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Sermon: The 144,000, The Eternal Gospel, & The Harvest (Rev. 14)
87 Plays4 months ago
In this sermon I break down all of Revelation chapter 14. I hope you enjoy it!
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Transcript
Introduction to Revelation 14
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey, thank you so much for tuning into the Office Theology podcast. I'm excited to share some sermons that I've preached with you. In this sermon, I break down who the 144,000 are, what is the eternal gospel by the three angels, and what does this harvest mean at the end. So I hope you are challenged and encouraged by this message today. We are tackling an entire chapter today because we know that Revelation is so light and easy, you just take it a chapter at a time. Just kidding. But also what we're doing. um I have titled today's sermon, 144,000 Three Angels.
00:00:44
Speaker
the harvest. Basically those are just the headers of the paragraphs in the Bible or in that section of scripture because if you have a better title, let me know. I'll set it
Hope Amidst Persecution
00:00:53
Speaker
up for third service. Okay. So let's just remember real quick that John is writing to the churches that are struggling as we saw in the letters to the seven churches at the beginning of Revelation. And John has just told these these churches in chapter 13 that Satan is gonna make war on them by using deceptive signs and initiate persecution. So now that John tells the embattled Christians in his audience that Satan will not have the last word, amen, come on.
00:01:26
Speaker
John will give assurance to the redeemed in this chapter, warn the wicked, and encourage the righteous. So with that being said, let's pray. We will read Revelation 14. Jesus, we love you. God, we thank you for the gift that it is to gather. Or maybe not take this time for granted and just using this to time as a time to check off the box of our day. But God, what we focused on you in all of this. So we say, Holy Spirit, come and have your way. This is not about me. It's not about us. It's not about true hope. It's about you, Jesus, being glorified and magnified in all that we do. We say this in your wonderful name and everybody said.
Vision of the Lamb and the 144,000
00:02:07
Speaker
Amen. Nice, welcome to 10 a.m. All right, here we go.
00:02:11
Speaker
Revelation 14, and then I look looked and behold on Mount Zion stood the lamb and with him the 144,000 who had his name on his on his father's name written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and the sound of a loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of a harpist playing their harps. And they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. We got that picture painted for us in Revelation 4 and 5. No one could learn that song except for the 144,000 who have been redeemed from the earth. It is these who have not defiled themselves with women for they are virgins. Before you get upset by that, we'll talk about it in a little bit.
00:02:57
Speaker
It is these who follow the Lamb wherever He goes, these have who have been redeemed from mankind for the firstfruits of God of the and the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless.
The Eternal Gospel and Judgment
00:03:10
Speaker
Then he says, and then I saw an angel fly directly overhead with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on the 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 the heaven, the earth, the sea, and the springs of water. Then enter angel number two.
00:03:38
Speaker
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. Then verse nine says, in another angel, a third followed them, saying with a loud voice, if anyone worships the beast in its image and receives the mark on his forehead or his hand, he will also drink the wine of God's wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the presence of the Lamb. I just got a glance at some of your faces while I was reading that, perfect.
00:04:20
Speaker
And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they will have no rest day or night. These are worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.
Endurance and Blessings for the Faithful
00:04:32
Speaker
Here is the call for endurance for the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, write this, blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Blessed indeed, says the spirit. that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.
Two Harvests: Righteous and Wicked
00:04:52
Speaker
Then verse 14, another scene.
00:04:55
Speaker
Then I looked and behold a white cloud seated on the cloud like the son of man with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. And another angel came out of the temple calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, said, put in your sickle and reap for the hour of to reap has come for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe. So he sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth and the earth was reaped. Verse 17, then another angel came out of the temple and he too had a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar and the altar who had authority over the fire. And he called it with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle. He said, put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth for its grapes are ripe. So the angel swung the sickle across from the vine of the earth. oh
00:05:48
Speaker
the earth and gathered the great harvest of the earth and threw it into the winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside of the city. Blood flowed from the winepress as high as a horse's bridle, and then for 1600 Stadia, which is 182 miles." When I first read this, I'm like, Ryan, what did I do to you?
