Read the rest of it. Turn with me again to Revelation
14. I was thinking as Brother Scott
made that statement. He said, Is there no mercy? and the one that said they don't
deserve mercy. Well, there's not anybody in here this
evening that deserves it. This evening, I want us to look
at the last part of the harvest of this world. These last few verses starting
in verse 17 that we read this morning, and I'll read them again,
deals with the harvest of all that were found outside of the
Lord Jesus Christ. The only difference in these
and those that were harvested this morning was the grace of
God. It was that he chose in his infinite mercy to show compassion. Verse 17 says, 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 cry
to him, that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy 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." This gathering that is being
spoken of this evening deals with what the scripture refers
to as the clusters, the clusters or the wicked. the tares. They've been growing together
with the wheat, some within the very confines of the place where
the wheat are, some without. Those that grew with the wheat,
the Lord gave the parable this morning that the one that sowed
planted wheat, and the wicked one came and planted tares. But
there's been some that's been growing, as I said this morning,
with the wheat all this time. There were many that were thought
to be wheat, but in that day they'll be found out to not be. The one who knows the sheep from
the goats shall be the one to separate the great discerner
of the thoughts of men, the one who knows the heart, the one
that can take one and leave another just in an instant. On this earth, many of the tares
attended the same services with the wheat, heard the same messages,
sang the same songs. But according to this harvest,
they didn't believe the same thing. The reason that they are
different is because of the distinguishing grace of Almighty God. There's going to be some in that
day that's going to say, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in Thy name, and in Thy name have cast out devils, and Thy
name done many wonderful works? Then will I profess unto them,
I never knew you, in mercy, effectually. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. The scripture says, as we just
read, another angel, verse 17, came out of the temple, which
is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. Now, I have asked the Lord for
the message of this passage. I have sought His counsel And
I want to say on the outset of this message, there's a lot of
things that we don't know and can't know. And I honestly believe
any man that would say, I've got a complete and perfect understanding
of everything is foolish. We know in part There are some
things that the Lord has been pleased to conceal. Proverbs 25, 2 said it is the
glory of God. As I have told you before, think
when you see the word glory, the base of that word, remember,
is the opinion. It is the glory of God, the opinion
of God. To conceal a thing. It is good
in His sight. for some things to not be completely
understood. But the honor of kings is to
search out a matter. Men desire to search out, look
to search out. I truly, I desire to understand
what this passage says, but there's some things, brother Scott, I
just, I don't know. I look and I just honestly, I'll
ask Him, Lord, these are Your sheep. And I, as one of your
sheep, I ask you, would you teach me something? Would you show
me something of this passage? Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13,
9, Paul, the apostle, we know in part. We prophesy, we preach
in part. So knowing that there is much
that we see, and that we see through a glass darkly, We must
admit our frailty and ask the Lord to reveal to us what He
is pleased to reveal. There are some things that I
just don't know. But what I desire to do this
evening, as your pastor and as the servant of Almighty God,
as your servant, your servant, for Christ's sake, I ask us to
just consider these things very prayerfully and reverently because
we're speaking of that which is eternally so. We're going to look at some verses
right here where men and women, but for the grace of God, are
just like any of us. God Almighty will snatch you
in an instant and cast into ever lasting wrath. I know this, and
here's some of the things that I know, and we're just going
to look at a few of the things that I think that the Lord's
been pleased to reveal to me. Verses 15, 17, and 18 speak of,
as we looked at this morning, another angel. It's the same
word, another angel. It's the same word that, as we
said this morning, of the same sort, of the same nature, of
the same character, of the same position, of the same state. So I realize that whoever considers
these passages right here, consider this, it is one likened to Him
who sits upon the cloud. who has upon his head the golden
crown. So realizing that another speaks
of the same sort, then we realize that Jehovah Himself, the Lord,
the capital L-O-R-D, triune God, is in union concerning Himself
and with Himself in the harvest, the one with whom all men must
deal." This issue of the harvesting of God's elect and the judgment
of those that God has left to themselves is totally in the
hands of Almighty God. God does that which He is pleased
to do, so we are dealing with the Lord Himself. So as we see
that word, another angel, Remember, it's of the same sort. But though
there are some mysteries that are definitely shown here concerning
the harvest, I want us to look at just a few of the things that
I know that the Lord has been pleased to reveal. It says in
verse 17, there was another angel, that is of the same sort, that
came out of the temple. the temple. The word temple there,
it means the holiest, the reverenced, the shrine. There was a place
when the Levitical priesthood was here, was pictured on this
earth. And in that Levitical priesthood,
the high priest could go in to the holiest of all, the holy
of holies, one day a year. Aaron, or the high priest, would
go in more than one time in that day, but only on the day of atonement
could he go in, and not without blood. So here, when we see in
that 17th verse another angel came out of the temple, it's
speaking of the holiest, The shrine is what the word means. So we see here the character
of the one that comes out. The Lord Himself. And it says
that this another angel, which came out of the temple, which
was in heaven, He also having a sharp sickle. Now, we looked at the taking
of the sharp sickle this morning and the harvesting of God's elect.
