Okay. Anybody want to take a guess why I chose Beauty and the Beast? Because I like that movie? Maybe but no. It is related to what we're studying. Alright let's pray and we'll jump in, okay? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity to continue to study through Revelation.

We pray that you would give us open ears and hearts, help us to understand and glean what you desire for us and all its effects and all your desire, Father, for us to stay sober and that the end times would not catch us off guard like a thief coming at night.

Help us to live in such a way, Father God, that all of these things are things that we would eagerly anticipate and wait and to prepare for. So we ask for your wisdom, we ask for your Holy Spirit's help. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Alright so the reasoning behind the Beauty and the Beast theme behind us is that in contrast to last week's study and the previous week's study, this week and next week's study is in reference, in contrast to the Beauty and the Beast, Beauty, not the Beauty, the Beast last week and the previous week, remember the Beast going after the woman and the seed, right?

And so the last two weeks is kind of a set up for this conflict that we're going to see in chapter 16. So what is in chapter 16? It's the bowl judgments, right? And out of the three separate judgments that we've seen, the seal judgments, and then what's the second judgment, set of judgments?

Trumpet judgments, and then the seal judgments. And which is the most intense out of the three? The bowl judgments. So we've been seeing an increase of intensity of judgment for each one. So the seal judgment starts, again, if you look at it, it's pretty intense too, but then it kind of steps it up in the trumpet judgments, and then we haven't even seen the seal judgments, but all of this is in preparation for us to get to the seal judgments, which is in chapter 16.

Okay? And then what happens after chapter 16 is the end result of this conflict, and then they get into, again, that Satan is bound, there's a thousand year reign of Christ, and then there's description of the new heaven and new earth, and then there's, again, a description of eternity at the very end in chapter, at the end of the book.

Okay? So chapter 14 and 15 is in reference to the Lamb of God, right, today's theme, and his preparation and his angels and the worship of heaven, but the previous two chapters where we're looking at the activity of the beast and the dragon, right? So that's where the theme is from, the beauty and the beast, in contrast, right?

So today, we're going to be looking at what's going to lead up to chapter 16. Remember we talked about that in the last chapter, what was it, what were we on, 14, 13, so starting from chapter 12 where we started the second session, all the way to chapter 15, all of it is kind of like the background behind what's going to bring chapter 16.

Was it meant to be taken chronologically? Not necessarily, right? So it explains all the activity of Satan from the very beginning of its creation until the end times, right? And the same thing here, if we look at chapter 14 and 15, it's the description of the activity of the Lamb of God all the way up to the end times, and then these things are going to clash, and then when that clash happens, we see chapter 16, okay?

Bits and pieces of it. So the beginning, the contrast between chapter, I put chapter 13 and 14, but really it's chapter 12, 13 versus chapter 14 and 15. So these two chapters are going to contrast with what was happening in the two chapters that we looked at prior to this week, okay?

So if you remember, the end of chapter 13 ends with the mark of the beast, 666. Either it's going to be on the forearm or the forehead, and all the world is going to receive this number. And the consequence of this is that there's going to be economic consequences for those who do not get this number, right?

So that's how chapter 13 ends. And then chapter 14 begins with mark of the Father, right? So we see a one who is like the Son of Man, and then 144,000 who is in its presence, and they're going to be having the mark of the Father and the Son on them.

So again, there's a clear contrast between what's happening in chapter 13 and what's happening in the beginning of chapter 14. Again, in chapter 13 is a description of satanic work all throughout redemptive history, and that's what we've been studying in chapter 14. So it wasn't just description of the end time.

Remember that three characters that are mentioned in chapter 13? What's the first one? The red dragon, and then the first beast, and then second beast. Yeah, after the first beast, there's second beast. So who's the red dragon? Satan. Who's the first beast? And who's the third, or second beast?

What did we say? False prophets, right? Most likely false prophets. So each one serving the other. So the prophets glorify the Antichrist, the Antichrist glorifies Satan, right? And then remember, when we looked at it last week, what are these three things mimicking? The Trinity. God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

And each one of them, if you look at their activity, the activity of the dragon, the activity of Antichrist, the activity of the false prophets. Remember the prophets, remember some of the things that he says? It gives breath, it glorifies the Antichrist, it deceives, it makes the Antichrist look like he's going to...