00:06:13
Speaker
um There's a lot going on here, yeah? To be fair? If this is your first time in Europe, it's a perfect introduction.
00:06:24
Speaker
So we got to clarify a few things, right? That's fair to say. So let's just pull back the curtain a little bit. Let's explain some
Symbolism of the Lamb and the 144,000
00:06:32
Speaker
of this. The first, let's talk about the lamb and the 144,000. The lamb is Jesus, the standing slain lamb. We've talked about this throughout Revelation that's been established. The 144,000, this should sound familiar from chapter seven. This is the great multitude representing every nation, tribe, tongue, and language standing before the throne of the lamb. Let's unpack the second piece, the three angels.
Three Angelic Messengers
00:06:59
Speaker
Angels in the Greek means messengers. So they are messengers of the eternal gospel. And so is the church, us, God's chosen people, God's people.
00:07:11
Speaker
John says there are three angels proclaiming the, quote, eternal gospel. What does eternal mean? I don't know about you, but I don't know if I've ever really thought about that. What does eternal gospel mean? Because it's about eternity? Yes. Because it goes on for eternity? Yes. Because it's the the gospel is rooted and grounded in eternity? Absolutely. See, the gospel of Jesus is rooted and grounded in the character and the will of God. So you may be thinking after we read this passage, but hu How is this good news? Because I don't know about you. um When I present the gospel or share the gospel with someone, I don't take the approach of these three angels. Anybody take this approach? That's what I thought. But we'll get to that in a little bit and we'll walk through those.
00:07:59
Speaker
The third piece I wanna explain is the harvest of the earth.
Harvests: Salvation and Judgment
00:08:03
Speaker
So there's two harvests happening. Some scholars think that these these harvests are both judgment or they're both salvation. However, I tend to lean that the first harvest is of the righteous and the second harvest is the judgment of the wicked. We see this in the text because the first harvest it says seated on the cloud like the son of man, that that title should sound familiar, right? With the golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand, who is that? Jesus, when when you're in church, just Jesus is always the answer. So it's like, I don't know Jesus. You're right. He has come for the righteous, the ones who have done what the first angel said, right? Remember this, fear God, give him glory because the hour of judgment has come, worship him who made the heaven and the earth and the seas and the spring water. They have put their faith in Jesus. This first harvest of grain is Jesus collecting the righteous.
00:08:55
Speaker
And the second harvest, however, the angel comes to collect the grapes that are ripe for harvest. But what happens once the the grapes are collected? They get thrown into the wine press, which is the wrath of God. and these people are Because these people are the ones who have rejected God in coming off chapter 13. Remember this chapter in context of the greater the greater conversation. They have pledged their allegiance to the beast. They have chosen the beast over Jesus. So therefore, they are they have the judgment that was rightfully coming. So, as I said, a lot's happening in this chapter. There's some worship, always down with that, right? Come on, let's sing some songs to the Lord.
00:09:41
Speaker
Then we have some angels proclaiming the eternal gospel. There's a harvest of grain and grapes, and then there's blood flowing everywhere, just everywhere. You may be wondering, How on earth is this applicable to me today? How do I take Revelation 14 about the 144,000, the angels and the harvest, and how do I live this out? How do I challenge the way I live? And I'm so glad that you're asking all the same questions I asked the first time I read this, because we're gonna talk about it. These are some main observations from this text. The characteristics characteristics of the redeemed.
00:10:25
Speaker
John lays out ah some defining features of the redeemed.