But to what this sharp sickle refers exactly is not expressly
set forth, but Matthew 13, verse 41 gives what I think is a good
indication of what this sharp sickle is. It says in Matthew
13, verse 41, "...the Son of Man shall send forth His angels,
and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend
and them which do iniquity." So when we see the reference
to the sharp sickle, I know it's symbolic. I know it's a picture. It's a type. It's the means. So could this sharp sickle mean
the harvesting of the Lord God Himself by the means of His holy
angels. He said it was. So we look at
this sickle. What is this sickle? It's the
Lord's means of gathering. That's what it is. And the Scripture
says, and another angel, verse 18, came out from the altar which
had power over fire. and cried with a loud cry to
him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sickle,
and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes
are fully ripe." Another angel of the same sort. Someone would
say, well, why does the scripture say, another angel, another angel,
another angel? This is the explanation. This
is the way the Spirit of God wrote it. It pleased Him to write
it. But I do know that the Word is
interpreted of the same sort. And I truly believe it is setting
forth this truth, though I cannot figure exactly or see exactly. This is where, Brother Carl,
I don't know. But I can truthfully see It is
God Almighty, the Triune God, the One God in Heaven, Father,
Son, and Spirit, the Witness, it is One, and He in union, perfect
union with Himself is harvesting. Another angel came out, it says,
issued forth, proceeded from, And the place that another angel
came out of was from the altar. Now, here we find a word that
sets forth the place that reminds us of, that represents the sacrifice. So we behold the character. You remember in verse 17, another
angel came out of the temple, the divine, the holy God. Well, we see another part of
his character revealed here. This one says, one that came
out from the altar. So we're reminded of the one
who was sacrificed. The altar. The Lamb Himself. He came out from, it says, the
place, or it was the cause is what that word means. The place
where it says He came out from. that the Word is interpreted,
the cause. Why does He have the right to
do what He does? Because He's finished the work.
This is the obedient one. The Scripture says, speaking
of He came out from the altar, it says, Revelation 6-9, you
can turn back there where I read it to you. It says, When he had
opened the fifth seal, I saw, John says, under the altar the
souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the
testimony which they held. Now that was distinguishing words
that told something concerning the souls that were there. They
were under the altar. The altar was their covering. the blood, their hiding place. But here, this angel says, came
out from the altar. Do we not behold Him who is the
Lamb who has provided Himself? Where is the Lamb? Abraham and Isaac going up. You know, Isaac said, here is
the wood, here is the fire. Where is the Lamb? God will provide
Himself. So I'm telling you who is the
one that is involved with the harvest of the elect and the
wicked. I'll tell you who it is. It's
the one who comes out of the temple Himself, the holy place.
The one who comes from the altar. And this one also, In verse 18,
another angel came out from the altar which had power over fire. That is, when it says power,
it's the privilege, the freedom, the control, and the influence. That's what the word power means. He has the privilege of it, the
control of it. Over the fire, that is the distribution
of it. In Genesis 19, turn with me to
Genesis 19. Genesis 19. This is the account
of what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. Genesis 19, verse 23
to 25. Genesis 19, 23. The sun was risen upon the earth
when Lot entered into Zoar. Then the Lord, and again, look
at the way the Lord is written. Jehovah God, the triune God. God, the Lord, reigned upon Sodom
and upon Gomorrah, brimstone and fire from the Lord out of
heaven. Look at the next verse. It doesn't
say And they, you notice that? I can tell you, you look it up.
