{"id":18995,"date":"2019-07-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-21T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/revelation-046-ripe-for-judgment\/"},"modified":"2019-07-21T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-07-21T05:00:00","slug":"revelation-046-ripe-for-judgment","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/revelation-046-ripe-for-judgment\/","title":{"rendered":"Revelation 046 – Ripe for Judgment"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[111],"series_event":[490],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18995","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-revelation","series_event-revelation","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Revelation 046 - Ripe for Judgment","sermon_date":"20190721","sermon_month":"7","sermon_year":"2019","sermon_notes":6900,"sermon_slides":6901,"sermon_mp3":6904,"sermon_id":"72119134431196","series_or_event":490,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":111,"chapter_and_verse":"14:14-20","sermon_transcript":"Dr. Andy Woods\n\nRipe for Judgment\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 7-21-19\n\nRevelation 14:14-20\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 46\n\nLet\u2019s take our Bibles and turn in them to the Book of Revelation chapter 14. We are taking a look this morning at verses 14-20 as we continue our verse by verse study through the Book of Revelation.\u00a0 The title of our message this morning is Ripe for Judgment.\u00a0 As you know, as has been announced, this is kind of a big week for us at Sugar Land Bible Church.\u00a0 These props up here are all for VBS, which is going to be a big deal this week at Sugar Land Bible Church. So, if you\u2019re not directly involved in it, could you please lift us up in prayer as we\u2019re trusting the Lord for many, many salvations this week.\n\nWe are in a section of the Book of Revelation where the trumpet judgments have been sounded.\u00a0 Various judgments have come to the earth and in that seventh trumpet we have an announcement that something legal is happening; there\u2019s a legal transfer.\u00a0 The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.\u00a0 [Revelation 11:15, \u201cThen the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, \u2018The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.\u2019\u201d]\n\nThat\u2019s what\u2019s happening in the Book of Revelation; the long-awaited kingdom of God is about to be asserted on planet earth.\u00a0 There are about five times in the Book of Revelation where the chronology stops and John, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is given information about something happening in the chronology.\u00a0 This happens about five times in the Book of Revelation and in the last several weeks we have been in the largest or longest chronological pause in the Book of Revelation, chapters 12-14. And I\u2019m hoping and praying that that chronological pause will end this afternoon as we complete chapter 14 and then the next time I\u2019m with you we\u2019ll be ready to get back on the chronological path as we get into chapter 15 and 16 and begin to look at the various bowl judgments.\n\nBut you see, Satan really doesn\u2019t like the announcement of a coming kingdom.\u00a0 He likes running the world the way he wants to rule it, as he\u2019s done ever since the fall in Eden.\u00a0 So he\u2019s trying to stop, in his darkened mind, the kingdom from coming.\u00a0 That\u2019s why chapter 12 is a description of his attack on the instrument that God is using during this time period, the nation of Israel.\u00a0 And chapter 13 is the description of the two personages that Satan will use during this time period, the two beasts, the beast and the false prophet.\u00a0 And when you look at chapter 13, particularly towards the end, it looks so dark spiritually.\u00a0 It looks like Satan is winning and that\u2019s why chapter 14 is included, I believe, to show us that Satan is not winning, God has everything under control and God gives us here in chapter 14 six scenes of hope.\n\nIf you take away hope from the human mind the human species becomes very despondent, very desperate.\u00a0 And we always have to live in light of hope, and hope is given there in chapters 14, six different scenes of it: the 144,000 will be protected, scene 1.\u00a0 Scene 2, the gospel is still going to be proclaimed.\u00a0 Scene 3, Babylon, which we\u2019re going to get a lot more information on later on in the book, is destined to fall, the height of the antichrist\u2019s empire.\u00a0 And then those that are involved in the beast\u2019s system aren\u2019t getting away with anything, they are consigning their doom by participating in the beast\u2019s system.\u00a0 And even tribulation martyrs that are killed during this time period are considered blessed.\n\nAnd we come this morning to this final scene of hope which in essence is a judgment harvest at Armageddon.\u00a0 The unbelievers are not getting away with anything; God is going to reap a great harvest at Armageddon.\u00a0 Now \u201charvest\u201d is farming imagery, agrarian imagery, and sometimes the harvest is used to describe evangelistic activities and fruitfulness in evangelism, bringing in the harvest, a harvest of souls, (similar to a harvest of crops).\u00a0 But what we\u2019re reading about here is a different kind of harvest.\u00a0 This is a harvest of judgment that is destined to hit planet earth and we\u2019re given information about this in verses 14-20.\n\n[Revelation 14:14-20, \u201cThen I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was<\/em> one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. [15] And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, \u201cPut in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.\u201d [16] Then He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.\u00a0 [17] And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. [18] hen another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, \u201cPut in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.\u201d [19] So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from<\/em> the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. [20] And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses\u2019 bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles.\u201d]\n\nSo how do we look at this harvest of judgment that\u2019s coming?