Temple Baptist Church - 7-4-2021
Revelation 14:6-10
As the Tribulation systematically unfolds, the judgments of God systematically increase. Though we have finished the first half of the Tribulation, marked by the Abomination of Desolation and the fall of Satan, there is no visible break on earth.
A. Throughout the Bible, we have seen different types of angels with different purposes. In the last half of the Tribulation Period, angels carry out different tasks for God.
1. Tonight, I want to look at the three pronouncements made by angels in these verses. These seven angels will also later introduce the Seven Trumpet Judgments.
2. The first three proclamations are prophetic in nature. They are an explanation of what will transpire during the last 3 ½ years of the Tribulation Period.
3. Once again, I want to reiterate that there is no pause in the Tribulation Period on earth while these last few chapters are taking place. Time on earth has not stood still as these chapters are a parenthetical and explain the second half.
B. The First Angel: The Pronouncement of the Everlasting Gospel. For the first time in history, an angel is given the responsibility to preach the gospel. Up until this time, the preaching of the gospel has been committed to men. Because the Church has been raptured out, the 144,000 along with those saved being martyred, God now sends a special angel with a special message for the inhabitants of the earth: the Everlasting Gospel.
(The reason for the Everlasting Gospel is prophesy that Jesus Christ will win and the Beast will not! Verse 7 – “the hour of his judgment is come.” Verse 8 – “Babylon is fallen.” Verses 9-11 – Those who “worship the beast” will be “tormented with fire and brimstone … for ever and ever.” Nothing can defeat the gospel, the work of Jesus Christ in redemption.)
Revelation 14:6-7 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, (7) Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
1. This angel will not ascend to earth but will fly in the midst of heaven so as to be seen and heard of all mankind: to every nation, to every kindred (ethnic group), to every tongue, and to all people. “Every creature needs a preacher.” Here, we find that God is STILL no respecter of persons. Jesus Christ died for all mankind and the true gospel is inclusive, not exclusive.
2. “For God so loved the world … to every creature … who will have all men to be saved … the whole world … not willing that any should perish!” This truth is made plain throughout the Bible. In the Tribulation Period, this gospel is not to the Jew first but to all people at the same time.
3. The Everlasting Gospel is the last hour message of the gospel to the earth because eternity is at hand. During great tribulation, it is the good news that mankind does not have to perish but place their faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The message has not and never will change as salvation is all about what God did for mankind, not what mankind does for God.
a) The Angel cries, “Fear God.” An ingredient necessary for both repentance from sin and acknowledgement of the Person of almighty God. Jesus Christ was declared to be God through His resurrection from the dead. Do not fear Satan, do not fear the antichrist, do not fear death, fear God! (We live in days of “No Fear.” The man who has no fear is fooling himself. God is to be greatly feared because He holds both life and death in His hands.)
b) The angel cries, “Give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come.” A declaration by God that all glory belongs to God and unrepentant sin will be dealt with both here on earth and in eternity to come. The last invitation has come. Be saved now, or join the rest of the world living under God’s judgment. Flee the wrath to come.
c) The Angel cries, “Worship Him!” For He has created all things in heaven and earth. All things are by Him, through Him, and to Him! He is certainly worthy of all glory and praise. The greatest proof for God is found in His perfect creation. (As the natural follows nature, glorification follows God. The heavens, the earth, and all that in them is glorifies the Creator.)
C. The Second Angel: The Pronouncement of the Fall of Babylon.
Revelation 14:8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
1. “Babylon is fallen.” The culmination of almost 6,000 years of anti-God government is coming to an end. From the Plains of Shinar to the City of Seven Hills, the progressions has spired downward spiritually. This worldly system is not atheistic, it is anti-God. The final political empire of the Antichrist will end in utter destruction and God’s enemies ultimately cast into the Lake of Fire.
2. “That Great City.” A reference to the city of Rome, as this is where the last and enduring world power began and where the end-time religious system is situated.
3. “Because.” Through her great power and influence, ALL nations will drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. Wine here is a metaphor for the intoxicating influence of this system of government that causes the people of earth to con-habituate with her and not with almighty God. Intoxicated with her pleasures, her rebellion, her hatred, and her idolatry God.
4. As fornication is an illicit joining of two people, thus it is with the One World System and those who willingly join it. Their judgement will be together because they have become one.
D. The Third Angel: The Pronouncement of the Judgement of The Worshippers of the Beast.
Revelation 14:9-10 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, (10) The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
1. Those who worship the beast will receive his mark. You and I do not know what this mark is, but I believe that it will be both visible and damning. It is the ultimate spiritual fornication where the bearer of this mark has rejected God for the final time. This judgment alludes to the fact that those who cross this line will be eternally reprobate. No chance of salvation though they will hear the preaching of the First Angel.
As they have drank from the cup of her fornication, they will also drink at the cup of God’s indignation.
2. As they were intoxicated with the wine of fornication of the beast, they will also be made to drink of the wine of wrath of God which will be poured out unmingled with His mercy and grace. At the White Throne Judgment, even the heavenly bodies will flee from the face of Him who sits on the throne.
3. I have always found this last statement to be horrifying. In the Lake of Fire, these will be tormented for ever “in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.” They will always see the Lamb of God who died for them and whom they chose to reject with NO hope of salvation! Those in the Lake of Fire will realize the ultimate wrath of a holy God for all eternity.
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