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Revelation 14-16 The Grace of Wrath
Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps. They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God. (Revelation 14:1-5)
The enemy of God, Satan, the Beast which is the Antichrist,
and that second beast who promotes the worship of the first will demand
of their subjects total loyalty. With the whole world under their control,
what are they afraid of? They are afraid of the only one who really
matters, God. Systematically they will exclude from society every person
who is not willing to bow down and worship the beast. Systematically
they will hunt down the servants of God until finally the last two witnesses
are killed. And yet just when the enemy thinks that he is secure, suddenly
right in the middle of Jerusalem, on Mount Zion, where the Antichrist
has set himself up as king, Jesus will appear. And with Him, will be
the 144,000 Jewish servants of God who were redeemed during the tribulation.
I told you before when the two witnesses rose again after being killed
that God does not fight fair. When I see how God treats Satan it reminds
me of how my brother and I used to fight as kids. My brother was four
years older than I and so of course he was much bigger. When I would
get really mad and go to hit him, he would simply put his hand in the
middle of my forehead and hold me back. Because his arms were longer
I could do nothing but flail my fists in the air. Then after I was through,
POW, he would let me have it. It would be comical if it was not so devastating
to the earth, the awesome difference between the power of God and the
power of Satan. Satan has raged, his wrath was great because he knew
that the time was short. But Satan’s worst is nothing compared
to the wrath of God
Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the
everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to
every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—saying with a loud voice,
"Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has
come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs
of water." And another angel followed, saying, "Babylon is
fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations
drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." Then a third
angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships
the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on
his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God,
which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He
shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy
angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment
ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship
the beat and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name."
(Romans 14:6-11)
It is almost unbelievable, but even at this very late
date, God still gives the lost one more chance. The angel flies through
the sky preaching the everlasting gospel to every nation, tribe, tongue,
and people. Remember, Jesus has redeemed the Christians out of every
tribe, tongue, people and nation in chapter 5, and it is only after
His mercy is complete and there are no more who would be saved that
the end will come. God will not pour out His judgment on Christians
because there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
We see how lost the world is when in chapter 13 that the Antichrist
is given power over every nation, tribe and tongue. God does not intervene,
but gives them up to his control.
But even so, the angel proclaims very clearly one last time to the whole
world to worship God who made heaven and earth. The angel points out
that Babylon is fallen. The program of the Antichrist is coming down
and anyone who worships the beast or has his mark will also have to
suffer the wrath of God.
Folks, God is amazing. His love is so much bigger than ours. We want
to make it harder for people to be saved. We think, "If you don’t
know the right doctrines…", "If you aren’t part
of the right church….", "If you don’t act the
right way…" We think that unless you get everything right
you cannot be saved. But God gives so many chances. On that last day
there will be no one who is lost because they didn’t know any
better. There will be no one who was just confused. There will be no
one who was tricked. There will be no one who is ignorant. God will
make sure that every single person in every tribe, nation, tongue and
people know that if they worship God they will be saved and if they
worship the Antichrist they will be judged. And even though they know
it, they will choose to reject God, to rebel against God, to ignore
God. They will choose Satan, even though God has given them every opportunity.
Right now, Jesus is giving you the same opportunity. His words to you
are, "I did not come to judge the world, but to save it."
When Christ comes again it will be to judge the world. Until then we
live in the age of grace. I hope that you will understand grace better
by seeing the awesome power of Jesus when He comes to judge. John saw
that judgement as Jesus gathering in the harvest with a sickle. Part
of the harvest in the ancient world was the grapes, and so Jesus is
harvesting them and throws them into the winepress of God. It is only
when we read of the blood which flows that we realize that the grapes
of wrath are only figurative for the destruction that will come upon
mankind. In Chapter 16 we read that when the sixth bowl of God’s
wrath is poured out all of the kingdoms of this world will gather to
battle against Jesus.
Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches , and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame." And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon. (Revelation 16:12-16)
But all of the armies, all of the weapons, all of the
might of this world and the might of Satan will be nothing compared
with the power of Jesus Christ. For Him it will be no more effort than
harvesting grapes and tossing them into the winepress. The "nations
will rage" but "He who sits in heaven shall laugh". (Ps.
2) Even the most terrible weapons of mass destruction will not cause
Him to blink an eye. However the smallest motion of that sickle will
cause the blood of those armies to flow. And all through it we keep
hearing the angels call out, "Lord God Almighty, true and righteous
are your judgments."
Jesus once told the story of a man who was deep in debt. He had run
up a debt that he could never repay. Even if he worked the rest of his
life there was no way that he could make that kind of money. However,
it so happened that when it came time to pay the debt the creditor took
pity on the man and forgave the whole thing. This is obviously a story
of grace. Just like that man, we have a debt that is beyond us to repay.
God created us to worship Him. He gave us life and breath and every
good thing. And yet instead of being fruitful servants we have used
God’s good gifts against Him. But instead of forcibly taking back
the things that He has given us, like the man in the story, God forgives
us the debt. It did not cost the man nothing to forgive the other’s
debt. My wife told me a story about her grandfather. A long time ago
her family was one of the richest in the mountain village where they
lived. Before there were good roads, he had enough money to buy a donkey
to haul goods down to the city and bring back things to sell. However,
he lost most of what he gained because he became surety for his friends.
One by one he had to pay off his friends debts and eventually became
poor himself. Likewise it did not cost God nothing to pay off our debt.
It cost Him His life. That is why Jesus went to die on the cross for
us.
This is the greatness of grace. It would be much easier to demand repayment.
It would be perfectly right for God to demand repayment. When God finally
does take back the gift of life itself, it will be totally righteous
and ridiculously easy. But now God has decided to be merciful, and to
give us grace.
Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, "It is done!" And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of a talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great. (Revelation 16:17-21)
I am amazed that even after all that has happened, men
still dare to blaspheme God. The word "blaspheme" means to
speak hurtfully. What these men must not understand is that the very
mouths and tongues that they are using to curse God were given to them
by God. But I shouldn’t be amazed. If today people can look at
the magnificence of God’s creation, a beautiful sunset, the marvel
of a growing tree, the mystery of a newborn birth, and not give God
glory, then why would they do any better seeing God’s wrath in
power. If people cannot respond to God during the time of grace, neither
will they respond in the time of judgment.
We have the choice to respond to God’s love or not. Just like
the proverbial horse and water, God can pour out His love abundantly
on us but He won’t make us love Him back. It is up to you. You
can look out at this world and think how clever "nature" is
and disregard God. It is up to you. When disasters strike you can suddenly
remember God and curse Him. It is up to you. This is the wonder of God’s
grace that He would give you that choice. Even more wonderful is when
you look out at the world and see the hand of God, when even in disaster
you are reminded to fear the Lord and give Him first place in your life.
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