\u00a0 As we\u2019re reminded the unbelievers are not going to get away with anything.\u00a0 Number one, we have the judge, verses 14-18.\u00a0 Number two, the second part of verse 18, we have the judged, why is God bringing this judgment, the second part of verse 18.\u00a0 And then finally you get to verses 19 and 20 and you have a description of the judgment itself that\u2019s so severe that most people say it can\u2019t be literal, you can\u2019t take it literally, it couldn\u2019t be that severe.\u00a0 And so we have a description of that judgment in verses 19-20.\n\nBut notice first of all the judge.\u00a0 Who\u2019s bringing this judgement.\u00a0 And here is where Jesus appears as a reaper holding a sickle.\u00a0 Now you might want to jot down Mark 4:29 because there a sickle is used of a harvest.\u00a0 Mark 4:29 says, \u201cBut when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 This is not a harvest, as we mentioned, of farming; it\u2019s not a harvest of agriculture, it\u2019s not even a harvest of salvations.\u00a0 This is a harvest of judgment!\u00a0 And Jesus appears from heaven as a reaper, holding this sickle and He is accompanied by three angels.\n\nAnd when we look at these verses we get a great description of Christ, not as the suffering servant, not as the child who had nowhere to lay his head, but as the judge of the heavens and the earth and the ultimate judge of this world.\u00a0 You see, we\u2019re very comfortable with Jesus as the Lamb; we\u2019re very comfortable with Jesus as the Savior.\u00a0 What about Jesus as the lion?\u00a0 What about Jesus as the judge, because that is part of who Jesus Christ is as well.\n\nSo notice, if you will, our first hint, verse 14, the \u201cson of man.\u201d\u00a0 He comes and He\u2019s followed by an angel, verses 15-16; a second angel, verse 17.\u00a0 A third angel, the first part of verse 18.\u00a0 But notice, if you will, Revelation 14:14, \u201cThen I\u201d that\u2019s John in the vision, \u201clooked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand.\u201d\u00a0 Notice how the judge is described.\u00a0 Number one, he is described as coming on a cloud.\u00a0 When you study the clouds in the Bible what you learn is the clouds, many times, represent the glory of God.\u00a0 When we\u2019re caught up to be with Him in the clouds at the rapture\u2026 I used to look up at the sky and say well, the rapture couldn\u2019t take place today, I don\u2019t see any clouds in the sky.\u00a0 But it\u2019s talking about being caught into the glory of God at the point of the rapture.\u00a0 This is the glorious Jesus Christ returning to the earth to execute judgment.\n\nIt describes Him also as \u201cthe son of man.\u201d\u00a0 Now we have studied Daniel and Revelation together; Daniel, as we have studied, is the basement; the Book of Revelation is the ceiling.\u00a0 You can\u2019t understand the Book of Revelation without the Book of Daniel and you can\u2019t understand the Book of Daniel without the Book of Revelation.\u00a0 The two go together.\u00a0 And you remember the son of man imagery.\u00a0 That was in Daniel 7, when Jesus returns as the judge at the end of the times of the Gentiles and brings forth judgment upon the earth and establishes His kingdom.\u00a0 Daniel 7:13, Daniel says, \u201cI kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man\u201d just like in our passage here, \u201cwas coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him.\u201d\n\n\u201cSon of Man\u201d is a big deal!\u00a0 It\u2019s a big title.\u00a0 And it\u2019s interesting that in the religious trials of Jesus Christ in His first coming Jesus went through six trials; three religious, three political, three at the hands of the Jews, three at the hands of the Romans.\u00a0 He, in Mark 14:61-64 took the title \u201cSon of Man\u201d and applied it to Himself.\u00a0 [Mark 14:61-64, \u201cBut He kept silent and did not answer. Again, the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, \u201cAre You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?\u201d\u00a0 [62] And Jesus said, \"I am; and you shall see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.\u201d\u00a0 [63] Tearing his clothes, the high priest said, \"What further need do we have of witnesses?\u00a0 [64] \"You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?\" And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.\u201d]\n\nMark 14:61 says, \u201cBut He\u201d that\u2019s Jesus, \u201ckept silent and did not answer.\u00a0 Again, the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, \u2018Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?\u201d\u2019\u00a0 [62] And Jesus said,\u201d you\u2019ll recognize this quote because we just read it from the Book of Daniel, \u201cI am; and you shall see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.\u201d\u00a0 He just took Daniel 7 and applied it to Himself in His religious trial before the unbelieving Jews.\n\nMark 14:63 says this, \u201cTearing his clothes, the high priest said, \u2018What further need do we have of witnesses?\u2019\u201d\u00a0 [64] You have heard the blasphemy; how does it seem to you?\u201d And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.\u201d\u00a0 You see, this expression \u201cson of man\u201d to your average American it\u2019s kind of a nebulous concept, most people don\u2019t know what it means.\u00a0 But the Jews, national Israel, unbelieving Israel in the first century knew exactly what that expression meant.\u00a0 And they knew that the moment Jesus took that expression and applied it to Himself He was claiming to be God incarnate, the Judge that would come at the end of the times of the Gentiles.\n\nAnd what a judgment this is going to be. Why wouldn\u2019t Jesus be the judge?\u00a0 After all, we read in John 5:26-27, \u201c\u201cFor just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; [27] and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the<\/em> Son of Man.\u201d\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s sort of a trite overused saying but it\u2019s still biblically true, you\u2019ve got to meet Jesus one way or the other; you\u2019re either going to meet Him as your savior in this life or your judge in the next life.\u00a0 You can\u2019t divorce one part of Jesus from the other.\u00a0 And He claims this title here, \u201cSon of Man.