Chapter fourteen in the book of Revelation today we did not finish the chapter the last week when we were together but we would like to begin reading at verse thirteen today and go on down through to the end of the chapter your lesson page is number twenty four and we shall quickly finish it and go into page fifteen and I'll say page twenty five in chapter fifteen but let me read the scripture beginning as we do now at verse thirteen of the fourteen chapter John writing and saying I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me write blessed are happy of the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth yea fest the spirit that they may rest from their labors and their works do follow them and then I looked and beheld a white cloud and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. 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 things, for the time rather 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, 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, cried with a loud cry to him that has a sharp sickle, saying, Thrust him by sharp sickle, 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 gather the vine of the earth, casted 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 under the horse's bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. May God bless the reading of his word. You will note on your lesson outline of page twenty-four, that within the fourteen chapters we noted last week, We have seven distinct things brought before us relative to what God will yet do during that time of the Great Tribulation and that which we have noted in chapter thirteen particularly during the period when the Satanic Trinity, the beast and the false prophet and the dragon will have sway over all the earth. May I add very carefully with emphasis. Please remember what the word of God teaches, that the world will become ultimately in its character and in its conduct and in all of its conditions under satanic authority and power as never before. And the whole earth will be manifesting the power of the satanic trinity, the dragon, the beast, the false prophet. Please may I emphasize it. I'm fully aware and deeply conscious, and I rebuke my own heart for it, that we who are Christians, we carry on from week to week, going about our business, meeting together as saints, enjoying the fellowship of fellow believers, carrying out what we believe is the word of God in the present scene. without the realization things around us are becoming worse. And that even in Christendom at large, in the professing church, there is declension and apostasy constantly increasing. But what we have noted in chapter fourteen, the evidences of what God will do in his grace, and as we come near the end of the chapter, in his judgment relative to the world. For may I be reminded with you with thanksgiving, even in the midst of judgment, God is merciful. I think it was the prophet of Bacchus that wrote, In judgment, remember mercy. In wrath, remember mercy. Now we are looking upon a chapter that shows The grace of God and the judgment of God. We come particularly to the fifth fact in our chapter that we have read in verse thirteen. Note the words very carefully. For John hears a voice from heaven saying, Right. Blessed are the happy of the dead, from which die in the Lord. From henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors and their works. Do follow them. May I point very briefly as you have on your lesson sheet, the happiness that will be the portion of those who will, in that day of the Great Tribulation and the remaining part of it, give their life for the Lord Jesus and the testimony of the Lord in that day. The blessedness of such, how good it is to realize they will be blessed Now may I give you the thought, and you've got a reference, I want you to turn with me to it, in Revelation chapter twenty. Those that die in the Lord in that day. And may I again emphasize the responsibility of God's dear children in that age, that period of the Great Tribulation is going to be great. Tremendous. They must be true to God. Either they must deny him, by worshiping the beast and his image and taking his name and his mark. Or they must give their lives. That will be the issue. And many will lay down their lives. Not all, but many will. Please may I say, it will be a question of either life or death. Life, as long as they live on the earth, if they worship the beast and obey him. Death. if they refuse. One wonders if we were to be put to that test today, what would we do? But that would be the issue. But in Revelation chapter twenty in verse four, we want to link this fourth verse with our reference in chapter fourteen. For here we find a reference to their coming resurrection. We have these words given. I saw thrones and this is the millennial theme. I saw thrones then they sat upon them and judgment was given unto them. And note, I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received the mark upon their forehead or in their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. Now, may I make a statement that it's very precious to my heart, It has blessed my soul, and I want you to take it in. These dead who die in the Lord at the end of the Great Tribulation, there'll be the last saints of God who ever will die in the body. Oh, yeah. There'll never be a saint of God that will be put to death following the close of the Great Tribulation. Oh, you say, why? Well, the Millennial