The Final Harvest of Judgement | Revelation 14:14-20 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (3/22/26)

What a fitting song for what we're about to discover today in God's word. And with that being said, I gladly invite you to take God's word and meet me in the book of Revelation chapter 14. By God's help, we're going to accomplish and complete this chapter together as we look at the final verses of it, beginning in verse 14 of chapter 14. Now we have to remember that although the book of Revelation is generally chronological, what chapter 14 does is pauses that sequence and offers us a few previews of coming events that have not yet been realized. And so the play button to the general storyline of Revelation is gonna be pressed again in chapter 15.

But for now, what we find in this text, in this chapter in particular, is the Lord providing encouragement to his people, especially after encountering the very bleak prophecy of the Antichrist in Revelation chapter 13. That's why when you come to chapter 14, you get these series of forward looking predictions and prophecies of what's yet to come, like Christ standing on Mount Zion victorious and reigning. The destruction of the Babylonian system that was exporting all the filth and the sin of the world. The eternal doom of the unsaved and with that, the eternal rest of those who die in the Lord. This is the Lord by the Holy Spirit reminding the believer who's reading this that we will be victorious in the end.

Do not lose hope. And yet, John receives a final vision before the natural flow of the text of this book continues. And it deals with the final judgment that Christ will bring to the wicked, not in eternity, but upon the earth. Another way of understanding what we're about to read is that John is describing to us in summary what we are going to find out in greater detail from chapters 15 through chapters 19. And what we're going to see here is essentially a summation of the final of the final acts of God's holy wrath toward those who have denied him just before the return of the Son of God.

Remember, we learned that there are a total of three major sets of judgments that will be unleashed upon the earth, each consisting of seven acts. And we already completed the first two series. We looked at the seven seal judgments. We considered the seven trumpet judgments, but there is one more. The seven bowls of God's wrath.

The most intense succession of God's judgments, again, just before Christ returns. They will serve to put the last things in order before he establishes his prelude for us to consider. Let's read from verse 14 down to verse 20. Then I looked and behold a white cloud and seated on the cloud like a son of man with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 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.

So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped. Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. 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. 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.

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. Lord, we ask, oh, how we need your help with this text, How we need your wisdom. How we need your protection. Lead us to the right conclusions. Guide us to the right interpretation.

And Lord, we pray that even if we do come to the clarity of these verses that it would not just sit in our minds or we pray that they would move our hearts to worship. You can only do this by the power of the Holy Spirit and we pray that his power would be known in this message. In Jesus name we pray, amen. Isn't it interesting that the way that the Holy Spirit wants to describe the concluding acts of God's judgment upon the earth before his son returns is by depicting a harvest, the reaping of a harvest. Now most of us in here are familiar enough with the word of God to understand that the harvest or a harvest is regularly recognized as a positive thing.

The ingathering of souls saved by the gospel. And we just sang about it. Right? The harvest is white. It's ready.

And that is true. In many cases, a harvest does speak about a move of God, the salvation of souls, the gathering in of more into his kingdom. At the same time, there are many places in the bible that depict a harvest and the reaping of a harvest as an act of judgment. You find this throughout the old testament. You even find in some of just...

Some of Jesus' parables. And the diligence through the scripture then should not be so surprised to consider how God's outpouring of wrath is illustrated here through this act of harvesting. But there is another challenge with this text, however. And the challenge lies in the fact that it seems as though there are two harvests being explained here. Did you notice that?

Look again at verse 16. So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth and the earth was reaped. Okay. That's one. That's one reaping and it's across the whole earth.

So there should be nothing left. And then you keep reading and what do you stumble upon? Look look at verse 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. Just in case nobody sees it, there is a clear distinction here.

What you have with verse 16 is one like a son of man sitting on a cloud, and he swings his sickle and he reaps from the earth, which strongly suggests that this is speaking about a grain harvest. It's from the earth. No added details. Then you go on and you realize that there is another reaper, but it's not one like a son of man. It's an angel.