\u201d\n\nYou\u2019ll also notice in verse 14 what it says, \u201chaving a golden crown on his head.\u201d\u00a0 [Revelation 14:14, \u201cThen I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand.\u201d]\u00a0 When Jesus comes back, Revelation 19:12 says on His head are going to be \u201cmany diadems.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 [Revelation 19:12, \u201cHis eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself.\u201d]\u00a0 Some translate that as crowns.\n\nBut here it mentions a golden crown on His head.\u00a0 Is it not ironic that when the cool Roman soldiers wanted to mock Christ, in Matthew 27:27-31, at one of the most physically weak times in His entire existence, Matthew 27:29 says, \u201cAnd after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, \u201cHail, King of the Jews!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 You think you\u2019re a king, we\u2019ll make a crown befitting of\u00a0 you for a king, this mockery, this crown of thorns, no doubt also designed to torture Him as it was pressed into His skin.\u00a0 And isn\u2019t it interesting that this crown that Jesus is wearing when He comes back the second time is not this crown of thorns but it\u2019s a golden crown.\u00a0 He\u2019s coming back as King of King, Lord of Lords, the judge of the universe.\u00a0 No mockery this time, no slander, no abuse, He\u2019s coming back in righteous judgment.\u00a0 That\u2019s what\u2019s being described here in verse 14.\n\nAs I mentioned earlier, verse 14 says \u201cin His hand\u201d is this \u201csharp sickle.\u201d\u00a0 The sickle, as we said before, is Mark 4:29, sort of a tool that you used in harvesting to bring in the harvest.\u00a0 [Mark 4:29, \u201cBut when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 And you\u2019ll notice that Jesus here has this sickle, not a harvest for evangelism, not a harvest for farming but a harvest of damnation and judgment that\u2019s coming.\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting, it mentions a \u201csharp sickle,\u201d an effective sickle, an efficient sickle.\u00a0 In other words, the judgment that\u2019s coming is going to be very swift; Jesus is going to be very efficient in what He does.\n\nIt\u2019s interesting that back in verse 8 we spoke of Babylon, didn\u2019t we?\u00a0 Babylon has fallen, it\u2019s a prophecy about the coming destruction of Babylon, Revelation 17:18.\u00a0 [Revelation 17:8, \u201cThe beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 17:18, \u201cThe woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.\u201d ]\n\nIt\u2019s very interesting to me that harvest imagery is associated frequently with Babylon.\u00a0 In the Old Testament, Jeremiah 51:33 says, \u201cFor thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: \u2018The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor, at the time it is stamped firm; Yet in a little while the time of harvest will come for her.\u201d\u00a0 Notice the connection between harvest of judgment and Babylon, Jeremiah 51:33, the same connection that\u2019s being made here in Revelation 14.\n\nI guarantee you this much, all of these Christ hating, Christ rejecting people, this is the furthest passage from their minds this morning. In fact, I would say in most evangelical churches this is the furthest passage that anybody perhaps is even talking about.\u00a0 And yet it\u2019s a very real part of Scripture.\u00a0 It\u2019s something that God Himself is going to do.\n\nThis continues on as we move into verse 15 where now Jesus is accompanied by an angel and notice if you will verse 15.\u00a0 \u201cAnd another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud,\u201d that would be Jesus on the cloud, the Son of Man, \u201cPut in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.\u201d\u00a0 This first angel comes forth and it\u2019s interesting that this angel comes forth from a heavenly temple.\u00a0 You know, you have that going on a lot in the Book of Revelation; what\u2019s happening on the earth is patterned in the heavens above.\u00a0 An earthly tabernacle, a heavenly tabernacle; an earthly temple, a heavenly temple.\u00a0 In fact, when Moses built the tabernacle in the wilderness he was instructed to build it according to the heavenly design.\u00a0 Hebrews 8:5 says, \u201cWho serve as a copy and a shadow of heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, \"SEE,\" He says, \"THAT YOU MAKE all things ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN WHICH WAS SHOWN YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN.\u201d\n\nThe things on the earth, holy things it looks to me are actually patterned after heavenly things.\u00a0 And so we\u2019ve read about an earthly temple and now we\u2019re reading about a heavenly temple and this first angel along with Christ comes forth from that earthly temple.\u00a0 And he exhorts Jesus to swing His sickle and he says something that to me is probably one of the scariest or most frightening things you can read in the Bible.\u00a0 It says there at the end of verse 15, \u201cbecause the harvest of the earth is ripe.\u201d\u00a0 The earth is ready to be judged.\u00a0 The day of grace is over.\u00a0 Humanity has received their opportunity for repentance, repentance for the most part is not forthcoming and the earth is good for nothing other than to be ripe for the judgment that\u2019s coming upon it.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I entitled this message \u201cRipe for Judgment.\u201d\n\nWe continue on in verse 16 and Jesus actually swings this sickle over the earth.\u00a0 It says, \u201cThen He who sat on the cloud\u201d that would be Christ, the Son of Man, \u201cswung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.\u201d\u00a0 The judgment proleptically has happened.\u00a0 In other words, it\u2019s so certain that it\u2019s coming that God can announce it as if it\u2019s already transpired.\u00a0 And I like what Robert Thomas says in his very good commentary on the book of Revelation.\u00a0 \u201cDr. Robert Thomas observes that, \u201cThe brevity of the statement dramatizes the suddenness of the judgment.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [Dr. Robert Thomas\n\nRevelation 8 to 22: An Exegetical Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1995), 221.<\/em>]\n\nJust a brief statement but it characterizes how fast this judgment comes.