What is something specific that happens to Antichrist that mimics Christ? Right. It seems to have a fatal wound, and then he gets miraculously healed, and people are in awe, and then they end up worshiping the Antichrist, right? And then the Antichrist deceives the world, and then he gives glory to Satan.

So ultimately, it's to bring glory and worship to Satan, right? So we looked at that last week. So all of the activity of chapter 13 is mimicking the work of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in order to bring attention and glory to Satan himself. So chapter 14 begins by telling us that there's a, again, there's a greater force in the kingdom that is, again, is not going to allow that to happen.

And that's where the conflict comes. That's where the Christian persecution comes in. So chapter 14 is the introduction of the opposing forces of God that will do battle with Satan and the two beasts. So that kind of gives you the outline, the setup for this chapter. It begins with a vision of the Lamb of God being worshipped by the 144,000, right?

So where do we see the 144,000 before in Revelation? After what chapter? Chapter 7, right? So after chapter 7, it doesn't describe in detail who the 144,000 are, other than that they are redeemed, and then it gives the number, the 12 different tribes, right? And so we, again, my opinion is it is in reference to the redeemed among the Israelites, right?

That doesn't mean that there's exactly 144,000. It just, it could be symbolic of a number, and it doesn't mean that the Jews are saved differently than the Christians. They're saved the same. So they're in the kingdom, but they're distinct from the Gentiles, right? And remember why we said that?

Because after the 144,000, remember, in the throne, who is behind them worshipping? The nations, the Gentile world. So the scripture distinguishes in chapter 7 between the 144,000 and the nations that are coming. So that's about all the description that we have of the 144,000, chapter 7, and then we get to chapter 14, and the description is a little bit more detailed, right?

So the first scene is that the vision of John, it goes back and forth between the tribulation of intense judgment and interruption, and just kind of projecting worship of God in his throne, right? So if you remember, these are the passages that I've noted, Revelation chapter 1, 9 through 16.

Do you remember that vision? What is John seeing in Revelation chapter 1, before he gets into all the different things of the seven churches? What does he see? He sees the vision of Christ on his throne, right? That's how the book begins, description of Christ. Chapter 4, after the visions, chapter 4 begins with the vision of God, and Him on His throne, Him being worshipped, right?

And then so chapter 5, 7, 11, it goes on where in between all these intense judgments, John all of a sudden, it almost seems like it's random, right? Because it doesn't seem connected, but all of a sudden, in the context of this intense judgment, John would be taken back, and then he would be shown this awesome vision of God on His throne, being worshipped.

And that would happen periodically. And I mentioned this before, right? So if you read it without really asking, "Why is this here?" You may just say, "Well, it's kind of random," right? Like, "Where does this fit?" So some of it seems to fit, some of it doesn't seem to fit, but it almost seems like God is trying to remind John that in the midst of all of this chaos, the heaven is not in chaos, right?

There's a third of the world being wiped out, a fourth of mankind, the rivers are turning to blood, there's all kinds of plagues and famines and disasters and wars, and in the midst of all of this, he sees a vision of heaven, God is on His throne being worshipped, right?

And it is in perfect peace, and everything is functioning exactly the way it should be functioning. There is no panic in the kingdom of God, right? Nobody's hurried, there's no anxiousness. Same thing that you see in chapter 1, you will see in chapter 4, chapter 5, chapter 7, chapter 14, and chapter 11.

And the same thing is, God is on His throne, and He is absolutely sovereign, and everything that is happening on earth has been ordained by God, right? God is completely in control. So again, we've seen the intense activity, Satan is released, the Antichrist is coming, right? The false prophets have come and is trying to deceive the world, and then the first thing that we see in the next scene is 144,000 worshipping the Lamb of God, right?

And before we enter into the Armageddon, the big fight in chapter 16. It describes in the beginning, it says that 144,000 are the only ones who are able to learn the new song, right? This elaborate song of worship is taking place, but it said they're the only ones who are able to learn this song, and to sing this song.

So we're not told why. It just says that they're the only ones that are able to do this, right? Anybody have an opinion as to why? Don't say it. I just want you to ask yourselves, right? One of the key qualities of if you want to do, you want to be a good Bible student, you have to ask a lot of questions.

Don't just assume, right? So why are they not, why are other people not able to learn? We don't know because it doesn't spell it out for us, but it gives us a more detailed description of what is happening and who they are. So the first thing that we are told in description of who they are, they are sexually pure.

