Has anybody been to a high school cross-country meet before?
It's a lot of fun.
What happens is you go and you're there to support a runner or a team of runners,
and they're running this 3.1-mile kind of course,
and what you do is you go to different points on the course,
and you get ahead of the runners, and you see them coming,
and you're like, you run, run, run, keep up, keep up, don't stop,
don't freak out, keep going, press on,
and then they run by you, and then you go to the next point,
and you see them coming, and you're like, don't stop, run, run, run,
persevere, endure, do it, do it, do it,
and then you run to the end where the final push is going on,
and that's usually the hardest point of the journey,
tribulation, things get intense,
and you say, keep going, don't stop, press on,
Sunday after Sunday, the book of Revelation is cheering us faithful saints on.
It's saying, keep going, stay focused on Jesus.
Even when things get hard, press on, don't give up, Sunday after Sunday.
Revelation is an ongoing encouragement for Christians who are suffering.
Keep going on, but the passage that we're looking at this morning,
Revelation 14, 14 through 20,
it's not only encouragement to suffering saints,
it's a wake-up call.
Bling, bling, bling.
Bling, bling.
Hello?
Good morning, this is Comfort in Sweets.
This is your 5.30 a.m. wake-up call, Mr. Salvati.
Thank you.
Click.
If you've ever received one of those wake-up calls before,
your next two questions are this.
Where am I?
And what am I doing here?
Revelation 14, 14 through 20,
is going to be a wake-up call for many of us
in which we need to ask the question,
where am I and what am I doing here?
You see, this passage that we're looking at this morning,
this passage is all about the return of Jesus Christ
and the great and final harvest of souls that He brings with Him.
It's an encouragement for those who are suffering,
and it's a wake-up call for those who have fallen asleep.
It's good news for everybody,
because we wouldn't want you to be asleep when Jesus comes,
now wouldn't we?
So here's how we're going to proceed.
We're going to ask four questions of this passage,
and we're going to then answer them.
Question number one,
who is this one coming on a cloud,
because that's quite a ride?
Question two,
what will happen when this one riding on a cloud gets here?
Question three,
what is God's wrath,
and why is it so awful,
and is it fair?
Question four,
how do we respond to this,
this vision of Jesus coming
and bringing with Him
full and final judgment of all?
Like I said,
for Christians suffering on account of Jesus,
the coming of Jesus,
and the coming harvest,
that's good news.
But if you've been lulled to sleep by the world,
this is a wake-up call,
and that's good news too.
So let's look at verse 14.
We're going to do a close-up.
Imagine the camera closing,
kind of bringing,
focusing in on verse 14 of chapter 14.
And we read this,
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.
Who is this one coming on a cloud?
One like a son of man.
And when you read,
one like a son of man,
don't think comparison,
like,
think title.
Son of man.
It's a title.
It's a messianic title.
It's Christ's title.
It's the title of a king.
It was Jesus' favorite title of himself
all throughout the days he walked on earth
and all throughout the Gospels.
Remember this,
Mark 10, 45?
Talking of himself.
The son of man
came not to be served,
but to serve,
and to give his life
as a ransom for many.
He came to give his life
as an offering
to fully satisfy God's wrath for sinners.
Behind this title,
son of man,
is Daniel chapter 7,
verses 13 through 14.
And here's what's going on in that passage.
One like a son of man
goes to the ancient of days on a cloud.
And the ancient of days
then gives this one,
like a son of man,
all authority
over all peoples,
all nations,
all languages,
an everlasting dominion
to create a kingdom
that will never be destroyed.
The son of man
is a title of a king.
God's king.
And what we see here
is the king
coming back to earth.
And did you notice
he's wearing a gold crown?
That's no ordinary crown.
That's the crown of a victor.
If your name is Stephen,
you're named after this crown.
It's a victor's crown.
What it means is
this king coming on this cloud
is victorious.
And we already learn
from chapter 12
that he's conquered
through his death and resurrection.
He threw down
the ancient devil,
the serpent of old,
the dragon.
And now he's coming back
to complete what he started.
And did you notice his ride?
He's coming on a cloud.
Again, it's a reference
to Daniel chapter 7.
If you started,
if we read through
the book of Revelation
in one sitting,
if we read it here
this morning,
we would have started
in Revelation 1
and in verse 7,
John says about Jesus,
he is one
who is coming
on the clouds.
