John shows us more of what is to come on the earth for those who reject the gospel of Jesus Christ. In this case the gospel is proclaimed by angels.
Revelation 14: The Lamb and the 144,000
1 Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.
2 And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps,
3 and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
4 It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb,
5 and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.
The Messages of the Three Angels
6 Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people.
7 And he said with a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water."
8 Another angel, a second, followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality."
9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand,
10 he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name."
12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.
13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Blessed indeed," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labours, for their deeds follow them!"
The Harvest of the Earth
14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand.
15 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."
16 So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped.
17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.
18 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."
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.
20 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.
Revelation 15: The Seven Angels with Seven Plagues
1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.
2 And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire---and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands.
3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!
4 Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed."
5 After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened,
6 and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes around their chests.
7 And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever,
8 and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.
Things to think about…
1. The Lamb stands on Mt Zion with the 144, 000. Christ will return and these will see Him first. There is no reason to think that the 144 000 in Rev 14:1-5 are not the same ones referred to in Rev 7:1-8 who were redeemed from the twelve tribes of Israel. Only here it also describes them as virgins and the first-fruits that follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These men want to emulate Christ in everything. They sing a new song, vs 3 like Moses wrote and sang a song of redemption, Dt 32:1-43, this is also a song of redemption. They are also referred to as blameless. Elders are to have this characteristic 1Tim 3:1. A very challenging thought for me. But we are all called to follow Christ and be blameless in our walk.
2. It seems the church is about to be taken out of the picture from Rev 14:6 onwards, this seems to happen at vs 14 with the harvest. Angels here are proclaiming the gospel, Rev 14:6ff and there is judgement on the earth for those who have received the mark of the beast and who worship the beast and its image, Rev 14:7-11. Christians it seems will however go through this time of tribulation, vs 12. Some will get converted during this period of tribulation – they are called ‘blessed’, vs 13 and now may rest. Eternal torment and judgement are clearly taught in scripture. How can anyone misinterpret Rev 14:10, 11 which say “he will be tormented with fire and sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night”. This description is enough for anyone to make them turn from sin and follow Christ. Hell and judgement need to be preached from pulpits. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, Prov 9:10.
3. The church in every generation has known persecution. Certainly the 20th C to the present has seen the most intense persecution against Christians. I see in our generation a need for such persecution. Our Lord is returning for a spotless bride, at the moment she has amnesia and does not know who she is. It seems holiness is an option in the modern church and that grace covers a godless lifestyle. This grieves the Spirit when one continues to sin against knowledge. Rev 14:13 says “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on”. We see people suffering during this period of tribulation, because they follow after the Lamb. “All those who live godly will suffer persecution”, 2Tim 3:12, but sadly the church in the west knows very little of this, although it seems the tide may be turning in that regard with the rise of antisemitism and a turning away from biblical authority.
4. The harvest will come. I believe Rev 14:14-16 is a picture of the rapture. Jesus says that the angels are the harvesters and here very powerful angels are given the authority to harvest the earth, Mt 13:39. The context in Rev 17-20 however is judgement, just as Jesus alluded to in Matt 24:36-51; Luke 17:28-37.
5. We know this will be a horrible time in Israel and especially Jerusalem. Judgement on the city, referred to as Zion, Rev 14:1 John tells us “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”, vs 20. This judgement on the Jewish nation is greater than anything we have seen or heard about in the past including the Holocaust of WW2. Jesus said, “there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be”, Mark 13:19. Many will turn to Christ, but many will be lost. Horrific!
6. Rev 15 completes the wrath of God to come upon the earth – 7 angels with 7 plagues. These are about to be poured out upon the earth in the form of seven bowls in Rev 16. As I have said earlier I believe these visions of judgement are all linked within the book of Revelation and are in many ways running concurrently with the other passages outlining the seals and trumpets. Although the judgments of the seven bowls in Rev 16 seem to form a separate final pouring out of God’s wrath where the church has been removed.
7. This scene sets up the future picture of the Millennial kingdom, “All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed”, Rev 15:4. Rev 15:5 says “tent of witness in heaven was opened”. The tent of meeting in the wilderness was where Moses would meet with the Lord and speak with Him as it were face to face. Just as people could not enter or see the face of Moses for a period because of the glory that shine from his encounter with the Lord, so too here it says “no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished”, vs 8. Just as Mt Sinai was a place of judgement with the presence of the Lord so here we see a purging of the earth with the final judgment of God before He returns with his saints.
8. When reading all of these pictures of judgement we need to remind ourselves that the NT God is the same as the OT God. Our God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He does not change. Jesus is certainly a Person of grace, love, and mercy, but we must never think that this divorces Him from being the God of wrath and judgement against sin and Satan. This NT picture of the final judgement of Christ is an important part of our message that we need to take into this world as those who desire to share the glory of Christ with others in the next.
Vision statement for CBC
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Life groups Wednesdays. 6:30pm every Wednesday. 5:30pm prayer.
Prayer Points
1. Those being baptised on the 3rd Nov.
2. A new admin and finance officer for CBC. Pray for God’s choosing in this role.
3. Pray for the US as they enter into the finl week of the election.
4. Prayer for Israel, Gaza and Lebanon for peace to descend over the region.
5. Pray for Tuesday night that it would be a time of healing and hope
6. Pray for the work we have going on with site development and TMR and the development of a project team.
7. Keep praying for PlayPatch on Fridays, pray for more families to be reached.
8. Pray for Chaplaincy and Kids Hope at Karalee State School.
9. The ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
10. Church finances to continue to grow and expenses to be more than met.
11. Pray for Kids@Church, Life groups. Young Adults.
12. Mathys has a prayer time at church on Wednesday afternoons, 5:30pm at church. He would be happy for you to join him and to send prayer requests.
13. Pray about the possibility and planning of a Farmers Market at Chuwar Baptist Church once a month on Saturdays. Anastasia taking the lead on this. Pray for us as we plan
14. That we be bold in our witnessing for Christ. Pray for a heart to see those around you to be saved. Pray for the blessing over the new pastoral care and hosting program.
15. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to increase.
Praise Points
1. More new visitors on Sunday. Pray they feel welcomed in the church
2. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
Announcements
1. Baptisms on Sunday morning 3rd Nov – 9:30am
2. Members meeting – AGM - 24th Nov after the service
3. PlayPatch Friday mornings – 9:30am. Contact Anna for details
4. Prayer meeting 5:30pm and Life Group Wednesday 6:30pm at church.
5. Carols Sunday 22nd Dec starting from 3pm.
6. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
7. Tune in again this week on our YouTube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
Catechism questions for October...
Q. 25. Why did they eat the forbidden fruit? A. Because they did not believe what God had said.
Bible References – Gen.3:1-6; Heb.11:6.
“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known” Jer 33:3