They are called virgins. What passage am I looking at? Verse four, right? It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. So this is not to say that anyone who is married has defiled themselves, because that was contradicting scripture. That's not what the scripture says.

Most commentators believe that this is in reference symbolically of sexual purity. They're not virgins because they aren't married and they're single people. They're pure because they didn't defile themselves with sexual immorality, and that's probably a better fit or better understanding of this, right? So let me give you a few passages.

Did you put that down already? Okay. Revelation 14, eight, right? Another angel, a second followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of passion of her sexual immorality." So again, when the description of satanic kingdom, one of the top qualities of the satanic kingdom is sexual immorality.

Oops. Okay, first that's on your four, three. Paul says, "For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality." So you'll see on the list of sins that are listed, remember in the Bible, I've said it many times before, that it is never written randomly, that whatever is on the top one or two, it's there for a reason.

So whenever you see a list of sins describing a rebellious world, what is one of the top sins that's always mentioned, always almost on the top? It's sexual immorality, right? So sexual immorality is almost one of the top sins. So in 2 Timothy 2, 22, it doesn't tell us to fight the sin, it says, "Flee from sexual immorality.

Flee youthful passions and pursue righteous faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart." So most commentators believe that what's happening here is that the 144,000 hasn't been tainted by the sin of the world. They've kept themselves pure. I think I got another passage.

First Corinthians 6, 18, it says, "Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits outside the body, but the sexual immoral person sins against his own body." So again, the sexual immorality is singled out above other sins, right? So not all sins are equal. Sexual sin says, you know, all the sins, not that they're not sinful, not that God doesn't hate it, not that there isn't consequence for it, but it says among all the sins, the sexual immoral sin is actually even more harmful, right?

So there's a warning to not participate in it, there's a warning to flee from it, because it could easily be the downfall of our faith. And so the first description of the 144,000 is that they're sexually pure, okay? Secondly, it says they follow the Lamb wherever He goes, right?

And this may be in reference to their obedience. Remember, Jesus constantly said, "He who comes after me first must deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow me," right? To follow the Lamb wherever He goes isn't just because the Lamb, you know, happens to be, you know, He's going left, so we're going left.

This is a description of discipleship, of obedience, right? Wherever Jesus goes, He follows. So not only are they sexually pure, they're obedient, right? And they mimic Christ. Wherever He goes, they go. It describes it as being the first fruits for God and the Lamb. The idea of the first fruit has two significance.

One, it signifies that they symbolically represent the whole of God's redeemed. We talked about, we happened to talk about that this Sunday, right? If the first fruits are holy, the whole dough is holy, meaning that it was symbolic of everything else. So the fact that they're called first fruits, meaning that they're symbolic of all of God's redeemed, right?

But secondly, it also signifies a dedication to be used for God's purpose. So the initial, the 10%, the tithing, it signifies setting it apart. So in the larger context, it means that it's symbolic of all of it being dedicated to God, but that 10% specifically was to be used for God's purpose, right?

It was used for temple, it was used for supporting the priest, for whatever God needed to do to support the temple worship and the priesthood and the Levites, it came from that 10%. So to say that 144,000 were the first fruits of God and of the Son is one, they're symbolic of all the redeemed, and secondly, they have specific use for God in His kingdom.

And that's exactly what we're going to see, right? And then fourthly, it said, "They do not lie and they are blameless." Scripture clearly says it's what comes out of the person's mouth reveals what's in them, right? In Luke chapter 645, "The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, but the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks." So, the fact that they're described as people who do not lie and are blameless, they're saying that they are pure inside and out, right?

They not only have a reputation of being pure, but they're actually pure inside and out. And again, Matthew 5-7, this is in the Beatitude where it says, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy." I copied the wrong verse. That's not what I wanted to copy. Verse 8 is what I wanted to copy.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Okay. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." So, the original question I asked was, how come other people were not able to learn this song, right? It doesn't describe for us why that was the case, but then when you see the description of the 144,000, how they were blameless, they did not lie, they didn't give in to the sexual immorality, right?

They followed Jesus wherever he went. They were the first fruits dedicated for God's use. When you look at all of it, it really is describing one of the Beatitudes in Matthew 5-8. Because they are pure in heart, they are able to see God, right? Again, in a lesser way, the Scripture clearly says that spiritual things are discerned spiritually, right?

Discerning right and wrong in the Kingdom of God is directly linked to your spiritual condition. God didn't make it so that you can approach God with your logic and intellect. God made it so that we are able to discern what is from God, what is not from God, to be able to see his glory is not from much study and intelligence, right?

