Introduction

Revelation 14:1-20 ESV  Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.  (2)  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,  (3)  and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.  (4)  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,  (5)  and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.  (6)  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.  (7)  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.”  (8)  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.”  (9)  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,  (10)  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.  (11)  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.”  (12)  Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.  (13)  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!”  (14)  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.  (15)  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.”  (16)  So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.  (17)  Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.  (18)  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.”  (19)  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.  (20)  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.

You may be seated

• I know that was a lot of text to consume, but I just really like this chapter.
  • It’s a bit past halfway through Revelation and kind of serves as a monument chapter… it serves to recap many of the things we have already talked about, and to foreshadow most of the rest of the book of Revelation.
• Look at some of the things we recap here… this chapter starts off talking about the 144,000… the Israelites from the 12 tribes who have been redeemed by God, saved by Grace through faith, and have been marked by the Holy Spirit.
  • And we talked about this 144,000 and how the Holy Sprit is going to seal them, and it’s not talking about us because we have already been sealed by the Holy Spirit, that is, if you are born again… but it is a new group, a fresh group of people sealed by God from Israel.
  • But now, now you will notice they are no longer on earth, they are no longer fleeing the great dragon, but they have been raptured. As was prophesied early when Israel is referred to as Woman and the 144,000 as her man-child.
  • Verse 4 specifically calls these 144,000 who have been raptured the “First-fruits”…
  • Revelation 14:4b ESV  …These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb,
  • that means there will be more, there will be another rapture, there will be more fruit… these are just the first fruit.
• Moving on we read in this chapter about these three angels, each with a message for the earth.
• The first proclaims the gospel…

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.

• We talked last week about how God has ALWAYS had a heart for ALL NATIONS to be saved, not just the Jews. Not just the Israelites. And certainly not just the 144,000 as some false religions heretically teach.
  • No, God want’s everyone to hear the Gospel and ultimately desires that all would be saved, though we know that not all, in fact only a relative few, will accept this gospel.
• So the first angel proclaims the gospel, the second proclaims the fall of Babylon the Great.

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.”

• Now we are going to hear all about this fall, the fall of Babylon, in future chapters, specifically chapter 18… which starts out:

Revelation 18:1-2 ESV  After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory.  (2)  And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.

•  So God is going to expand on this part of future History for us in just a few chapters…
• So the first angel proclaims the gospel, the second proclaims the fall of Babylon the great which we will learn about in chapter 18.
• And then the third angel warns us that anyone who get’s the mark of the beast will burn in hell for eternity. We talked about the mark of the beast two weeks ago… but here is what the angel says…

Revelation 14:8-12 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.”  (9)  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,  (10)  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.  (11)  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.”  (12)  Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

• The take away from that message I preached two weeks ago is the same as the take away from this angel… Don’t get the mark, no matter what, ENDURE UNTIL THE END AND HAVE FAITH!
• Next comes this very special blessing, I will preach a whole sermon on this when we get to chapter 20… Just take verse 13 to mean that if you die because you are martyred or if you die after the beast starts handing out marks… you get a very special blessing!

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!”

Show Slide “Rev 14 Recap” (already in Proclaim)

• So to recap, we have the 144,000 raptured Israelites, worshiping in heaven, three angles proclaiming messages, and a special blessing.
  • These are all things that I have preached about and a couple of things, the fall of Babylon the Great and the special blessing for the 1000 year reign that I WILL preach about in the coming weeks.
  • But the rest of chapter 14 is where we get the meat of todays message. And it is all about two harvests…

• So this morning, in our remaining time, we are going to talk about the two harvests at the end of chapter 14…

Revelation 14:14-20 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.  (15)  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.”  (16)  So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.  (17)  Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.  (18)  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.”  (19)  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.  (20)  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 let’s talk about that first harvest, which is, in my belief, the rapture of the church.

1^st Harvest – The Rapture of the Church

• Now, before I tell you why I believe the first harvest mentioned here is about the rapture of the church, I should probably explain what I mean by “Rapture”.
  • The Bible makes it clear that at some point, Jesus is coming back, Amen?

Revelation 1:7 ESV  Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

• And when that happens, like a flash of lightning, like the blink of an eye, every single born again believe in Christ Jesus and every innocent little child will instantly be transported off of the earth and into heaven.

1 Corinthians 15:52 ESV  in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

1 Thessalonians 4:14-17 ESV  For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.  (15)  For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.  (16)  For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.  (17)  Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

• Listen, there is literally going to be a time when Jesus comes back, and every eye sees Him, and when that happens Every Christian and innocent child will be immediately taken up into heaven. Just, poof, gone! That is the rapture.
• And I believe this first Harvest in Revelation 14:14-16 is about the rapture of the church… here is again that first harvest…

Revelation 14:14-16 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.  (15)  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.”  (16)  So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.

