Word of Salvation – Vol. 46 No.13 – April 2001

 

The Lamb, Three Angels and Harvest

 

Sermon by Rev L Douma

on Revelation 14

Scripture Reading: Revelation 14

 

Beloved in the Lord.

When you are playing a serious game of football (like the grand final) or fighting a war (like peacekeepers in Timor), there is one thing you cannot afford to do: and that is to under-estimate your opposition.  A sure game can be lost because a certain dimension of the opposition was not seen.  Lives can be lost in battle because bad intelligence did not see the true extent of the resources and skill of the enemy.

Currently, our western world, especially, is making a grave mistake in not recognising a whole dimension of life and the extent and resources of that aspect of life.  I mean the spiritual side of life.  Ours is a world that in too many ways recognises only the material side of life, the technological side – that which we can see and touch, feel and hear.  There is little recognition of God.  Satan is an old myth.  And eternal existence after death is not really accepted – maybe heaven, but not hell.  That’s an old idea long gone.

So, people can advocate euthanasia as a way of finding peaceful oblivion from extreme pain.  There is no thought given to the fact that we may be sending someone to their eternal damnation.  We may not think about these things much anymore.  But John here in chapter 14 is very graphic about the horrors to come for those who do not believe in Christ.

In chapter 12 you will recall John revealed the spiritual dimensions behind the church’s suffering on earth, how Satan is continually attacking the church because she is God’s instrument to bring in the Kingdom of Heaven and thus Satan’s destruction.

In chapter 13 John showed the dragon (Satan) calling for the assistance of the beast from the sea and the beast from the earth who looked like a lamb.  We said the beast of the sea represented the governments over the ages, especially those who saw themselves as ‘godlike’ and persecuted the church.  The other beast we said represented the religions, ideologies, or world views – ways of thinking that did away with God.

The warning for us Christians was not to under-estimate the battle we are in or the enemy we are facing.  Our culture is not just a secular culture where religion has less and less of a place.  But we are in a spiritual battle, driven by Satan, using governments and philosophies to try and destroy the church.  It is a battle that is very hard.

John describes the “whole world worshipping the beast.”  He “calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints”, especially as faithfulness may lead to Christians not being able to “buy or sell” because they do not have the mark of the beast, or worse, they may be led to captivity and death (13:7-10).

But whenever John puts forward how tough things can get for the church, he immediately has an interlude, a response that is deeply encouraging.  Remember in chapter 6 how he described the end of the world, the collapse of the creation and all people crying out, “for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (6:17).  John immediately reassured his readers by speaking of the 144,000 – the complete number of God’s people – they are all saved and enjoy paradise with God.

We see the same thing happening after chapters 8 and 9, as John describes the trumpets and the horrible destruction on the earth by the locusts and the murderous horses and riders.  In chapter 10 we have the interlude showing the huge angel, feet planted on the land and sea, in control of everything, declaring that the judgment was coming without delay.

Now, here again, we have this pattern of a deeply encouraging response for God’s people.  In that sense chapters 13 and 14 go together.

It may seem in chapter 13 that Satan and the world have the upper hand – controlling the governments and the systems of thinking.  It seems that the church is slowly being squeezed out of much of life and squeezed to death.  But if the world thinks arrogantly that it has the battle won, then it has sadly forgotten the spiritual dimension and has grossly under-estimated its enemy – Christ.

John is given a vision that dramatically changes the view on things.  “Then I looked and (behold!) there before me was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion…” (14:1).  Mount Zion is the mount where Jerusalem was, and more specifically, the temple of God.  It symbolised God’s presence on earth.  It was the earthly centre of God’s power.  So the symbolism is saying that while it seems that the dragon and his two beasts are winning, the whole time the spiritual aspect reveals who is really in charge.

The scene reminds us again of Psalm 2.  “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?  The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One” (vss.1,2).  How does God respond to this rebellion?  How does He feel about Satan and the beasts persecuting and seducing Christ’s church?  Is there fear that they might succeed in diminishing the number of God’s people?

Note Psalm 2:4, “The One enthroned in heaven laughs, the Lord scoffs at them.”  What a joke.  Has the world so seriously under-estimated God, have they so believed their own press that there is no God, that they seriously think they can succeed against the Almighty?  What a tremendous vision for the church after the dreadful picture of the two beasts – “Behold the Lamb standing on Mount Zion”.  Psalm 2:5,6 says, “Then he rebuked them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath saying, ‘I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill…. you will rule them with an iron sceptre and you will dash them to pieces like pottery’.”

