The Revelation of Christ – Part 34:
Harvesting the Earth
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
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SERMON
INTRODUCTION
The
Book of Revelation, or the Revelation of Christ, is the most challenging book
in the bible.
Because
of this fact, many avoid it or ignore it altogether. Some fear lack of
understanding; others afraid to misinterpret, which I guess it is better to
avoid than dive in and get it completely wrong.
Many
times, when a new believer comes to me for direction, they want to jump right
into Revelation and find out what’s to come.
This
is equivalent to deciding one day to learn Mandarin and sitting down to author
a novel in Chinese that very same day.
Or,
a kindergartener learning how to count, and then trying to calculate quantum
mechanics calculations.
The
words in Revelation have caused much debate on rapture, judgment, even some who
claim John was writing about the events in his day in code rather than Jesus
Christ revealing to him about the coming events and Judgment.
A
special blessing is promised to those who read Revelation.
Although
it may be a difficult book, we could all use a special blessing, reading this
is good for us all, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we will take the
Revelation of Christ in small portions and gain understanding, little by
little.
SERMON SERIES
THE THINGS WHICH
SHALL BE – The Coming Judgment
Part 10 – The Throne of God
Part 11 – The Scroll and Seven Seals
Part 12 – The Lamb is Worthy
Part 13 –
The First Seal
Part 14 – The Second Seal
Part 15 – The Third Seal
Part 16 – The Fourth Seal
Part 17 – The Fifth Seal
Part 18 – The Sixth Seal
Part 19 – The 144,000 Sealed
Part 20 – The Great Multitude
Part 21 – The Seventh Seal
Part 22 – Trumpets 1-4
Part 23 – The 5th Trumpet (1st woe)
Part 24 – The 6th Trumpet (2nd woe)
Part 25 – The Mighty Angel
Part 26 – The Two Witnesses
Part 27 – The 7th Trumpet and 3rd Woe
Part 28 – The Woman and the Dragon I
Part 29 – The Woman and the
Dragon II
Part 30 – The Beast out of the Sea
Part 31 – The Beast out of the Earth
Part 32 – The Lamb and the 144,000
Part 33 – The Three Angels
TODAY’S SERMON -
THE THINGS WHICH SHALL BE – The Coming Judgment
SCRIPTURE READING
Revelation 14:14-20
14
I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was
one like a son of man with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in
his hand. 15 Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud
voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because
the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16 So he who
was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was
harvested.
17
Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.
18 Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and
called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle
and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are
ripe.” 19 The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and
threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 They were trampled in
the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as
high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.
I.
THE SON OF MAN
a.
I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and
seated on the cloud was one like a son of man
i. The Lord now appearing as
“Jesus” who was previously appearing as the Lamb who appeared to have been
slain
ii. He was the Lamb who had been
slain when opening the seals of the great scroll, and now, He appears as the
Lion
1. In Revelation
5:5, we read this about
Jesus: “Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered.” Jesus is
the Lion of Judah.
iii. The Lion now stands before
the earth with all authority in Heaven
b.
with a crown of gold on his head
i. This is the Victors Crown
1. The victors crown is the
symbol of victory given to the winners in the Greek games or a contest. It is a reward or a prize.
a.
2 Timothy 2:5
ii. We are told of 5 crowns in
scripture
1.
The Incorruptible Crown - I Corinthians 9:25
a. this crown would be the
first level a believer would attain to.
This crown indicates mastery over the sin nature. The Corinthians are
being urged to run the Christian life in such a way as to receive the reward in
the end. Here the emphasis is in
self-control.
2.
Then Crown of Righteousness – 2 Timothy 4:7-8
a. The second level of crowns
goes to those who live righteously in this world while they look forward to
Christ’s return. They are those who are
not captivated by this world, but hunger and thirst after righteousness.
3.
