Turn with me to the book of Revelation
chapter 14. Revelation chapter 14. It's been so good to be able to have
had the last couple of days to visit with my family, my daughter
and son-in-law, granddaughter. The greater blessing is knowing
that I can fellowship with them. as many of you in the Lord. Revelation 14. I'd like to just
read verses 15 to 20, but I plan to just speak really out of 15
and 16. But let's read these. Revelation
14, 15, And another angel came out of the temple, crying with
a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, thrust in thy sickle,
and reap, for the time is come for thee to reap, for the harvest
of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud
thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. And
another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he
also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from
the altar which had power over fire, And cried with a loud voice
to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle,
and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes
are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle
into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast
it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress
was trodden without the city. And blood came out of the winepress
even unto the horse bridles by the space of a thousand and six
hundred furlongs." In our last study, we considered the Lord
of the Harvest. And today, this morning, and
then, Lord willing, this evening, I would like to consider the
harvest of the Lord. Number one, last week, who was
doing the harvesting? And then today, who shall be
harvested? Now, from the verses that we've
just read, we come to the conclusion that there's going to be a harvest. There's going to be a harvest,
a reaping of this earth. You drive down the road and you
just, you know, you see farmers, you see where there's been some
crops that's been planted, and then they're gone. It's just
dirt, maybe just the rows out there. But there's been a harvest. Well, if we know that there's
going to be a harvest, then we would probably assume that there
was a planting prior to that and some thought went into the
planting. A farmer doesn't get up just
one morning just out of the blue and just say, you know, I think
today I'm just going to go out there. There's been some preparation.
Now this harvest that took place and the planting that took place
before is never considered as being done at the hands of any
man, only the Lord Jesus Christ. Only one. Matthew, Mark, and
Luke, all three of those men set forth a parable. And it was
the parable of a sower that sowed some seed. And the Lord in the
parable you know was talking about the seed being the Word
of God. Now that seed that fell in all
three of the accounts of that parable was told to have fallen
on different types or different kinds of ground. There was only
one ground that the Scripture sets forth. that the Word of
God reveals yielded any fruit, any fruit, let me say this, unto
the Lord, any fruit of His making, of His righteousness, only that
good ground. Now, this harvest that is being
spoken of in Revelation 14 is not a harvest that God is waiting
to see what will happen, what might happen. Hopefully, you
know, in the parable it said, and it yielded some thirtyfold,
some sixtyfold, some a hundredfold. We are not looking this morning
to go into the depth of that revelation, but I will tell you
this, Bob, whatever was produced was of the Lord. It wasn't that
some were more industrious than others and they were able by
their own, you know, industry. But Almighty God, performs exactly
what He's pleased to perform in His people. So this harvest
that's going to take place is something that Almighty God has
eternally known. The Scripture says that He knows
the end, the end of it, when? From the beginning. That's right.
He knows exactly what's going on. Now, let's just think. For
just a minute, like I said, I just want to look at two verses this
morning, but it's so important that we understand the two verses
that we're going to look at this morning is the harvest of God's
elect, God's people, God's blessed. This evening, we're going to
look at, as we read, you saw where there's going to be a harvest
of the wicked, and they're going to be cast into the winepress
of God's wrath. But this morning, I want to see
what does the Scripture set forth as far as the harvest, the reaping
of God's people. In Genesis, let me just read
this to you. Genesis, because there's quite
a few Scriptures that we're going to look at, and let me just read
this to you. In Genesis chapter 1 and in verse 26, the Lord God
Himself speaking with Himself said, Let us, God Himself, Father,
Son, and Spirit, let us make man. Now, we've dealt with this
before, but I want to go over this a moment so that you understand. When this reaping took place,
this was not something that just happened by evolution and mistake
or possibly. This is Almighty God does everything
on purpose. Everything. Brother Carl just
brought out, just a moment. Everything works, all these things. God said, let us make man in
our image. Now, you know, you get to thinking
about that. Let us make man in our image. The word make, as I've said before,
that word make is interpreted a point. or deal with. Let us make man in our image. Now, the Scripture says that
the Lord Jesus Christ is the express image of God. He is the image of God Himself,
the setting forth. The Lord Jesus Christ said, He
said, you see me, you've seen the Father. He's the image of
God. So when the Lord God Himself
said, let us make man, let us appoint man in our image, that
is to say, let's appoint every man, make man, appoint him and
deal with him in the Lord Jesus Christ, and this is the way we're
going to deal with every man. Now, I'm saying this as simply
as I know how. Turn over to Romans chapter 9,
and let me show you how Almighty God has determined that He's
going to make man in His image, in the person of the Lord Jesus.