And in reassurance of God’s people being safe, John sees in his vision that with the Lamb are “…144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads” (vs.1).  The 144,000, we remember from chapter 7, symbolises the full number of God’s people – all the elect.  So John is saying that throughout the persecution of the church, Jesus is in fact still in charge and He ensures that not one of His people are lost.

John says that, after seeing Jesus and His church, he heard a magnificent sound from heaven.  It was so striking, he describes it three times, like “a roar of rushing waters… like a peal of thunder… like that of harpists playing their harps.”  It is the sound of thousands of voices singing.  It’s the 144,000 singing in praise of God.

“They sang a new song before the throne…” (vs.3).  Like so many new songs in the Scriptures, it’s a song of redemption, praising God for their salvation.  John says only the 144,000 could learn the song?  Why?  Because it’s the people of God, the church, that knows of God’s salvation.  They are the ones who have experienced God’s grace.  So they sing of what they know – that God is gracious, and Almighty, able to keep those who are His, no matter what.

Yes, they sing and worship because it is God who is worthy of all the praise.  John says that the 144,000 – God’s people – were faithful to God despite the persecution and seduction of the two beasts.  He says: “These are those who did not defile themselves with women because they kept themselves pure” (vs.4).  That sounds strange in our ears.  What does it imply about women?  Or about marriage and sexual relations?

It is best to understand the symbolism here in terms of the Old Testament picture of Israel.  When the nation followed other gods, Israel was described as being “unfaithful” to God, being an adulterous woman whoring after other gods.  John means that the 144,000 remained faithful in worshipping God.  They did not follow the ways of the world suggested by the beasts, like the current gods of power, wealth, science, technology.  They did not follow the lie of the beast that there is “no God”, as John says (vs.5), “No lie was found in their mouths: they are blameless.”

What was significant about the 144,000 was their obedience to Jesus, no matter the cost.  Like Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me.” John says, “…they follow the lamb wherever he goes” (vs.4).

But it is not as if the church is all safe and well because it was obedient to Jesus.  That belies the sin we struggle with every day – the numerous times we do follow the seductive ways of the world.  John notes that, “they were purchased from among men and offered as first fruits to God..!”  We also note that they are “sealed” on “their foreheads.”  In other words, God’s people will remain faithful because of God’s grace and work in their lives.  They were purchased by the blood of the “Lamb who was slain” and they are “sealed” by the Holy Spirit who guarantees their inheritance.

So, people of God, you will not fail to gain the victory because Jesus will hold on to you.  “Nothing can snatch you from His hand”.  We are simply to follow in trusting obedience.

To further support the church, John is given the vision of three angels.  They announce judgment which encourages God’s people.  Chapter 13 shows the church suffering under the hand of the two beasts.  But their suffering will be nothing in comparison to what will happen to those who follow and worship the beasts.  In verse 6 John says he saw an angel who had the “eternal gospel” to proclaim, “to every nation, tribe, language and people”.  In other words, it’s a message for the whole human race.  And what he says is, “Fear God and give him the glory, because the hour of his judgment has come.  Worship Him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

This does not sound much like “gospel”, or good news, but it is to the persecuted church.  Think again of the context.  The church suffers under the rulership of the two beasts.  The whole world admires the antichrist.  The Christians are not able to “buy or sell”, the church is pushed to the wall.  You wonder: where is God in all this?  Shall God allow this to go on?  Will He let His Name be trampled underfoot?  That depends on whether God lets go of His eternal claim – that He is God, and all creation, all creatures are to worship Him and Him alone.  If He does, the church has no hope.

If God lets go His claim of glory, then He will not crush this awful power and save His own people for His own Name and His own glory’s sake.  But that is not the case.  The angel makes clear God’s demand: “Fear God and give Him glory…”  That is the “eternal gospel”.  That God is sovereign; that God is supreme.  That is where the gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection fits in.

Jesus makes the way possible for people to come back to God and worship Him alone in all of life.  All the world is called to worship God, and if they do not come to Him through Jesus, then God will judge those who refuse.  It is for the sake of His own glory that God will come and save His own and destroy those who would destroy His people and blaspheme His Name.  This is the good news.

