The Grim Reaper, Part 2

There's one thing that none of us can escape and that eventually catches up with us all. Death.

And there's no way to run. There's nowhere to hide. There's no way to escape the touch of the Grim Reaper.

Ladies and gentlemen, we happen to know what's on the other side of the wall. We know what's beyond death. It is the eternal state of either glory or tragedy.

Glory or tragedy. Those are the only two options facing each one of us when we die. Many people consider death to be a mysterious unknown. They either fear death, ignore death, or just consider death to simply be the end. The confusion only exists because they haven't read the Bible. God tells us what to expect at death and there are two options. And we're going to study what those are today.

This is Wisdom for the Heart with Stephen Davey. Stephen's in Revelation 15 with a message he's calling the Grim Reaper. These are the clouds of Shekinah glory that Daniel spoke of where a son of man, which is a reference to the Messiah, will return with the clouds of heaven.

Daniel 7 13. In other words, he's going to return one day to earth with a display of divine brilliance and splendor. Jesus Christ said of himself in Luke chapter 21, they shall see the Son of Man coming in the cloud of great glory. So picture in your mind this is brilliant light displayed to all speaking of the full and glorious deity of our Lord Christ. So here he comes, which by the way means we're there with him. This is your future you're reading. We're not just floating on some fluffy cloud. This is a reference to the fact that when we return with Christ instead of his kingdom, we're going to be surrounded by the brilliant light and incredible splendor of our sovereign's glory. We're in here.

This is our future experience. Now, you may have wondered, as I read, certainly struck my mind, why John would write a son of man instead of the Son of Man in verse 14. I believe it's more than likely to strengthen the connection of his statement with the prophecy of Daniel, where Daniel refers to a son of man, a messianic title. So John refers to him this way. In fact, there's no question in Daniel seven who this is, nor is there any question in Revelation chapter 14. John will also use the expression a son of man in chapter one of Revelation. And there's no question he's talking about the second person of the Godhead, our Lord, living Lord Jesus Christ.

In fact, notice the next phrase here in verse 14. We're told this son of man has a golden crown on his head. The crown is the Greek word is Stephanos. It was a crown given to conquerors, those who were victorious. It was given to athletes.

It was just a simple wreath. It would be given to those who were victorious soldiers. A general returning in victory would wear a Stephanos. Later on in chapter 19 of Revelation, that word will be changed from Stephanos to diadema, which gives us our word diadem.

It's the crown of the monarch. So Christ is coming here back to reign. And he's coming. And in his initial coming, he's announcing his victory. He is the victorious general. And a battle will ensue for just a brief moment in human history. Later, he will sit on David's throne as the monarch, the king of kings and the Lord of lords. And by the way, before we go any further. Here in this text, you are reading for the last time any reference to Jesus Christ as the son of man.

This is it. The Lord often used this phrase. In fact, it was his preferred title, as he would emphasize his full humanity and yet his messianic title referring to his full deity. He, God incarnate, had come as God's anointed. But here in Revelation 14, verse 14, this is the last time you hear this title used.

I think it's interesting. The first time we ever saw this title is in Matthew, chapter 8, verse 20, where we're told that the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. In other words, he owns nothing. And now in this last time the title is used, we're told he owns everything. He's coming to claim the world as his own. Got a knock on the door. Two Jehovah's Witnesses came, interrupted my study of this very text. It's perfect timing.

I just wouldn't let him go either. I got to practice. I need to practice. And their friends pulled up, waited three times.

Thank you, sir. We really need to leave. No, you stay right there. I'm not done yet. Finally cut them loose.

They were happy to leave. The first time Jesus Christ came, he came in poverty. The second time he comes, he comes in power.

But don't miss it. The first time the son of man appears on the scene, he comes as a sower. Now he comes as a reaper in divine judgment. And he will come wrapped in the Shekinah glory of his own deity, displaying the fullness of the Godhead. Now, just as we've seen many events take place on Earth during these days signaled by some announcement by an angel who sort of pulls the trigger. So an angel pulls the trigger, so to speak, on Christ's judgment of Earth.

