Revelation: Part 8: One Side Cheers, the Other Side Wails

One Side Cheers, the Other Side Wails

Revelation 14-16

Matthew 5:3-11 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those
who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are
those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they
will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say
all kinds of evil against you because of me.”

Revelation 14:1-5 “Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with
him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a sound
from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like
that of harpists playing their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four
living creatures and the elders. No-one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed
from the earth. These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves
pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as
first fruits to God and the Lamb. No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.”

1. Follow the lamb because he can defeat the beast.
Revelation 14:6-11 “Then I saw another angel flying in mid-air, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim
to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. He said in a loud voice,
“Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the
heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.” A second angel followed and said, “Fallen! Fallen is
Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.” A third angel
followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his
mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been
poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of
the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest
day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his
name.”

A. For the beast worshipers there is no rest.

B. For the saints there is rest.
Revelation 14:12-13 “This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s
commandments and remain faithful to Jesus. Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write: Blessed are
the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for
their deeds will follow them.”

Revelation 14:14-16 “I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one
“like a son of man” with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Then another angel
came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle
and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” So he who was seated
on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.”

John 4:34-36 “Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me,
and from finishing his work. You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say,
wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages,
and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the
harvester alike!”

Matthew 13:28-30 “‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked. “ ‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the
wheat if you do. Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the
weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’”

Revelation 14:17-20 “Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.
Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who
had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine,
because its grapes are ripe.” The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw
them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and
blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.”

2. Praise God for His justice.
Revelation 15:1-4 “I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last
plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. And I saw what looked like a sea of glass

mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his
image and over the number of his name. They held harps given them by God and sang the song of
Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God
Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to
your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts
have been revealed.”

Psalm 94:1-3 “O LORD, the God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, let your glorious justice shine forth!
Arise, O Judge of the earth. Give the proud what they deserve. How long, O LORD? How long will the
wicked be allowed to gloat?”

3. The greater the love, the greater the wrath.
Revelation 16:1-14 and as I read this you need to keep one eye on the plagues of Exodus
because that’s where John has borrowed all of these images, “Then I heard a loud voice from the temple
saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.” The first angel
went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had
the mark of the beast and worshipped his image. The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and
it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died. The third angel poured
out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. Then I heard the angel in charge
of the waters say: “You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were, the Holy One, because
you have so judged; for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and you have given them
blood to drink as they deserve.” And I heard the altar respond: “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just
are your judgments.” The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to
scorch people with fire. They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who
had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him. The fifth angel poured out his
bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. Men gnawed their tongues
in agony and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent
of what they had done. The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water
was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like
frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of
the false prophet. They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings
of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.”

Revelation 16:15 “Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with
him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.”

Revelation 16:16-21 “Then they (The Unholy trinity) gathered the kings together to the place that in
Hebrew is called Armageddon. The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple
came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings,
peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been
on earth, so tremendous was the quake. The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations
collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his
wrath. Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. From the sky huge hailstones of
about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail,
because the plague was so terrible.”