The Crown of Life – James 1:12; Revelation 2:10
a. The third level to attain to
is to proceed in God’s plan for your life while enduring trials. The believer who moves forward in God’s call
and assignment in the face of difficulty, even martyrdom, will receive this
crown.
4.
The Crown of Joy – Philippians 4:1; I Thessalonians
2:19
a. This crown is for those who
lead others to Christ or demonstrate fruitfulness by influencing others towards
righteousness.
5.
The Crown of Glory – 1 Peter 5:4
a. The greatest achievement is
to fulfill your calling and finish the work God gave you to do. The scripture reference is speaking to
pastors who finish their work faithfully, but this crown is not only for
pastors. It is for anyone who finds and
fulfills their assignment God has given them.
b. Including the completion of
Christ’s assignment from the Father
i. Luke 2:49 "Why were you
searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my
Father's house?"
ii. John 4:34 “"My food," said
Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”
iii. John
19:28b; 30b “…knowing
that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be
fulfilled”; “…Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and
gave up his spirit.”
c.
and a sharp sickle in his hand.
i. The true reaper, not of vain
imaginations (The Grim Reaper), but in all Truth and actuality, Jesus, the
Victor, the Judge of all creation, sickle in hand to harvest for judgment.
II.
THE FOURTH ANGEL
a.
Then another angel came out of the temple and called
in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud
i. Not a command, but
declaration for mankind (John’s) sake
b.
Remember the three angels from last week
i. The outline or index of
Revelation
ii. 1) Proclaim everlasting
Gospel
iii. 2) Predict the Fall of
Babylon
iv. 3) Predict the warning of
submitting to the Beast
v. This 4th angel
declares the Lord’s reaping of mankind
c.
“Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap
has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.”
i. So he who was seated on the
cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.
ii. This is Armageddon, the last battle between good
and evil before the Day of Judgment. A hill of Megiddo, an archaeological site
on the plain of Esdraelon, south of present-day Haifa in Israel.
iii. Why is the harvest of the
earth ripe? Because evil has reached its zenith, a tactical move was made in
full force against the Lord and his people, and the last person who will ever
make Jesus their Lord and Savior has done so.
III.
TWO MORE ANGELS APPEAR
a. Another angel came out of the
temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.
i. Still another angel, who had charge of the fire,
came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle,
ii. “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of
grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.”
iii. Three is the mark of significance, fullness of task,
just as Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one, complete and perfect, so too is
the harvesting of the earth.
b. The angel swung his sickle on the
earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s
wrath.
i. The “winepress” refers to the assembled nations that
will gather in the Valley of Jehoshaphat (meaning literally “The Valley of
Yahweh Judges”)
ii. The “trampling outside of the city” refers to the
actual battle that ensues.
c. They were trampled in the winepress
outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press (The Valley),
rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia (6,600
furlongs)
i.
ii.
iii. 1,600 stadia, or 6,600 furlongs is 961sq ft or 21 Acres
iv. Horses bridle is approximately 4 foot tall X 21
Acres = approximately 27,633,667 gallons of blood
v. A person has about 1 ½ gallons of blood, making this
about 18 million dead
1.
Right
now, there are 327 million people in the U.S.
2.
Even if
this number was doubled to 36 million dead it is very believable
vi. Death in Historic wars
1.
5 million
died in Moorish Wars 534-548
2.
36
million died during Tang Dynasty in China 755-763
3.
40
million died in Mongol Conquest 1206-1368
4.
100
million died in Taiping Rebellion 1850-1864
5.
30
million in WWI
6.
85
million in WWII
vii. Jehoshaphat Valley, at 200m x 700m approximately,
will hold this volume of blood, water and bodies from the battle.
viii. 18 million dead at Armageddon is a conservative
estimation as far as I am concerned, and it could easily be more.
CONCLUSION
–
Armageddon may be the last
battle between good and evil, but it did not include the entirety of humanity
left on earth.
Next week we will look at
the Seven Vials of the last plagues
NEXT
WEEK: The Last Seven plagues
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