Capital L-O-R-D means the triune God, Jehovah God, Yahweh, God
Himself in the trinity of His being, Father, Son, and Spirit. And verse 25 says, And He, God
Himself, He, overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and
all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the
ground." Now, what I'm setting forth is the unity of the Lord
Himself. The unity. Revelation 14, 18
does say, another angel. It appears as though when we
see that it speaks of the One. And it gives an explanation from
Genesis 19 concerning the Lord being He, the one God. So when we see, and another angel
came out from the altar which had power over fire, who had
power over fire? The capital L-O-R-D. This is the reason I say that
we see through a glass darkly, but we do see that it is Almighty
God, the one God in the Trinity of His being, harvesting the
earth. Now, you remember when the Lord
Jesus Christ said, All power, in Matthew 28, 18, He said, All
power is given unto Me in heaven and earth. You remember that
statement? All power. But exactly what he
was speaking of concerning that verse is explained in John 17,
2 when he was praying to his Father, when he says, As thou
hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given him. He is the all-powerful,
Mediator in the redemption of His people. All power is given
unto Him to give eternal life to as many as the Father has
given Him. But you remember this, that does
not mean that the Father and the Spirit is powerless. He is the Almighty God, the Triune
God. So here this angel, The Scripture
sets forth another angel of the same sort, same character, same
position, had power over fire and he cried with a loud cry. That is a great notification
that none could resist to him that had the sharp sickle that
the time of judgment had fully come. Thrust in, he said. Dispatch
and send thy sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine
for the earth. Her grapes are fully ripe. The
wicked, those that shall be justly condemned forever. Ripe grapes
that are ready for the wine press. And now the end is revealed. and none shall resist him. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter
63. Isaiah 63 verses 1-6, Who is
this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Basra, this
that is glorious in his apparel? This is speaking of the Lord
Jesus Christ in Isaiah 63. Greatness is apparel. Traveling in the greatness of
His strength, I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine
apparel and thy garments, like him that treadeth in the wine-fat?
Listen to what he says, I have trodden the winepress alone,
that is, the winepress of God's wrath, for His own, those for
whom He died, those for whom He was the substitute. I have
trodden the winepress alone, and of the people there was none
with me, for I will tread them, though, in mine anger. and trample them in my fury,
and their blood shall be sprinkled for my garments. I shall stain
all my raiment, for the day of vengeance is in mine heart, the
year of my redeemed is come. And I looked, and there was none
to help, and I wondered that there was none to uphold. Therefore
mine own arm brought salvation unto me. In my fury it upheld
me, and I will tread down the people in my anger and make them
drunk in my fury. I will bring down their strength
to the earth." The Lord Himself. This is what I know. This is
all we know. Whenever Almighty God says, it's
over. The Lord Himself, God Himself,
in the Trinity of His being, God will harvest His elect and
God will gather the grapes of His wrath. That's what I know. Someone says, how do you figure?
I don't. That's what I've been trying
to say. I cannot tell you exactly. All I know is this, it is Almighty
God of whom we must deal. Verse 19, 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. The mighty God sends forth, I
know, the means of harvesting. And with divine distinction,
he who knows the sheep from the goats gathers them, that is,
unto His mercy, in His mercy, and He gathers the vine in His
wrath. That is, I looked up that word,
I wondered why it says, and He gathered the vine of the earth. The word vine there means the
coiling, the coiling. What man by nature does is he
wraps himself around all that which is failing. He wraps himself
within himself thinking, I have grounded myself, I've got a sure
foundation. He's wrapped himself around that
which shall surely be cast into the wine press itself. The coiling
plant wrapped itself around that which was fleeting. The scripture
says the angel thrust in a sickle into the earth and gathered the
vine of the earth and cast it into the great winepress of the
wrath of God. This symbol is used probably
to set forth the analogy of the tremendous pressure of his of
justice and judgment that shall be spewed out on the wicked and
the inescapable surety of His wrath. The wine press. If you've ever seen one, it's
not like the people that step on it. I'm not talking about
that. But it's a large vat and it's got a screw thing that presses
it down. It's just not going to escape. gathered them out and just cast
them into his winepress. And the Scripture says, and the