And so,
if we were to read
what we're reading now
in light of 1.7,
we'd be like,
oh,
that's the guy.
Jesus.
Acts chapter 1,
Jesus,
after his death,
after his resurrection,
after he does
his great commission,
he tells his disciples
that they're going to be
his witnesses to Judea
in Jerusalem,
Judea,
Samaria,
and to the ends
of the age.
After he gets done
doing that,
he ascends into heaven
on a cloud.
His disciples are like,
what?
Two angels show up
and they say in 1.11,
men of Galilee,
why do you stand
looking into heaven?
This Jesus
who was taken up
from you into heaven
will come in the same way
you saw him go into heaven
on a cloud
coming back.
The king.
Let's put this in perspective.
Let's just say
you're throwing
a final four party
at your house.
People start coming.
They're showing up
in their rides.
Subaru pulls up,
hey, come on in.
Ford, yeah, hey, buddy,
come on in.
Toyota, nice car,
come on in.
And then someone
shows up on a cloud.
They drop in on a cloud.
You're going to be thinking,
you're not from around here,
are you?
Jesus is set apart.
He's riding on a cloud.
He's coming from heaven.
We're getting a close up.
John's giving us
a close up
of the returning Christ.
And did you notice
he's seated?
It's the position
of a judge.
Judges at this time,
even today,
they do their judging
in a seated position.
And did you notice
the sickle in his hand?
It's a curved,
crescent-shaped blade
attached to a handle
that's used for harvesting.
thing.
The victorious king
who's going to judge
riding on this ride
is coming back
to harvest.
It's a picture of judgment.
So in Revelation 14, 14,
we are given this close up
of the returning king,
Jesus,
ready to harvest
the earth.
But let's pan out
for a second
because you've got
to see something.
Remember in Revelation 4,
14, 1 through 5
last week,
I pointed out
that in this section,
we see
the 144,000,
those with the name
of the lamb
on their foreheads
gathered around the lamb,
they're worshiping him.
We have a picture
of the redeemed
worshiping the lamb.
Now if you flip over
to chapter 15,
verses 2 through 4,
what you see is
people mingled around
worshiping with harps,
God,
and they're singing
the song of Moses
and the song of the lamb.
So on either side
of this passage,
Jesus,
the son of man coming,
you have
the redeemed singing
of the lamb.
Now if you move
in one step
in verses,
chapter 14,
verses 6 through 11,
you have three angels
announcing judgment.
If you look at
chapter 14,
15 through 20,
you have three angels
enacting judgment.
So what you have is this,
you have the redeemed
singing the praises
of the lamb,
and then you have
three angels,
six angels,
announcing,
declaring,
enacting judgment.
And in the middle
of them
is the son of man.
It draws your gaze
to him.
Have you ever been
on 75th street
and you're driving
by the Goodwill
building by Hillcrest?
Do you know
what I'm talking about?
And you're driving
by and you're looking,
what is up with
that wonky roof
on there?
It's like this
inverted roof.
And so the eaves
of the roof,
the roof line,
it draws your attention
to the center,
which brings your eye
down to that column,
which is the entrance
of the building.
The structure of that
draws your attention
to the entrance
of Goodwill.
The structure of this passage
draws your attention
to the son of man
coming,
who's going to judge all
and he's in the middle
of those being judged
and those who are
singing his praises.
He's coming.
And he's bringing
judgment with him.
But I gotta bring you
out one more.
Let's pan out one more.
Because there's a reason
why God through John
is reminding us
that Jesus is coming
as the returning king
to judge everyone.
Remember chapter 12
and 13?
The anti-trinity,
the dragon,
thrown down,
ticked off,
declares war
and wages war
on the saints
in chapter 13
through the beast
and the false prophet,
power,
propaganda,
seeking to mislead
the nations
and to cause conflict
and hardship
for God's saints.
Do you remember that?
And then here,
well let me,
chapter 13 verse 14,
we have those
following the beast,
they're singing his praises,
they're boasting in him,
they're saying,
who is like the beast?
Who can fight against him?
Chapter 14 answers that.
Who is like the beast?
The son of man?
Coming on a ride
of a cloud?
He's not on earth,
he's coming from heaven?
And when he comes,
he's bringing judgment?
The first time
the son of man came,
he threw the dragon down
through his death
and resurrection.
The second time
the son of man comes,
he's going to throw
the dragon
into the lake of fire?