Purity and Avoidance of Idolatry
00:10:31
Speaker
And so we're going to walk through those. The first is that they are not defiled. The first thing John says about them in verse 4, hey It is these who have not defiled themselves with women for they are virgins. The point here is that these people are not, they've never been married, nor is it that they are all men. This is a figurative description of the 144,000 as virgins, meaning this, they were pure. They did not defile themselves with the sexual immorality or the corruption that comes with idolatry. See,
00:11:10
Speaker
Look at the reference from verse eight. The wine of the passion of Babylon's sexual immorality. And notice how Babylon made all nations drink it. So the redeemed are the ones that refuse to give in to Babylon's deception and desires. they've They chose to say, no, I am not gonna be a part of that. They have remained pure. They have not defiled themselves with Babylon. So the redeemed refused to drink the wine of the sexual immorality that of Babylon's worldliness. We're not talking about a literal kingdom of Babylon. Babylon is a symbol symbol of world powers that refuse to submit to God. So the first description of 144,000 that they're pure in their devotion to God and they abstain from worldliness. You guys tracking? Okay.
00:12:01
Speaker
They did not commit spiritually ah spiritual adultery against him. They understood that no matter what the world has to offer, it does not fulfill. The world's offer of fulfillment does the opposite of what it's actually promising. It causes, it oppresses, it brings weight, it brings heaviness, it brings burden. And so the redeemed, the first characteristic which we can learn from is this, they realize that there is nothing the world has to offer that is better than being devoted to Jesus. So when we think about Revelation 14 is breaking down the redeemed, he lists these things to help us understand something and help the church that this was written to understand something. That the redeemed know that Jesus is far better than anything the world is trying to give us.
00:12:56
Speaker
The world can only give us imitations or knockoffs of the real thing and try to sell it as the real thing. But in Jesus, the redeem understand that I know how tempting that looks, but it is nothing compared to Jesus and of my life submitted and surrendered to Jesus.
Following Jesus and Preventing Idolatry
00:13:16
Speaker
The second characteristics of the redeemed is that they follow Jesus. His description in verse four says, it is those who follow the lamb wherever he goes. And we've established that the lamb is who? Jesus, we're doing an interaction right now. Jesus leads through his word. He's given clear commands to his people in the Bible, his voice. John 10 tells us that my sheep know my voice. How do we know the voice of Jesus is the written word of God.
00:13:50
Speaker
If you're curious, if you're ever wondering, man, I don't know how to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, let me just do a little sidebar for a second. The Spirit of God will never speak contrary to the Word of God. So of you if you have something that you think the Spirit of God is telling you but is not found in the proper context of Scripture, you may not have heard the Spirit, you may have just heard yourself. My bad, didn't mean to be that aggressive about it, but not sorry. But the reality is, and just a sidebar since I'm on it, we can make this say whatever we want. But the reality is we have to read it in the context it was written. Okay, I'm gonna stop there before i I go too far down that road. Okay, just a sidebar.
00:14:37
Speaker
You know what's the opposite of idolatry? Following Jesus. Because when your mind and your heart is so fixated on following the savior, there is no more room on the throne for anything else. You wanna know how to combat idolatry in your life, the things that you value over Jesus, put Jesus higher.
00:15:03
Speaker
Do you know what it looks like to keep from being deceived by the beast who looks like the lamb but talks like the dragon follow Jesus? The first two descriptions of the 144,000 show that they did not commit idolatry and the immorality that follows, that accompanies it. What they did was they, how they refrain from that was following Jesus above all else. And then point number three is they are redeemed.
Salvation Through Jesus' Work
00:15:33
Speaker
This third description says, these have been redeemed from mankind as the firstfruits for God and the Lamb. They did not redeem themselves.
00:15:44
Speaker
They did not secure their own salvation. They've been saved through the finished work of Jesus, not their work. Any victory that they have, that you have, that I have, comes from a trust and follow Jesus, not some sort of self-made victory. See, the redeemed have to understand this, that there is nothing within me to produce the victory that I need to be made right with the Father. There's nothing you can do to make yourself right with God. That only comes from a humble submission to the standing slain lamb. And that is a characteristic of the redeemed. They understand there's nothing outside of myself to produce what I need to be saved. And so it is found at the feet of Jesus. And so they are redeemed by his victory, by his efforts, not our own.