And he does have a sharp sickle himself. But when he swings it across the earth, he doesn't gather in grain, he gathers in what? Grapes. So a lot of people interpret it in this way. This is speaking about two different kinds of harvest.

The first one with the grain, the one that the son of man is orchestrating refers to a harvest of righteousness. This is the Lord sweeping in the remaining of the redeemed just before he pours out his wrath. Meanwhile, the grape harvest speaks about a harvesting of the final of the wicked before the Son of God comes and establishes his government. And while that may seem plausible, there is evidence in this text that would suggest a different conclusion. And there are two main important observations that we have to acknowledge in order for us to be open to something else.

Number one, what John is doing here is something that he does so regularly throughout his writings in this book. He's alluding to an Old Testament prophecy. And the Old Testament prophecy that he seeks to connect is that of what Joel said in Joel chapter three. Turn with me to Joel chapter three and look here with me beginning at verse 12 of Joel chapter three. Because when we turn there, we're gonna get more clarity of what John seems to be communicating here in this vision in in Revelation chapter 14.

Joel chapter three, look at verse 12. It's not a common book so it may take you some time to get there. That's okay. Joel chapter three verse 12. Let the nations stir themselves up and come up to the Valley Of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations.

Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great. Did you notice how verse 13 is almost a perfect summary of what John seems to be elaborating on in his vision? Here you have a sickle, a sickle for a ripe harvest.

More than that, it's followed by the description of an overflowing wine press, just like the two types of reaping that we saw in our main text. And if you're willing to accept that, then you also have to understand that what Joel is speaking about here is judgment. Everything surrounding this picture is judgment. There is no hint here of a righteous harvesting or salvation. Everything surrounding this imagery speaks of wrath.

And it could be that what John John is doing is taking and borrowing from this prophecy and expanding it by the spirit to convey that the fulfillment of this prophecy of a comprehensive judgment of all nations is at hand. Here's a second important observation that may lead to a different conclusion of the two types of harvest in Revelation 14. It's found in a word in Revelation 14. So go back to that text and look again at verse 15 and consider something with me that is so important to unpack. Revelation 14 verse 15, John sees and writes, 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.

Underline that word ripe. Do you know what that word means? Well, at face value seems like a good thing that the harvest has reached its full maturation. That it's ready. It's ready to be plucked.

It's ready to be gathered in. It's fulfilled its purpose. But here's where word studies help. When you actually look at the original word for ripier, it does not mean ready. It actually means overripe.

In other words, it means that it... It's past... It's due. More specifically, it says something that is dry. It speaks of something that is withered.

This is not a good description. So whatever this harvest is, it's not being gathered in with joy. It's not being gathered in because there's good use. It's being gathered in to be discarded. Here's what's amazing.

That word right in verse 15 is only used in one other place in all of the book of Revelation. Would you like to know where it is? Go to chapter 16. Look at verse 12. Revelation sixteen twelve.

Another vision of another prophecy, but it has a word that's important for us to understand. The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates and its water was dried up. That's the word. Dried. It's the same word used for ripe in Revelation fourteen fifteen.

Dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. So when we take all this into consideration, it's very difficult to arrive at the place in thinking that this first harvest in this vision is a good one when the ripeness is more accurately to be understood as rottenness. How can you think that this is the Lord Jesus gathering in the redeemed when they are described in such a way? Does this make sense? So then if John is borrowing from Joel a prophecy about wide scale universal judgment, sickle, harvest, grape, overflowing, and if this word ripe actually means something that is dried and withered, no longer of good use, Then what do these two harvests mean?

If it's not about the righteous and the wicked, it's not about gathering in the good and judging the evil, what do we have before us? What we have before us is a description of judgment in two major phases. That's what we have. What we have here is God's final judgment against the wicked occurring just before Christ's return in two massive segments. And that makes more sense when you think about it a little further.

Remember how we said Revelation 14, especially these verses, previews what we're going to find in chapters 15 down through chapters 19. What's in chapters 15, 16 primarily? The seven bowls of God's wrath. And those bowls will be poured out until Christ himself comes and directly deals with his enemies on the earth. And it seems as though these two harvests are indicating those two major manifestations of God's wrath.