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why this sickle that the Lord is swinging is sharp; it\u2019s effective, it\u2019s efficient, it will accomplish its goal within a very short period of time.\n\nAnd then we move now to a second angel; look at verse 17, angel number two.\u00a0 Jesus is coming forth with three angels.\u00a0 \u201cAnd another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a\u201d not just a sickle, but \u201ca sharp sickle.\u201d\u00a0 So now we have not just one sickle but two, not just one sharp sickle but two sharp sickles and it shows you how severe this judgment is going to be once it hits.\u00a0 I mean, it\u2019s as if the judgment of Christ was not enough an angel is commissioned also to participate in this judgment.\u00a0 You\u2019ll notice also verse 17, that this angel comes from the temple because there\u2019s a heavenly temple corresponding with an earthly temple as we\u2019ve talked about.\n\nAnd then you move on to verse 18 and it talks here about a third angel.\u00a0 Look at the first part of verse 18, it says, \u201cThen another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, \u201cPut in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.\u201d\u00a0 We have now angel number three.\u00a0 This angel is interesting, he has power over nature itself, power over fire, and he tells the second angel\u2026 now a lot of people think he\u2019s telling Jesus to do something, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s true.\u00a0 Jesus has already swung His sickle.\u00a0 I think angel number two is going to swing his sickle in verse 19, so I think this last angel, number three, is telling angel number 2 to swing his sharp sickle as well as this harvest of judgment is brought in.\n\nIt\u2019s interesting to me that this angel, this third angel, comes from the altar, the heavenly altar.\u00a0 Do you remember who was under the altar earlier in the Book of Revelation?\u00a0 You might recall Revelation 6:9-10, I believe this is the fifth seal judgment, the martyrs.\u00a0 Revelation 6:9-10 says, \u201cWhen the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;\u00a0 [10] and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, \u201cHow long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?\u201d\u00a0 They were crying to the Lord, Lord, look at the injustice that\u2019s happened to us, when are You going to vindicate us?\n\nAnd it\u2019s interesting that their prayer request is never denied, it\u2019s just delayed for a season, because God does hear those prayer requests.\u00a0 Amen!\u00a0 And a lot of time when there\u2019s a delay and an answer we confuse that with a denial.\u00a0 I know that because many of you are praying for things to happen in your own life, you\u2019re praying for salvation of a loved one, you\u2019re praying for this or you\u2019re praying for that, you believe you\u2019re in God\u2019s will, you keep praying for it, nothing seems to happen.\u00a0 And it\u2019s easy to become depressed, to become despondent, to think I\u2019m wasting my time, God is not listening.\u00a0 That\u2019s how those souls most likely under the altar felt.\u00a0 And then suddenly in the providence of God the altar that they\u2019re praying under, from that very altar an angel is dispatched to answer this prayer request.\n\nWe, I think, to a very large extent, because of impatience, have discounted the power of prayer.\u00a0 God listens to these prayers.\u00a0 In fact, the Book of Revelation, chapter 5 and verse 8 says that the prayers of His people are like golden bowls of incense which are the prayers of the saints.\u00a0 [Revelation 5:8, \u201cWhen He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.\u201d]\u00a0 How does God look at your prayers? How does He look at my prayers? Irritation?\u00a0 Things to put on hold until a later time?\u00a0 Actually, He puts a great deal of value into those prayers.\u00a0 In fact, as far as the mind of God is concerned they are like golden bowls of incense being brought before His very throne.\u00a0 That\u2019s how, as you\u2019re praying for things in\u00a0 your life that\u2019s how God sees it.\u00a0 And we don\u2019t really capture the essence of it because we don\u2019t see, many times, an immediate result.\n\nBut I know this much at the end of the day; James 5:16, \u201cThe effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.\u201d\u00a0 There are some things in your life that God is only going to do through your petitioning to Him.\u00a0 He\u2019s not going to do it any other way.\u00a0 So, a private prayer life before God is not a waste of time as far as God is concerned.\u00a0 In fact, it\u2019s one of the most valuable things you could ever give yourself to.\u00a0 Just because there\u2019s a delay doesn\u2019t necessarily mean there\u2019s a denial.\u00a0 Don\u2019t confuse delay and denial as these martyrs no doubt probably confused the two.\n\nIn fact, there\u2019s a whole parable that Jesus gave on this, didn\u2019t He, in Luke 18:1-8.\u00a0 \u201cNow He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to faint\u201d as some translations say.\u00a0 I can\u2019t think of a more appropriate verse for our lives, don\u2019t faint, don\u2019t lose heart, pray!\u00a0 And He began to tell this story [2] saying, \u201cIn a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man.\u201d\u00a0 Sounds like a heck of a guy doesn\u2019t it!\u00a0 \u00a0[3] \u201cThere was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, \u2018Give me legal protection from my opponent.\u2019 [4] For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, \u2018Even though I do not fear God nor respect man,\u201d at least he\u2019s honest about himself, [5] \u201cyet because this widow bothers me, I will]<\/sup>give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will]<\/sup>wear me out\u2019\u201d\u00a0 with her petition.\u00a0 [6] And the Lord said, \u201cHear what the unrighteous judge said; [7] now<\/sup>, will not God bring about justice for His elect\u201d His chosen, \u201cwho cry to Him day and night,]<\/sup>and will He delay long over them?\u201d\u00a0 And I like how this concludes, [8]\u00a0\u201c<\/sup>I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly.\u201d\u00a0 And look at this last little expression here, \u201cHowever, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?