The Scripture spells out, so if you're not walking right with God, it's hard for us to even understand God's Word and his purpose. So this 144,000, again, it doesn't say that this is the reason why they were the only ones to see or able to understand, but because of their dedication and purity to God, one of the benefits of their obedience and purity was that they're able to see this, sing this new song and sing it where other people could not understand, okay?

The second portion of that in Revelation chapter 14 are the three angels and their work. And I want you to notice as we are looking at these three angels, the progression. All three of them have different messages. There's something distinct going on, but you'll notice that all three, there's some kind of a link to all three of them.

There seems to be some kind of progression in their message and what they're doing, okay? The first angel is given the gospel to proclaim to those on earth, right? What kind of gospel is it? How is the gospel described? What's the word in front of the gospel? Eternal gospel, right?

And again, this is one of those words that you can just kind of skim through and the gospel is described in many different ways, but here it's described as being eternal, that it is not just a gospel until we get to heaven, right? It is not just a good news for redemption until we're saved from hell and we're in heaven for eternity.

He said this is going to be good news for eternity. So I think one of the questions that I get asked every once in a while is if Adam and Eve was able to fall before they had sinful nature at the Garden of Eden, what's going to prevent us from falling in heaven?

You ever asked that before? Have somebody ever asked that before? It's a legitimate question, right? The distinction between the fall in the Garden of Eden and our eternal state is that the Holy Spirit makes an indwelling in us. We are united with Christ for eternity. So this gospel that saves us doesn't save us and put us back into the Garden of Eden.

It elevates us beyond the Garden of Eden, right? You understand that? So when he describes the gospel, he doesn't say this gospel saves us, but this gospel is eternal. So our redemption is going to be permanent and eternal, right? Our union with Christ is not temporary until we get to heaven and then we get to start this all over again.

It's permanent and it's final. So if you notice, he says that he went out to proclaim the gospel and then after he says that, right? What verse are we in? Oh yeah, in verse 7, he went out to proclaim the eternal gospel, to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people.

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." Typically when we think about the gospel, we think about how God loves us and he redeems us and he saves us and all of that is true.

But the end goal of the gospel ultimately is to bring us back into a proper relationship with the Father, right? Because that's what was lost at the Garden of Eden. We were made in the image of God and then when we sinned against God, that image was tainted. So salvation ultimately is to bring us back to the Father.

So Christ's crucifixion on the cross, redeeming us, saving us, making us his children, these are all means to get us to the end. The end isn't ultimately so that we don't go to hell or to get us to get to heaven. Ultimately we're in heaven because we are restored back to the Father, right?

So the way he describes, he goes out to proclaim the gospel and the first thing that comes out of his mouth is, "Fear God and give him the glory." So I don't know if any of you came from a Presbyterian background or you were part of KCM, you know, if some of you guys were, this is one of the things that are emphasized, the shorter catechism that they learn.

And this is the first question of all the doctrines that they learn is, "What is the chief end of man? What is our ultimate purpose?" And the answer is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. And that summarizes human history. That summarizes redemptive history. That God is restoring sinful men so that we would be restored back to glorifying God, to live out our purpose, which is to glorify God.

And so the gospel that is being proclaimed by the first messenger is to restore that, return our gospel. So again, I want you to notice the progression. The second angel, the second angel starting from verse 8, "So 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.'" Right?

And that's basically the whole description in verse 8 of the second angel. Right? So it's basically declaring the spiritual state of Babylon and how judgment is going to come because of that. Babylon in the scripture is used to symbolize the fallen world that's in rebellion against God. So who is the god of this fallen world, Babylon?

Second Corinthians 4.4, right? God of this age has blinded the mind of the unbeliever. So Satan has been given reign over Babylon. So Babylon appears in Genesis chapter 11. Remember the Tower of Babel? And that's where the word Babel comes from. So in the Greek or in the Hebrew, when that word is used, sometimes it's called Babel, sometimes it's called Babylon.

And the word Babel basically means confusion. Remember what happens in Genesis chapter 11, right? The sin increase, the wickedness increases in mankind and they gather together and they want to build this tower to become like God. Right? And basically they want to challenge God. And so God is stirred up in anger and He destroys the tower and then He separates them and brings confusion.