In other words, the first harvest could be pointing to the seven bowls. And then the grape harvest right after seems to be paving the way and describing Christ's personal confrontation with his foes. This is what seems to be making the most sense here. But that's not where we wanna end. What we wanna consider in the rest of this time here together is these two types of harvest in more detail.

What do we learn about God through them? How do they speak to our hearts? What message do they convey for our day to day lives? And that's how we're gonna split our thoughts today. I want us to look at the first harvest reaping and then the second one.

The first one, again, is a preview of the seven bowls that are gonna be poured out. And then the second one, which is much more graphic, is it not? Did you notice the imagery here? The grapes being trodden, blood being splattered, a river of blood it seems to be gushing forth. Why is the second one more graphic than the first one?

Because as severe as the bold judgments will be, what Christ is gonna do directly is gonna be much more intense. Let's reel back here. What can we learn from the first harvest? There are two descriptions here that are interesting. We see one like a son of man who is seated on a cloud and he has a golden crown.

Now, one like a son of man only appears in one other place in the book of Revelation, in the very first chapter where Jesus is described in his glorified state. And one of the characteristics that he emulates is that he has this golden sash around him and he has this robe and it speaks about his majesty and it's in that place in Revelation one thirteen where we read that one like a son of man is carrying these these garbs. And so John is making it very plain here. I'm referring to to Christ in this vision. The one who is seated, one like a son of man, that's Jesus.

Not just because of Revelation chapter one, but because of Daniel chapter seven, where he too saw one like a son of man descending with the clouds approaching the Ancient of Days, which tells us that John and his prophecies are in total alignment with the old prophecies. He is not writing anything new. He's in total alignment with the prophets of old. And more than that, however, it tells us something about Jesus that we often neglect. He is a judge.

He is a coming judge. The Lord doesn't want us to skim over this so quickly because he provides these descriptions around Christ's judgment that we have to meditate on. There are three things about Christ being judge and how we judges that we have to face, that we have to come to terms with. And the first thing is this, Christ Jesus judges with divine authority. That golden crown, him sitting on that cloud speaks of his divine origin and it speaks about the divine authority that he possesses now and that he will manifest in the days to come.

This is Christ, the one who died. Yes. This is Christ, the one who created the world and the one who upholds the universe with the power of his word. But this is also Christ who will come and deal with the wicked once and for all. Here's why that's important.

You and I are making a very serious mistake if we're willing to believe in a God who's created the world and saved the world, but not judged the world. Our God is a judge. He will hold this world accountable. And though in a very broken way this world is set up where we have mutual accountability, we have judicial systems, what the bible teaches is all systems in this world are ultimately answerable to God himself. And there's a day coming of reckoning.

Now some take issue of this being Jesus because he seems to be taking orders from an angel. Did you notice that in verse 15? And another angel came out of the temple calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud. And so they do all these gymnastics with who this one like a son of man is. There's no way that Christ can be taking orders from a creative being even if it's an angelic being.

But read your bibles carefully. This is not an angel speaking from his own authority. Where did the angel come from? And another angel came out of the temple. This is the temple in heaven according to the context.

So what is this angel doing? Well, he's coming out of the very place where God's presence dwells. So it seems to suggest that this angel is relaying a message from God the father. And we know that throughout the bible, angels are messengers in many ways. They they participate in God's word even in delivering a message or two.

So this angel is delivering a message from the temple, and the father is signaling to the son that the hour of judgment has come. And here's all you need to know at this point, Jesus will judge the world because he has divine authority to do so. But the second way that he judges is with perfect precision. You know, when we look at Christ in the book of Revelation, there are a lot of things that he holds in his hands symbolically. And now we have something new, something that perhaps we've never thought about.

In this vision, Jesus holds a sickle. Have you heard of his sickle? It's a single handed agricultural tool. It has kind of a swoosh. It's like a hook and it's used to harvest or to cut.

