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

Brothers and sisters, this is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Welcome to Maranatha Bible Church. It is a joy to worship the Lord and our King Jesus together as the body and bride of Christ. As we begin our service, as always, I'd like to read a portion of scripture from Psalm 135.

And as I read, may our hearts be quieted, may our attention be focused on the Lord, and may we approach this time with soberness and awe and fear of the Lord, truly. Psalm 135. Praise the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord. Give praise, oh, servants of the Lord, who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.

Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good. Sing to his name, for it is pleasant. For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel as his own possession. For I know that the Lord is great and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases, he does in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.

He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses. He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and of beast. Who in your midst, oh, Egypt, sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants, who struck down many nations and killed mighty kings, Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan, and gave their land as a heritage, a heritage to his people Israel. Your name, oh Lord, endures forever. Your renown, oh Lord, throughout all ages, for the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants.

The idols of the nation are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak. They have eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them become like them.

So do all who trust in them. Oh, house of Israel. Bless the Lord. Oh, house of Aaron. Bless the Lord.

Oh, house of Levi. Bless the Lord. You who fear the Lord. Bless the Lord. Blessed be the Lord from Zion who dwells in Jerusalem.

Praise the Lord. Father, we thank you, and we bless your name. We give glory to your name for you alone are worthy of all praise, all adoration. Lord, we could worship you for a thousand years and not come one millimeter close to what you deserve. Father, but you look upon your people and we rejoice in this.

You look upon your people with gladness. You look upon your people with joy, and you rejoice over us, our good father. And Lord, we delight in you today. May all our delights be in you today. May the things of this world fade away, and our focus be only on you, King Jesus.

Have your way in the service today. Have your way in our hearts today. Mold us, shape us, and renew us for your glory, Lord, and for your people's joy. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Amen. Church, will you please stand and begin this service with singing praise to our great God.

Lord, we thank you that we can sing to you knowing that you hear us and we declare that there is none who can compare with you. There is no one like you. There is no God like you. There is no love like your love. There is no peace like your peace.

There is no power like your power. And we pray that we would experience all of it today because we have come to seek your face. We've come to be in your presence. So, Lord, manifest your glory this Sunday afternoon. We thirst for you.

We long for you. And we trust, Lord, that you will not leave us empty. We believe this by faith. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen.

Well, before you're seated, turn to someone. Welcome to this Lord's Day service. What a joy it is to be in the house of God yet again today. We're so excited to be able to gather and worship the living Christ. If you're here for the very first time, a special welcome to you.

Able to be a part of this service on this wonderful day. Well, before we go on with any announcements or anything else, we're continuing to worship the Lord in our giving. If it's on your heart to participate in that act of worship, the ushers will assist us at this time. I think most of us in here know that we are getting closer and closer to a brand new building. Yes, we can applaud that.

There have been many weeks over the years where we were saying at this time of the service, whenever this building arrives. And it has arrived. We are here. And, it's been a very busy past couple of weeks with meetings and inspections and other ordeals. And, things have been going extremely well.

Continue to pray for this transition. And we will keep you as updated as we can. You also know that we are hoping for another miracle, that as we enter into this new chapter, we would do so without any need for a loan, without any debt. And in order to do that, we have to raise a certain amount. You know the amount.

We're looking at 1,500,000.0. And so far, we have raised $220,000 which is wonderful. Yes. So keep praying and keep believing and and ask the Lord, Lord, is there anything that you would have me contribute to this? Because you're not just you're not investing in in a in a mere building.

You're not investing in any one person's ministry. This is for, the the kingdom of God. This is for generations to come. And this is something that would be ultimately rewarded in eternity. So we're thankful for your partnership for those who have prayed and for those who have partnered in this manner.

We are so grateful for that, and we're excited to continue to see how God is gonna bless this ministry. A couple of things to be mindful of, we have on April 11, a basketball event for the men. That's at 02:00. It's on a Saturday, I believe. If you wanna be a part of this, it's sometimes co ed, sometimes woman focused, sometimes men oriented, but you can sign your name up on the back there.

The sound booth, there's a sheet. You can put your information and you can be up to date with some of the things that we do outside of the meetings. And these are just, things that we can do to facilitate fellowship and get to know each other on a deeper level. So that's taking place on April 11. Be mindful of that.