Look at verse 15. And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to him who sat on the on the cloud. Put in your sickle and reap for the hour to reap has come because the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth and the earth was reaped.

Now, in these bowls, not all unbelievers die. In fact, there will be those who will be separated as tares from the wheat in the judgment following this period of time. But this will be great devastation. In fact, I agree with one author who wrote that this phrase, the earth was reaped, is one of the most tragic and sobering statements in all of scripture. Where the mercy of God is finished, so to speak.

Described later on for us in the book of Revelation in these bowls of judgment. Chapter 16 will tell us that as the earth is reaped, what actually happens is you have terrible malignant sores breaking out on the bodies of those who follow the Antichrist. Verse two, oceans will turn to blood and every remaining living sea creature will die. Verse three, rivers and springs of water will also turn to blood. Verse four, the sun's heat will intensify, which leads me to say there will be global warming in case you're wondering. And it will be a time of, in fact, terrifying judgment. Verse eight, the world of the Antichrist will be plunged into darkness. Verse 10, finally the Euphrates River will dry up to prepare the way for millions of soldiers and armies to march against little Israel. In this battle we call the Battle of Armageddon. This is an event that accompanies the return of Christ. This is the battle against Antichrist and his forces, which brings the tribulation effectively to a close. And it really isn't much of a battle.

Again, it's really just a slaughter. The invading armies don't even have much time to fire off a single round before they're slaughtered by the hosts of heaven as God's wrath is poured out in unbelievable fury. Notice John's overview, beginning in verse 17. And another angel came out of the temple, which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar, and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe. Jesus Christ is the true vine. John 15, 1. All who belong to him are safe, as contrasted to those here attached, you notice in the text, to the vine of the earth. They belong to the Antichrist.

They've chosen to worship the Antichrist, and he is the wrong vine. Now the reference you noticed here in verse 18 of this angel having power over fire, is a reference back to chapter 8, I believe, where an angel, perhaps the same angel, took that censer, filled it with fire, and he threw it on the earth, which brought great judgment. And you notice, again, he comes from the altar. Now we've already discovered the altar, and what it meant is it represented the saints praying and God's attention to it. It also represents those who've been martyred, and I think that's significant here in this text, because Christians are still being martyred, those that are still alive. This angel comes, the one uniquely associated with the prayers of the martyrs. The martyrs have been calling out from the altar, and as it were, God hearing them before his throne, as they say, how long, oh Lord, this is their prayer, how long, oh Lord, will you wait?

Will you refrain from judging and avenging the blood of your children, those who dwell on the earth? Well, that prayer and the judgment against those who dwell on the earth, against the children of God, is about to take place and be fully answered, and this angel moves into action with his sickle, effectively reaping, releasing the judging power of God upon the enemy armies that are now marching to destroy Jerusalem, those who no doubt have been in charge of the martyrdom of many, many millions of believers. Look at verse 19. So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth and threw them into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

Can you imagine the fullest meaning of their doom? By the way, the function of angels as punishers of unbelievers is a theme in other passages of the New Testament. John, in fact, implies in chapter 20, following the final judgment of all of the unbelieving who will be thrown into the lake of fire, the word thrown or cast indicates that they are cast, and perhaps you can envision them running somehow to flee the judgment of God, and they're literally grabbed and thrown into the lake of fire. Horrifying act of judgment which initiates their eternal state in hell. Well, here you see at this battle the vengeance of God unleashed against the enemies of his people, in particular those who've put to death the lives of those who followed him. God's justice demands it. His holy wrath demands full payment for those who've tormented his sons and daughters and mercilessly abused his saints. The immediate context here is the vindication of tribulation martyrs. The larger context will be the vindication of every martyr who ever lived, beginning with Abel, who was killed by his brother Cain for worshiping God correctly.