What moves me though is that Jesus with this sickle, as strange as that might be, furthermore, is holding a sharp sickle. Why do I need to know it's sharp? In fact, that appears more than once in this vision. Sharpsicle. Sharpsicle.

Because the sharpness indicates something about the effectiveness and the precision of his judgment. Jesus Christ is not dull in his discernment. He's not dull in his perception. He's not dull with his verdicts. Jesus Christ is error free with his justice.

He is razor sharp. He is always accurate. He never exaggerates. He never goes overboard. It is surgically precise in how he evaluates men's hearts and what he determines concerning their fates.

And this is shown throughout the scriptures in so many different ways. One of the ways that has ministered me the most as a follower of Jesus Christ is seeing how Christ handles a particular case in the Old Testament. How the Lord appears to Abraham with two angels and before he judges Sodom and Gomorrah, he decided to actually tell Abraham what he was going to do to Sodom and Gomorrah. And when he explains it to Abraham, he says something that is so insightful about his character as a judge. Genesis 18.

Look at this with me in verse 20. It says here in Genesis 18 verse 20, then the Lord said, because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know. You know, when I first read this, it surprised me because this is clearly the Lord speaking to Abraham. And He's telling Abraham, hey, I've come down.

I've descended upon the earth to actually examine what's going on in these cities to see if they match the outcry that has arisen because of them. I have heard and I have read of some people who use this text to teach that God can't be all knowing. Why? Because it seems as though He needs to descend into creation and verify the facts at a closer look. Is that what's happening here?

Is that what the bible teaches about God? No. What you have here instead is the Lord graciously revealing something about his character in a way that we would understand. Going out of his way to exemplify something so crucial about his nature, and here's what that means. Before executing judgment, he takes great care to gather all the evidence.

Before rendering a verdict, he takes time to investigate and weigh every matter. That's what he is showing here. It's not that he needs to do it, but he wants to show us what he's willing to do. The lengths that he's willing to go to. What he is willing to provide in terms of his patience and his his care and his fairness, it's meant to show that he is never cruel or impulsive in how he deals with the wicked.

He is precise, he is perceptive, and he is perfectly just. The sharpsicle. So we learn that Jesus, according to this vision, judges with divine authority. He judges with perfect precision. And lastly, he does so with incredible patience.

Remember that word ripe in Revelation fourteen fifteen? That's the true condition of the harvest. It's overdue. And though that says something about the wickedness of the generation that Christ will deal with, it also says something about his heart. God waited for the harvest to get to that point.

He didn't even wait for it to get ripe. He waited till it became overripe. What does that tell you about God? That he's not hasty in judgment. He's not quick.

He's very slow. He is steadfast. He waits and he waits and he waits and he convicts and he convicts and he provides presentation of the gospel after presentation of the gospel. And when you deny, deny, deny, ignore, ignore, ignore, suppress, suppress, then God sees your unwillingness and is willing to act accordingly. And this is true about God for nations, and this is true for God with individuals.

Do you remember the seven letters to the churches earlier in this book? One of them was being plagued by a false prophetess whose name was Jezebel, and she was leading the congregation, at least most of them, into sexual immorality. She was teaching them strange things, contrary things to the truth. And God has John write this letter to this church in Thyatira and he says something so staggering about her in a single verse. In Revelation two twenty one, listen to these words.

This is what Jesus says about this woman. I gave her time to repent. I gave her time to repent. Now be honest with yourself. If you were in charge of a church and there was somebody who took control of the leadership that was false, that was in blatant disobedience to what God designed for the local church, what God wants to be said in the local church, How swift would you be in dealing with the matter?

And yet Christ in his perfect wisdom in this specific case, I gave her time. We don't know what he did in that time, but this seems to suggest that in that time, he warned her, convicted her, He revealed himself to her. And what happens in the rest of the verse? But she refuses to repent of her sexual morality. She refuses.

The fact that these seven bowls are gonna be poured out is because this final generation in the tribulation period refused, refused, refused, refused. Can I ask you something today before we move on? Are you rejecting Christ today? How many times have you heard the gospel presentation from this pulpit alone? How many times down deep inside you know, you know that your conscience is ringing because what you're doing, how you're living is wrong?