Kingdom, please. Are the saints going to die? Those that die according to chapter sixty-five of Isaiah will be a sinner who rebels against the rule of the Lord, and in judgment they will be taken away. But did you ever read Isaiah thirty-three, twenty-four? The inhabitant in that day shall not say what? I'm sick. Goodbye hospitals and nurses. doctors, Medicare, and Social Security, too. Name anything. Believe me, I say, preach. No saint will die after the Great Tribulation. The saints in the millennial kingdom are going to live right through it. And as far as you and I are concerned, we know when we're in heaven above, we'll never die either. Death... will be destroyed for God's dear people. Hallelujah. You don't have to wait for eternity even. What a joy. No, I'm the John Wright. Blessed are the dead who died in the Lord. There's going to be the last ones from henceforth. Our precious. My. Makes you wish you were already there, doesn't it? In time. Well, we'll get there. We're not too far away. But what a joy to realize, even though spiritually it's true today, when God's dear people die, happy of the day. May I tell you that the souls that are in heaven, the saints that are in heaven, the more happy than you and I are. And joy in the presence of the Lord. In thy presence, whose fullness of joy at thy right hand are our pleasures forevermore, wrote the psalmist. So cheer up. If it gets worse, cheer up. That's fine. As the fact we said last week, somebody told us all of the cheer up. It could be worse. If it's cheered up, sure enough, it got worse. And sometimes it does. But listen, one thing, all that the world can do to you is take your life. They can never take your soul. Said Jesus, fear not them that can kill the body. but rather fear him that can kill both body and soul and cast into hellfire. And what joy to recognize, blessed are the dead, who die in the Lord. But please remember, they'll die in the Lord. Those that are not in the Lord will not be among that couple. And now go to the rest of the chapter. We have very briefly in the rest of the chapter two events that will take place. first in verse fourteen through sixteen the harvest of the earth is wheat and then as you go to verse seventeen through twenty we have the vine of the earth the vintage is just now they are they are certainly can they follow each other without question of doubt now may I also suggest to you what we have covered in this chapter has been anticipated it doesn't come in sequence But it's anticipating what will be completed by the end of the Great Tribulation when the Lord Jesus will come back again to the earth. And what we have covered shows those events in anticipation what will happen. Now we come to what God is going to do with the earth and to the earth. And the first thing is, as you read it, it is the harvest of the earth. Will you please note something? I'm sure. It is necessary to realize the inference. Please may I note with you in verse fifteen. Another angel came out of the temple crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud. Trust in thy sickle and reap. For the time has come for thee to reap. For the harvest of the earth is right. And O What a solemn statement this is. Note on your lesson sheet. The reaper is Christ himself who sits upon the cloud of judgment. And when he returns to judge all the earth, as we read in these verses, and the character of his judgment. Now please note as we read on in that paragraph, and then we'll look at the scriptures carefully. The character of his judgment, it will be a discriminating judgment. and a complete judgment. No person will be missed. The harvest of His divine judgment will reach every living human being. Now here are three major scriptures. I do want to cover them, if I can, very briefly, relative to the harvest of the earth. So go back into your Old Testament of the prophecy of Joel. The prophecy of Joel, one of the minor prophets, as you follow Daniel, Jose, Joel, Amos comes next. But in the prophecy of Joel, let me read with you chapter three very quickly, as we read from verse nine and go down through verse seventeen. For this is a prophetic word. This also has reference to the end time of which we are studying. In the prophecy of Joel, it is very definite that God, by the Holy Spirit, through His servant, Joel writes of the same event. Please note these words. We'll just read them quickly. Verse nine, Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles, meaning the nations, prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up, beat your plowshares into sores and your pruning book hooks into spears, let the weak say I'm strong. Assemble yourselves and come all ye heathen, O nations. Gather yourselves together round about. Till the cause thine mighty ones to come down, O Lord, let the heathen be awakened. Come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there will I sit to judge all the nations round about. Now note the contrast or the comparison, similar comparison with the book of Revelation. