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SERIES: THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WEEK 58

TITLE: THE WINEPRESS OF GOD'S WRATH

TEXT: REVELATION 14:17-20

INTRODUCTION: (1) I COME AGAIN TO A VERY UNPOPULAR THEME AND SUBJECT TODAY IN OUR WORLD AND EVEN IN SOME QUOTE EVANGELICAL CIRCLES.

* THE SUBJECT IS THE WRATH OF GOD.

** AND ONE OF THE REASONS, AMONG SEVERAL, GOD’S WRATH IS UNPOPULAR IS BECAUSE IT IS MISUNDERSTOOD.

*** FOR IN OUR VOCABULARIES, WHEN WE USE THE WORD WRATH WE TEND TO THINK OF UNCONTROLLED ANGER, SOMEONE BLOWING THEIR CORK, SOMEONE LOSING IT.

**** AND WHILE THESE THINGS MAY BE TRUE OF HUMAN WRATH, IT IS FAR FROM THE TRUTH OF GOD’S WRATH.

(2) GOD’S WRATH MAY BE DEFINED (AND I AM GOING TO QUOTE LOOSELY FOR A FEW MINUTES FROM AN ARTICLE FROM CROSSWALK TITLED “GOD’S WRATH – A FORGOTTEN DOCTRINE” AND I’M NOT ENDORSING CROSSWALK, NOR DID I AGREE WITH EVERYTHING IN THE ARTICLE, BUT IT HAD SOME GOOD POINTS.

* BUT GOD’S WRATH IS “GOD’S SETTLED HOSTILITY TOWARD SIN AND UNRIGHTEOUSNESS IN ALL OF ITS VARIOUS MANIFESTATIONS.”

** GOD’S WRATH IS NOT UNCONTROLLABLE RAGE BUT CONTROLLED RAGE. GOD’S WRATH IS NOT VINDICTIVE BITTERNESS OR GOD LOSING HIS TEMPER.

*** FOR GOD NEVER LOSES HIS TEMPER THE WAY WE DO.

**** GOD IS SLOW TO ANGER, IN FACT 9 TIMES IN SCRIPTURE, THAT PHRASE IS USED.

(3) SO WHEN GOD’S WRATH IS EXERCISED IT IS NOT OUT OF A WHIM OR DONE CAPRICIOUSLY, NOR IS IT EVER UNJUST.

* WRATH IS SIMPLY GOD’S HOLY CONTROLLED RESPONSE TO SIN IN THE UNIVERSE.

** GOD’S WRATH IS HIS HOLY HATRED OF ALL THAT IS UNHOLY. IT IS HIS RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION AT EVERYTHING THAT IS UNRIGHTEOUS OR WRONG DETERMINED FOR HIS PERFECT CHARACTER OR STANDARD.

*** GOD’S HOLINESS CANNOT AND WILL NOT EXIST WITH SIN IN ANY FORM.

**** HE CANNOT OVERLOOK IT, HE CANNOT WINK AT IT, HE CANNOT PRETEND IT IS NOT THERE.

(4) BECAUSE OF THOSE TRUTHS, WRATH IS WHAT TAKES PLACE WHEN HOLINESS MEETS SIN.

* WRATH IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN GOD’S JUSTICE MEETS REBELLION.

** WRATH IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN RIGHTEOUSNESS MEETS UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.

*** AND WRATH IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PURE PERFECT GOOD MEETS PURE EVIL.

**** AND GOD’S WRATH IS POURED OUT IN THIS LIFE AND IN HELL FOREVER FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT REPENT AND RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST AS THEIR LORD AND SAVIOR.

(5) SO THERE IS PRESENT WRATH AND FUTURE WRATH.

* AND LET ME PAUSE AND SAY IT IS NOT UNLOVING TO TALK ABOUT GOD’S WRATH, BUT IN REALITY IT IS AN ACTION OF LOVE AND CONCERN.

** THE LATE FRANCIS SCHAEFFER REMARKED THAT IF HE HAD AN HOUR TO WITNESS TO A MAN HE WOULD NEVER MEET AGAIN, HE WOULD SPEND THE FIRST 45 MINUTES TALKING ABOUT SIN, RIGHTEOUSNESS AND JUDGMENT, AND THE LAST 15 MINUTES TALKING ABOUT THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.

*** FOR YOU SEE THE GOSPEL WILL NEVER BE TRULY GOOD NEWS UNTIL PEOPLE HAVE FIRST UNDERSTOOD THE BAD NEWS THAT MAKES THE GOOD NEWS NECESSARY.

**** WELL, WE HAVE BAD FUTURE NEWS IN OUR TEXT TODAY FOR THOSE WITHOUT CHRIST, WHO FOLLOW THE BEAST AND RECEIVE HIS MARK.