• So then… why… do I believe this is about the rapture of the church?
  • Well a variety of reasons.
  • The first is because the terminology of “reaping a harvest” has already been used by Christ as a metaphor for people being saved and entering the kingdom of God.
  • When I read these verses about this first harvest I immediately think of what Jesus said in the gospels

John 4:35-36 ESV  Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.  (36)  Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.

Luke 10:2 ESV  And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

Matthew 9:36-38 ESV  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  (37)  Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;  (38)  therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

• God is the Lord of the Harvest, and the Harvest are the souls who are ready to enter into the Kingdom of heaven.
  • We are told to sow seed, that is, plant the harvest by preaching the gospel.
  • We are told to water the seed, that is nature the harvest by making disciples.
  • And we are told that God will bring the growth and will eventually reap the harvest through salvation and ultimately through rapture.
• So yes, all through out the new testament we are given harvest terminology in regards to evangelism and salvation and discipleship… so when I see this harvest of the earth I immediately think it must be referring to a gathering of the saved, in other words, the rapture.
• So the first reason is the harvest terminology. The second reason is this… in these verses at the end of Chapter 14 we clearly see TWO harvests, and the second one is clearly about God pouring out his wrath on those who remain after the first harvest.
  • The means the people harvested first are saved from that outpouring of wrath, thus they must be people in God’s favor.
• Now the final reason is a practical reason: The rapture is clearly defined in Scripture and must fit somewhere in the Revelation timeline…
  • I believe, after much study, that this is the best place, in the clearest and simplest reading of scripture for the rapture to fit.
• Why? Well first off, Jesus clearly rebukes the pre-tribulation rapture. You see most Christians have been taught that the Rapture will come before any of the bad stuff of revelation.
  • Before the seals are broken, before the trumpets are blown, before the mark of the beast is given out.
  • Why are Christians taught this? I FOR THE LIFE OF ME CAN’T FIGURE IT OUT. I have tried and tried to study this and have heard the LAMEST of excuses.
    • “Well the word Church isn’t used after Revelation 3”
      •  yeah but the phrases “Those in Christ” and “Saints” and “Those who will be martyred” are used MANY times, amongst others.
    • “Well God wouldn’t allow His children to be apart of such horrible things”
      • Tell that to Paul! Who was imprisoned, and stoned, and ship wrecked, and tortured, and beheaded.
      • Tell that to the Christians who were burned alive at the stake at Empower Nero’s parties in Rome.
      • Tell that to the Christians who are being killed by Islamic Extremists every day in Nigeria right now!
      • Tell that to the Christians who are fleeing for their lives as their homes, hospitals, and churches are being bombed by Rusia even as I speak.
      • The Bible and History is clear that God will let us go through horrible things, but that He will sustain us, and protect us, and care for us, and give us contentment because as Paul said in chains “We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us”.
        • Which means we can go through the tribulation with peace, and contentment and endurance because CHRIST GIVES US STRENGTH! AMEN?!
    • Every argument that I hear about why the rapture must come before the tribulation seems to be nonsensical, floppy, loose, out of context and horrifically isegetical!
      • Now that said, there are many BRILLIANT Christian theologians who believe in the pre-tribulation rapture…
      • And maybe I am the one missing something…
  • But even still, it seems to me that Jesus HIMSELF says the rapture will happen after the Tribulation… Go read Matthew 24:3-31 and you will see what I mean… in these passages Jesus outlines what must happen BEFORE the rapture… I won’t read the whole thing for sake of time, but here are the Highlights…

Matthew 24:3 ESV  As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

Matthew 24:7 ESV  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

• That’s two of the four horseman we talked about early on in Revelation.

Matthew 24:9 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.

Matthew 24:14 ESV  And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

• We just read about the Angel proclaiming the gospel to all nations… this far into Revelation.

Matthew 24:15-16 ESV  “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),  (16)  then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

• This is the Anti-Christ in the temple and the flight of the Man-Child from the woman.