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, get you down, for the press is full, the fast overflows, for their wickedness is great. Now please know what Joel says. It is a harvest of the earth because of the wickedness of the earth. Remember the words of Galatians six, whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. It can be paraphrased, whatsoever a nation soweth. That shall it also reap. It can also be said, whatsoever the world or the earth soweth in wickedness is going to reap. Please, may I say, don't be alarmed over the wickedness of the earth today that God will keep forever silent about it. He will not. There's a harvest coming. And beloved, may I say very sincerely and earnestly, that harvest must be very near. As I listen, as I read, and as I observe, and you also may, the conditions of this world are becoming worse than worse morally and spiritually. It is bound to be a harvest. There's an individual harvest for every man, woman, boy and girl, according to what their life is. And it's going to be the same for every nation. And it's going to be the sex. And on this occasion, in our study, it's the whole world of nations. the harvest of the earth. Put in thy sickle. Please, may I say, it's not just the Middle East. Get a worldwide vision of it. The whole world is going to be the seed of the harvest. Let me read on. As you go to verse fourteen, multitudes, multitudes in the valley of division. For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of division. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withhold their shining. And the Lord also shall roar out of Zion, utter his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shall shake. But the Lord still will be the hope of his people and the strength of the children of Israel. Ye shall, so shall ye know that I am the Lord, your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Then shall Jerusalem be holy. There shall no strangers pass through him anymore. Do you recall at the beginning of our chapter in fourteen of Revelation, where were we? We had the vision of the victorious company of believers out of that great tribulation. Where? Mount Zion. in fellowship with the Messiah when he takes his throne. And in that day there will be the reaping of the whole earth. But go to the next scripture please. It's very interesting in Matthew thirteen. Matthew chapter thirteen. We have the same event. Now you can recognize the meaning of the sickle and recognize the individual character of the judgment that no individual will indeed be spared. and the harvest of the earth will certainly be given. Chapter thirteen, beginning to read, if I may, at verse thirty-six through forty-three. Listen to these words. Verse thirty-six. Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. His disciples came unto him, saying, Declared unto us the parable of the tares and the fields. He answered and said unto them, He that saw us a good seed is the son of man. The field is the world, the good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked one. The enemy that sold them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, or the end of the age properly rendered. And the reapers, now you see, now we come to those who will be doing the work. The Lord Jesus will be the executor of the judgment. The angels... We'll be carrying it out. Now let's read on. As we read verse forty, As therefore the tears are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this age. The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and no, they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing your teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the Son in the kingdom of their Father, whoever you see here, let him hear. Please, may I say again, I sometimes call these angels the HBI. They get their men. They get every ungodly person. Matthew twenty-five, you know it well, I'm sure we've touched upon it in the past. It's the judgment of the living nations. The final separation of the sheep and the goats, the godly from the ungodly. And in that day, the goats go into the everlasting fire, the sheep enter into the kingdom. The harvest of the earth. Oh, beloved me, I say, there's the question. What will that harvest be for the earth? I say lovingly, earnestly, the world doesn't realize it. And we who are Christians, neither do we realize it as we should, within our hearts what a burden it ought to give to us to pray for the salvation of the lost before it will be too late and seek to make the Christ of God known as Savior. The harvest is coming. Now when you go to chapter fourteen again in Revelation, let me follow with you the rest of it as you go and find what is called the vintage. And as you look in particularly in verse seventeen, another angel came out of the temple, which is in heaven. He too having a sharp sickle. And another angel came from the altar, which had power over fire. Cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Trust in thy sharp sickle. Gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for our grapes are fully ripe. Look at your lesson sheet, please, very briefly. It is the day of God's vengeance. All the godliness and the religious apostasy of earth will be judged from heaven. It will be the winepress of God's wrath, as we read from Joel, and you can find him in Isaiah too. And we can recognize what a day it will be. But may I point something out? Look at the end. And look at this expression at the end of verse eighteen. Near the end. Thrust in thy sharp sickle gather the clusters of the vine of the earth. Vine of the earth. The one proceeding was called the harvest of the earth. Now this is called the vine of the earth. Do you remember the Lord Jesus in John fifteen said, I am the true vine? For Israel was supposed to be a vine that brought forth fruit for Jehovah, but did not. And God judged these earthly people