristics of the 144,000 even today.  We need to be ready for the first harvest of souls. But our salvation can never be selfish. Like the angel, we need proclaim the eternal gospel, by effective means which includes praying for others and preaching the word to those who are lost in the darkness. Reveal Jesus to them. We must also put all of our hope in the kingdom of God where we will find true rest and a great reward for everything we do in this life that is for the glory of Jesus

Part 1: The 144,000 (1-5)

  1. What did John see standing on MountZion? (1) Why does God show this beautiful heavenly scene to the believers? Why do we need encouragement and hope?
  2. What was written on the foreheads of the 144,000? (1) Who are they and what are they doing? (2,4,5) How are they different from those who worship the beast? (13:3b-6; 14b-17)  What is special about the 144,000?  What qualities did they have? What qualities do I need to grow in now to be like them?

Part ll: The Three Angels (6-20)

  1. What is the flying angel carrying to all people of the earth? (6) What is the everlasting good news to preach to those on the earth? (6) Do you believe it? How do the three angels urge the people to get ready for the final hour of God’s judgment? (7-11)  How could they share their repentance?
  2. Why must we fear God? (7; Prov 9:10) What is worship in light the fear of the Lord? (7; Ecc 12:1) What kind of city was Babylon? (8) What is Babylon? (1 Peter 5:13) How did she seduce the nations of the world?
  3. What will happen to those who accept the mask of the beast on their forehead and hand? (9-11) Why will it be difficult to resist getting the mark? (13:17) What is the ultimate result of sin? (11)  How does this verse reveal the characteristics of hell? What should be our response? (12) What is Jesus invitation? (3:20)
  4. What is the great news? (13) How are those blessed who obey God’s commands and remain faithful to Jesus?
  5. What did the “Son of Man” hold in his hand? (14) How does Jesus come to harvest the earth? (14)  What does it mean that the harvest of the earth is ripe (or the grapes are ripe)? (15,18,Mt13:39)  How is the harvest related to the rapture? (11:12, 1Th4:16-17)
  6. How does an angel announce the coming of God’s wrath? (19,20) How will God bring his final judgment on sin and on believers? (19; Isaiah 63:3-6; Lam 1:15; Joel 3:12-13)



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