Sermon - Revelation 14:14-15:8 - Harvest and the Third Woe - Littleby Baptist Church - November 14, 2021

1.     The time is drawing near…

a.      The 144,000 are with Jesus ready to do His will.

b.     Three angels proclaimed to the world:

                                                    i.     Last chance to repent and follow our Lord.

                                                  ii.     Babylon has fallen and has become a home for demons.

                                                iii.     Take the mark of the beast and you will be cast into the lake of fire with the one you follow.

c.      From this day forward, today, all who choose to follow Jesus need faith and endurance.

                                                    i.     Each one of us will face trials that can only be endured by trusting in the Creator of all things.

                                                  ii.     We need to pray that God guides our steps as we face challenges, but even more importantly as we share His Love and Message with others.

d.     Let’s see where the Word takes us today.

2.     Revelation 14:14

a.      One like the Son of Man, who was sitting on a cloud, wearing a golden crown.

                                                    i.     This crown was like one given to those who have been triumphant.

                                                  ii.     The Son of Man is our Lord Jesus waiting for His Father to tell Him the time has come for the harvest of His followers.

                                                iii.     He knows the time is close as He sits there with his sickle in His hand.

                                                iv.     He is anxiously waiting for harvest time.

3.     Revelation 14:15

a.      An angel, a messenger, comes out of the temple, comes from Father and tells the waiting Son to proceed with the harvest.

b.     The time to reap has come… the day and hour that no one can predict has come.

                                                    i.     The number of martyrs who are to die for their faith has been reached.

c.      The earth is ripe.

                                                    i.     Ready for the Lord’s will to be done.

4.     Revelation 14:16

a.      Jesus fulfills the Plan and reaps all who have followed Him and reached this point of the Great Tribulation.

b.     Christ harvests His faithful followers!

5.     Revelation 14:17-18

a.      Two more angels appear, and the one with authority over fire tells the other to reap the grape clusters as they too are ripe and ready for the harvest.

6.     We have two groups of people here.

a.      One is being harvested by Our Lord Jesus.

b.     And the other by an angel.

7.     Revelation 14:19

a.      Our Lord harvested His faithful followers.

b.     The angel is harvesting the others.

c.      Joel 3:13 - Judgement has come.

                                                    i.     The angel is harvesting those who will experience the wrath of God.

8.     Revelation 14:20

a.      A graphic picture of a great slaughter.

b.     An extreme picture showing how one sided this will be.

c.      A glimpse at the battle between our Lord with the 144,000 by His side and the antichrist and his followers.

d.     Outside the city, where unclean things were taken outside by the Levitical priests.

9.     Chapter 15 is where we transition from the high-level overview back to the timeline where the 7^th Trumpet has sounded, and judgement is coming.

a.      We are back in that time frame of when the kingdom of the world is becoming the kingdom of our Lord.

b.     These are events will take place before our Lord returns.

c.      Some of these events lead up to the Lord harvesting the Saints and the angel harvesting the wicked.

10.  Revelation 15:1 – The final woe is happening.

a.      John sees Seven more angels, with the Seven last plagues.

b.     These angels hold God’s Wrath.

c.      Which will be completed, the race will be finished.

                                                    i.     With these Seven Judgments, the Wrath of God will be complete as planned.

11.  Revelation 15:2

a.      A sea of glass that is before the Throne of God and those who are triumphant over the antichrist are standing there.

                                                    i.     Scripture is not clear if those who are victories are those who are martyred, those who survived until the end, or all of the above.

                                                  ii.     Whatever the composition of the group is, martyrs, survivors, or both…

1.     The important part is they have received Harps from God.

2.     Harps directly from God signify that they are Victorious.

3.     Whatever they endured, they are Victorious in Jesus.

12.  Revelation 15:3-4

a.      A song that likely was similar to something sung by the Israelites after God rescued them from the Egyptians, but also a song that praises the Son of God.

                                                    i.     A song that praises God for all that He has done, His faithfulness, justice, truth, glory, and holiness.

                                                  ii.     A song that says, ‘All the nations will come and worship before you because your righteous acts have been revealed.’

13.  Revelation 15:5

a.      The Triumphant Saints sing and the Heavenly Temple, the Tabernacle of Testimony, the Temple of God in Heaven… opens up.

b.     An amazing thing to hear and see.

14.  Revelation 15:6-7

a.      John is seeing one of the four living creatures hands the bowls of God’s wrath to each of the seven angels.

                                                    i.     Angels in pure bright linen signifies the purity of the angels as they are about to judge the fallen, those who have embraced the wickedness of the world.

                                                  ii.     They wore golden sashes pointing to how glorious our God is.

b.     Pure angels and a glorious God… but the wrath that is coming is nothing but pure devastation.

15.  Revelation 15:8

a.      A somber moment.

b.     Here is a Loving God bringing wrath on His creation.

c.      A loving God that has provided a path to Eternity.

d.     An Awesome God who has waited for 2,000 years, so far, hoping that people would choose His Son and be cleansed of their sins.

e.      A God that has done all He can to provide a path to redemption.

f.      A God that will bring judgment to those who have failed to repent.

g.     A Righteous and Holy God, that will bring His wrath when the time comes.

16.  A somber moment when a Loving and Righteous God, who wishes that none should perish, carries out the judgment as foretold.

a.      His smoke filled the Heavenly Temple.

b.     Almost as if He wanted to be alone as these events played out. 

17.  If you recall, we were expecting the Third Woe with the Seventh Trumpet and the verses in chapter 11 only gave us a brief summary.

a.      These Seven Bowls are that Third Woe.

18.  In chapter 14 we saw a high-level summary with the harvesting of the Saints and those who will be judged.

19.  And we have seen the transition back towards the timeline of events as the angels are given the bowls of wrath.

20.  As the wrath comes, there is no doubt that our Father is on His throne.

a.      His Holiness requires that judgment must come.

b.     BUT His Love has provided an opportunity for all to be saved.

21.  John 3:16-17

a.      Embrace God’s Love and sacrifice for you and be witnesses to those in your lives.