Right? So, that's where we first hear the word Tower of Babel. And then the second area is Babylonians. Right? The Babylonians were known for not their cruelty, but their beauty and comfort. So you guys remember when we were studying Isaiah, right? And there's a description of Assyria's oppression against Israel.

You know how they use fear and how they're cruel and they're, you know, going after children. And so God was using the nation of Assyria to bring judgment upon Israel. Right? So remember how that was described? So how was the judgment of the Babylonians described? Do you remember? Is it too far back?

Remember when we were going through Isaiah? The distinction between the Assyrians and the Babylonians? The Assyrians were bringing fear. You worship us, you bow down to us. The Babylonians were tempting them with goodness. So the Babylonians, when they took Judah into captivity, the Babylonians actually gave them a lot of freedom.

They treated the Israelites well. So remember when the Israelites were given permission by the Persians to send them back, very few of them returned because they enjoyed their life in Babylon. They settled in. Right? So Babylon, at least the city, was known for temptation, sexual immorality. They had wealth, they had beauty.

So why would they want to leave all that behind and come back to Jerusalem? And so it was the lure of the world. So when the Bible describes Babylon, it's describing a rebellious world that God judges, that is under control of Satan, and its primary temptation is not fear.

Its primary temptation is the lure. And one of the top lure that we've already looked at is sexual immorality. Right? Sexual freedom to do whatever you wanted. Right? And so the second angel is bringing judgment and saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality." So the progression that we see from the first angel to the second angel is the first angel goes out to proclaim the gospel.

Right? Fear God and worship him. The second angel comes out and he's saying condemnation upon mankind. So it almost seems like the first angel is rejected by the world. And as a result, the second angel comes and he declares condemnation. And then the third angel summarizes all of this.

Right? And he brings a clear message of judgment that's coming. He says, "Those who have given allegiance to the beast will experience the wrath of God." This is not the discipline of God. And that's the distinction between the wrath of God and the discipline of God. Right? Even as he is bringing the trumpet judgments, do you remember?

Even as he is bringing the trumpet judgments, he is pleading with the world to repent. Do you remember that? It's not the final judgment. And he doesn't wipe them all out. He wipes a third out or a fourth out. And even in the midst of all of this, God is opening his arms saying, "Even if now you would repent." Do you remember?

As we wrap up the trumpet judgments, he said that he's not going to delay, meaning the final judgment is going to come. So the description that we have of the third angel is the final judgment. Right? That the way he describes it, let me read it. Right? The third angel.

"Another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, 'If anyone worships the beast and its image receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger.'" Right? So it's not just that.

I mean, just to think about the wrath of God is enough. But he describes it saying this is going to be full strength. This wine is going to be full strength. It's not going to be diluted. And he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the presence of the lamb.

So again, the description of wine that's not diluted, meaning that God is not holding back any of his anger. At the very end, when the judgment comes, it's not for the purpose of discipline, but for judgment. Undiluted judgment. Which up to this point, we haven't seen. As intense as judgment has been, all of it was in hopes that those who are remaining would repent.

But when the final judgment comes, it will be the end. And he will not hold back. Right? Oh, sorry. So the second part of it is it will not be diluted. It will be purely for judgment. It will be complete, final, and eternal forever. So this third angel is describing the very end, the white throne judgment.

So this section ends with an exhortation to persevere even unto death. Verse 12. "Here is a call for the endurance of the saints that those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus." Rest, right? In verse 13. "And I heard a voice from heaven saying, 'Write this, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.

Blessed in these says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.'" So, again, the angel is describing a scene where Christians are going to be intensely persecuted and as a result of that, many of them are going to die. And is reminding them that if you persevere, there's going to be great reward.

So in verse 13, he says, "From this point on, those who die are going to be blessed, because those who die are going to find true rest." So scripture often describes hell as a place of no rest. So look at verse 11. "Smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night, for he is worshiper of the beast and its image, and the worshiper receives the mark of its name." So, if rest is salvation, unrest is hell.

So if you look at the Garden of Eden, God enters into the Sabbath, Sabbath is broken. And so the whole redemptive history is trying to restore this rest. So I think it's a very vivid image of mankind. Very vivid image, maybe I don't know the right words to describe it, but it gives an image of whether you are living in peace or rich or poor or having a lot of friends or few, I think mankind in general is at unrest.