How He's going to appoint them, how He's going to deal with them.
Every man, Romans 9, beginning in verse 15. Romans 9, 15. This is what He said. Now, this
is God speaking. He saith to Moses, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose
have I raised thee up that I might show my power in thee. and that
my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath
he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, why
doth he yet find fault?" Well, let me tell you what Paul is
saying there. Someone may say, well, then wait a minute. If
you're telling me that God said, and I'm telling you that He did,
If you're telling me that God said that He appoints one vessel
in mercy and He hardens another, well, then, what have I got to
do with it? Then it's not my fault. That's
what you're saying. You know, how can God find fault
with me when you're telling me that everything is in the hands
of Almighty God? For who hath resisted His will? And Paul, anticipating that question,
puts man right back in man's place. Nay, but, O man, who art
thou that replyest against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the
potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel
unto honor?" Now, you see that word make that we just read? Hath not the potter power over
the clay of the same lump?" Let us make man in our image. Let's make him. Let's consider
him and appoint him. "...Hath not the potter power
over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor
and another unto dishonor?" Now listen. Before the foundation
of the world, this is the One that we're dealing with. This
is the God of this Bible. Sovereign, Almighty, God, the
One that all men..." And let me tell you what will happen.
Either Almighty God will give a man or a woman a heart to hear
this and bow to it and love Him and cry out just like we just
sang, you know, pass me not, even me. Lord, when you're called,
call me. A believer will say, Lord, call me, because he's got
a heart, a new heart, a new mind, willing in the day of God's power
to call upon Him and say, Lord, have mercy on me. Or God will
leave a man to himself, and a man or a woman will hear this and
it will anger them. And they will say, that's not
fair. That's not fair. And if you die leaving this world,
blaming God, because God Almighty, you say, didn't choose me, therefore
it's God's fault. Almighty God, you'll be found
in the second harvest that we'll deal tonight. This is the God
of whom we deal. He's not a puppet. He's not one
that's moving at the whelm of man's free will so far, which
is not a free will. Man is a sinner and a rebel against
God. God said, Let us make man. So when this harvest takes place,
back in Revelation 14, there was a planting a long time ago. The Scripture says, God said,
Let us make a point man in our image. In verse 27 of Genesis
1 says, So God created he, male and female, in his own image
he created. That word created means he absolutely
qualified him to be cut down or to make fat. This is God. This is who He is. And as surely
as God made, appointed, created, that is, qualified man to cut
down or make fat, man, as surely as God has done that, God has
sown. He has appointed a time that
there is going to be a harvest. Ecclesiastes 3, 1 and 2 says,
to everything there is a season. A season, a time to every purpose
under the heaven, a time to be born, a time to die, a time to
plant, a time to pluck up that which is planted. God has purposed,
chosen, sown, watered, nurtured, fed, and He shall harvest. Well, back in Revelation 14,
in verse 15, the Scripture says, And another angel came out of
the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the
cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reaped. For the time is come
for thee to reap, for the harvest of the earth is right. All things
now are ready. God absolutely, His love for
mankind. John 3.16, God so loved the world. God so loved the order of man. As I've explained before, that
John 3.16 that so many foolishly try to use to say, you see, God
loves everybody. He loves the world. Well, if
they just pick up a concordance. Strong has got a great concordance.
Pick it up. The order of man. God loves the
order of man. And because Almighty God had
purposed that the order of man would not perish, and God being
just, If Almighty God had not loved the order of man, then
all men would have perished in the garden the moment man rebelled
against God. God who is just would have had
to have punished him, Brother Scott, had to. He is a just God. But because God so loved the
world, the order of man, He gave His only begotten Son, the substitute
for God's elect. the Lamb Himself. And whosoever
believes on Him shall not perish. Who are the whosoever? All that
God gives a heart to. All that God gives a new mind
to. So all of the sheep that are given to the Son, they're
going to come. The time has come. Another angel
came. But that's what he said. Now
that was a strange statement to me when I first read that.
And another angel. came out of the temple crying
with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud. Now let me
ask you something. Who was sitting on the cloud? Now we looked at
this last week. You know that that was the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's what the Scripture says.
Look, I look, verse 14, Behold a white cloud upon the cloud,
one set like unto the Son of Man, having on his head a golden
crown, and his hand of sharp sickles." So this Scripture says,
another angel came out of the temple and said to him that sat
on the cloud. Think about this. Think about
who this angel that came out of the temple is talking to.