The second thing is not really an announcement, it's it's more of an exhortation. So listen, we are very close to our new building. Very, very close. And I know that it's been difficult over the past few years because we had virtually zero parking. And I know that's more difficult for some than others.

But, we wanna let you know that there are still people who are parking in this parking lot here, and we know that that could be because of visitors who don't know of our whole situation. If you didn't know, though this building sits on this lot, we don't own one of these parking spots. That's completely for the Central Baptist Village. So if you're visiting, just be mindful in the next few weeks to find parking on the street. There's parking in the neighborhoods, but this is mainly for those who already know this.

Just a few weeks left, guys. You can survive. You can make it. Let's leave this place on a good note. Yeah?

Let's not cause any trouble, please. So please, please, please, we've been made aware from our neighbors that they virtually had no parking spots for their employees recently. So we don't want to do that to them. Okay? So please, just make that sacrifice.

We're almost there for a brand new home, and you don't have to worry about parking for years, like decades, when we come into this new place. So we made it this far. Let's not spoil it now. And, we can change our palette here because we have another baby dedication. Yeah?

Wonderful. So Martina and Bob Wilson, we have Savannah, the newest member. Yeah. Look at you. Oh, you're all dressed up for this moment, aren't you?

Yes. I'm getting a lot of practice, guys. So we're so excited, especially because they've been girls recently. So, well, we're so thrilled that God has, number one, made you a part of this church family and that God is growing your family, and it's a absolute blessing to witness. So you know these questions because of Charlotte.

Hi, Charlotte. So I'm gonna ask them again. But do you believe that Savannah is a gift from God, an extension of God's mercy toward both of you? And do you promise to exemplify through your own lives, through your marriage, through your union, what it means to follow Christ and love Christ and prioritize a local church and serve his kingdom as your utmost desire and priority? And do you promise to directly disciple this precious girl by teaching her the things of God through the word of God, by praying with her and for her, and by, again, showing her how Jesus is everything?

Yes. Amen. Church, let's pray for this precious child. Let's pray for this precious family and ask God to continue to pour out his grace upon them. Lord, we pause and we reflect on the gift that is before all of us, the miracle of life.

We are all created in your image and, Lord, you have added Savannah to this family and not just this family but to the church. And it is our prayer that your hand of protection would lay on her, that your awesome grace would overshadow her, that you would keep her from all evil, all temptation, all disease, all perversion, all allurements, Lord. We pray that she would be shielded from head to toe. We ask, Lord, that you would take this girl and that at the youngest age possible, you would open her eyes to behold the wonders of Christ, that she would follow him and love him and worship him. We pray, Lord, for Bob and we pray for Martina.

We thank you for their union and their marriage. We thank you that they are following you, and Lord, we pray for an extra measure of grace on their lives as they now parent two babies. We pray for the stamina. We pray for the energy. We pray for the wisdom.

We pray for even more love in their hearts to overflow. Lord, we thank you. Be with them. Go before them. Guide them step by step, and we look forward to seeing how you're going to use this precious baby for your glory.

We believe it, Lord. And we give you all the thanks in advance. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Oh, you're so cute.

I can hold you a little longer. I have a feeling we're gonna have many more baby dedications in the months and years to come. Something's on my heart for us today before the service, earlier this day. I was reminded this morning of how powerful worry is. Worry, anxiety, fear, concern.

And here's one example of that because I wanna make an invitation before we sing another song. Jesus tells us in Mark chapter four about four different types of soil, four different types of heart conditions that receive the word of God differently. And here's the description of the third one. It says here in verse 18 of Mark four, and others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word and it proves unfruitful.

Now I understand the deceitfulness of riches. I can comprehend the desires for other things, but we skip over often the danger of the cares of this world. And what Jesus tells us is that has the potential to choke out the power of the word of God implanted in our hearts. And notice how specific Christ is. He says that it exhortation for us today is to protect our hearts from the cares of this world.

They visit us often. Sometimes they're major concerns, sometimes they're minor. Sometimes they deal with people, sometimes they deal with possessions. No matter the category of the care, if we're not careful, it can suffocate the potential of God's word being fruitful and fragrant in our lives. And one of the ways that you and I can can manage this because, I mean, you might have entered in here loaded with cares.