\u201d\n\nIn other words, when it\u2019s the time in history for God to honor and to make good on the prayer requests will the person that began to pray initially, will they still be in prayer?\u00a0 Will they still be in faith, or will they have given over to fatigue and faint and unbelief?\u00a0 When the Son of Man comes will He find faith on the earth.\u00a0 And if this judge, who didn\u2019t respect God or man, honored consistent petitions how much more will God, whose character is perfect, honor the consistent petitions in the lives of His children?\u00a0 Jesus, in Matthew 7 spoke of if your son asks for a fish you\u2019re not going to give him a rock are you?\u201d\u00a0 [Matthew 7:11] \u201cIf you, then, being evil know how to bless your children how much more does your heavenly Father know how to bless His children.\u201d\u00a0 How much more does He know how to honor the petitions of His children?\u00a0 [Matthew 7:7] \u201cAsk and it will be given to you; seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be opened to you.\u201d\u00a0 You know what that actually says in the Greek, Matthew 7:7-11, if you translate that?\u00a0 It says: \u201cAsk and keep on asking.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cSeek and keep on seeking.\u201d\u00a0 Knock and keep on knocking.\u201d\n\nAre you one of these Christians that ask and you\u2019re done?\u00a0 You sought once or twice and you\u2019re done? Are you one of these that is not giving themselves to prayer but is losing heart? We\u2019re reminded here we shouldn\u2019t be that way.\u00a0 The very martyrs under the altar itself, crying out to the judgment of God on their enemies and what their enemies have done to them in terms of bringing forth martyrdom, they didn\u2019t receive an immediate answer to their prayer requests either.\n\nBut oh my goodness, you get here towards the end of the chronology of the Book of Revelation and suddenly God is answering that prayer request.\u00a0 But will He find faith on the earth when that prayer request is answered and God moves into swift judgment.\u00a0 So this third angel has power over fire, he is coming forth from the altar itself and he tells the second angel to also swing his sharp sickle over the earth because the great harvest of judgment has come.\n\nAnd we move away from the judge, Jesus, as the reaper accompanied by three angels to the judge.\u00a0 We\u2019ve already seen a description of this, haven\u2019t we?\u00a0 Where it talks about, I think it\u2019s at the end of verse 15, \u201cThe harvest of the earth is ripe.\u201d\u00a0 [Revelation 14:15, \u201cAnd another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, \u2018Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.\u2019\u201d]\n\nThe earth is ready for this type of judgment.\u00a0 And we get more of a description of this towards the end of verse 18.\u00a0 He says, \u201cPut in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.\u201d\u00a0 What is this unsaved, unregenerate, Christ-rejecting world analogized to here?\u00a0 Like \u201c\u2026the clusters from the vine of the earth\u2026 like overripe grapes.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 [Revelation 14:18, \u201cThen another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, \u2018Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe.\u2019\u201d]\n\nThink about this for a minute.\u00a0 What can you actually do with an overripe grape?\u00a0 Basically, nothing other than to crush it and prepare it as strong drink or wine.\u00a0 It\u2019s not good for anything else because it\u2019s gone that far and it\u2019s gone that long in the process and now it\u2019s ripe for these grapes analogized to the earth dwellers, for nothing else to happen other than to be crushed and for their blood to spill.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And the spilling of that blood is described, as we\u2019ll see in a moment, in verses 19 and 20.\u00a0 The earth is ready for judgment.\n\nYou know, I certainly don\u2019t claim any special insight on anything other than what God\u2019s Word says.\u00a0 But I have to be completely honest with you, I look at the state of the world today and I simply wonder how close we are to this time period, all of these anti-God things that are happening in the world and in culture\u2026 the heartbreaking thing for me is not so much to watch the world pass ungodly legislation.\u00a0 The state of New York, for example, guarantee\u00ading abortion up until the point of birth???? That\u2019s not even abortion anymore, that\u2019s infanticide.\u00a0 And then when the legislation is passed they light up the Empire State Building in technicolor, rainbow, as if they\u2019ve accomplished something great, and they\u2019re so gleeful, and celebratory about the whole thing?\u00a0 You know, you look at a situation like that and you wonder how far is the world from this ripe condition that\u2019s being spoken of in Revelation 14?\n\nLook at the war on kids, children.\u00a0 You know, when I graduated from high school the things that I went through don\u2019t even pale in comparison to the things the children are under today in the public school system.\u00a0 I mean, the whole repackaging of gender, to gender surrender?\u00a0 Other and total confusion everywhere you look?\u00a0 And you wonder how far away is the world from judgment.\u00a0 You know, Jesus is very clear, He said you cause one of these children to stumble it would be better for you if a millstone, in the Greco-Roman world a massive stone was put around your neck and you\u2019re thrown into the sea.\u00a0 It would be better for you if that happened to you than to persecute, accuse, abuse one of these little ones or these children.\n\nYou look at all of these things happening today, you look at all of this pedophile mania politicians traveling to an island to satisfy their sexual needs with young children, you look at the sex slave trafficking.\u00a0 You even look at things like nationwide movements.\u00a0 I thought this was just a local thing; this is nationwide now, where we\u2019re going to have story time in public libraries with kids and a transsexual is going to be leading the story to accommodate kids to that kind of lifestyle, how they\u2019re just blatantly targeting children?\u00a0 I have to say I wonder many times how close we are to the earth being so ripe that it\u2019s good for nothing, it\u2019s like overripe grapes, that are good for nothing other than to be crushed.