Without Christ. Your sin is left. on you. you are dirty before God and to the point of you are going to be rejected. from eternal life.
The choice is left to you. You have a say-so in this matter. You had no say-so in being born into this world, but you have a say-so in being born again. God has given that. Thus the invitation.
Come, let us reason, though your sins be red as scarlet. I will make them white as snow. Hmm. This is Cross Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston. Ricky is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville.
Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the last book of the Bible, Revelation. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about cross-reference radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. And now hears Pastor Rick as he continues teaching through the 14th chapter of the book of Revelation. Two reapers are in this last paragraph in Revelation. But before we get to that, the Bible makes us face facts about God and his relationship to creation, which we b all belong to, and like it or not, and a lot of people don't like it.
Here in this section are his judgments, his no-joke judgments. The first one has to do with the people in the world. At the end of the tribulation period. The second one, the grapes of wrath, have to do with Armageddon. and they're they're in reverse order.
It is a statement, just in reversing that order, that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. And while it is about Israel, it's not all about Israel. And that will hopefully be touched on again. But some only want to hear from the preacher that which they approve of. wherever it comes from.
But what about what God approves? Does his opinion matter? Paul wrote to Timothy to preach it this way Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed Rightly dividing the word of truth. And we're not ashamed. None of what God says are we ashamed of.
When he says people are unholy, he means it, and we believe it. What about those who are unbelievers? What about those who claim to be believers but are shallow? There are too many of them.
Well, they will love God's truth or they will settle for something else which is a lie. What about those who come to a Bible study? And say, never mind about thy kingdom come, where's my daily bread? You see how that works? Bible study is not enough.
They're constantly in trouble in their lives. or they're just never filled with the Spirit because they put other things first. But when you put God first, regardless of how your life turns out, because remember, Christians have burned at the stake, they have been crucified, they have been hounded and hunted, and that will be until the end.
So evidently, there must be something more to this Christianity. than just our daily bread.
Well, it is that eternal relationship with Christ As for this chapter, We fast forward still. to the end of the end times. and it is illustrated by two who come to reap. And so let's look at verse fourteen. Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud one Like the Son of Man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
Well, that shickle sickle is sharp because he's prepared. and he's about to do work.
Now, when you read the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. You're always around multitudes. You get that feeling. There's always a crowd.
Well, when you come to Revelation, it's always spiritual, it's always symbolic, it's always supernatural. Those are the central things. And if you forget that, If you try to just read the Revelation without the other scriptures. And take it literally, you're not going to understand what's going on. You're going to miss the point, and that's what God is after: making points.
getting us to understand something, 'cause those points don't dull over time. Whereas literature does. And so we are in the presence of these spiritual things in this particular book. And the one on the cloud, like the Son of Man, is language drawn from Daniel chapter 7 and earlier chapters in Revelation. John said this when he wrote his gospel about Jesus.
and has given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man. That's Christ. the pure and holy God the Son, identifying with sinners. Because that's how the work got done. And had he not done that, he would not have allowed himself to be crucified for sinners.
He would have just wiped everybody out. Jesus repeatedly appears in Revelation Veiled in glory Because we're back to the symbolism, to the supernatural, to the spiritual. He doesn't come out in every moment and say, yeah, it's me, Christ. And that's why we're reading about the one that sits on the cloud, but we draw from the language of other scriptures and we can identify who this is. Knowledge of the scripture is necessary to understand prophecy, especially.
FUTURE PROPHESY Casual readers won't get far. You'll miss out.
So God, He has used a cloud to lead Israel through the wilderness The cloud shows up quite a few times in the scripture. God has indicated His presence with His people through a cloud. We called it the Shekinah, the presence. He descended in a cloud to speak with Moses in Exodus twenty four. He filled the temple with a cloud When Solomon, in the midst of dedicating the first Jewish Temple in First Kings chapter eight.
God withdrew his presence from the temple. In a cloud. In Ezekiel nine through ten. That's because Israel forfeited his presence. God is in the cloud.