because of their untruthfulness. And now God looks at, in this judgment, He looks at the whole earth, and He lightens it in the judgment, in that day of judgment, when He will visit, particularly in a very in a very specific place, not all over the earth, but in a very specific place in the realm of Judea and Israel, the vine of the earth. This is what the earth has produced. Very, very personally and bluntly say, the wickedness of the earth will be rotten, ripe, so polluted. In its rottenness, there's nothing but judgment to put in the winepress of God's wrath. The unbelieving and the nations of that coming day. But let's read on, please. I want you to note, please, as you go to verse nineteen. The angel thrust in his sickle into the earth and then gathered the vine of the earth, cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. Then link verse twenty with it. And the wine press, where was it? Proud and without the city. The city can be nothing but Jerusalem. Without the city. Blood came out of the wine press, even under the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand six hundred furlongs. If you turn to your lesson sheet for just a moment, note under letter C, on the last number, on the seventh article, On the letter C we have a reference. The city mentioned is Jerusalem. The environment of this judgment will be the land of Israel. It is Armageddon. May I again repeat what we've said previously. The chapter, the events in the chapter are all anticipated. Anticipating what God will do. And here we come in anticipation to the judgment and the battle of Armageddon. go with me to chapter sixteen very briefly we'd like to connect it together for it refers exactly to what is to happen as John writes of it particularly in chapter sixteen and verse fourteen through sixteen the words of the prophet John writing to say note these words in chapter sixteen John writing to say for they are well I should begin maybe at verse thirteen I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, out of the mouth of the false prophet. We shall touch upon it in detail. But here we can recognize the satanic trinity is judicially used. You know God uses the devil quite often. And God will use them, and God will use the beast, and God will use the prophet to bring about the judgment of the nations as they gather together around Jerusalem and the land of Israel. But read on as we go to the next verse. They are the spirits of demons working miracles which go forth under the kings of the earth, now note, and of the whole world. to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief, blessed is he that washes and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon. Go back to our chapter in chapter fourteen. I want you to connect the Armageddon, the gathering of the armies of the earth. with chapter fourteen in verse nineteen. The angel thrust in his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth and cast it into the great wine press of the wrath of God. May I point out very definitely my deep conviction, God is going to have the representation of the nations brought. If you go back to the prophecy of Joel, you'll find that God says through in that chapter of Joel, I have a controversy with the nations. And that controversy with the nations is what they have done to my earthly people. And God is going to bring the nations together, gather them together in one place. Let me give you this thought. Go with me if you please. If I remember it right, the book of Numbers. The Book of Numbers, if you please. It's probably in the thirty-fifth chapter, I believe, of the Book of Numbers in verse thirty-three. I hope my memory's right. The Book of Numbers chapter thirty-five, and I believe it is, the last verse of chapter thirty-five. Verse thirty-three. Now let me give a little explanation of the context. The context of this chapter has to do with the land of Israel in the early days of the nation, when God appointed six cities of refuge where anyone who unfortunately, without premeditation, accidentally slew a person, they could go. and be there in safety and stay there until the high priest died and they would be free. Now God put those cities of refuge there, but he made that he had a divine principle. Can't you please note in verse thirty three. So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are, for blood it defileth the land, and it will not be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it. Now please may I state, in such days as we now live, when capital punishment is averted, it is absolutely unscriptural to do so. Here is God's decree. Whoever shed man's blood by him, his blood must be shed. It's God's demand of justice. Now here you've got a principle. The blood defiles the land. And the land cannot be cleansed, except by the blood of him that defiled it. Now why does God at the end time gather all the nations around Jerusalem? The land of Israel. Now you'll be with me for just a moment. Now you think with me for just a moment. The precious blood of his dear son was shed by the nations outside Jerusalem. Defiled. Frankly, they murdered the son of God. Peter accused his own people in chapter three of the Mosaic. You murdered that holy one. His blood stained the earth. And God says, the land of Israel can never be cleansed from that defilement, except by the blood of those who share it. And God's going to get every nation. For all the nations are guilty of it. And it's going to be