\n\nI\u2019m reminded of Genesis 15:16 where God said to Abram, \u201cThen in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.\u201d\u00a0 You\u2019re going to go into captivity, Abraham, you and your lineage for four hundred years and that land of Canaan that you\u2019re going to conquer, there\u2019s a group of people in there called the Amorites and I\u2019m just going to let them have their way.\u00a0 You want to see what kind of debauchery those people were involved in?\u00a0 Read Leviticus 18 and Leviticus 20; it\u2019s stunning what they were doing.\u00a0 And God says four hundred years they get because their evil is not complete yet.\u00a0 But the day came where the wickedness of the Amorites had been made complete and God authorized General Joshua in the Book of Joshua to go into the land of Canaan and slaughter the Canaanites.\n\nPeople want to indict the character of God, how could God do that?\u00a0\u00a0 Look at the grace He gave us.\u00a0 First of all look at what the Amorites were doing, Leviticus 18, Leviticus 20.\u00a0 And look at the 400 years of grace God gave them.\u00a0 That\u2019s a long time, 400 years.\u00a0 Our country has only been around 243 years.\u00a0 Think of giving a people 400 years to repent and they don\u2019t do it.\u00a0 They\u2019re good for nothing other than to be ripe with judgment.\u00a0 Our youth group just got back from the ark exhibit, saw a live caricature of what Noah\u2019s ark probably looked like.\u00a0 I\u2019m reminded of Genesis 6:3 where God in that time period said, \u201cMy Spirit shall not strive with man forever for he is mortal; his days shall be 120 years.\u201d\u00a0 You get a120 years to do your thing and eventually you go so far in evil that you even exhaust the patience of God.\u00a0 And so you\u2019re good for nothing other than to have a great deluge brought upon the earth.\n\nThis is the type of storing up of wrath in the present age that the Apostle Paul spoke of in Romans 2:5, \u201cBut because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s like the imagery, it\u2019s sort of like water behind a damn because that damn and holding back water and the water gets so voluminous that the dam eventually breaks. That\u2019s what happens in Judges.\u00a0 The evil goes so far where God, if He doesn\u2019t do something, denies who He is.\u00a0 His holiness, so He brings in a Joshua or He brings in a global deluge or He brings in, as we\u2019re studying here, the events of the Book of Revelation.\u00a0 It\u2019s a stunning thing to think about.\n\nYou know, one of the sermons that launched, if I have my history right, the first great awakening in America was a sermon by Jonathan Edwards.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think that sermon could even be preached in most churches today.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think they would put it on Christian media, but you can find it online.\u00a0 It\u2019s called Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God<\/em>.\u00a0 In fact, the effect historically of that sermon was so powerful in terms of the repentance that it brought to early America.\u00a0 It scared Jonathan Edwards so badly that he put that at the bottom of his file drawer and never preached that again.\u00a0 And I\u2019m wondering if that\u2019s the kind of thing we need today.\u00a0 That kind of preaching, that kind of teaching because the earth is not getting any better and the earth is becoming ripe for the harvest of judgment that\u2019s right around the corner.\n\nAnd then finally, verses 19-20 we move away from the judge to the judgment itself.\u00a0 Now the way language functions is sometimes things are revealed figuratively; sometimes they\u2019re revealed literally.\u00a0 Figurative language, if you want a fancy name for that is called connotative language; literal language if you want a fancy name for that is called denotative language.\u00a0 That\u2019s how language works, sometimes you\u2019re speaking literally, sometimes you\u2019re using a figure of speech.\u00a0 The Bible was written in language, so it uses both.\u00a0 And as you look at the judgment itself you see it described figuratively, connotatively, verse 19, and then plainly or denotatively, verse20.\n\nAnd notice how this judgment is described as we move away from the judge and the judge to the judgment.\u00a0 Look at verses 19, \u201cSo the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them<\/em> into the great winepress of the wrath of God.\u201d\u00a0 What is this judgment harvest analogized to figuratively? \u00a0Basically, it\u2019s like clusters from a vine that aren\u2019t really good for anything.\u00a0 And then the dominant image is these overripe grapes.\u00a0 We said earlier these grapes become so ripe that they\u2019re not good for anything except to be crushed and to be used in wine.\u00a0 Sinners to be crushed like overripe grapes in a wine press.\u00a0 That\u2019s the divine description of what\u2019s coming.\u00a0 And when you look very carefully at verse 19, towards the very end of the verse it describes it as \u201cthe wrath of God.\u201d\u00a0 This is stomping or trampling these grapes in a wine press in Israel.\u00a0 While there I actually saw this happening.\u00a0 They have overripe grapes in a winepress and you tread it down and you walk around in bare feet in this winepress and it creates obviously liquid or moisture which can be used for wine.\n\nIsn\u2019t it interesting how there\u2019s always an emphasis on the feet of Jesus Christ in the Book of Revelation?\u00a0 You know, as we studied Revelation 1 and we looked at all the descriptions of Christ, His feet are described, \u201cburnished bronze\u201d I think is what it said, because that\u2019s what His feet are doing as He tramples down the inhabitants of the earth.\u00a0 [Revelation 1:15, \u201cHis feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters.\u201d]\n\nAnd the wrath of God finally comes.\u00a0 Now I don\u2019t know about you folks but I\u2019m not planning on being here for this.\u00a0 You say well here he goes again with his rapture stuff.\u00a0 Every week he tells us the rapture is coming.\u00a0 Well, here\u2019s the deal folks, one of these weeks I\u2019m going to be right.