He's going to throw
the dragon
if you read chapter 12
and 13
and you start getting scared,
chapter 14 is like,
hey,
he's coming.
Your king is coming.
The hero
of all time
is coming.
And he's going to make
all wrongs
right.
So if you are
reading this
in the first century
and you're feeling
the pinch
of publicly identifying
yourself with Jesus,
you're catching heat
for it,
this is a well-timed vision
to put courage
in your heart.
He's coming
and when he comes,
he will vindicate you
in his judgment.
But it's also
a bit of a wake-up call
because many of us
can get lulled
into the sleep
of thinking
that there's
no judgment coming,
that it's just
one day
after the other
of comfort
and pleasure,
nothing to worry about.
He's coming.
Bling, bling, bling.
It's a wake-up call.
What will happen
when he comes?
Jesus is coming.
What will happen
when he comes?
We find that
in verses 15 through 20.
And what we see here
is that the entire
population of the earth
that is on this planet,
when Jesus comes back,
they will be harvested
with two separate harvests,
with two different reapers,
two different crops,
two different destinations.
Christians.
Now, not all
Christian scholars
agree on the nature
of these harvests.
Some Christians think
that this is just
one harvest,
a judgment
of putting people
into the winepress
of God's wrath.
Others, like myself,
believe there's
two different harvests
going on,
and I'm going to make
that case for you
right now.
In verses 15 and 16,
we see the first harvest.
In verses 17 through 20,
we see the second harvest.
I want to help you
see the difference
in terms of the reaper,
the crop,
and the destination.
In verses,
in verse 15,
you can't help but see,
verse 16, excuse me,
that the reaper
is the son of man.
Jesus.
There's this angel
that tells him
to put in his sickle
to reap,
for the hour to reap
has come.
So he,
the son of man
who sat on the cloud,
swung his sickle
across the earth,
and the earth
was reaped.
Now, if you look
at verse 17,
then another angel
came out of the temple
in heaven,
and he too had
a sharp sickle.
Verse 18,
another angel
comes out and tells him
to put in your sickle.
Verse 19,
so the angel
swung his sickle
across the earth
and gathered
the grape harvest.
We've got two different
reapers,
two different harvests.
We've got two
different crops.
Did you notice
in verse 15,
we read this,
the angel telling
the son of man,
put in your sickle
and reap,
for the hour to reap
has come,
for the harvest
of the earth
is fully ripe.
You see those words
fully ripe?
The Greek word
underneath that
literally means
to ripen
until dry
in the ear.
Speaking of a grain
harvest,
of wheat.
And if you flip
down to chapter 18,
we read this angel
from the altar
is telling this other
angel with the sickle,
put in your sickle
and gather the clusters
from the vine of the earth,
for its grapes
are ripe.
That Greek word
for ripe
actually occurs
only here in the New Testament
and what it means
is to come
to its full prime.
Let's like plump
and ripe.
It's the very opposite
of being dried
in the ear.
Two different crops.
We've got grain,
we've got grapes.
The grain represents
those who belong
to the lamb.
the grapes represents
those who have
spurned the lamb.
Destination.
In verses 15 and 16,
you don't read anything
about where this
grain harvest goes.
But it's already
been referenced.
Look at 1414.
those who are singing
around the lamb,
they are the
first fruits
of God
and the lamb.
They are the initial
harvest
of God,
of the lamb.
They are the ones
in heaven
singing to the lamb.
The second harvest,
we read of their destination.
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
with the winepress
as high as
a horse's bridle.
That's what goes
around a horse's head.
Five,
six feet
for a 1600 stadia.
that's 184 miles.
Lake Michigan
is about
118 miles wide.
Gives you a sense
of volume.
The final destination
for those
of the grape harvest
is the winepress
of the wrath
of God.
What will happen
when the Son of Man
comes?
He's going
to harvest
the earth.
He is going
to sweep
His sickle
across the earth
and gather
unto Himself
all those
who've called
upon His name.
All those
written in the
Lamb's book of life
before the foundation
of the world.
All those
who've endured
to the very end
for the glory
of His name.
That's who
He's reaping.
They're the ones
that are singing
around the throne
of the Lamb.
The Lamb
and the second
harvest
the harvest
of grapes
are all those
who opposed
the Lamb.
All those
who follow
after the beast.
All those
who are giving
allegiance to
something
anything but
the Lamb.
Even themselves.