He's talking to Christ Himself. But the key to the understanding
of that phrase, and another angel came out, is the word another. Another. The word, another, here,
is a word that means one of the same sort. In John 14, 16, here's
the word that is used. Same word, meaning one of the
same sort. John 14, 16, And I will pray
the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He
may abide with you forever. Another of the same sort. Now let me give you a scripture
that uses two words interpreted another and they mean different
things because there is another word that is interpreted another
and that word another means one of a different sort. It is either
one of the same sort or one of a different sort. In Romans 7.23. Here's that word. I'll give you
that Scripture in a minute. It uses both. Here's the word
that means a different sort. Romans 7.23, Paul says, But I
see another law, another law, one that is different from the
spirit of life, is what he says. I see another law. In my members
warring or attacking against the law of my mind, or that word
mind there means my understanding, New mind. Bringing me into captivity
or attempting to capture. God's people are not led captive
by the old flesh and it doesn't take over. He says, leading me
or bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in
my members. Paul said in another verse, verse
25 of Romans 7, he said, so then with the mind I myself serve. That is, I'm a slave to the law. I'm a slave to the law. He said, I serve the law of God,
but with the flesh, that is, the old human nature, I'm a slave
to the law of sin. I just back and forth, back and
forth. I see another, another law. Now that passage that I was going
to tell you about that contained both words interpreted another,
and they mean entirely A different thing. Galatians 1, 6 and 7,
Paul says, I marvel that you are so soon removed from him
that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel. That is, one of a different sort. He said, I marvel that you are
so soon removed unto another, which is a different sort. He
said, which is not another. That is, one of the same sort
that I preached to you. Two words interpreted, another,
that mean different things. So here in Revelation 14 it says,
another angel, this word another means of the same sort. Another angel came out of the
temple, the temple that in verse 17 that we will look at tonight
is out of the temple which is in heaven. Another of the same
sort came out crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the
cloud." Now, 1 Thessalonians 4 seems to give some light on
this great announcement. Turn to 1 Thessalonians 4, 16.
1 Thessalonians 4, 16. Here now,
he that sat on the cloud, one that had the golden crown on
his head, Another angel of the same sort came out of the temple
and said with a loud voice, 1 Thessalonians 4, 16, For the Lord himself shall
descend from heaven with a shout, with the shout of the archangel,
with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. So shall we
ever be with the Lord." So here the Scripture is setting forth
that the Lord, the Son of Man, who likened to the Son of Man,
Christ Himself, who sits on that white cloud of judgment, One
who has that golden crown on His head, He hears a command. Now look at the reading of it. Another angel. came out of the
temple crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud."
And this is what he said to him, thrust in your sickle. The time
has come. Now, as to the identity of the
one speaking to the Son of Man, I mean, that was interesting
to me. I mean, here's one that says comes out of a temple, another
angel, another of the same sort. and speaking to Him. And that's
the thought that went through my mind. Do you know who He's
talking to? Do you realize who He's talking
to? He's talking to the Christ Himself. The Son of Glory Himself. The God-Man. Now, thinking, who
is speaking to Him? I want you to consider this Scripture,
Mark 13.22, But of that day and that hour knoweth no man. No, not the angels which are
in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father." Now, this One that
spoke, Scripture says, was another angel, another of the same sort. It was One who knew that it was
time to reap. Now, I dare not speak but that
which the Scriptures set forth. And so, therefore, as I have
said unto you before, I speak very cautiously. I pray that
God give me some understanding, and you too, and that we perceive
that we are dealing with that which truly is over our heads
when it comes to understanding perfectly all things. But, surely, could this be but
the Father, the Angel of the Covenant." Now, I'm going to
read you something, and someone may say, yes, but it says another
angel came out. Well, turn with me to Judges
2.1. If you've got a Cambridge Bible, it's page 338. 338 is just before Joshua, Judges,
1 Samuel, if you see it. Judges chapter 2. Judges chapter 2. Let's look
at the first three verses. And an angel of the Lord, and
I looked up the literal interpretation of this, and the first three
words of this is, and the angel. The messenger. The angel. of
the Lord." Now, again, words must be looked at. As I've told
you before, look at the capital O, capital L, O, R, D, all capital
letters. That is Jehovah God speaking,
Father, Son, and Spirit. The angel of Jehovah Himself
came up from Gilgal to Bochum and said, I made you go up out
of Egypt and have brought you unto the land which I swear unto
your fathers. And I said, I will never break
my covenant with you, and you shall make no league with the
inhabitants of this land. You shall throw down their altars,