\u00a0 [Laughter] And there\u2019s a lot of people out there that will tune me out when I start talking about the rapture\u2026 I don\u2019t want to hear about the rapture, and I just say to them, don\u2019t worry about it we\u2019ll explain it to you on the way up.\u00a0 But it\u2019s very clear when you look at 1 Thessalonians, we don\u2019t have time to look at all the verses, 1:10, 5:9, Romans 5:9, Romans 8:1, Revelation 3:10, it\u2019s very clear that we are exempted from divine wrath.\n\n[1 Thessalonians 5:9, \u201cFor God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d\u00a0 Romans 5:9, \u201cMuch more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.\u201d\u00a0 Romans 8:1, \u201cTherefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 3:10, \u201cBecause you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.\u201d]\n\n1 Thessalonians 1:10 says, \u201cand to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.\u201d\u00a0 Are you glad about that?\u00a0 I mean, is\u00a0 your trajectory that\u00a0 you\u2019re trying to get the world to be better and better and that\u2019s where your hope is? [blank space on tape] and the stock market is going to bloom and they\u2019ve never had it so good and everything is going to turn around.\u00a0 Is that what you\u2019re looking to as a hope?\u00a0 That\u2019s not what I\u2019m looking for.\u00a0 I don\u2019t expect the world to get any better; I expect it to deteriorate, exactly what God says, morally, ethically.\u00a0 I\u2019m looking for His Son from heaven to rescue me from the wrath to come.\n\n[1 Thessalonians 5:9, \u201cFor God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d\u00a0 Romans 5:9, \u201cMuch more having been justified by His blood shall we be saved from the wrath of God through Him.\u201d\u00a0 Romans 8:1, \u201cFor there is now no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus.\u201d\u00a0 So when it says here in verse 19, the very end of the verse, \u201cthe wine press of the wrath of God\u201d there\u2019s no possible way for the church to be there during this time period.\n\n[19] So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from<\/em> the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. [20] And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses\u2019 bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles.\u201d]\n\nThat\u2019s not\u00a0 your future if you\u2019re \u201cin Christ.\u201d\u00a0 What is your future?\u00a0 Three R\u2019s, at the point of the Rapture you\u2019ll be resurrected.\u00a0 You\u2019ll be put in a glorified body.\u00a0 Did you wake up this morning with aches and pains?\u00a0 That day is almost over.\u00a0 Number two, you\u2019ll be in the reunion because you\u2019ll see the saints in the presence of the Lord coming down and there\u2019s a giant reunion in the sky.\u00a0 You say where are you getting all this from.\u00a0 It\u2019s all in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.\n\n[1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, \u201cBut we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.\u00a0[14] For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.\u00a0[15] \u00a0For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.\u00a0[16] For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of\u00a0the<\/em>\u00a0archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.\u00a0[17] Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.\u00a0 [18] Therefore comfort one another with these words.\u201d]\n\nReunion, resurrection, number three, reward.\u00a0 There\u2019s a judgment for you as a Christian, not to determine heaven or hell but to determine degrees of reward, potentiality for reward, crowns at the Bema Seat Judgment of Christ immediately following the rapture.\u00a0 That\u2019s your future.\u00a0 Not so the world; the world is about to be stamped out just like somebody destroying over ripe grapes in a wine press.\u00a0 And think of the liquid that flows from those over ripe grapes being crushed in that wine press.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why the figurative language is followed by the literal language of verse 20.\n\nNotice what verse 20 says, \u201cAnd the winepress was trodden outside the city,\u201d [Revelation 14:20] now I would think \u201cthe city\u201d here would be Jerusalem, \u201cand blood\u201d so aha, these grapes are analogized to the blood of those judged, \u201cblood came out from the wine press, up to the horse\u2019s bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 The blood is going to flow as high as the horse\u2019s bridles for two hundred miles.\u00a0\u00a0 Now this hasn\u2019t happened yet in the sequence of the Book of Revelation, it\u2019s a proleptic statement of the judgment that\u2019s coming at the end of the 70th<\/sup> week of Daniel.\n\nAnd I think Jesus is referring here to\u2026 John is referring here to Revelation 16:16 which says, \u201cAnd they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 19:17-19, \u201cThen I saw an angel standing in the sun and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, Go and assemble for the great supper of God,\u00a0 [18] so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.\u00a0 [19]\u00a0\u00a0 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.\u201d\n\nI mean, you want to talk about blood and death there\u2019s going to be so many corpses that the vultures are going to have a heyday feasting on the carnage.\u00a0 And boy, you wouldn\u2019t believe how allegorical the interpreters get here.\u00a0 I mean, as I was going through commentaries on this this week just trying to see how people handled this passage, I mean, what does this mean?\u00a0 Blood is going to flow as high as the horses\u2019 bridles for two hundred miles, you wouldn\u2019t believe the number of people tripping over themselves trying to explain to their readers that that text really doesn\u2019t mean what it says.\u00a0 It\u2019s allegorical, it\u2019s a hyperbole.\u00a0 Let me tell you something folks, exactly what it says is going to happen\u2026 EXACTLY!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Because we\u2019re no longer dealing with figurative language here. He\u2019s giving an actual number.\n\nCharles Ryrie, one of the few people in this business of Bible interpretation that I trust writes this in his study Bible.