Two harvests
two judgments
two reapers
two crops
two destinations.
what will happen
when the Son
of Man comes?
The earth
will be judged.
When you
start seeing
God's wrath
show up
what does that
do to you?
I'm going to
come back to that
in a second.
but let me
just make
two points
in application
of this
harvest.
Jesus
coming
and harvesting
His own
is good news
for suffering
saints.
It's good news
because
A.
it tells you
Jesus
is coming.
Second
He knows
His own.
He's coming
for us.
And what
this also
does for us
it helps
us to remember
that vengeance
belongs
to the
Lord.
He will
carry out
His justice
on His
time.
We can
trust Him
for that.
If you're
catching hate
for being a
follower of
Jesus and
you want
to fight
back
and trust
it to the
Lord.
He's coming.
He's coming
for His
saints.
It's good news
for suffering
saints
and it's a
wake up call
for those
who are
maybe adrift
maybe asleep
you're hitting
the snooze
button
you don't
really care
about Jesus
you may
profess
Jesus
but what
you're
practicing
is opposed
to Jesus
this is
your wake
up call.
Judgment
is coming.
this corresponds
with Jesus
teaching in
Matthew 13
of the
parable of
the wheat
in the weeds.
He explains
that parable
in verses
36 and
forward and
what he says
is at the
end of the
age there
will be a
great harvest
that separates
the sons of
the kingdom
from the
sons of
the evil
one and
that is
exactly what
we're seeing
here in
chapter 14.
the sons of
the kingdom
are the
grain harvest
and the
sons of
the evil
one are
the grape
harvest.
It really
does beg the
question
if Jesus
were to come
back this
afternoon
what harvest
would you be
gathered in?
Would you be
gathered in the
grain harvest
or would you
be gathered in
the grape
harvest?
The difference
is Jesus.
Do you
belong to
him?
Has his
blood covered
you and
satisfied God's
wrath?
Have you
decided to
follow Jesus?
If you
have grain
harvest, if
you haven't
grape harvest,
you're destined
for the wine
press of God's
wrath.
But I have
some good news
for you.
God's
wrath.
But in
order to get
there, I
got to answer
a really
difficult
question.
What is
God's wrath?
And why is
it so awful?
Why does it
not seem
fair?
Why would
God send
and punish
with everlasting
torment an
image bearer
of his?
Why would
he do
that?
That doesn't
sound loving,
does it?
When you
think about
the wrath of
God, when you
hear about
people having
to drink down
to the dregs of
the wrath of
God's wine,
when you hear
about the
fire in the
sulfur that
will torment
people for
everlasting
days without
remission,
when you
hear the
winepress of
God's wrath,
where do
you go?
Where do
you go?
J.I.
Packer in
his book
Knowing God,
chapter 15,
the wrath
of God.
He defines
God's wrath
as this.
His,
God's right
and necessary
reaction to
objective moral
evil.
God's right
and necessary
reaction to
objective moral
evil, and
objective moral
evil would
include idolatry,
living for
anything but
God.
God's wrath
is a
judicial
response
to evil,
because God
is a just
God.
His wrath
is an
outworking
of his
justice,
and God's
justice
is an
outworking
of his
moral
goodness.
God is
good in
all that
he does.
His ways
are good
and righteous
always.
So when you
walk in his
ways, you
experience his
goodness.
But when you
cross God,
you cross
his goodness,
you cross
his justice,
you provoke
his wrath.
And so in
order for God
to remain
morally good,
he must,
as an
exercise of
justice,
pour out
his wrath.
God
for God
not to
do that,
he would
cease to
be God.
We can't
make the
mistake of
our culture.
I'm convinced
this is
propaganda of
the false
prophet.
To think
that you can
pick and
choose the
attributes of
God that
you want
to fit
your lifestyle.
God says,
no,
I am
holy,
I am
just,
I am
good,
and I
am watching
all that
you are
doing.
The image
of a
wine press
is of
this
stoned
in pit
that has
channels
dug out
in the
bottom of
it.
And so
after a
grape harvest,
you put the
clusters of
grapes into
this stone
lined vat,
and then
you have
people trod
the grapes.
Their weight
pressing down
on the grapes
squeezes out
the juice.
The juice
falls to the
bottom of
the wine
press and
then travels
through those
little channels
out to the
bottom of
the wine
press where
there is
some kind
of hole
or spout,
and it
fills a
bucket,
wine skins,
and from
there you
make wine.