The first murder in human history was martyrdom, and there are people dying today for their faith in Christ around our world. I have read about, but have not seen, a collection of Bibles from the 16th century and John Wick told me that he had actually seen one in a display. These Bibles, just a few of them, have survived the 16th century well into that reformation period I referred to earlier where unbelievers tortured and martyred those who claimed faith in Christ alone. These Bibles are literally drenched in blood. Forensic tests have been conducted on these Bibles and have confirmed that these dark stains on nearly every page and upon the covers are human blood. But whose blood?

History answers the question. When Mary, Queen Mary, the daughter of King Henry VIII, delightful man, ruled England, she took his character even further in the wrong direction. She was nicknamed Bloody Mary because she terrorized Protestant Christians murdering as many as she could. Her soldiers had the practice of spilling the blood of a Christian and catching it in their Bible and then dipping their Bibles into the pools of blood that literally flowed from the veins of these martyred Christians, thus staining its pages with the actual blood of those who had owned the Bible.

A few of these Bibles have been preserved and they are simply known as martyrs' Bibles. Let me tell you, the reign of Bloody Mary and Mayo and Stalin are child's play compared to the reign of the Antichrist and his murdering rampage against millions who will die because of their faith. And God finally moves, finally, now after some 2,000 years, but he finally moves in judgment and answers the prayer of the martyr. The battle will take place 60 miles north of Jerusalem near the mountain Megiddo or the Valley of Megiddo. We're even told here in verse 20, note this, how far the blood of the defeated soldiers will flow. Verse 20 says, And the winepress was trodden outside the city. In other words, it didn't reach Jerusalem.

The battle was fought outside of the city. And blood came out from the winepress up to the horses' bridles for a distance of 200 miles. The metaphor of a winepress is used and then literal statistics are given to give us the graphic enormity of the situation. The terminology suggests a sea of blood resulting from this direct confrontation on the field of battle. The depth of blood and the land area covered our statistics that tell us the staggering amount of blood loss from what will be millions upon millions of soldiers who come against, who march against God, his people, the remnant. And they will be destroyed. Ezekiel's description of this battle informs us that the early days of the millennial kingdom are going to be clean up. It's going to take seven years to get rid of all the weapons massed in this valley.

It'll take seven months to bury the dead. This kind of devastation is hard to imagine, isn't it? However, Josephus, the first century Jewish historian, described the earlier destruction and slaughter of the Jews in Jerusalem in AD 70. With these words, the Roman soldiers filled the streets with dead bodies and made the whole city run down with blood to such a degree indeed that fires of many of the houses were actually extinguished by the flow of blood. John uses the imagery of a wine press to show us the terror of it all.

Where grapes were trampled underfoot and the juice would flow to a lower vat where it would be collected. Millions of people then in this image are crushed by the hosts of heaven, squeezed as it were, drained of their blood which will flow to a height of four feet for 200 miles. But think about the irony of this scene. It struck me as I studied, these are they who've rejected the blood of Jesus Christ which flowed freely for them as he paid the penalty and experienced the wrath of God for them, but because they've rejected that, because they rejected the flow of Christ's blood, their blood will flow freely as they experience the wrath of God for having rejected the one who had earlier experienced the wrath of God on the cross. It is either they come to the one who shed his blood for them or they shed their blood at his hand.

But isn't that true for everyone? You either allow by faith the Son of God to pay for your sin or you pay for your sin. This is the horrific crushing wrath from God. It's a picture of hopelessness for those who've chosen to follow the antichrist and this picture of the coming judgment is horrifying for all who refused to worship the one true and living God even though the angel has circled the globe earlier calling out the warning as we studied, warning them to follow after the true and living God and not the antichrist. So in a tighter context that speaks of these who've disbelieved, in the broader context that gives us a view into the future, ladies and gentlemen, we happen to know what's on the other side of the wall. We know what's beyond death.

It is the eternal state of either glory or tragedy. And there's no way to run. There's nowhere to hide.

There's no way to escape the touch of the grim reaper. Peter Marshall often told a legend while he pastored. He pastored church downtown Washington. He served in the mid 1950s, 1960s, somewhere in there as the chaplain of the Senate.

Amazing preacher. He often told a legend of the Middle Eastern servant who went to the market to purchase food for his master's household. He turned a corner in the marketplace and came face to face with the grim reaper.