You haven't surrendered. You haven't you haven't given up that sin yet. You haven't given your heart to Christ yet. Don't test his patience. Translate his patience as his great love to you and give yourself to him.

Don't waste any more time. Because you and I can never determine exactly when Christ will change his mind of how he deals with us in our sin. He judges judges with incredible patience. So this order of reaping show us that this is how the Lord is actually gonna deal with the last group of people on the earth before this second harvesting will take place and that is going to show Christ's judgment at his coming. You're saying, is that really what's about to be said in this next harvest?

Yes. Let me give you a clue. Can you look at something with me here? Consider this verse in Revelation 14 verse 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 and the winepress was trodden outside the city.

Fast forward to Revelation 19 now. This is the chapter, at least half of it, that shows us the actual coming of Christ. And notice a similarity between the preview in chapter 14 and the realization in chapter 19. Look at verse 15 of chapter 19. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations and he will rule them with a rod of iron.

He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. Do you see it? Do you see how the first harvest is speaking about the seven bulls? And then this next one that we're about to look at in greater detail speaks about what's gonna happen when Christ comes himself. There are so many details from verses 17 down to verse 20.

We don't have enough time to look at all of them, so I have a feeling that some may approach me after this and say, what about this and what about that? Unless you wanna stay here longer, we can look at them, but let's carve out a few key things just with the time that we have left. So the Son of Man who is going to do this reaping is now eclipsed by another angel in verse 17. Look at this. Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle, and another angel came out from the altar.

The angel has authority over the fire and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle. So you have now two angels interacting with one Beforehand, you had an angel relaying a message from the father to the son. Now you have another angel who comes out of the temple and another angel is coming out of the altar in heaven. Now what's that all about? Well, we've learned up to this point that the altar in Revelation in heaven signifies the intercession of the saints.

So in one way, what we're about to see with this preview of a judgment is God fulfilling the answers to those prayers of the martyrs who said vindicate us. Do something with our murderers who shed all this blood. And this this little subtle hint is is a sign for us to see Jesus is about to answer that. God is about to answer that. But notice that these angels are interacting and saying, listen, put it...

Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth for its grapes are ripe. Now the grapes are ripe. The harvest was ripe, and we looked at that original word. It's overripe. It's dry.

It's withered. There's nothing good about it. And the grapes now are ripe. Here's the thing. The word ripe here is not the same as the first one.

This word for ripe concerning the grapes actually speaks about ready. They're full. They have reached a point of completion. The normal sense of ripe is what's in view here. Why the difference?

Well, obviously to convey a different message. So when it comes to this grape harvest, which speaks about what Christ is gonna do with the wicked, it means here that because of humanity in this time has reached the bursting point of wickedness, Christ is gonna meet them in that state, which is an amazing thing to consider. After all the seal judgments, after all the trumpet judgments, after the witnesses and the miracles and the obvious crying out to the lost to be saved. What does this grape harvest teach us? That humanity experiencing all of that will only become more and more evil.

They're gonna grow more and more in the rebellion. That they're becoming more and more vicious and vile and despicable. And what this word right means according to the judgment it signifies is Jesus is gonna say enough is enough. I've given them enough chances. They don't seem to be changing and so I am going to harvest them in and discard them from the earth.

And this presents a very difficult challenge for those who believe that the world is only gonna get better and better before Jesus returns. There are people who believe that. You know? How do you reconcile that notion with this vision? Humanity is only gonna swell up more and more in their sin to the point where it reaches a peak that invites the swift and sudden judgment of Christ himself.

And notice where the grapes came from in verse 18. The second part where the angel actually speaks, put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth for its grapes are ripe. Vine of the earth. What an interesting way to describe the systems and the philosophies of this world. What is this trying to teach?

Well, it shows here that these grapes who speak about the wicked derive their sustenance and life flow from the world as their source. They have attached themselves to the ideologies of this world. They have connected themselves to the ambitions of this unbelieving realm, and they are producing the fruit according to its influence. The vine of the earth. The Lord wants us to make a connection here.