the vintage. Not just around Jerusalem only, but the whole land. One can recognize. You don't get all the honors of the world. to gather around the city of Jerusalem alone. They could not do it. But in the environment of that place, they will be drawn. Please, please may I say, it's a most remarkable principle. I never heard anyone preach about it. One dear old brother, many, fifty, almost fifty years ago, we were talking together. He pointed this out to me, and I never forgot it. And beloved, think of it. Think of it. Think not only of the harvest, think of the vintage. The harvest covers the whole earth. The vintage, the land of Israel. Now go to the last verse in our chapter of Revelation. The wine press was trodden without and about the city, and blood came out of the wine press. even unto the horse's bridles by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlong, which is approximately two hundred miles, which is the length of the land of Israel running north and south. Then may I say very solemnly, you can take the blood to the horse's bridles figuratively if you wish, but I do believe it expresses an enormous amount of bloodshed. that has never been known before. Who's doing it? God, God in Israel, bringing the vine of the earth into the winepress of Israel, crushing their grapes and blood flowing to cleanse the land of Israel. Beloved, I say very frankly, and I say it humbly, And I say it sadly, how little we take in the meaning of it, the awfulness of it. Oh, beloved, very frankly, we wind our lives day by day. Sometimes it may seem a burdensome task through the day, or it may be a happy one, as the case may be, but how little we realize The world is on the brink of the harvest and of the village. Now these are just seven things in our chapter that God says I'm going to do. And you find the mess carried out in what follows. Now let's go to verse chapter sixteen please and get on your next lesson page. Page twenty-five. Go on in chapter fifteen. We find some other things that are going to take place. Introducing us to the seven vials of God's wrath. in that coming day. And we have the last seven plagues. And John says, I saw another sign in heaven. Great and marvelous. Seven angels having the seven last plagues. For in them is filled up the wrath of God. Here again. May I state again? What we have before us. It will take place. during that closing period of the Great Tribulation in the visitation of the wrath of God. And if you will note carefully too, let me read the paragraph on your lesson sheet first of all. In chapter fifteen and sixteen we have the seven last plagues which are the final outpouring of God's wrath on the apostate earth, particularly focused on the portion under the domination of the satanic trinity. which we saw in chapter thirteen and verse one let me refer to that the seven angels and the seven last plagues this is another sign in heaven three signs are given to us in the first first in chapter twelve verse one the second sign chapter twelve and verse three and now in chapter fifteen and verse one is the third the first sign as we saw in chapter twelve related to Israel the second one related to the dragon the instigator of the last day evil, and the third relates to the political apostate power that blasphemes God and persecutes his saints. But before God mentions the judgment, know with me verses two through four, he gives us the joy of seeing the victorious martyrs think. I saw, as it were, a sea of glass mingled with fire. Then that had gotten the victory over the beast, over his image, over his mark, over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the hearts of God. They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous of thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true, are thy ways thou king of saints, better ended, king of nations. Who shall not fear thee? O Lord, and glorify thy name, for thou only art holy, for all nations shall come and worship before thee, and for thy judgments are made manifest. Look at your lesson sheet. See something regarding these saints that are given in the vision. And let me please say again, it's lovely of God. It's not a consecutive thing, but it's a parenthetical revelation, that God gives us the joy of realizing and knowing. Thous of those awful days shall come a victorious company of saints to his honor and glory. Know first of all on your lesson, chief, this victorious company. Their place of glory is in heaven. They're on the sea of glass. And the fire indicates that they have come through the great tribulation. You can remember chapter four of the book of the Revelation when we first entered into heaven with the saints of God raptured. There was a sea of glass, but there was no fire. It was not mingled with fire. But the expression indicates these things. They've come through the Great Tribulation. And then they are victorious. They won the victory over the beast, regardless of their martyrdom and death. They won the victory over the beast. Yes, he slew them. My beloved, what a joy to know. God doesn't say he slew them. God says they won the victory. They all became him. Go to chapter twelve, please. Go back to chapter twelve. Note these words that we have been in chapter twelve, if you don't mind. Verse fifty-eleven. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death. They were overcomers. They were victorious. Oh, beloved one, a joy. What a joy to know. The saints are on the victory side. They're on the victory side. Oh, the blessedness of realizing. Through our Lord Jesus, we have been brought into the victory that is in Christ. But may I say lovingly, earnestly, as I think of these dear saints. And once again I will be reminding you the not saints of the church. May I give a little explanation that I feel is timely. I don't know how many of you have a Schofield Bible. But I commend that Bible to you for its studying. For Brother Schofield, that's certainly done something that has been so commendable for the help of God's children who studied the Word of God. He has emphasized what must be emphasized if we're going to understand, particularly the prophetic scriptures. He has emphasized the dispensations of scripture. I think the best definition that ever was written, he wrote it regarding a dispensation. Let me quote it. A dispensation is a period of time in which God deals in a particular way with the human race. Now, let me repeat it. A dispensation is a period of time in which God deals in a particular way with the human race. And he names them seven of them all through the history of the human race, from Genesis through Revelation. And you and I can recognize, as we look at these saints in Revelation chapter fifteen, they're not saints of the church. The church has been raptured. And in chapter four and five, we saw it in heaven. These are the saints of the Great Tribulation period. Now, I give you this thought. If we fail to realize and understand the dispensations of Scripture, we'll not understand the Bible right. Can I give you this fact? I listen sometimes to some of my fellow labors on the radio, and I recognize they're not according to Scripture sometimes, and realize they don't know the dispensations of the Bible. Let me give you a keyword. Why you should. Second Timothy chapter two, verse fifteen. Study to show thyself approved unto God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing. the word of truth, lightly dividing the word of truth. Now go on in our chapter and note regarding these faiths and see that they're not of any other period of time. They possess instruments of praise, as we noted in verse two, and then note their song particularly in verse three. Their song is the song of Moses, the servant of God, and also it's the song of the Lamb. the song of redemption. Now, beloved, you and I can sing the song of the Lamb. We're going to in chapter five we saw it. For thou art worthy, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us unto God by thy blood. And we shall sing worthy as the Lamb that was slain. But you can't sing the song of Moses. You don't belong to Moses. Not only that, What was Moses' song? You've got it in Exodus chapter fifteen. You can look at it sometime. It's a convenience. It's when God delivered them out of Egypt. Cross the Red Sea and destroyed all their enemies. Then Israel sang. In fact, it's the first song we call it in the Bible. Then Israel sang the song of the Jehovah. The song of those they've tasted deliverance. Not from Pharaoh, but the deliverance from who? The dragon, the beast, the false prophet. Oh, beloved, I want to tell you something. That satanic trinity is going to be a lot worse than Pharaoh ever won. The beast of the last day, the antichrist of the last day, and the whole satanic trinity will be far worse in character, in conduct, as Pharaoh ever won in Egypt. and these saints will sing the song of Moses. Jehovah is the man of war. And sing his praises for his deliverance for them and to them. And then you go to verse three and four. Please note in verse three and four, as they sing this song, they say, Great, marvelous of thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true of thy ways. Thou, King of nations. May I tell you again, the following translation is the word nation. Just and true of thy ways, O kingdom nation, what you're doing to the nations they say is right. Oh, beloved, can I say it again? Oh, my. What a mess the nations are in. Our own included, sorry to say. And may I be reminded that our own nation will not be excluded from these judgments. that are coming upon all the earth. And morally and spiritually, one can recognize we're deserving it. But here's the song of the redeemed in heaven who come through it just to truly our ways, Lord God Almighty, thou king of the nation. Now, go to this floor. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord? Glorify thy name. Thou only are holy. Now do you see why God's going to do it? He's the holy God. How God is a consuming fire, wrote the Hebrew writer in chapter twelve at the end. And now we can realize the holiness of God must take ultimate vengeance upon the wickedness of the earth. For all nations shall come and worship before thee, for thy judgments are made, Namathas. Oh, beloved, may I please state again, the nations that are indeed on the verge of the coming judgment of God. But now, let's go quickly on. I want you to go to the end of the chapter. For here at the end of the chapter we find the angels are given the authority to pour out their vials as we shall see them. The seven angels, after that I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. Seven angels came, these seven angels, particularly appointed, out of the temple, having the seven plagues. Note they are clothed in pure and white linen, so indicative of the holiness and the purity of God whom they represent. They have on their breasts they are girded with