He only He only marks his presence the way the scripture has it. in Daniel 7 verses 13 and 14. In the New Testament, now stay with me, you who are not familiar with scripture. I know I'm sounding like I'm speaking another language, but hang in there. The Spirit of God will make the points He needs to make to you.
The other stuff you'll have to catch up with, and it'll be worth it. if you run fast enough. In the New Testament, Jesus ascends. He goes to heaven in a cloud. This is Bible language.
and he returns in glory. In clouds. He's the one sitting on this cloud in verse 14. Mark, now I'm referring to Mark chapter 13. Then they will see the Son of Man.
There it is, identifying him again. Jesus is speaking, coming in the clouds. with great power and glory. And we'll be with him. Having on his head a golden crown, or Christ's crown, not the other angels.
We've covered three angels in the earlier part of this chapter.
Now we're getting three more. But Christ, of course, is the Central figure, he's not an angel. He is, of course, What? Self-begotten God the Son.
So he alone is Lord of the harvest, thus the crown. And it is not the diadem, it is the Stephanos, it is the wreath of the victor's crown, but it is gold. It makes this distinction between he and everybody else, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
Well, to remove the harvest. from the field.
Well metaphorically. is cutting from the earth. Those who are still alive when he returns.
Now, when I say cut from here, I don't mean killing them.
Some of them, yeah, some will pass on to judgment, and that'll be it. Not all.
So this section says that Two harvests are coming.
Now there's the grain harvest of the Jews, And there's the grape harvest. And these two are what's being spoken of here. Even though it's not stated specifically, the grain harvest. The other that's the significant one in connection to The grape harvest. The grain harvest.
here is performed by Christ when He returns verses fourteen through sixteen. May and June were the wheat harvest times in Israel. And it is speaking about Those who survive The gr his return. But then go through judgment. to see who's going to continue.
He will separate the wheat from the chaff. Harvesting includes separation. Thus the wheat which is desirable. From the weeds which are undesirable. This is judgment, because when he returns, there will survive those who have the mark of the beast and worship the beast, and they're not going to be permitted to go into the kingdom age.
Matthew 13 verse 20. Verse 30. Let both grow together. This is a parable Jesus taught. He said, In this parable, a man had sowed his field with wheat.
But an enemy came in while the man slept. And sowed on top of his wheat. Weeds. It was a mean and cruel and vicious thing to do. And so the servants come to the lord of the field and say, An enemy has done this.
Should we pick out the weeds? As it started, everything started sprouting up. And here's his response. And this of course speaks of the Lord at the end of the age. And also in the present age of the church, too.
Let both grow together until the harvest. And at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, First gather together the tares, that is the weeds, and the and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn. One goes into glory with the king. The other is burned in the fires of judgment. I don't have to use the hell word.
You should know what that means. Hell is not something we just use, and you know, what the hell are you doing?
Well, may you not find out. What? the hell Satan is doing. without having a response. And that response is Christ.
So. This Mm-hmm. Is Second, the second angel. In verses 17 through 20, he's delegated. He's a sign this grapes of wrath kind of event, this judgment that's going to come at Armageddon, and it's going to be gory.
The grapes were July and September, so the wheat harvest came first, the grapes came second, according to the Jewish calendar, but Christ first puts the world in front of this presentation. out of sequence, that's my point. The grape harvest comes at Armageddon, then comes the grain harvest after. But it's not presented to us that way because Christ gets to the point about what happens to those when He returns. He's not unmindful.
He's not only mindful of Israel, He's mindful of sinners throughout the world. God so loved the world.
So that's why the sequence is not the way you would expect. But is not the Bible notorious? For a twist in the story. And if you, you know, you think, well, how come it's not outlined? And how come it's not clearly stated?
Because you would mess that up over a period of time.
So God did it this way, and be quiet and enjoy it and learn it like the rest of us. He doesn't say that. I didn't, but it's right. Because I said it. Anyway, verse fifteen.
I'm kidding if if if if you knew to me I I d I'm not arrogant on purpose. I try not to be arrogant by accidentally, as I think most of us do. Anyway, and another angel came out of the temple crying with a loud voice. to him who sat on the cloud. Thrust in your sickle.
and reap, for the time has come for you to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe. Why, this language is metaphor, it's symbolic. It tells more of the story than just a farmer reaping. And that's how you keep up with it.