There are different vines in the bible. Did you know? Do you remember what Jesus said of himself in John 15 verse one? I am the true vine, and the father is the vine dresser. I love that.

Because Jesus didn't just say I am a vine, he says I'm the true vine. I am the true source of life, of sustenance, of the fruit that your soul yearns for. I am the true vine that you must abide in. I'm the true vine that can offer the satisfaction and the joy and the peace and the love and the wholeness that you're craving. Don't link yourself to the vine of the earth, link yourself to the heavenly one.

For Christ to to speak in this way and and John was the one who wrote it. He wrote John obviously and he's writing the book of Revelation. And you and I are the branches according to John 15 verse five. I am the vine, you are the branches. And the only way that you can draw out the glories of this vine who is Jesus is if you abide in him.

You allow him to dwell in your heart. You live for him. You walk with him. And here's the question I wanna ask in light of this truth in Revelation 14. Which vine are you attached to?

Every single one of us in this place, in the sound of my voice is attached to one vine. You are drawing out life from one thing or another. And if you're drawing it from Christ, it will show. The way to verify which vine am I linked to is not by verbal confession, it's by the evidence of the fruit in your life. It's observable.

And it's no different if you are attached to the vine of this earth. Whether you intend to or not, it's gonna show. There's no way around it. But Jesus, never forget this, says I'm the true one. I'm the true vine.

So the choice is yours. Will I go to the vine of the earth? Or will I disconnect from that false cheap substitute and link myself to the true vine? And to reject the true vine is a very foolish choice because there's a day coming when all who have done the opposite will be gathered into the great winepress of God's wrath. For those who have replaced Christ with something else will be held accountable for it.

Because you are denying God. You're rejecting his will. You are despising his provision. And you are claiming there's something else that can give me what only God himself can grant me. Notice what's going to happen with these grapes that are gonna be removed from the vine of the earth.

It says here in verse 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 And the winepress was trodden. Trodden? What does that mean? It means to step on. It means to walk on.

The way in many places in the world today, grape juice and wine is made. Where you have these vast, you have these hewn out stones and you would step on it, it would create the juice. And this is very vivid imagery here. It's actually very graphic. That this preview of the judgment that will come when Christ arrives on the scene will be like one who is stepping on grapes.

The question is who's doing the treading here? And the answer is actually in Isaiah. You know, one of the most famous prophecies of Jesus Christ in Isaiah is Isaiah what? 53. But you know what doesn't get as much attention?

Isaiah 63. Isaiah 63 holds the answer of who's doing the treading here in Revelation 14. Look at Isaiah 63. Isaiah gets this astounding glimpse of Messiah in a way that makes a lot of people uncomfortable. Notice what he says in Isaiah 63 verse one.

Who is this who comes from Edom in crimson garments from Basra? Basra is believed to be the capital of Edom. Edom is located in modern day Jordan, the southern part. But let's read it again. Who is this who comes from Edom in crimson garments from Basra?

He who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? It is I speaking in righteousness, mighty to save. That's exclusive language. This is no ordinary man. And Isaiah now has more questions.

Verse two, why is your apparel red and your garments like his who treads in the winepress? Verse three, I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me. I trod them in my anger. I trampled them in my wrath. Their lifeblood spattered on my garments and stained all my apparel.

And you look at the context, it's speaking about the judgment of many peoples. You see what John is doing here now by the spirit? He's taking the same kind of description and he applies it to the Lord Jesus. You don't see that clearly in chapter 14, it's in chapter 19 when when Christ actually comes, his garments are stained with blood. Here's what's the most interesting part.

Look at verse four of Isaiah 63. The Lord is continuing to speak and he says, for the day of vengeance was in my heart and my year of redemption had come. Does that bother you? This is Jesus. Do you know what Jesus says?

The day of vengeance is in my heart. You're saying, wait, I understood Christ's heart way differently than this. You're saying it's in his heart to actually judge? Yes. Why?