Truth vs. Deceit
00:16:40
Speaker
The next piece is that,
00:16:42
Speaker
They tell the truth. I always thought, I thought this was kind of funny to throw in there. Have you heard that old saying, tell the truth, shame the devil. Come on. That's where this came from probably.
00:16:54
Speaker
um In verse five, it says, in their mouth, no lie was found and they were blameless. We have to remember where this passage sits. It's just after chapter 13 where the false Trinity was established, the dragon, the beast and the false prophet, their entire strategy is deception. And so a a characteristic of the redeem is the opposite of operating like the beast and it's telling the truth. The redeemed tell the truth, but the dragon lies about who made the world and what it is for. They tell the truth, but the dragon lies about the useless death and the resurrection of the beast. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go back and listen to the sermon last week, chapter 13, that'll clarify some of this stuff. They tell the truth, but the dragon uses false prophets to deceive. Do you see what this means?
00:17:45
Speaker
It means they're redeemed, tell the truth about God, about who the Messiah is, how to be reconciled to God through faith in Jesus about why people need to be reconciled because we are all sinners, we are all fallen, and we are all broken, but there's one place we find victory.
Importance of Truth and Reconciliation
00:18:04
Speaker
And it's not within, it's focusing on Jesus. They tell the truth about where true revelation can be found in the written word of God that points to Jesus, where He is the one that redeems us. We do not redeem ourselves, but we tell the truth that there is no hope outside of Jesus. There's false presentation. There's there's things that appear they give hope. There are things that ah appear to bring joy, but they are nothing if they are not rooted in Jesus.
00:18:37
Speaker
I wonder how many of us chase the things that are mere mirages or or knockoffs of the true thing. We're often sold that if you live this certain way or buy this certain thing or have this type of status or have this specific achievement, then you will feel fulfilled and you'll feel successful and you'll feel purpose and you'll feel all these different things. But if those things do not come off the foundation of Jesus and who he is, they will find you will find out the strength that they really are and they are weak.
00:19:16
Speaker
See the redeemed tell the truth about who Jesus is, how to be reconciled to God, and why we have to be reconciled.
00:19:29
Speaker
May we learn some valuable characteristics from John about the 144,000. Now we get to this interesting spot where the angels proclaim something called the eternal gospel.
Worship and God's Majesty
00:19:42
Speaker
um
00:19:44
Speaker
The eternal gospel does a few things. The very first thing that it does according to the first angel is it provokes worship. I love that it starts here. This is what he says, fear God, give him glory, worship him who made everything.
00:20:04
Speaker
We are created by the creator for a relationship with the creator, right? We will not be who we were created to be until we fear God, give him glory and worship him. So I wanna unpack those three things for just a moment. What does it mean to fear God? This corresponds with that we have humility and lowliness and sensitivity of heart. The sheer majesty of God as well as his holiness, his justice, his power, his wrath cannot be approached in this cavalier, lackadaisical approach to him.
00:20:40
Speaker
It'd be insane to think that we can just stroll up to the creator of the universe and have this casual spirit about it. We're blind to think if we can do so without trembling, a good trembling. Now, what I'm not saying is like don't approach God. That's not what I'm saying through Jesus. We are able to do so because Jesus is God. But what I'm saying is don't lose how majestic and massive and powerful God is. And understanding how how powerful He is, the weight that comes with, oh my gosh, He's the creator of all things. That's the fear of God. It's recognizing how powerful He really is.
00:21:22
Speaker
The second thing we're instructed to do by the angels is to give God glory. This is to give Him the honor, the recognition, and the worship that He deserves. Now, just so you know, there is no way to make God more glorious than He already is. Just so you know. But what we can do is hold Him to the highest regard, giving Him the transcendent praise of which He alone is worthy. When we give Him glory, it's like, God, You are Magnificent, you are powerful, you are just, you are all of these things, and so I give you all the glory, I take none for myself. You alone are worth worthy of all praise.