So if I'm losing, you understand the language is talking about something greater. Then the first definitions that are given to us in now in our translation. There's a lot of angelic activity in this 14th chapter, this fast-forward thing in the scripture.
So, in addition to the angels mentioned, these are very active. There's never a picture of heaven. That's lonely. Every time we see heaven, it's angels and the seraphim, cherubim, the throne of God, a chorus, the elders. There's just no lonely place in heaven.
That that doesn't mean you can't go off by yourself and enjoy a cheeseburger. But overall, it's not lonely.
So at this time, as John references the temple in verse 15, well, the Jewish Temple is gone. It's been gone for three decades or more. The Romans destroyed it.
So, John is talking to an audience now dominated, the church is dominated by Gentiles, but they understand the Jewish temple because they've been reading their scriptures. And in the beginning they only had the Old Testament. Trust in your sickle and reap. For the time has come for you to reap.
Well, this is addressing Christ. And he's going to lunge forward into action, judgment. Mark's Gospel, chapter 4. But when the grain ripens Immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come. Kind of, if you grow tomatoes when they're ripe, you better get them before the squirrels do immediately.
Okay. Uh well, anyway, the angel here informs Christ. He's not subordinate to the angel. Don't don't miss the metaphor. Christ is not really sitting on a cloud.
I mean, there's a whole lot more to the story than the. than the the vision, the literal vision. But the angel informs Christ That, what is on his calendar is now here.
Now, this is language for us. Christ doesn't need a reminder. But he does need to tell us. that he's not unmindful. That there are forces at work in heaven that are hands-on events on earth.
For the harvest of earth is ripe.
So, like a good secretary, the angel confirms you have an appointment today. It's the harvest. First Corinthians fourteen, let all things be done decently and in order.
Well, I know a lot of Christians remember the part about the order and some don't.
Some Christians remember the decently without the order, and you we gotta have them both. decently and in order.
So again, the first harvest separates those who worshipped the beast. And love to do it so. and have his mark on him on them to prove it. This first grain harvest with the sharp sickle, Is God telling John to tell future people In the ages to come, that there will come a time when Christ returns and He will separate. The wheat from the chaff.
It's on his calendar. and heaven is involved in this. Because heaven is involved. in the Christ.
So who enters the millennial age?
Well Not those who worship the beast and had his mark, but there'll be a lot of people. who do enter into the millennial age, Well, the next harvest, as I've mentioned, I'm repeating it on purpose because if you're new to this, you need to have a little reminders sprinkled through. The next harvest coming is Uh doom. for the armies That have come against Israel in Israel.
So, and if you want further reading on that particular thing, and the prophet Joel, a short three-chapter prophecies of Joel. Very intense. In some ways, Joel saw more or further ahead than all the other prophets.
So, Joel chapter 3, verses 13 through 16, brings up this armageddon. thing long before John comes along. Verse 16.
So he who sat on on the cloud. Thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. In other words, it's going to happen. Not yet, hasn't happened yet. And true believers Uh before the removal of the true church uh they won't be here for this.
Wickedness was allowed to run a course And that course is now over. That's what's going on with this reaping and wickedness is ending. And the harvest indicates timing. You know, I've got some blueberries. They're not blue yet.
One was, and that's gone because I ate it. But it takes forever for them. You but if you use a little blue ink On them, you can speed it up.
Well, you just gotta wait. They're on their timetable. They're not influenced by you. And that's what the harvest means. There's a time when it's coming, it's a fixed time.
And these are things that are out of our control, but they're not out of God's control. They are scheduled. His judgments are sure.
So in Christ, If you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, if you've admitted you're a sinner and He is the cure, then your guilt from your sin is taken from you. Without Christ. Your sin is left. on you. You are dirty before God, and to the point of you are going to be rejected.
From eternal life. The choice is left to you. You have a say-so in this matter. You had no say so in being born into this world, but you have a say so in being born again. God has given that.