Stuff's Stuff's going on with your house, stuff's going on with your children, stuff go stuff's going on with the business, and and you're fighting just to have a sliver of attention for the word of God today. One way that God tells us that we can avoid this danger is by not ignoring those cares, not suppressing them, but bring them before Christ, laying them at His feet. Don't let the cares of this world draw you away from the Lord. Don't let them pull you away from the local church. Oh, I'm just so busy and I have this and that.

You're in dangerous territory. Instead, allow those cares to be the catalyst to come before Christ himself and say, Lord, I need you here. Do something with this. Help me in this. And if it's not solved right away, give me the peace to be able to endure it.

Give me the wisdom to know how to navigate it. This is the way to deal with these cares. And before we utter any other word and song, before we hear any other instrument played, I wanna invite you this afternoon to lay all your cares before Christ. Bring it to him now. Jesus said, my house shall be called a house of prayer.

And so this is our time to do just that. I want to sincerely call you to think and to be intentional in saying, Lord, I came in here burdened today. I came in here overwhelmed. I came in here mechanically. But I don't wanna move I don't wanna move forward with that anymore.

I wanna come and ask that you expel this from my heart so that I can receive your word. Would we do that? Can we do that? Just bow your heart before his presence and lay it before him before we sing together again. You are forever.

And these are the tays

Thank you, oh Lord, and we want to just honor you with everything we do today. We wanna be faithful in our worship. Would you be gracious to us that we would worship in spirit and in truth in this place, receive maximum glory, oh oh Lord, in this service from beginning to end. And we want to exalt the name of Christ. And Lord, as we hear your word, would you stir our hearts again?

You've done it so many times, and we want to experience it it more, Father. We want to have a touch from you through your word today. And give us hearts for eternity, hearts to love Christ all the more. And so we give you glory, honor, and thanksgiving today. In Jesus' name, amen.

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 consider 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 reign in this world. And these verses that we're about to look at are a trailer to those judgments, a 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's parables. And the diligent student of 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 is 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 in 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 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 winepress. 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 its 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 ripe 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 harvest 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 chapters 15 down through chapters 19. What's in chapters fifteen, sixteen 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 bulls. 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 sharpsicle. 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. 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, he 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. Could 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 another.

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'm 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. 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. 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. Is 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 is this is 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 on 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 wanna 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 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 going to do real things in this world. So I want to 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.

Only you can say. Seeing with joy now, our God is for us. The father's love is a strong and mighty fortress. Raise your voice now. No love is greater.

Who can stand against us if our God is for us. Even when I stumble, even when I fall, even when I turn back, still your love is sure. You will not abandon. You will not forsake. You will cheer me onward with

You know, everything that we're seeing in the nation of Israel these recent years and what we've seen with Israel since it became a nation again in 1948, all of that is just a preview of a final war to come. It really is. And we'll talk about that more in in the days to come in Revelation, but here's what Jesus says about today. In Luke four verse 17, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and he unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, the spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor full stop.

Not the day of a vengeance of our God. That's to come. But now since this time is the year of the Lord's favor, You can be saved today. You can know his love today. Oh, I would I wish that you would experience it.

I pray that that would be your portion. I'm gonna pray in a moment, but allow me to just let you know what's happening next. There's time of fellowship downstairs. There's food. I see a lot of new faces.

Welcome. I hope you can join us downstairs. I can let you know from now that there is great food, and more importantly, there's wonderful people that would love to know you more. Join us. Secondly, we have a minister here from Lebanon, pastor Shadi, who's visiting us.

He's in town. I've had the chance to meet him, for the first time. So, brother, thank you for your for your prayers and your encouragement. I've been deeply blessed, and I know that he's going to be serving and ministering to some of the brothers and sisters from The Middle East here, part of this congregation later this afternoon. Let's pray and thank God for his mercy.

Lord, we do thank you for the service, and we pray that what we've heard, what we've experienced would be carried with us throughout this week. We love you, Lord, because your word is our food, and you have fed us. Help us, Lord, share this good news, this life of bread to those who are starving. Give us divine appointments. Give us opportunities, and give us the courage to do so.

Lord, we acknowledge that you are in our midst, and we glorify you. In Jesus' name, we pray these things. Amen and amen. The Lord Jesus be with you. We'll see you next week.

God bless you now. Take care.