but you have not obeyed my voice. Why have you done this? Wherefore,
I also said, I will not drive them out from before you, but
they shall be as thorns in your sides. and their God shall be
a snare unto you." The point that I'm making is this. The
Scripture here reveals this. And the angel of Jehovah Himself
said, I made you. I made a covenant with you. Speaking
of Himself. So therefore, in Revelation 14,
when it says, and another angel of the same sort came out of
the temple crying, don't think it strange. because it uses the
word angel. And He said, thrust in thy sickle. Thrust in your sickle. Time is
right. Matthew 24, verse 44 says, Therefore
be ye also ready for in an hour that you think not, the Son of
Man cometh. Be ready. The angel of the same
sort, God Himself, The one who alone knows the time. And the
Scripture says, And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle
on the earth, and the earth was reaped. Now, what we're witnessing
here, as I said last week, we're seeing the surety. There's going
to be some things that's going to happen in the next few verses
that goes back prior to the harvesting of the earth. This Scripture
is written exactly the way the Spirit of God purposed to write
it. Therefore, we consider it exactly the way the Spirit of
God wrote it. And we say we know this for a
fact. Whatever comes after this, prior
to, always remember there is going to be a harvest. And Almighty
God is going to do exactly that which He is pleased to do. So
He cast in and gathered out. Matthew 13, verse 12 says, He
will gather His wheat. into the garner. But you know,
here it is, He's thrust in His sickle and the earth was reaped. But boy, until that time, we're
sitting here this morning and we realize that something is
happening that exactly is set forth in Matthew 13. Let's turn
back to Matthew. Matthew 13, 24. Until this time,
there's some wheat that's going to be harvested, but there's
some tares that's growing together with them. Matthew 13, verse
24, the Lord speaking another parable, Matthew 13, 24, He put
forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened
unto a man which sowed good seed in his field. Now, what did we
just read, consider just a while ago? He chose them, considered
them, He made them, created them in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the image. In time, they're born into this
world. He that throws the seed, sows
the seed on the good ground, they're going to come forth.
Fruit's going to be produced because God's going to do it.
But He said here, The kingdom of heaven, like unto a man, sowed
good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy
came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But
when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then
appeared the tares also. So the servant of the householder
came and said unto him, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed
in thy field? From whence then hath it tares? He said unto them,
An enemy hath done this. The servant said unto him, Wilt
thou then that we go and gather them up? He said, Nay, lest While
ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them,
let both grow together unto the harvest. And in the day of harvest
I will say to the reefers, gather ye together first the tares,
and bind them in bundles, and burn them, but gather the wheat
into My barn." Now, let me tell you what's happening right now
at this very moment. Almighty God has got a bride. in any given congregation where
God has been pleased to raise up a hearing. His people, His
wheat are there. He said there are tares there
too. Tares. They are sown there by the enemy. Now let me tell you who these
tares are. Remember, tares is that which appears to be wheat. It looks like wheat. It looks
a whole lot like wheat. These tares are not those that
are believing this false doctrine. You know, they're believing all
kinds of whatever freewillism and stuff like that. Oh, I know,
I know that they are the wicked. But these tares, remember, they're
sown among the wheat. They're sitting in there listening,
Neil, to what the wheat's listening to. Making the same profession
outwardly that the wheat's making. These tares are the professing
ones that have no heart for the gospel. These tares. There is no problem with me understanding
that someone that tells me, I believe that every man has a free will.
I believe that salvation itself is in baptism. I have no problem
understanding you know not the gospel. But when someone comes
up to me and they make a profession of believing doctrines of grace,
I believe five points, that's what I believe, then there's
a possibility that there could be something there. They're tares. These tares are sown among the
wheat. They're there. Those that claim
to believe free grace, And this Scripture says that those there
said, Lord, where did these tares come from? He said, the enemy's
done it. You want us to go tear them up?
He said, no. You leave them alone. Let them grow. He said, because
while you're going out pulling up what you believe are tares,
you may be pulling up wheat if it was left up to men. So they'd
mess it up. That's all they'd do. But the
Scripture says that here, The earth, the harvest in the last
part of verse 15, the harvest was ripe. It was dried. It was
ready. The elect have come to be ripe
for heaven by the mercy and grace of God. And the Lord is going
to harvest them. So He that sat on the cloud,
verse 16, He thrust in His sickle and the earth was reaped. Who? The Lord Himself. that shall gather His wheat."