Because of the second part of verse four, and my year of redemption had come. Because by way of judgment, there will be a greater redemption for those that belong to him. The judgment will lead to a greater salvation, will lead to a greater rescue, will bring to completion the salvation that he began at his first coming. And speaking of his first coming, do you remember which passage Jesus quoted early on in his ministry to authenticate his messiahship? Well, since you're in Isaiah, just scroll back a couple of chapters in Isaiah 61.

You remember this. Right? In Isaiah 61 verse one, Jesus quoted these verses. What does it say? The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. Look at verse two. To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all who mourn. Now when you look at when Jesus quotes it in the book of Luke, he stops it at a certain point. He stops it after to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

Why? Because at his first coming, the day of vengeance of our God was not supposed to happen. He closed the book. He closed the scrolls after that first part in chapter 61 verse two. Because he's not coming in his first coming to judge.

He came to bring salvation. But did you notice something between Isaiah 61 and Isaiah 63? Oh, just look at it again. Look at Isaiah 63 verse four. What does the Lord say there?

For the day of vengeance was in my heart and my year of redemption had come. Did you notice the order difference? Go back to Isaiah 61 verse two. To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God. It switched.

So in Isaiah 61, what is presented first? The year of the Lord's favor. But in Isaiah 63, what's presented first? The day of vengeance. Isaiah 61 speaks of Christ's first coming.

Isaiah 63 speaks of Christ's second coming. When he comes again, it's with vengeance. When he comes again, it's going to be to judge, not to save, not to die for sin again, but to deal with sinners once and for all. And through the day of vengeance, the year of redemption will come. But notice again, yes the day of vengeance is in his heart, but look how look how precise the Holy Spirit is.

In both cases, Isaiah 61 and Isaiah 63, when it comes to the vengeance, it's a day. When it comes to redemption and salvation, it's a year. Did you notice that? He's much more excited and much more longing to save than to judge. Yes, it's in his heart, but the reason why it's in his heart is because that day needs to come for the year of redemption to be experienced.

So Christ ultimately wants to save. He he wants none to perish. None to experience his holy wrath, but his holy love, his embrace, his compassion, his salvation. But there will be many who will refuse. Now everything that we've seen up to this point in Revelation 14 is highly symbolic.

Right? I mean, it's almost a mix, but I don't think we need to understand Christ sitting in heaven with an actual sickle. It's something that we need to fight for to be totally literal. It's it's symbolic imagery. And yet, with all the symbolism, there's something quite literal about the last part of Revelation 14.

Let's go there and end our time together. Look at verse 20. And the winepress was trodden outside the city. What city? Jerusalem.

Why? Because there's Old Testament prophecies and New Testament clues that show that Christ is coming specifically to Israel. And more than that, look at this description. And blood flowed from the winepress as high as a horse's bridle for 1,600 stadia. A horse's bridle.

Talking about that instrument by the horse's mouth. You're you're looking at something about four to five feet from the ground. So when this judgment is actually realized, whom we know to be Christ issuing it, the result of it will be from just the face value, a river of blood four feet deep. For how long and how wide according to 1,600 stadia, if you translate that in miles, you're looking at a 180 something miles. Now this has this has really confounded people.

It seems incomprehensible. You're telling me that there's gonna be so much bloodshed that you can essentially swim in that blood for miles upon miles? One that suggests that whenever Christ does come, there's going to be a lot of people there who are gonna try to face him. And we're preparing for that in Revelation 16 where all the nations are gonna be led by demonic spirits to come to Armageddon, North Of Jerusalem. But when you consider these other prophecies like Isaiah 63, it seems as though the masses of the allies against Christ will be so grand that it might even reach down to Bozrah.

It might even spill over into Jordan. And they will surround this holy city to one, try to vanquish the Jewish people and more than that, the Jewish Messiah. So is this actually gonna be a deep long river of blood? We don't know. It could be that he's speaking about the blood splattering up to the bridles of horses.