It's a
violent
picture.
And the
reason why
it's used
is because
the juice
that's
produced
looks a
lot like
blood.
It is
violent and
it is
gruesome.
And if
that weren't
enough,
if you read
ahead in
your Bible
to Revelation
19.15,
what you
read is
that the
returning
Christ is
the very
one who
is trotting
on the
fury of
the wrath
of the
wine
press of
God.
Jesus is
the executor
of God's
wrath.
what's
up with
this?
Does the
punishment
fit the
crime?
Why is
this so
awful?
Why is
it so
extreme?
Well,
instead of
trying to
say,
well,
there's
something
wrong with
the
understanding
of God,
how about
we take
this line?
There's
something
wrong with
our
understanding
of our
sin.
We
fail to
recognize
the
seriousness
of our
offense
against
God.
And as
we gather
the
seriousness
of our
sin
against
a
perfect,
matchless,
priceless
God,
we're going
to begin
to understand
that this
punishment
fits the
crime of
rejecting
him.
This past
week,
Jenny and I
brought our
younger son,
Mark,
to New York
City.
And we did
it as a way
to honor
Mark's
grandparents,
who would have
took him,
but they
died.
And so we
brought him
in to honor
them.
We flew
in on
Monday,
and on
that first
day,
we made
a beeline
to the
Museum of
Modern Art.
And we
cruised up
to level
five,
and on
level five
are all
these
different
masterpieces.
This,
on level
five,
is where
Van Gogh's
Starry Night
is.
Beautiful.
But that's
not,
that's not
the work of
art that
stole the
show from
me.
The work
of art
that stole
the show,
you can put
it up there,
was this
piece.
This is
a Monet,
water
lilies.
And if
you've been
to Chicago
and seen
the water
lilies in
Chicago,
Monet's
work,
there's
these little
paintings.
And what
this is,
is this
panoramic,
there are
these like
three,
four by
eight drywall
sized panels
that are put
end to end
together,
and so you
stand in front
of it,
and it is
overwhelming.
It's
beautiful.
Monet's
use of
color is
lovely.
Recently,
there was a
Monet sold
in 2016,
it was a
fraction of
the size
of this
for 81
million dollars.
So I'm
guessing that
this Monet
on level
five of
the Museum
of Modern
Art in
New York
City is
going for
200,
250
million dollars,
a quarter
of a billion
dollars.
Unique,
one-of-a-kind,
unmatched
worth.
Could you
imagine this?
Yours truly.
I sneak a
hot dog from
a street
vendor into
the Museum
of Modern
Art.
I'm walking
on level
five.
I stand
in front
of this
Monet,
and I'm
like,
yeah,
this is
pretty cool.
I'm a
little hungry
though.
Pull out
my hot dog,
pull out
my ketchup
packet,
and start
to try to
open my
ketchup
packet.
It's
not opening.
So I
put my
hot dog in
my armpit
to keep
it warm,
and then
I start
working the
ketchup packet
to see if I
can open it,
and I realize
the only way
that this is
going to
open,
if I squeeze
the bottom
real hard.
I squeeze
the bottom
real hard
while I'm
standing in
front of
the Monet,
and what
happens?
Ketchup
all over
the Monet!
Could you
imagine that?
I can
imagine that!
The gallery
goes aghast.
Woo!
I pull
out,
I got it
with me,
I pull
out my
cheapo
vendor
napkin,
and I'm
like,
it's just
ketchup!
It's no
big deal!
And I
just make
it worse,
don't I?
The museum
curator runs
out,
what are
you doing?
It's just
ketchup!
It's a
five-cent
ketchup
pack!
And
she says,
you have
no idea.
You have
no idea
what you've
done to
that Monet.
That's a
quarter of
a billion
dollars,
and you
defaced it
with your
five-cent
ketchup
pack!
God is
so much
more valuable
than a
Monet that
was worth
a quarter
of a billion
dollars.
God is
one of a
kind,
matchless
in his
value,
unsurpassed
sin is
worth,
priceless
in his
manifold
attributes
of
perfection
and
holiness.
And what
we do
is we
pop our
little
ketchup
packets
of sin
and deface
and defame
his
character.
And we
say,
it's just
ketchup!
It's just
a little
sin!
Having
no idea
of the
matchless
worth
and glory
of the
one
true
God.