(6) FOR AT THE END OF THE TRIBULATION, THERE WILL BE A BLOODBATH WHEN JESUS RETURNS TO THE EARTH CALLED THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON WHICH IS REALLY NOT A BATTLE BUT A SLAUGHTER.

* AND THE PASSAGE WE WILL BE STUDYING TODAY CALLS THAT TIME IN V. 19 “THE GREAT WINE PRESS OF THE WRATH OF GOD.”

** AND WE WILL SEE GOD’S HOLY INDIGNATION CARRIED OUT IN A MONUMENTAL WAY IN A FUTURE DAY IN ISRAEL LIKE NOTHING EVER SEEN BEFORE.

*** FOR GOD’S HOLY FURY THAT BURNS RED HOT FROM HIS HOLY BEING WILL BE EXERCISED ONE THOSE WHO SURVIVE UP TO THIS END TIME.

**** WE WILL LITERALLY SEE THE GRAPES OF WRATH AS WE SEE THIS GRAPE HARVEST IN OUR TEXT.

(7) IN LIGHT OF THAT I’VE TITLED OUR STUDY “THE WINEPRESS OF GOD’S WRATH.”

* AND WE WILL LOOK AT 3 POINTS TODAY UNDER THAT THEME OF THIS HOLY HARVEST OF JUDGMENT.

** AND NORMALLY MY OUTLINES ARE PRETTY ORIGINAL, BUT TODAY, JOHN MACARTHUR’S WAS SO GOOD, I HAD TO BORROW.

*** AND HERE’S THAT OUTLINE, NO. 1 THE REAPER, V. 17; NO. 2 THE RIPENESS, V. 18; AND NO. 3 THE REAPING, VV. 19&20.

**** AND WITH THAT OUTLINE TO DIRECT US, LOOK AT V. 17 PLEASE OF REVELATION 14 WHERE WE’LL SEE THE REAPER. LOOK AT REVELATION 14:17 PLEASE.

I. THE REAPER, (READ V. 17)

A. NOW THE REAPER IN THIS VISION OF JOHN, IS NOT THE SON OF MAN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AS IN THE GRAIN HARVEST IN VV. 14-16, BUT AN ANGEL, THE FIFTH ONE TALKED ABOUT IN REVELATION 14.

* AND THIS ANGEL COMES OUT OF THE TEMPLE IN HEAVEN, FROM THE VERY PRESENCE OF GOD.

** AND HE COMES FROM THE PRESENCE OF GOD WITH A SHARP SICKLE AS THE REAPER OF THIS GRAPE HARVEST.

*** AND I TOLD YOU LAST WEEK THAT A SICKLE IN THAT DAY WAS A LONG, CURVED, RAZOR-SHARP IRON BLADE ATTACHED TO A LONG, BROOMSTICK-LIKE WOODEN HANDLE.

**** AND THIS 5TH ANGEL WILL BE THE REAPER OF THAT HARVEST OF JUDGMENT.

1. NOW IT MAY SEEM ODD TO JOHN THAT AN ANGEL WOULD BE A REAPER OF THIS GRAPE HARVEST WHEREAS CHRIST WAS THE REAPER OF THE GRAIN HARVEST IN VV. 14-16.

* BUT THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS ANGELS PLAY A PROMINENT ROLE AND ARE GIVEN BIG RESPONSIBILITIES BY THE LORD UP TO THIS POINT IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION.

** FOR EXAMPLE, THEY SUMMON THE 4 HORSEMEN IN REVELATION 9, THEY BLOW THE 7 TRUMPET JUDGMENTS, THEY WILL POUR OUT THE 7 BOWL JUDGMENTS, ANNOUNCE THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON IN CHAPTER 19, AND BIND SATAN IN REVELATION 20:1-3.

*** AND THEN BEYOND THESE THINGS, THEY WILL ACCOMPANY CHRIST AS HE COMES BACK THE 2’D TIME IN JUDGMENT AS THEY ARE CALLED REAPERS IN THE EXPLANATION OF THE PARABLE OF THE TARES BY CHRIST.

**** FOR MATTHEW 13:39 SAYS: “AND THE ENEMY WHO SOWED THEM IS THE DEVIL, AND THE HARVEST IS THE END OF THE AGE; AND THE REAPERS ARE ANGELS.”

