Things are Not as They Seem – Eternal Gospel

Things are Not as They Seem – Eternal Gospel

Scripture Reading

Revelation 14

This series follows the outline and material provided by Darrell Johnson in his book,

Discipleship on the Edge


You and I live in a world that isn’t comfortable with judgment.

For fear of being “judgmental,” it seems that we have stopped

judging.


We hear:Who are you to judge that Jesus’

way is better than Buddha’s way?

And then the idea that we will all be judged is dismissed as old

scare tactics.


Maybe it is because we breath this “anti-judgment air”

that chapter 14 may be difficult

to read and hear.


But in studying this passage this week

I came to discover that Chapter 14 contains

some really good news.


Before we get to that, let’s look at the structure

Chiastic structure

Greek letter Chi


Vision of the redeemed [14:1-5] - new song –

Three angels [14:6-13] - announcing –

The Son of Man reaping [14:14] Three angels [14:15-20]

- reaping what was announced –Vision of the redeemed [15:1-4]

- song of Moses and of the Lamb

Discipleship, p. 254







Next time we will look at the vision of the redeemed that bookends this scene.

Today we will focus on the message of the angels in the middle part.


“Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to

proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people.” v. 6

Angel – Real angels or symbol?Greek word can be translated

“angel” or “messenger”- Referring to the messenger

task of the church?


“Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to

proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people.” v. 6

N.B. “to every nation, tribe, language and people.”

Rev. 13:7:“And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and

nation.”


“Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim

to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people.” v. 6

Eternal Gospelv.7:

He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea

and the springs of water."


He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his

judgment has come. Worship him who

made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.” v. 7

Is this gospel? Good News?

Saved by grace, by what Jesus did on the cross.


He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his

judgment has come. Worship him who

made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.” v. 7

The angel is calling the people to respond to what God has already

done.


He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has

come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.” v. 7

Jesus before his death on the cross:“The hour has come for the Son of Man to

be glorified.” John 12:23

“And what shall I say, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I

came to this hour.” John 12:27

“Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world shall be cast out.”

John 12:31


The second Angel:

"Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the

maddening wine of her adulteries.” v. 8

Is this good news?


"Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,

which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.” v. 8

Babylon = code for - humanity living in rebellion against God - any city that rejected God - ancient Rome

Discipleship, p. 258


"Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,

which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.” v. 8

Yes, it is good news that God opposes the proud and stands against the forces of evil in the world.


The third angel:"If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the

forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his

wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is

no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone

who receives the mark of his name.” vv. 9-11


"If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink

of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the

presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.” 9-11

Good News?God honours our choices.Worshipping God -> Life

Worshipping Devil -> Death



of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the

presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.” 9-11

John 3:18:“Whoever believes in him is not

condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.”



of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of

the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or

for anyone who receives the mark of his name.” 9-11

The devil is going around the world deceiving, saying your choices don’t

matter.

The loving good news is that our choices make an eternal difference.

Choose God!


This is the message of the church until Jesus returns.

This is the message for which we may be killed.

Encouraged to persevere with these words:

"Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the

Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.” v. 13







This brings us to the key to the whole passage,

the Son of Man reaping.


“I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one

"like a son of man with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.

Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, "Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was

harvested.” vv.14-16


How do we understand the Jesus’ “reaping”?

Like the “Grim-Reaper”?

A harvest of judgment?or

A harvest of salvation?


There are two harvests:

Reaping the grain [14:14-16]and

Reaping the grapes [14:17-20


Why two harvests?

Joel 3:13:“Put in the sickle, for the

harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full; the vats

overflow, for their wickedness if great.”


Some see this as two different harvests:

The first where Jesus harvests what he has sown.

The second an angel harvests the unrepentant who have sown judgment for themselves – the

wine of God’s wrath.


Darrell Johnson and others see these 2 reapings as the same thing:

Salvation

“Never in the Bible is the image of “reaping” used for judgment. It is always used for gathering in what one wants to keep (see Mark 4:29;

John 4:35-38).” Discipleship, p. 263


2 NT scholars George Caird and F.F. Bruce point to 2 phases to support this

interpretation. Discipleship, p.264

“The vine of the earth” [14:18-19]- everywhere else in the Bible used for Israel.- Jer.2:21: “I had planted you like a choice vine of sound and reliable stock.”- Jer. 5:1: “I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.”- John 15: Jesus calling himself the true vine


“Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. Still another angel,

who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, "Take your sharp sickle and gather the

clusters of grapes from the earth's vine, because its grapes are ripe.” The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the

great winepress of God's wrath. They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and

blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.”

Rev. 17-20


“Outside the city” [14:20]

-Jesus crucified “outside the city”

-Matthew 21:38-39 "But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.


Hebrews 13:12:“And so Jesus also suffered outside

the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.”


This would make the winepress outside the city

the cross of Calvary.

This is where God’s anger against sin is expressed


This would make the blood

“They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses'

bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.” v.20

The blood of Jesusthat makes the harvest possible.


1600 stadia-The length of Palestine

= 4 x 4 x 10 x 104 = the number of humanity

10 = the number of completeness

“ Blood enough to cover the sins of all who repent.” Discipleship, p. 265


This is good news!

Let me end with three implications from this passage:

1. Decisions have consequences- Who are you going to worship

and serve determines an eternity of consequences


2. There is a remedy for wrong decisions.

“There is a ‘blood bath’ where wrong decisions can be forgiven and cleansed and where a new set of habits, leading to new

character and a new destiny, can be formed.” Discipleship, p. 265


3. Our role is to be the angels [messengers] that proclaim the

good news – the gospel.

That judgment is coming and that the blood of Jesus was shed

to take that punishment.


Movie “Without Reservation”

Car accident – group of young people killed

-Wait in line to check into heaven-Give their name at the desk and on

the computer screen pops up “reservation secured”

or “without reservation”


The kids in the line see this and they turn to the one they knew

was a Christian and said,

“You knew that we would be facing this,

and you did not tell us? What kind of friend are you?”

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Things are Not as They Seem – Eternal Gospel