It could even be speaking about the bodies piled up that high. But one thing is for certain, when Christ came the first time, he actually came into this world to die and to raise from the grave. And when Christ comes the second time, we're not talking about some invisible return. We're not talking about some spiritual advent. We're talking about a real bodily return of Christ who's gonna deal with real people with real judgment.

Do you know Jesus Christ today? I know this isn't a popular message, but I am tethered to this word. I will be held accountable and every preacher too who dares to get up on a pulpit and say thus says the Lord. And here's what I'm bound to say according to the scriptures. Judgment is coming.

Sinners will be judged, and those who have not placed their faith in Christ will be harvested in to be trampled upon by the holy Son of God. But here's what I wanna tell you also. The same one who has a sickle in his hand, with those same hands were pierced, and the same one who will use his feet to trample on his enemies were put together and nailed to a cross. And the same one who has a golden crown in this vision took upon himself a crown of thorns. He suffered under God's wrath.

He took and absorbed the fury of the Holy One for you. For you. For every single one of us here in this place, no matter how gross and disgusting your sin may be, no matter how hideous your past looks like, Jesus Christ knows it all. And because of his holiness, there is a day of vengeance. But I want to let you know what makes his heart really beat and that is your salvation.

Your redemption. Your renewal. And listen, this is the hour of salvation. Today is the day. Now is the time.

We're looking at what's ultimately going to come, but we have this window of grace and I make this appeal to you on the Sunday afternoon. Come to Christ. Come to Jesus. Listen, I'm talking about a real savior here. What are we doing here?

What do you... Do you think we just got... Let's just look at another lesson today and this isn't tradition. This is God's word telling us about a real God who's gonna do real things in this world. So I wanna let you know that this isn't a game.

This isn't a social club with a little bit of religion sprinkled on it. This is a matter of life and death. This is a matter of eternity. I believe with all my heart because I believe this book that there's a real judgment coming. I don't want you to experience it.

You can be delivered from it. Oh, I pray that you would take this seriously. I pray that you would realize that this is indeed true. And if it is true, what are you gonna do about it? Just sit there and think about lunch?

Come to Christ today before it's too late. Bend your knee. Receive him and I can give you the absolute assurance based on the authority of this word that if you are sincere in your repentance, you will know not a flow of judgment, a flow of love that you've never experienced before. That this holy, brilliant, pure being is more amazing in his love than you've ever experienced in this life. And that's what he wants to offer you today.

His heart and love. Come to Christ. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that your word is true. And, Lord, in your presence, we declare that we are not embarrassed about your word.

We are not ashamed of it. In a world so filled with lies and confusion and deception. Make us more bold about the truth than ever. Your word has never failed. And Lord, at this moment, you've given us a text about judgment.

We will not downplay it. We will not ignore it. We will not skip over it. We will come to terms with it. And, Lord, number one, we wanna thank you that you've saved us from our sin.

Thank you that because of Christ, we are no longer objects of your wrath, but we are adopted as children forever. But, Lord, that is not true for millions today. And we ask, Lord, that in this place, that if there's anybody who does not have the absolute confidence that they are saved, that they would not be so foolish or stubborn to deny the free gift of salvation, that they would realize that you've died for them and that they would give themselves to this truth, that they would receive your love. So, Lord, we pray as we've done what we can in this service. We've sung the songs and we've preached the message and we've given scripture quotation after scripture quotation, but only you can convict.

Only you can touch the heart, Lord, and we admit that gladly. So, Lord, move freely in this place and bring more into the harvest of righteousness. Bring more into the fold of God through your love. We give you thanks, Lord, and help us be ambitious to be ambassadors to those who only have judgment to look forward to if they don't give their lives to Christ. We ask these things in Jesus' name.

Amen and amen. Let's stand together. God is so real that at any point in this service moving forward, if you if you were to just speak to him, he hears you. Even if you don't sing these songs right now and you sit in your seat, you sit in that pew and you say, Lord, I just... I need to be saved.

Forgive me. God will hear that prayer. And believer, I hope your song will be strong at this point because you were reminded today of what you were saved from. You have heaven. You have eternal life because of Christ.

Let's sing about it together.