Thus the invitation. Come, let us reason, though your sins be red as scarlet. I will make them white as snow. Now if you follow doctrines of men, or a doctrine with the name of a man on it, then you're not going to agree with that. You're going to think that this is fatalistic and you'll end up in heaven or not.
Tough luck for you. I do not have that opinion, and I categorically reject that opinion, and I'm not going to name it. because I do too much. Anyway. But that gives me time in like a month or two, I can get back and start doing it again because you haven't heard me bash that particular doctrine.
Matthew chapter 3. John the Baptist speaking of Christ's coming. His winnowing fan is in his hand. And we don't use that word winnowing. You know, we just don't.
Boy, it's hot. I'm going to have to winnow. It's the separation that so they would harvest the wheat, they would. Have oxen with a little device attached to trample the wheat, and that's separated. The shell or the husk the chaff that's around the grain.
Well, how do you now get it out of that pile?
Well, you would toss it into the air on a higher elevation, like a little hill or something when the breeze was coming through, and it would do it for you. It would separate the wheat from the chaff. And so the Christ, that's what he's talking about. His winnowing fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clean out his threshing floor. And gather his wheat into the barn, but he will burn up the chaff with the unquenchable fire.
So it's repeating what is later said that I already quoted. But that's John saying this is what Christ is up to. There's a lot in between. You can get on that, you know, that you can either be the chaff or the wheat.
So, this is what we're studying.
Now we come to the angel, verse 17. Then another angel came out of the temple, which is in heaven. he also having a sharp sickle.
Well He's going to use that sickle to cut down the invading armies against Israel. Using the figure of the wine press for God's wrath. And in Scripture, that's common to associate. The s The crushing of grapes with blood. This is not new language.
Isaiah, Jeremiah, again in Revelation we come to it, but let's quote the prophet Joel. who is very clear about these things. He says Now Joel came. Oh, I don't know, seven hundred years before Christ At least. Not sure about exactly when he when he came.
But anyway, let the nations be weakened and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle. for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down, for the wine press is full, the vats overflow, for the wickedness is great.
So, we are not in an agrarian culture anymore. We live in suburbs and cities mostly. But in those days, everybody was familiar with. you know, uh the green acres. They understood these metaphors faster than we might until you become a student of the Bible, then you begin to understand them also.
When Jesus said to Paul, Paul's out trying to destroy Christians, arrest them, and persecute them, and Christ confronts him. and says it's hard for you to kick against the goads. And of course, it's an agrarian. Again, you have a herder of cattle, and he's got a goad to push along the oxen to get them to do what he wants. And so Jesus takes up that metaphor, and he says to Paul.
The herder has more control over you, you ox. You know, you can't kick against it and win. And the stick was long enough so that if they did kick, they couldn't reach. The goater.
So that was the language. That's nothing to do with Australia. Nothing. to do with our story directly, but indirectly it's beautiful.
Well, the Lord's reaping the world, the angel. Is reaping the enemies that have come against Israel because this is all end times. Israel is Satan's prized target to destroy it. We see it now, we've seen it all through history. He said, Why does everybody come against a Jew?
They have not invaded anybody, they haven't hurt anybody. Oh, you know, falsely called the Palestinians. They're the ones that are the invaders. And if you listen to the people that tell you otherwise, Well, there's a saying I like, if you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough. because there's a penalty.
For being dumb repeatedly, and we know that all of us, we learn in life. that it's better to avoid trouble. than to try to get out of trouble. This has been Cross Reference Radio with Pastor Rick Gaston. This program is a radio outreach of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville, in Mechanicsville, Virginia.
Pastor Rick has been teaching through the book of Revelation, but if you're interested in learning about a different book of the Bible, we have hundreds of past episodes available to listen to on demand. Just visit us online at crossreference radio.com and you'll find an archive of Pastor Rick's past teachings. While you're there, you can also find links to follow our program on your favorite podcast app, as well as links to get connected with us on Facebook and YouTube. There's also an interviews tab where you can learn more about Pastor Rick's heart for ministry.
Well, we hope you'll join us next time here on Cross Reference Radio. Hello. I didn't run up to the bottom of the city.