00:22:06
Speaker
And so, then he instructs us to worship. And I think it was interesting, the sequence of of how he did that, why he said that. I love this definition of biblical worship. Listen, to worship something is to prize it above everything else and to honor it as the thing of highest importance and then to act accordingly.
00:22:33
Speaker
We might be really good at the first part of that. I will give you all the praise, God. I will give you all the words. I will give you, I love when you sing old hymns. Come on, I just get melty in tears. You know what I'm saying? Like, I will give you all the words, Jesus. But then the follow-up is, do those words lead to acting rightly? Does our worship, does our focus on how amazing God is change the way you live? Worship is not just a moment in service, although I do love singing together in collective, but worship is meant to be a lifestyle that follows you out the doors. And you bring that into every area and every context that you are in, that your entire life is an act of worship based upon the creator. I'm gonna act differently.
00:23:22
Speaker
I'm gonna think differently. I'm gonna process differently. I'm gonna interact in my business differently. I'm gonna interact with people differently because it's not according to my standard and worship wasn't left on Sunday morning for 30 minutes, but worship comes with me wherever I go. And so, does my informed view of God impact the way that I live? Does it change the way I view my spouse, how I treat my spouse, how I treat my friends? Does it change the way I parent? Does it change the way I interact with all people? If the answer is no to some of those, like for me, I have somewhere I'd say, no, if I'm really honest with you, say, Lord, convict me.
00:24:13
Speaker
Lord, don't let me get away with it.
00:24:20
Speaker
Because what we're missing out on is seeing the glory of God transform whatever situation you find yourself in. When we refuse to worship Him in every area of our life, we're refusing to bring God into the rightful place He belongs.
00:24:39
Speaker
The second, so from this, that definition of worship, is that how you view Jesus? Is He the prized above everything else in your life? Is He the highest importance that you have? Does the gospel provoke this type of worship in your heart, in your life, and all that you do? The second thing that the eternal gospel does, and this is my favorite, little rowdy, is defeats worldliness.
Eternal Gospel's Victory
00:25:13
Speaker
So Babylon clearly does not refer to the ancient city in the desert of Iraq. That city he had fallen centuries before John actually wrote this. Babylon has become some side of some kind of code word for humanity living in rebellion against God. For the biblical authors or any nation, for any nation or cities that reject the living God as the center of its life and its certains oh asserted its own way became a quote, a type of Babylon. But listen to the proclamation of second angel. It says fallen, fallen,
00:25:49
Speaker
That is a celebration that Jesus has defeated worldliness. Has the gospel defeated worldliness in your life? Or are there still areas that remain?
00:26:06
Speaker
The good news is this, that the gospel defeats the worldliness out there and in here. The gospel is strong enough to break us free from the brokenness of the world and perhaps even better, the brokenness that dwells within you. A lot of the time we want to, God, do something about the brokenness out there. Look how broken our world is, but how about we switch and say, look at the brokenness in here.
00:26:35
Speaker
God, you've defeated the brokenness in my life, the brokenness in my hearts. You've defeated the brokenness of these habits that I have. You are stronger than anything I bring to the table. But the question is, do you have this perspective for God defeated, the the god the brokenness for everybody else except for yourself? Sometimes we like to think that our sin is bigger than everybody else's, so therefore, Everybody else has freedom except for me. Are you jealous? Are you bitter? Are you resentful? Are you angry? Are you selfish? Are you lustful? Are you hostile? Are you divisive? Are you addicted and stuck in bondage? The eternal gospel has defeated those.