golden girdle. Their breasts girded with golden girdles. Remember in chapter, go back chapter one please. Go back with me to chapter one please. Let's see the vision of the Lord Jesus that John writes in chapter one regarding his judicial character as the judge of the earth. In chapter one remember these words of the Lord Jesus that John writes and says regarding His character. Verse thirteen. In the midst of the seven lampstands works love one like unto the son of man, clothed with the garment down to the foot, and gird about the breast with a golden girdle. Why that? Beloved, may I say this, the girdle around the breast suggests there can be no mercy. It's too late. There can be no showing of love. It's too late. Love and mercy is restrained. It's a time of judgment. Now go to chapters sixteen, fifteen rather. And in chapter fifteen, the very angels that are going to pour out the seven last plagues, they are so closed and around the breast with a golden girdle. And one of the four living creatures gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God. who liveth forever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power. No man was able to enter into the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. Note your lesson sheet very briefly. Under item number three we'll go quickly down the item. First the temple is in heaven. Note the angels come from the temple. They do not come from the throne. If the temple is the source of the final judgment, and this symbolizes the solemn fact that these seven angels with their judgment come from the immediate presence of a holy God, and they confirm His holiness. Next, purity and divine righteousness also characterize the angels who were commissioned in verse six. As we have read, and noted their clothes in pure and white linen and so on. And then third, they are given golden vial full of the wrath of God. And again, the righteousness of God indicated by the golden vial. The righteousness of God's judicial actions are indicated. They note the three successive steps of action. First, the angels are commissioned and they are equipped In verse six in the sanctuary. Second, the angels received the golden vials, full of God's fury in verse seven. And then, as we come to chapter sixteen in verse one, then they are commanded to do their work. Let me read verse one of chapter sixteen before closing. I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth. And may we not say in closing as you read your lesson sheet at the end, the glory of God in judgment is manifested, not in blessing, but in judgment. And it is the smoke of the... Look at verse eight, please, the chapter fifteen. The temple was filled with the smoke from the glory of God. Strange expression, isn't it? Smoke from the glory of God. And one can recognize how indicative it is of the glory of God in judgment, and then the impossibility of any intermission, any intercession. No man was able to enter the temple, so the plagues were all poured out. But, beloved, can I say lovingly, in that, well, let me say this, by way of illustration. Remember before God destroyed Solomon Gomorrah, and you read chapter eighteen of the book of Genesis, when God spoke with Abraham about the destruction of the city. What did Abraham do? He pled. He pleaded with God. And God led him all the way down to spare it if there was fifty, forty, thirty, twenty, ten in the city that were righteous. God permitted him to please. So he did not spare the city because there were not that number where Abraham stopped in his petition. But when it comes to the final wrath of God, nobody's going to be able to pray and ask God to preach. Don't do it. Too late. Too late. No one's going to do any praying until it's all over. Have you not had many people say to you, Pray for me. I have. You have, I know. Think of a moment when no prayer can be made for this world until the judgment's finished. Oh, what a day of wrath that will be. Oh, that God would write upon us what the judgments indicate, the holiness of his character and of his Blessed being, shall we pray? Oh, blessed Father, we tremble. We must tremble. The amazing fact that there will be in that coming day, the whole world visited by thy wrath. Oh, how we thank you for what the Lord said. He that believeth on the sun hath everlasting light. He that, but he that believeth not the sun shall not see light, but the wrath of God abideth on him. We're so glad that we who are thy children can say, Thank God, there is no judgment. There is no wrath for me. The fire and the torment mine eyes shall never see. We bless thee, Lord. We pray that what we have studied this morning will sanctify to our souls in greater appreciation and appropriation what Christ is and what He's done for us. Lord Jesus, we thank You for what You did to save us from the coming wrath. And so we listen to the words of thy servant Paul as we close. As he exhorted and declared that the Thessalonian believers how they turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. And to wait for his son from heaven. Even Jesus, our deliverer, from the coming wrath. Father, we're thankful. We'll never be visited by thy wrath. Hallelujah. All because of thy lovely son. and what he did to save us at Calvary. May our hearts rise in appreciation and say, Thank you, Lord, for saving our souls in his own precious and worthy name. Amen. Thank you for coming. Sometimes I wonder if I should ever say I enjoyed this. It's solemn.