2. AND THEN IN THE PARABLE OF THE DRAGNET IN MATTHEW 13:49 & 50 THIS IS SAID ABOUT THE ANGELS:

V. 49 – “SO IT WILL BE AT THE END OF THE AGE; THE ANGELS WILL COME FORTH AND TAKE OUT THE WICKED FROM AMONG THE RIGHTEOUS,

V. 50 – AND WILL THROW THEM INTO THE FURNACE OF FIRE; IN THAT PLACE THERE WILL BE WEEPING AND GNASHING OF TEETH.”

* AND ONE LAST PASSAGE, IN II THESSALONIANS 1:7-9, THE ANGELS ARE SAID TO COME BACK WITH CHRIST IN HIS 2’D COMING TO THE EARTH IN JUDGMENT (READ THEM).

** SO CLEARLY ANGELS PLAY A PROMINENT ROLE IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION AND IN JUDGMENT AT CHRIST’S 2’D COMING, SO IN REALITY IT IS NOT ODD THAT AN ANGEL WILL BE A REAPER AT THIS POINT IN OUR STUDY OF REVELATION.

*** SO IN V. 17 WE SEE THE REAPER, WHICH LEADS US TO OUR 2’D POINT TODAY TO SEE THE RIPENESS OF THIS VINTAGE OF THE GRAPES. LOOK AT V. 18 PLEASE.

II. THE RIPENESS, (READ V. 18)

A. NOW ANOTHER ANGEL COMES ON THE SCENE HERE IN V. 18, THE 6TH AND FINAL ANGEL TALKED ABOUT IN REVELATION 14.

* AND THIS ANGEL CAME OUT FROM THE HEAVENLY ALTAR.

** AND THIS ALTAR IS MOST LIKELY EMBLEMATIC, A SYMBOL, A FIGURE OF THE O.T. BRASS INCENSE ALTAR TALKED ABOUT IN EXODUS CHAPTER 40 VERSE 5.

*** NOW FOLLOW ALONG WITH ME HERE AND YOU WILL SEE A CONNECTION WITH THE ALTAR AND THIS ANGEL HAVING “POWER OVER FIRE” WHICH SEEMS RATHER STRANGE ON THE SURFACE.

**** AND HERE’S THE CONNECTION, IN THE O.T. ONE THIS BRASS OR GOLDEN ALTAR, TWO TIMES A DAY, PRIESTS BURNED INCENSE TO BE OFFERED IN THE HOLY PLACE AS A PICTURE OF THE PEOPLE’S PRAYERS TO GOD.

1. SO EVERY MORNING AND EVENING THESE O.T. PRIESTS WOULD TAKE HOT COALS FROM THE BRAZEN ALTAR (UPON WHICH SACRIFICES WERE OFFERED) AND BRING THEM TO THE INCENSE ALTAR.

* THERE THEY WOULD LIGHT OR IGNITE THE INCENSE WITH THE HOT COALS, WHICH WOULD RISE TOWARD HEAVEN, PICTURING – SYMBOLIZING THE PRAYERS OF GOD’S PEOPLE.

** AND AT THE SAME TIME, SIMULTANEOUSLY, GOD’S PEOPLE WOULD BE OUTSIDE THE TEMPLE PRAYING ACCORDING TO LUKE 1:10 WHICH SAYS: “AND THE WHOLE MULTITUDE OF THE PEOPLE WERE IN PRAYER OUTSIDE AT THE HOUR OF THE INCENSE OFFERING.”

*** NOW HERE’S THE CONNECTION. THIS ANGEL HAD POWER OVER THE ALTAR’S FIRE, IN FACT IN THE GREEK TEXT, I LOOKED IT UP, THE DEFINITE ARTICLE “THE” IS USED, SO IT READS “THE FIRE.”

**** AND THIS SHOWS US, THIS ANGEL HAD BEEN MINISTERING AT THE HEAVENLY INCENSE ALTAR WHEN HOT FIRE, HOT BURNING COALS WOULD IGNITE THE INCENSE.

2. AND THIS IS KIND OF NEAT, THIS ANGEL COMES FROM THE ALTAR ASSOCIATED WITH THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS.

* AND IT SEEMS THAT HIS APPEARANCE MEANS THAT THE TIME HAD COME FROM SOME PRAYERS PRAYED EARLIER IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION.

** FOR EARLIER IN REVELATION 5:8 IT SAYS: “WHEN HE HAD TAKEN THE BOOK, THE FOUR LIVING CREATURES AND THE TWENTY-FOUR ELDERS FELL DOWN BEFORE THE LAMB, EACH ONE HOLDING A HARP AND GOLDEN BOWLS FULL OF INCENSE, WHICH ARE THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS.”