00:27:28
Speaker
The victory to any and all of those is found in Jesus. The standing slain lamb, not looking deeper within myself, but looking more intently at him. And the problem is, now we have a culture that that that pushes you, says, the answer is found deeper within yourself. That is opposite to the Christian faith. The answer is only ever found in looking more intently at Jesus. And what do we understand this? The eternal gospel is not just a good idea. It's not something that happened. It's something that happened, is happening and will happen. So in your life, where is worldliness still having rain?
00:28:17
Speaker
In your life, where is brokenness still allowed to win? And dare I say, where are you still choosing to partner with the brokenness of this world? I have good news. The eternal gospel is so much sweeter than whatever that is. But here's what can happen. If you're anything like me, I love comfort. Anybody else? yeah Give me a movie theater with a lazy boy. I don't want these new these old theaters where I don't have a recliner. like Get that out of here. But what happens is sometimes in our life, the brokenness that we have, we're familiar with and we equate familiarity with comfort, right?
00:29:04
Speaker
And when we're promised freedom, you're like, I want freedom from this, but I don't know what that freedom feels like. And that unknowing creates a discomfort where we'd rather sit in our brokenness, longing for freedom, instead of entering into the freedom that is uncomfortable because it costs you your life and because Jesus is now Lord. It's so... I beg you, I plead with you, whatever false sense of comfort you have in your brokenness, Jesus' way is better. It is far more fulfilling. It is far more worth it. Good Lord, I need to speed up.
00:29:48
Speaker
In him is where true freedom from brokenness, is where true freedom from the brokenness our lives lives. The third one is this, leaves you to your choices.
Freedom of Choice and Eternal Outcomes
00:30:00
Speaker
What? How is this the gospel? You may read the first two, like, okay, that makes sense. You know, he provokes worship, yes, gospel, yeah, yeah, yeah. He defeats willingness, come on somebody, that sounds great. Like, defeat all that worldliness out there and in here. But hold up, leaves you to your choices. It means that God takes us seriously and honors our choices. Worshiping the living God leads to one destiny and eternity. Worshiping the beast leads to another. If you don't like that statement, you got an issue with Revelation 14, so don't at me, all right? The angel is announcing the crisis of choice.
00:30:39
Speaker
Every day we get to choose this day whom we will serve. Whether we like it or not, we are faced with this all day, every day. We're either moving towards the kingdom of God or away, but never neutral. The enemy would love nothing more for you to believe that you can be neutral in your faith. I think Revelation has a letter to people like that, the lukewarm.
00:31:07
Speaker
You know, it's almost summertime, praise God, right? We in Spokane love summertime, but still come to church, okay? um Whenever I am like floating on just living my best life on the lake, if I wanna stay around a certain area, if I lay my head down for 15, 20 seconds, I drifted away from the area that I wanted to be. For me to stay in that area, I must anchor or put effort into stay where I'm at. See where I'm going with this. It's the same in our faith. If we think that I can just take a casual approach to my relationship and pursuit of Jesus and expect to have the fruit of a deeply rooted life in Jesus empowered by the Holy Spirit, that is not gonna happen just by casually hoping that it will happen.
00:32:00
Speaker
It comes from this place of pursuit into Jesus and this standing slain lamb and digging into the very word and the gift that the Bible is. Because if we want to stay connected to Jesus, we have to learn the voice of Jesus, we have to learn the voice of Jesus, we have to know the words of Jesus. And so, we are either moving towards the kingdom of God or away from the kingdom of God, never neutral. And the biggest lie I think we've been sold is that we can remain neutral and we cannot. we don't And we definitely don't see that modeled by Jesus, the disciples, or the narrative of scripture. We see what happens when people drift.
00:32:41
Speaker
C.S. Lewis says it this way in his book, The Great Divorce. There are only two kinds of people in the end. Those who say to God, thy will be done. And those whom God says in the end, thy will be done.
00:32:57
Speaker
You can get mad at him, he's dead. The reality is, you get to decide, you get to choose, but I would beg you and plead with you, do not remain neutral in your faith, in your pursuit of Jesus.