And in
his
economy
of
things,
just
one
little
sin
packet
is
eternally
treasonous
in his
sight.
That's how
glorious
he is.
we fail
to recognize
the
seriousness
of our
offense
to God.
But when
we start
to recognize
and we
start to
understand
God's
glorious
unmatched
worth,
all of
who he
is in
his
holiness,
his
perfections,
his moral
glory,
he does
nothing wrong.
He's always
right,
always
just.
When we
start to
recognize
that and
then we
start to
see our
sin in
light of
that,
now you're
starting to
feel the
weight of
sin from
God's
perspective.
When we
sin against
God,
it is
always
a capital
offense.
For the
wages of
sin is
death.
When we
sin against
a holy
eternal
God,
there is
always a
holy
eternal
consequence
for that
sin.
If you
are
unwilling
to
forsake
your
sin
to
follow
Jesus,
you
are
forsaking
Jesus
in order
to follow
after your
sin.
Did you
follow that?
If you're
unwilling to
forsake your
sin to
follow Jesus,
you are
forsaking
Jesus to
follow after
your sin.
You are
saying,
my sin
is worth
more to
me than
your glory,
Lord Jesus.
slap.
It's an
offense.
sacrifice.
And one
of the
things that
you become
clear of
as you
work your
way to
the book
of
Revelation
is that
as God
discloses
his wrath
and he
does that
gradually,
incrementally,
starting with
the seals
and one
quarter of
the earth,
then the
trumpets
and into
one third
of the
earth,
and then
eventually
the bulls,
which will
hit in a
couple weeks,
all the
earth,
he pours
his wrath
out on.
Every time
he pours
his wrath
out,
you think
people are
going to
repent,
but they
don't.
You see
it in
Revelation
9,
verses 20
through 21,
the six
trumpets,
the people
will not
repent.
The fourth
bull,
16,
9,
scorching
with heat,
the people
curse God,
and do
not repent.
The fifth
bull,
16,
10,
11,
it's
poured out,
the people
curse God
and do
not repent.
The seventh
bull,
poured out,
thrown down,
the people
don't like it
and they
reject God,
they do not
repent.
According to the
book of Revelation,
everyone who
will be thrown
into the wine
press of God's
wrath and
crushed by the
very feet of
Christ,
they themselves
refuse to
repent of
their sin and
give God his
due glory and
it's eternally
treasonous.
The punishment
fits the crime.
The wine
press of God's
wrath is due
punishment for
rejecting God
as one's
Lord and
Savior.
These are hard
truths,
aren't they?
Well,
let's just
bring it home
this way.
if you're a
Christian in
the room,
we too
once
were under
the wrath
of God.
We were
under this
wrath,
fully exposed
and then
we were
given eyes
to see
what the
Lord Jesus
came and
did on our
behalf on
the cross
on that
first Friday.
As the
clouds gathered
and it
got dark,
God poured
out his
wrath on
the Son
of Man in
order to
ransom many
so that we
would not
have to
bear this
wrath
ourselves.
What is
this wrath?
It's God's
judicial response
to moral
evil.
Why is it
so awful?
It's because
it's against
an eternal
just God.
You may not
like to
stomach it,
but it's
right.
It's true.
Now,
what do we
do in
response?
how do you
respond to
this vision
of the
Lord Jesus
coming,
the Son of
Man,
and he is
going to
harvest for
himself his
own,
and then
those who
have rejected
him are
thrown into
the wine
press of
God's
wrath.
How do
you respond
to this?
Well,
first is
this.
You've got to
realize that
we're actually
one day
closer to
his coming,
one day
closer to
the great
and final
harvest.
And so,
if you are
seeking to be
faithful to
Jesus,
you press
on.
Keep going.
Don't stop.
Don't compromise.
Stay true.
Follow after
his ways.
Keep bearing
testimony to
him.
Rejoice.
Jesus,
give glory
to the
lamb for
what he's
done on
your behalf.
He's
borne the
wrath of
God for
you.
You're
part of
his grain
harvest,
and so
your words
should echo
the words
of Revelation
2220,
come Lord
Jesus,
come.
But if
you're not
pressing on,
if you're
more like
snoozing,
this is
your wake
up call.
It's time
to repent.
It's time
to turn
from living
for things
that are not
worthy of
your life
or worthy
of the
lamb.