The One in whom the wheat was chosen. The One who was made
flesh to be their representative before the law and their substitute
at Calvary, He is going to gather them. The One who was buried
and raised and now intercedes for them, He shall harvest them. In John 14, verse 1, He says,
I will receive you. unto Myself. I will receive you. I will associate with an intimate
act, is what He's saying. I will receive you. Whenever
the sheep are taken unto Himself, someone blessed of the dead that
die in the Lord. That's what we looked at in verse
13 Revelation 14, blessed are they whenever they die. Is there
any scripture that sets forth what happens? What happens when
a believer leaves this world? What happens? Turn with me to
Acts chapter 7. Acts chapter 7. Here is an account
written by the Spirit of God that talks about exactly what
happens when a believer left this world. Acts 7, verse 51. Stephen was speaking to some
that resisted. He said, You stiff-necked and
uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy
Ghost as your father did, so do ye. Which of the prophets
have not your fathers persecuted? They have slain them which showed
before of the coming of the just one, of whom ye have been now
the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by
the disposition of angels, and not kept it. When they heard
these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on
him with their teeth. But he being full of the Holy
Ghost, directed by," we looked at that, directed by, taught
by, the Spirit of God, looked up steadfastly into heaven and
saw the glory of God. And Jesus standing on the right
hand of God and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened and
the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud
voice and stopped their ears and ran upon Him with one accord
and cast Him out of the city and stoned Him And the witnesses
laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.
And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus,
receive my spirit. And he kneeled down and cried
with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he
fell asleep." Now, you know, if you want to know What happens
when a believer falls asleep in Christ? Well, according to
this scripture, Stephen said, I see the heavens opening. I
see the glory of God. I see one standing, the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Lord said, He said, I will
receive you unto myself, that where I am, There ye may be also. I will associate with an intimate
act." Our eyes are holding at this time that we should not
see. But there comes a time when before this great reaping of
all the earth, if a believer dies in the Lord, I can tell
you this, they will see Him. To be absent from this body is
to be present. The Scripture says, with the
Lord Himself, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Why? Because the Shepherd is going
to gather them. He that came out, another angel
came out of that temple. He said, thrust in thy sickle,
reap. He said, he that sat on the cloud, thrust in his sickle
on the earth, and the earth was reaped. And as the believer thinks
upon the blessedness of this harvest, which it shall surely
be." And think how joyful that the believer considers. The believer's
joy. We talk of being joyful in the
anticipation. What about his? What about his
joy? John 17.12, the high priestly
prayer of our blessed Lord. John 17.12, the Lord said, while
I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name, those
that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost but
the son of perdition, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled.
And now come I to thee, and these things I speak in the world,
that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves." Now he is speaking
of his joy, his delight. Truly, the joy that he has possessed
with the Father eternally will be fulfilled or filled up in
his people, that my joy might be fulfilled in them." Now you
think, another angel comes out, says,
thrust in your sickle. They're gone. Receives them unto
himself. The joy of the Lord. His strength. So the harvesting of this wheat
is the fulfillment truly of their joy, but especially His joy. His people shall enter into positionally
the place that He has held eternally, face to face, and this as the
direct result of His finished work. Every barrier has been
removed and now as the harvest takes place, He harvests His
own. He harvests them in perfect righteousness, in glory and mercy
and in compassion. He brings them to Himself. I
was thinking, you know, I know I can't. I know this is hypothetical. But you know, if I could, I got
kids, one with me today, got kids down in Virginia and some
in Franklin, grandchildren. And times that, you know, they'll,
you know, call up and, you know, Dad, I was thinking, you know,
what do you think about, you know, or you think it'd be possible
to Or as I've told you before, you know, could you make a phone
call? And boy, there's times that I think to myself, you know,
if I could just gather perfectly, gather, and I could just make
everything just okay. I could just make them where
they didn't have any problems anymore. I could just make them to have
perfect joy. Everything that opposed them,
I could eliminate it. Everything that resisted them,
I could dispel it. If I could perfectly maintain
them, have them with me, no tears, no sorrow, if I could just make
everything right, if I could, I would. But I can't. But he shall. He shall. Everything that opposes him,
everything, he's going to dispel it. At Calvary, he took everything
that resisted them. He took it to himself, Rose Scott,
and he triumphed over it. Everything that held them captive,
He took it and bore it and paid the debt being made sin for them. Put away all their debt. Gave them all of His people. Gives them a perfect righteousness.
Righteousness of Christ. God Almighty looks at them and
sees Him. God Almighty, who is well pleased
with His Son, is well pleased with all in His Son. And His joy shall be fulfilled. That's what Christ said. I pray
that my joy might be fulfilled. My joy might be fulfilled in
themselves. I pray that where I am, they
may be also. and they shall. There is coming
a time when He, another angel of the same sort, perfectly convinced
God Almighty Himself shall say, ìItís over. Itís time.î And the
reaping shall take place in the twinkling of an eye, in a moment,
and it will be over. shall bring his own to himself.
And Paul says, And so shall we ever be with the Lord. No more
tears. No more sorrow. No more sin. Perfect. Forever.