There's something inside of mankind. When we talk about there's a void, there's a need to pursue something, to make meaning of life and find purpose for existence, all of this is pointing to unrest. We're not at peace, right? And so the Bible describes salvation as restoring that Sabbath, restoring that rest.

And so in Hebrews 4, 1 through 11, I don't think I have that. I didn't put that. So let's turn our Bibles there to Hebrews chapter 4, just a few pages flipped. I don't think I have that passage, but I want to read it. So Hebrews chapter 4, 1 through 11.

I'm just going to read the whole thing, but I want you to pay attention to the word rest and how it's used. "Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands," so again, in chapter 4, verse 1, when it says promise of entering this rest, what rest is he referring to?

Salvation, right? "While the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them because they were not united by faith and with those who listened.

For we who have believed entered that rest as he has said, 'As I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest.'" So again, repeatedly over again, the word rest is used interchangeably with salvation. "Although his works were finished from the foundation of the world, for he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way, and God rested.

And on the seventh day from all his works," and again, in this passage, he said, "they shall not enter my rest. Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of his disobedience." Again, he appoints a certain day, "today saying through David so long afterward," in the words already quoted, "Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. Then there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience." Now, there's more of this doctrine that's stated in the book of Hebrews and other passages, but again, the Bible uses the term rest and Sabbath interchangeably with salvation.

But it's more descriptive. Rest is because we've been separated from the agent of rest, which is God. God entered the rest, and our God the Father has been in the Sabbath where he originally took us. So sin caused us to be in unrest. And that's why this doctrine of Sabbath is so important, central in the Old Testament.

And then it carries over to the New Testament to teach us about this rest. So again, when this angel comes, he says those who have the mark of the beast, they will be in torment and unrest. They will not be able to find rest for eternity. And those who enter into God's salvation will be at rest for eternity.

The last part, the final harvest and the sickle. You know, typically when we think about the sickle, the angel of death, right? We think of the angel of death with the long hood, and he usually shows up during Halloween and is sickle, and he's the bad guy, right? Who holds the sickle in this scene?

Is it the beast? Antichrist? Who holds the sickle? Jesus. Jesus holds one of the sickle, and who else holds another sickle? An angel. Angel of God holds the sickle. So in this text, the angel holding the sickle is God's angel. It is not demonic. It's God's agent bringing the harvest, meaning that he's going to bring final judgment.

When he says that, you know, before Christ comes, he will not divide between wheat and tares, but at that time, when the harvest comes, he will divide, right? So we see that Jesus initiates the final harvesting of the world, again, described in Daniel 7, 13, and 14. Okay, let me...

Daniel 7, 13, and 14, it says, "I saw in the night visions, and behold, the clouds of heaven. There came one like a Son of Man." So again, the description of the one like the Son of Man is a very specific description of the Messiah, right? And so the term that Jesus used of himself, more than any other term, is Son of Man.

Not Son of God, right? Not the Messiah, but the term that he used most commonly in the context of the Jewish community was Son of Man, right? He described himself Son of Man more than any other. And that's a very specific description of the Messiah that is described in Daniel chapter 7.

And Daniel chapter 7 describes a man who is eternal, who is from God, right? And so what is being said here is an exact description, or almost verbatim, of what we see in Daniel chapter 7 of this Messiah King that's coming, right? "He's like the Son of Man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him and to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom that all people's nation languages should serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed." And again, in Acts chapter 1, 9, if you remember when Jesus is taken up, he says, "And a cloud took him out of their sight." And then remember the angels say, "As he went, he will come," right?

As he went, and he went up in the clouds, and he will return in the clouds. So that's the description that we see here, right, in Daniel chapter, or the text that we're looking at, right? The earth is described as fully ripe. It's ready for harvest. And so Jesus came at the fullness of time, right?

Again, I mentioned this a couple weeks ago, at the fullness of time when sin became utterly sinful and Israel's sin has climaxed to its peak where they could not have possibly thought that they can redeem themselves, and God allows that to happen, right? God allows sin to run its full course before he comes.

And at the end times, he said, he is also waiting for the harvest to be full. He's going to allow sin to become utterly sinful, but this time he does not come to redeem. He will redeem his church, but he will also come to judge. And it is the final judgment.

It is not discipline. He's not disciplining the world, hoping that someone will return. When the final judgment comes, it is a divide between the weak and the terrorists, right? And that's the judgment that we see here. It's fully ripe. There's nothing more to wait for, right? And all of that is to set up for the final seven judgments, seven bold judgments in chapter 16, right?