winepress, in verse 20, was trodden without the city. And blood came
out of the winepress even to the horses' bridles by the space
of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. I think every time
as I'm considering what shall surely be to all who are without
and found without the Lord Jesus Christ. And I go back to verse
13 of this chapter, I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write, Blessed
are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth, that they
may rest from their labors and their works but do follow them. Blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed
are those that die in the Lord, that are found in Him. But the
Scripture says the winepress was trodden without the city. That is the heavenly Jerusalem
that shall be the abode of God and His people. Everlastingly
prepared for His people. You know when the Lord Jesus
Christ was crucified on this earth. He was crucified, Scripture
says, without the city. Outside the city of Jerusalem. Now that was a picture. It was
a type of our redemption being apart from the works of law. He was crucified without the
city. But this wine press, the Scripture
says, was trodden without the city. That is to say, without
the city of God's grace, without the city of peace, without the
city of mercy, the heavenly city, New Jerusalem, the city that
Abraham spiritually looked for and all likened, the scripture
says, whose builder and maker was God. This winepress is a
new city, a new Jerusalem, a heavenly city. It's a picture of the church,
the bride in this winepress without the city. And as to the blood
that was coming out, it says the blood that came to the horses'
bridles by the space of 1,600 furlongs. Look that up. 200 miles
is what that is. 1,600 furlongs, 200 miles. And the only thing that I can
say, I could find nothing that I could truthfully set forth
as being that which explained perfectly, but I do know this,
based on what is happening right here. The wine press of God's
wrath trodden down without the city, the blood that comes out,
the great slaughter of God, justly, justly, justly, is that there
shall be, as if to say, a lake to the horses' bridles, two hundred
miles, just a tremendous, a visionary setting forth of the blood. all
that were found to be gathered in God's just wrath. He does that which is right.
He is a just God. And all of the blood of these
countless thousands, millions, or billions shall be shed And
in that shedding of that blood right there, in the wrath of
Almighty God, no appeasement whatsoever for their rebellion
shall be found. The blood shall flow and it will
be just and it will be right. But I want you to consider the
precious blood of Him who sits upon the cloud. The one, the
Scripture says, that came out from the altar. That one in whom
the Father was well pleased of all thieves that chose. He said just like that. They
said to themselves, I will not have this man rule over me. But you that believe, the mercy and grace of Almighty
God that would call you out of darkness, that set His affection
upon you, and gave you a new heart, gave you a new mind, wrote
His law on your heart, and broke you, and caused you to come to
Him, and caused you to say unto Him, Lord Jesus, have mercy on
me. Have mercy on me. All of the
blood that was shed right here would not put away one of their
sins. Not one. But Hebrews 10 and 12
says, but this man, this man. One man. One man. One man. After he had offered one sacrifice. One. For sins forever sat down
on the right hand of God. from henceforth expecting, till
his enemies be made his footstool." You who were enemies at one time,
in your mind, I like the way that's written, brother Scott,
it says you were enemies in your mind, not his, but in yours. There was a time, you know. We
could stop right here and say, The only reason that I would
ever escape the just harvest of the wicked is because you
chose to show mercy to me. Why would he choose me? The scriptures sets forth this
explanation and here it is. Write this down. I'll tell you
why. I'll tell you why. If you don't
get a pencil and pen, write this down so you can remember it.
Here it is. It pleased Him. It pleased Him. It pleased Him to do so. Why
would He set His affection upon me? He chose to. This is the
distinguishing grace of Almighty God. What do we have to glory
in save Jesus Christ? We want to glory. Let's glory in this. He said
it's affection. Oh, Lord, thank You. I think
I know just ever so slightly, when I see those that sit in
the 420 elders, and they fell down before Him, and they said,
Your Word. Your Word to receive all kinds Lord, thank You. Lord,
that You set Your affection on me. Lord, thank You that You
didn't leave me to myself. Thank You that You didn't look
at me and leave me alone in my rebellion, but just stopped,
just like He stopped old Saul of Tarsus on his way riding straight
to Damascus. Letters in his hand of authorities.
Take those who were of the way. Stopped him. Knocked him down.
Who are you? And the Lord is pleased to reveal
Himself. I'm Jesus that you're persecuting. Hard to kick against
the pricks. Lord have mercy on me. Here are
you coming.