00:33:24
Speaker
Jesus, is worth so much more than that. Jesus is worth our entire pursuit. And I reflect upon my own life. I feel deeply convicted about the times, hundreds, hundreds of times that I've taken a neutral ah approach approach to Jesus.
00:33:56
Speaker
yeah
00:33:59
Speaker
And I'm like, man, why is that the case? It's because I've forgotten how great he really is.
00:34:06
Speaker
He is worth whatever pursuit. He's worth the the most pursuit. He's worth everything you have. Because in him is only is where you'll find the fulfillment we're all looking for. And this leads me to my last observation is, watch what you sow.
Sowing and Reaping: Spiritual Lessons
00:34:26
Speaker
The harvest at the end is a chapter pertains to people and their actions. The Bible has a strong tradition of people sowing and reaping or harvesting the fruit of their deeds. I wanna read Galatians 6 real quick, just part of it, not the whole chapter, don't worry. Do not be deceived for God is not mocked for whatever one sows that he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh
00:34:56
Speaker
will from the flesh reap corruption. But the one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life. So see, even this is a theme all throughout scripture. And even Paul's trying to write here is that what we sow, what we focus on and what we put into our life matters. Through elements of your life. that are in the condition that they are because of what you have sown into it. I know that feels a little, okay, guy, take it easy. Now I'm aware that there are things that happened to us, but that's not what I'm talking about in this moment. That's a whole different conversation. But let's use this example.
00:35:41
Speaker
If I continually neglect my marriage and my wife, and I speak harshly to her, I don't honor and love her, I don't treat her, and I just treat her overall poorly, what do you think the outcome of my marriage will be with that over time? Probably not a good, healthy one, right? Now let's flip that. What if I have been very intentional in my marriage, spoken life and kind words and honored and love her and treated her well? What do you think the outcome of that over time will be? A deeper, more meaningful relationship. Now let's transpose that real quick to our relationship with Jesus.
00:36:20
Speaker
Am I showing the commands and the things of God into my life? Am I creating disciplines and practices? And am I prioritizing his words and shaping life around his words or not? If we as Christians have the very answer, the world is looking for peace, love, fulfillment, and purpose. And that comes from a life that's fully surrendered to Jesus. Let our lives be the ones that are so full of the fruit of the Spirit as it says in Galatians 5. A life that produces good fruit is a life that's connected to the vine, John 15, or in this case, the lamb. So what's one thing that we could take away from Revelation 14? With unpacking the 144,000, the three angels and the harvest, it's this.
Call to Announce the Gospel
00:37:11
Speaker
is that we become a group of people who are so devoted to Jesus and have lives that reflect that devotion. And from that devotion, we do this main takeaway, which is this, we are to join the angels in announcing the gospel to a lost and wayward world. See, the reality is the gospel will always be preached in church. And if it's not, may that church repent and preach the gospel, right?
00:37:38
Speaker
But it's not, hey, I'll bring my friend to true hope, and maybe Brandon will cry, the spiritual piano will come out at the right time, and we'll just get him good, you know? That's how we'll get him. No. The reality is that you, you are a minister of reconciliation. that you are in the context that you are in on purpose with a purpose. So therefore you take the rich, beautiful relationship with Jesus and you bring that into whatever you do. You CPA, you car salesman, you whatever it is. You are a minister of reconciliation sent by God. So how about we join the angels?
00:38:24
Speaker
and proclaiming the gospel to a lost and wayward world where you have a reach where I never could. That's the call. Revelation 14 brings us to worship. Revelation 14 brings us to a place of realizing that Jesus is worth worshiping above all else. And we get to take part in proclaiming the gospel to a lost and a wayward world. So let's pray. Jesus, we love you. Thank you for who you are. We thank you for your grace and your love. And I pray that we continue to focus on you for all that we do.
00:38:59
Speaker
and that you form our habits, that you lead our life, and you convict us of where we are online with you, and we join you there. We say this in your name, amen.