So I don't know if you've read it yet, but if you've been following us, you're kind of like, what is in these bold judgments that all of this is to set up for the six bowls, right? So before the millennium comes, before the new heaven and new earth and eternity comes, there's going to be an increase of turmoil, increase of sin, increase of persecution, increase of wars and famine, and it's going to be intensified.

So if you're paying attention, you won't miss it, right? That's what it's all setting. All of this was a setup for that, okay? It ends with something, and I was kind of debating whether I'm going to get into this or not, but it ends by something strange when it says in verse 20, "And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and the blood flowed from the winepress as high as horses' bridle for 1600 stadia," right?

And I was debating whether I'm going to get into this. And I'm just going to mention and move on because no one knows this for sure, but 1600 stadia is approximately 184 miles, right? Again, this is one of those things that you can look at and take it for a grain of salt.

You can receive it, not receive it. But some of the commentators, or a lot of the commentators who take these things literally, say 184 miles is approximately the distance of Palestinian land. And so some of them have interpreted this, that this intense judgment, at least this final Armageddon battle and this intense scene where the blood is going to flow and all this stuff that's described by the third angel, and it also describes that it's outside the gate, so outside of Jerusalem would be Palestine.

And so how the judgment is going to be coming upon this particular area, okay? Now you can take that as a grain of salt. Again, it's just one of those things that's interesting because the numbers happen to line up and match. But outside of that, again, it's just an educated guess, okay?

Let me go over the discussion questions real quick. In light of the contrast between darkness and light in chapter 13 and 14, what is the greatest contrast that you have seen in your life before you became a Christian and after? I know some of you guys have been a Christian for a while, and some of you guys may not remember that well what it was like before you committed your life to Christ, right?

But when you think about your walk with God, when you committed your life to Christ, what was the most obvious difference that you saw in your life in darkness and your life in the light? Okay, that's number one. Number two, what is something that you didn't understand about Christianity until after you became a Christian?

This is related to the 144,000, and they were the only ones who were able to learn the song and the description of their obedience and purity and all of that. And so what are some things that you remember that before you became a Christian that you didn't understand and then after you became a Christian?

The first thing that I thought about was prayer, you know, because I grew up in a Christian home. I prayed all my life. What I didn't understand was people who really prayed. I understood why people came to church, at least from a non-Christian point of view, because it's social, right?

At least that's how I interpret it. They come because they need friends, and they want to hang around with their friends and their peers, so that's why they come to church, because I didn't understand the aspect about God, right? So everything that the church did made some sense to me, because the worship, you know, people worship because it's kind of like a security blanket.

They hold onto it because, you know, just in case God exists, and it makes you feel better. So some people do it through Buddhism, some people do it through Hinduism or Muslim. So Christians, this is just their way of holding onto, hoping for something better, right? That's how I understood it, right?

But the one thing that I didn't understand is their fervent prayer. So, you know, like just going and burning incense and doing some ritual things, like just for your comfort, I can get that, but really clinging, like God's going to answer your prayers, like that didn't make sense to me until after I became a Christian, because only if you really believe God would answer prayer would you pray like that, like praying until God answers.

That didn't make any sense to me, because it didn't fit what I thought was happening in the church, right? So do you remember anything before you were a Christian, certain things that didn't make sense to you until you became a Christian, right? That's what that question is. Number three, read 1 John 2, 15-17, it states that if you love the world, the love of the Father is not in him, why is it impossible to love both the world and God, right?

Again, this is not my statement, this is what it says in that passage. How does love of God weed out the love for the world, and how does the love for the world frustrate the love for God? Okay, and that's pretty straightforward. So let me pray for us, and I'll break you guys up into your small group.

Again, if you are new to the church and you don't have a small group to be plugged into, Jeremy, if you turn your head to your left, he's going to plug you in. So if you need to be plugged in somewhere, just go see him and he'll help you find a small group to belong to.

Okay, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we want to thank you for your living word. We pray, Father God, as you promised, that your word would judge the thoughts and intentions of our heart. And we know all of these things, Lord God, and some of it is confusing, but we see who you are, how you are a God deserving of worship, and how you are so patient with beings that are rebellious, that you can so easily just squash.

We pray that you would allow us to see a greater picture of who you are, so that we may see a greater picture of ourselves. We pray, Father, that you would bless the time of our small group, and may it be sharpening as iron sharpening iron. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.