\u00a0 He says, \u201cApparently a reference to Armageddon when the blood from the slaughter will flow one hundred and eighty miles,\u201d now just to accommodate our international audience that\u2019s two hundred and ninety kilometers, \u201cto the depth of about 4.5 feet\u201d which would be 1.3 meters, and people say well there\u2019s not enough blood in human beings for that to happen.\u00a0 Well, have you factored in the blood of the horses, Trojan horses, Revelation 19.\u00a0 Ryrie says \u201cthe blood of horses added to that a large army of human soldiers could easily cause such an enormous river of blood.\u201d\n\nI think the reason people don\u2019t want to take it for what it says is they just don\u2019t think some\u00adthing like that can happen.\u00a0 I mean, the judgment couldn\u2019t be that bad, there\u2019s no way God could do some\u00adthing like this.\u00a0 Have you read the Book of Genesis lately?\u00a0 He\u2019s already done it; after 120 years of grace He brought a global deluge for the earth, according to Henry Morris and his commentary, could have been filled with as many people as we have on the earth today.\u00a0 All of the drowned except eight.\u00a0 Is there grace?\u00a0 Of course, there is.\u00a0 Is there love?\u00a0 Of course, there is, to a point.\u00a0 But you get to a point in your resistance against God where God just lets you have your own way, for judgment is something that can\u2019t be held back anymore.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Jonathan Edwards was saying in his sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God<\/em>.\n\nAnd you know, here\u2019s the great thing about it folks, you don\u2019t have to be a part of it.\u00a0 You DO NOT have to be a part of this judgment.\u00a0 In fact, the message of the gospel is an exemption from this judgment.\u00a0 You know, Noah is out there building this contraption for 120 years, think, of the ridicule he went through, when those people, Genesis 2:5, didn\u2019t even know what rain was because the best I can tell moisture came up from the ground and moisturized or watered everything.\u00a0 He\u2019s no doubt a preacher, he\u2019s called a preacher in 1 Peter; he\u2019s preaching of the coming judgment for a hundred and twenty years and you think of the ridicule that man went through.\n\nAnd this is ridiculous but as long as that ark was in existence it was a testimony of two things: judgment was coming but there was a way of escape.\u00a0 Those are the two messages that the ark sent that pre-diluvium world.\u00a0 The oldest living man in the Bible is Methuselah.\u00a0 Do you know what Methuselah means?\u00a0 In Hebrew \u201cwhen he dies it shall come.\u201d\u00a0 God attached coming judgment to the length of the man in the Bible that\u2019s lived the longest.\u00a0 He even lived longer than Adam.\u00a0 Adam lived 930 years; Methuselah lived 969 years.\u00a0 That shows you the grace and the forbearance of God.\n\nBut one of these days Methuselah died and the judgment came.\u00a0 And so the ark is what I would say like the cross in the sense that number one, both are made of wood.\u00a0 Number two, the cross communicates the same two things: judgment is inevitable, God cannot look the other way at a Christ-rejecting world!\u00a0 That\u2019s why He punished His Son in our place.\u00a0 But number two, there is an escape.\u00a0 What\u2019s the escape?\u00a0 The escape is the gospel.\u00a0 It\u2019s the cross, it\u2019s the fact that Jesus stepped out of eternity into time to bear the penalty for our sins that we couldn\u2019t pay back.\u00a0 And now He offers humanity the cross or the gospel as a gift!\n\nYou say well what have I got to do to receive it.\u00a0 Well what do you have to do to receive a gift?\u00a0 Let me give money to the church.\u00a0 That\u2019s not going to get you anywhere.\u00a0 Let me try to live a good life.\u00a0 That\u2019s not going to get you anywhere.\u00a0 Let me join the church.\u00a0 That\u2019s not going to get you anywhere.\u00a0 Let me develop myself to working harder.\u00a0 That\u2019s not going to get you anywhere either.\u00a0 In fact all of that is God looks at it as \u201cfilthy rags.\u201d\u00a0 Our righteous acts before Him are as filthy rags.\n\nIt\u2019s a gift, and according to Romans 4:5 there\u2019s only one way you can receive a gift from God and that\u2019s by faith.\u00a0 [Romans 4:5, \u201cBut to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,\u201d\u2019] Faith plus what?\u00a0 Faith plus NOTHING!\u00a0 You say well what does faith mean?\u00a0 Basically, what it means is dependence, reliance, confidence.\u00a0 So, you hear the gospel, you know that judgment is coming, and you place your confidence in what Jesus did for you on the cross 2,000 years ago to rectify this whole problem.\u00a0 And once you do that you\u2019re part of the body of Christ and should these things happen in our lifetime you\u2019re taken to heaven and you\u2019re completely out of the way before the wrath of God come.\u00a0 In fact, the wrath of God is not even something that\u2019s in your future at all.\n\nAnd so our exhortation to you here at Sugar Land Bible Church is to hear the pleading of the Holy Spirit as He convicts hearts and trust in what Jesus has done for you on the cross 2,000 years ago.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a matter of walking an aisle, joining a church, raising a hand, it\u2019s a matter of privacy between you and the Lord, where the Spirit convicts you of your need to do this and you respond the only way you can, by way of faith, trusting in Christ and Christ alone for the safekeeping of your soul.\u00a0 If it\u2019s something you need more explanation on I\u2019m available after the service to talk.\n\nSo, we have the judge, the judged and the judgment and guess what?\u00a0 We\u2019re finished with that long non-chronological parenthetical section and so the next time I\u2019m with you we\u2019ll be moving into the bowl judgments.\u00a0 So, in preparation for next week I would encourage you to read this week Revelation chapters 15 and 16.\u00a0 Shall we pray.\u00a0 Father, we\u2019re grateful for Your Word, we\u2019re grateful for Your truth, we\u2019re grateful for the [can't understand word] family and the wonderful dedication and we just pray that you\u2019ll be with us this week as we walk in grace and in the light of Your Word.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026 Amen.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t