The second angel announces the judgment on those who refuse to worship God and he does so in the past (prophetic) tense, as if it’s already happened: “Fallen!  Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries” (vs 8).  This is the first mention of “Babylon” (with a lot more to be said about her in chapters 17 and 18).  It is a one word description, a picture, of the two beasts.

Babylon stands for the world system which is in rebellion against God.  Babylon reminds us of the tower of Babel (another name for Babylon) where the people came together to build a great city and tower and a world power without God.  As Jerusalem stands for God’s presence and God’s people, Babylon stands for all that is against God.  It stands for human pride and arrogance that wants to do without humble obedience and dependence on God.

The angel says that the spirit of Babylon has infected all nations and makes them incapable of heeding the demand of the first angel – to glorify God.  She has made them “drink the maddening wine of her adulteries”.  That shows her dreadful influence, but it also points to God’s judgment, as the third angel shows us.

Now we said that chapter 14 responds to chapter 13.  We see it here again as we see the last angel pronouncing the final judgment.  In chapter 13 it was decreed that those who would not worship the image made by the beast would be killed and those without the mark of the beast would not be able to buy or sell.  But now the third angel declares a much worse fate for those who do worship the beast and have his mark.  They are to drink the wrath of God and go through eternal suffering in fire and brimstone (note vss.9&10).

Again, Revelation follows Old Testament images.  The wrath of God in the Old Testament was often pictured as a cup of wine.  Those who drink it (as Jeremiah says) “shall drink and stagger… be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more.”  Now John makes clear that God’s wrath is passionate and vehement – it’s full bore.  He says “the wine of God’s fury has been poured full strength”.  The wine is prepared “unmixed”.

It was the practice in John’s day to mix water with wine, to dilute it.  Sometimes spices were mixed with it as well.  But this cup of wrath is ‘unmixed’.  At the day of judgment, no longer will the ‘common grace’ of God be shared over all.  As Jesus said (in Matthew 5), “He causes his sun to shine on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous.”  No, the third angel declares “the wine of God’s strength has been poured full strength.”

We get the feel for this when we see in verses 17 onwards the angel called to take the sickle and gather the grapes for “the great winepress of Gods wrath” (vs.19).  This picture of the harvest is symbolic of the final judgment.  We see that the grapes are trampled in the winepress and “blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horse bridle for a distance of 1600 stadia” (i.e. 300 kilometres) – an absolute “bloodbath”.  All of Israel flooded over in blood about 1.5 metres high.

This is deeply disturbing imagery.  The wrath of God, “poured out full strength”.  A suffering “with burning sulphur… forever and ever.  There is no rest, day or night for those who worship the beast…!”

Today it is no longer fashionable to speak of hell and suffering eternally.  It is denied as nonsense and too many Christians deny it in practice.  If we really acted on this teaching we would be unstoppable in our evangelism as our hearts go out to those around us going to hell.

But John here pulls no punches.  The full wrath of God comes to those who will not believe and glorify God.  The intention of the proclamation is to startle everybody into the realisation of the eternal consequences of denying Jesus and going along with the world.  And if we think it’s too severe a judgment, consider this: John tells us that the torment of the unbeliever is “in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb” (vs.10).

Jesus, who Himself suffered the full torment of hell as He bore the sin of His people, observes the judgment and in doing so proclaims this is fair and right and just.  In fact, Jesus Himself brings the judgment.  We see that in verses 14-16, where “one like the son of man” on a “white cloud” taking His sickle and brings in the harvest.  It is so essential that in this life we make the most important decision of all – to repent and come to the Christ.

For if we deny Him, and continue in the way of the world – drink the cup of Babylon – then He will deny us, and we will get what we want – life eternally without God.  But what a horrible, dreadful existence that will be.  The biggest seduction in the world today is humanism saying with our science, technology, money we can now do without God; there is no God.  But assuming there is no spiritual side to life, that there is no God, is a gross under-estimation of the Lamb who will bring His judgment.  And His peace and hope to those who remain faithful.

It is not easy to remain faithful.  John calls for “patient endurance” (vs.12).  But it is easier to endure when we know the victory is the Lord’s; and when we know the promise that, even if we die for the sake of the gospel, we are blessed.

Our eternal glory cannot be taken from us.  The Spirit promises “they will rest from their labours, for their deeds will follow them.”  It is purely by grace that we are saved, through Christ.  And what we do for Jesus, as we live all of life for Him, will be rewarded in eternal life.

To God be the glory for His power and grace.

Amen.