If you're
unwilling to
forsake your
sin to
follow Jesus,
you are
forsaking
Jesus to
follow your
sin.
God's wrath
hangs over
you,
and your
only
hope is
the lamb
who was
slain,
who bore
God's
wrath.
So turn
from that
sin,
turn from
whatever you're
living for,
and turn
to Jesus.
Today,
say,
I'll take
it.
Jesus,
I believe.
I'll follow
you all my
days.
thank you
for paying
for me
what I
could never
pay for
eternity.
Realize
we're one
day closer
to Christ's
coming in
that great
and final
harvest.
The second
thing
is to
reset your
priorities
according to
God's plan.
Reset your
priorities.
We don't
know the
day or the
hour that
Jesus is
going to
come back.
Jesus himself
did not
know.
That's why
an angel was
sent from
the temple
to tell him
now's the
time.
God,
even though
we don't
know the
exact day
or the
hour,
we can
be a
part of
the
harvest.
We
reset our
priorities
according to
this coming
return in
harvest.
We're
laborers in
the harvest
field.
we are
planting
gospel
seeds.
We are
about our
father's
business.
So here
are some
specific
steps you
can take
to reset
your life
accordingly.
Go pray.
Tomorrow
morning when
you wake
up, open
your Bibles
to Revelation
chapter 5
verses 9
through 11
and pray
it.
Go pray.
Pray, our
father and
heart in
heaven,
hallowed be
your name.
Your will
be done in
my life on
earth, just
as it is in
heaven.
Go pray.
Go invite.
Easter's
coming.
You've got all
sorts of people
in your life.
Say, hey, what
are you doing
for Easter?
They're like, I
don't know.
Come with me.
We've got a
service, 10
a.m.
in our
church.
And they're
like, no, you're
a doofus.
You get to
say, okay.
Bless you.
Or they
might say, I'll
come.
Could be the
day of
salvation.
Go pray.
Go invite.
Go public.
Here's what I
mean by that.
Start putting
something like
this in your
explanations to
people.
They're like, hey,
you want to look
at this porn
thing on my
phone?
You get to
say, you know
what, as a
follower of
Jesus, I
don't want to
have anything
to do with
that.
And they're
going to be
like, oh,
you're one of
them.
You're like,
yeah?
Start going
public with
identifying
yourself with
Jesus.
Get into the
harvest.
Go throw a
party.
get to know
the people
around you.
Summer's
coming.
It's starting
to warm up.
Great
opportunity to
have people
over to
your home,
your apartment,
your mobile
home, your
tent, wherever
you are.
Have people
over.
Get to know
their names.
Turn the soil
over for the
harvest.
Revelation
11.
Go prophesy.
Go speak of
Jesus to
people.
Go tell
them of
who God
is, of
that we
as man are
made in
his image,
and that we've
sinned against
him, and we
need help, and
that's why Jesus
came, and you
got to respond to
that message.
God, man,
Jesus, respond.
Go prophesy.
And one other
specific thing is,
on Friday, April
26, we're hosting
Secret Church
here.
it'd be a great
use of a Friday
night to come,
hear God's word,
preached full and
fast, pray
together, be
encouraged,
strengthened,
compelled to go
into the harvest
field.
Reset your
priorities according
to God's plan.
God's plan.
When you realize
we're one day
closer to Christ's
return in that
great harvest, you've
got to reset your
priorities.
Jesus, be found
faithful when he
comes.
There's only two
people in the world
according to this
passage.
Those who will be in
the grain harvest, and
those who will be in
the grape harvest.
This is good news for
Christians who are
suffering on account of
Jesus.
Jesus is coming.
Vindication is coming.
And for those who have
fallen asleep,
to the great spiritual
realities that are
true, this is your
wake-up call.
And that's good news
too, because we
wouldn't want you to
be asleep when Jesus
comes.
Let's pray.
God in heaven, thank
you so much for your
word.
God, would you cause
your spirit to fall
upon us, your people,
that we would be a
people who are faithful
to you, who endure
unto the end, and who
prioritize our lives in
light of this great
harvest.
God, would you, over the
next six months, would
you save people, help us
to rescue people from the
fire, Jude 23.
Would you help us to be a
people that are speaking
boldly on your behalf, and
that more and more people,
God, in your great mercy and
kindness, would be
transferred from the grape
harvest to the grain harvest
harvest because of your
grace.
God, add to our numbers
for the glory of your name.
Amen.