Matthew 24:22 ESV  And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

• So the tribulations are cut short because the elect, Christians, are still on the earth…

Matthew 24:24 ESV  For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

• That is, at least in part, the two beasts of Revelation.
• And if none of this convinces you let 29-31 convince you…

Matthew 24:29-31 ESV  “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  (30)  Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  (31)  And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

• Jesus says it right there: IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TRIBULATION… THE SUN AND MOON WILL GO DARK, JESUS WILL COME BACK, AND THE CHURCH WILL BE RAPTURED.
  • Again, when does it say that happens? IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TRIBULATION.
• SO PREPARE YOURSELF NOW TO ENDURE CHURCH! To endure through the mark of the beast… to endure through wars, and economic collapse…
  • Talk to your kids about the mark of the beast.
  • Tell them that you will starve to death before denying Christ.
  • BECAUSE IF THIS HAPPENS IN OUR LIFETIME THERE IS A VERY GOOD CHANCE THAT YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO LIVE THROUGH IT OR DIE TRYING.
  • Christ will give you strength, and peace, and comfort… LEARN TO REST IN THOSE THINGS NOW WHILE THEY ARE EASY.
    • Because it’s going to get hard, church it is going to get very hard… and then Christ will rapture His church, hallelujah!
• Now I could be wrong.
• The rapture could happen today, or tomorrow, or whenever… but I urge you church… GET READY NOW! Be prepared…
  • No one will miss out on heaven because they are over prepared… but I am afraid that some may miss out because they are under prepared… study the story of the 10 virgins in Mathew 25 if you don’t believe me.
  • Get prepared now… because once the rapture comes… if you are left behind… then things get really bad… then comes the second harvest… the wrath of God on the wicked.
• And I will make this quick… because I want your focus to be on the good news, that Christ has made a way for you to be with him forever in heaven, and not be the subject of His wrath…
  • but if you miss the rapture… if you weren’t saved, and living right… and the rapture comes, and your church family is gone in heaven… and you are stuck on earth… here is what you can expect… the second harvest.

2^nd Harvest – The Wrath of God on the Wicked

Revelation 14:17-20 ESV  Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.  (18)  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.”  (19)  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.  (20)  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.

• Have you ever heard of the book “The Grapes of Wrath”, that title comes from this passage…
• Ever sing the Battle hymn of the Republic, it’s opening lines are about this second harvest in Revelation…
  • Mine eyes have seen the glory
    Of the coming of the Lord;

He is trampling out the vintage

Where the grapes of wrath are stored;

He hath loosed the fateful lightning

Of His terrible swift sword;

His truth is marching on.

• GLORY GLORY HALLELUJAH!
  • That’s about this second harvest!
• The imagery here is God collecting all the wicked people of the earth, putting them into a wine press, or a huge wooden barrel with an open top, and God Himself crushing the wicked people under His feet, as their blood runs out of a spicket at the bottom of the barrel.
  • The blood in this harvest is likened to a river the size of the Mississippi river or bigger… of pure blood, as billions of people are crushed under the wrath of God.
• Church *raise hand* I DON’T WANT TO BE IN THAT WINE PRESS!
• I DON’T WANT YOU TO BE IN THAT WINE PRESS!
  • It is imperative that WE DO NOT MISS THE RAPTURE!
• That means we must GET ready, that means “GET SAVED” and we must stay ready… that means “Continue in the grace of Jesus Christ.”
  • If you are not saved, get saved! There will be an opportunity in a moment.
  • If you are saved… STAY RIGHT WITH GOD.
  • If you sin, confess and repent.
  • If you fall away, draw back towards God.
  • If you have ran off and lived on your own and forsaken God, come back to Him while there is still time!
• Just because you said a prayer once does not guarantee you a ticket into heaven, the Bible never promises that.
• Here is what the Bible does say:

1 John 1:6-10 ESV  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  (7)  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.  (8)  If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  (9)  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  (10)  If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

1 John 2:1-6 ESV  My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.  (2)  He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.  (3)  And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.  (4)  Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,  (5)  but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him:  (6)  whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

1 John 3:9-10 ESV  No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.  (10)  By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

Matthew 7:21-23 ESV  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  (22)  On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  (23)  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

• Get saved, yes, and then live a righteous and holy life.
  • Repent, grow, be discipled, confess, repent some more, draw near to Christ, become like Him more and more, less of us more of HIM!
• Look, many of you know I grew up with a crippling addiction to pornography.
  • And it stuck around after I was saved, it was the hardest thing in my life to stop. It took many months of pain, and tears, and fighting, and agony to get over the ridiculous withdraws that I never even knew could happen with pornography…
  • And one of the things that got me through was the horrifying thought… what if Jesus came back to take the church while I was sitting at my computer watching this filth?
    • What if he came back and I was in that state… which harvest would I be part of?!
• Praise God I don’t have to deal with that fear any more… because I was delivered, through confession, repentance, accountability, prayer, and a lot of hard work and God’s grace…
  • And you can too. You can insure that you will be a part of the first harvest, the rapture, and not the second… if you are willing…
  • If you stay ready you don’t have to get ready!

Conclusion

• Gospel Call
• Rededication Call
• Encouragement for Discipleship
• Encouragement for Reaching Out