He's wearing that black hood over his face. But as he raised his bony hand and his sickle, the servant turned and ran, terrified that death had come for him. He ran to his master and begged him to allow him to take a horse and flee for a few days to the nearby village of Samara, where some friends lived. And his master agreed.

The servant raced to the village and his master went on to the marketplace to purchase the food himself. He also turned that same corner and came face to face with the grim reaper. The reaper seemed uninterested in him. And so he rather boldly asked. Why did you threaten my servant? So the reaper asked, what do you mean? Well, you raised your sickle to strike him dead and he ran for his life. The grim reaper said, oh, him? No, I raised my hand in surprise, wondering why I would meet him in this village.

You see, I have an appointment with him tonight in the village of Samara. Now, most people who try to escape don't flee on horses, but some try to make sure they get buried in a church. Some join a church and maybe that's safe. God isn't as interested in where you're buried or what you've joined as he is and where your trust is located in whom you believe. Ladies and gentlemen, for those who've placed their faith and hope and trust in Jesus Christ, there is nothing to fear. You are, you have been and you will forever be forgiven by faith in Christ. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all unrighteousness. I love the tense of the verb. It means the blood of Jesus Christ constantly, continually cleanses from all unrighteousness.

Why? Because we are constantly, continuously unrighteous. So we come to this one whose blood shed freely for us, continually, actively cleansing those who've admitted their sin and come to the cross for forgiveness. So let the text in Revelation deliver not just a warning, but an invitation to come to Christ who will cleanse you from all your sin.

Jesus Christ is either your great redeemer or he will be your grim reaper. Before she died several years ago in a moment of surprising candor on television in an interview, interviewed by a believer, a well-known secular humanist and novelist, Miss Lasky, no friend to Christians in general, by the way, throughout her life or the gospel. She said these interesting words. She said, What I envy most about you Christians is your forgiveness. I have nobody to forgive me.

Well, let me tell you what I would tell her. There is someone who will forgive you. The wages of sin is death, right? But the gift of God is eternal life through whom? Jesus Christ, our Lord. We who believe have a savior. We have someone to forgive us.

Someone who has paid the penalty for all of our sin. We who believe in him will ride, as it were, the cloud of Shekinah glory. We shall come and reign with him. We say it.

We believe it by faith because it's in the word and we do not understand it. We can't even comprehend it. I can't wait for that ride. It's going to be exciting.

Can you? The splendor of his coming. And he's going to allow us puny people to be co-reigners with him. I can't imagine that.

Why? Because we're worth something. We are only because he has forgiven us and we belong to him.

His sons and daughters. We have a great savior who has a great future planned for those who believe. Thank you for joining us today here on Wisdom for the Heart. In this lesson that he's calling The Grim Reaper, Stephen reminded us that Jesus comes as either our Great Redeemer or our Grim Reaper.

It all depends on your relationship with him. And I hope that issue is settled for you today. You can learn more about that if you visit our website, which is wisdomonline.org. When you get there, we have information about how you can know for certain that you belong to God. We call it God's Wisdom for Your Heart, and you'll find it on our website.

There is much more there as well. You'll be able to access the complete archive of Stephen's Bible teaching ministry. That's one of the tools that God can use in your life to help you grow strong in the Christian faith. The archive of Stephen's teaching is available on that site free of charge, and you can access it anytime at wisdomonline.org. In addition to equipping you with these daily Bible lessons, we also have a magazine.

It includes articles written by Stephen to help you dive deep into various topics related to the Christian life. The magazine also has a daily devotional guide that you can use to remain grounded in God's Word every day. The magazine is called Heart to Heart. We send Heart to Heart magazine as our gift to all of our wisdom partners, but we'd be happy to send you the next three issues if you'd like to see it for yourself. You can sign up for it on our website, or you can call us today here in our Cary, North Carolina office. We'd love to talk with you, get to know you, and introduce you to this resource, Heart to Heart magazine. Call today, and then join us tomorrow for our next lesson here on Wisdom for the Heart. .