*** AND THEN IN REVELATION 8:3-5 THIS ALTAR I’M TALKING ABOUT NOW IS MENTIONED AND IT IS CONNECTED WITH PRAYER.

**** AND IT SAYS IN REVELATION 8:3-5 –

V. 3 – “ANOTHER ANGEL CAME AND STOOD AT THE ALTAR, HOLDING A GOLDEN CENSER; AND MUCH INCENSE WAS GIVEN TO HIM, SO THAT HE MIGHT ADD IT TO THE PRAYERS OF ALL THE SAINTS ON THE GOLDEN ALTAR WHICH WAS BEFORE THE THRONE.

V. 4 – AND THE SMOKE OF THE INCENSE , WITH THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS, WENT UP BEFORE GOD OUT OF THE ANGEL’S HAND.

V. 5 – THEN THE ANGEL TOOK THE CENSER AND FILLED IT WITH THE FIRE OF THE ALTAR, AND THREW IT TO THE EARTH; AND THERE FOLLOWED PEALS OF THUNDER AND SOUNDS AND FLASHES OF LIGHTNING AND AN EARTHQUAKE.”

3. NOW AS WE CONNECT ALL OF THESE TRUTHS, IT APPEARS THE TIME HAD COME FOR GOD ALMIGHTY TO TAKE FIRE ASSOCIATED WITH INTERCESSION AND USE IT THROUGH THIS ANGEL FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF GOD’S ENEMIES AND THE ENEMIES OF HIS FOLLOWERS.

* AND IN APPLICATION TWO THINGS COME TO MY MIND. NO. 1 OUR PRAYERS ARE SWEET INCENSE TO OUR HOLY GOD, SO I WONDER HOW MUCH SWEET INCENSE PROCEEDS TO THE THRONE OF GOD ON OUR BEHALF THAT IS A SWEET SMELL OR AROMA TO HIM. (DO WE LIVE IN THE ATTITUDE OF PRAYER, IS IT LIKE BREATHING TO US?)

** AND NO. 2, GOD USES THE PRAYER OF HIS PEOPLE TO ACCOMPLISH HIS ORDAINED PURPOSES. IN OTHER WORDS, WE SEE MARTYRS CRYING OUT IN REVELATION 6, HOW LONG, HOLY AND TRUE WILL YOU REFRAIN FROM JUDGING.

*** AND MOST LIKELY, TRIBULATION SAINTS WERE PRAYING THAT ALSO, BUT THE TIME HAD COME TO ANSWER THESE PRAYERS AND NOW IN JUDGMENT.

**** TEACHING US, GOD HAD ORDAINED PRAYER AS A MEANS TO ACCOMPLISH WHAT HE HAS ORDAINED. IT IS A MEANS THAT GOD USES TO ACCOMPLISH HIS WILL AND HIS HOLY PURPOSES.

4. SO NEVER HAVE THE ATTITUDE MY PRAYERS ARE WORTHLESS, FOR REMEMBER IN THE CONTEXT OF ELIJAH IN JAMES 5:16B, THE EFFECTUAL FERVENT PRAYER…

* BELOVED, OUR GREAT GOD USES PRAYER AS AN ORDAINED MEANS TO ACCOMPLISH HIS WILL!

** NOW WITH THAT APPLICATION HOPEFULLY AS AN ENCOURAGEMENT, AS WE GO BACK TO V. 18, THIS ANGEL AT THE ALTAR OF INCENSE LEAVES IT AND UNDER DIVINE ORDER, CRIES OUT WITH A LOUD VOICE TO THE REAPING ANGEL, THE 5TH ANGEL THE REAPER TALKED ABOUT IN V. 17, AND SAYS:

*** “PUT IN YOUR SHARP SICKLE AND GATHER THE CLUSTERS FROM THE VINE OF THE EARTH, BECAUSE HER GRAPES ARE RIPE.”

**** NOW WHAT APPEARS TO BE IN ANSWER TO THE SAINTS PRAYERS, THE TIME FOR THE REAPING OF JUDGMENT COMES FROM THE VINE OF THE EARTH.

5. AND HERE FOLLOWERS OF THE BEAST-ANTICHRIST ARE DEPICTED AS CLUSTERS OF GRAPES IN THE CONTEXT OF REVELATION 14, TO BE CUT OFF BY THE REAPER’S SHARP SICKLE.

* FOR YOU SEE THE HARVEST OF GRAPES IS RIPE. AND THE GREEK WORD FOR RIPE HERE IN V. 18 IS A DIFFERENT GREEK WORD FROM THE ONE USED EARLIER IN V. 15 WHICH WE LOOKED AT LAST WEEK.

** FOR IF YOU RECALL THE WORD RIPE IN V. 15 CAN MEAN WITHERED, OVER RIPE, ROTTEN OR EVEN DRIED UP, PASSED THE POINT OF USEFULNESS.

*** BUT HERE IN V. 18 THE WORD REFERS TO SOMETHING FULLY RIPE AND IN ITS PRIME.

**** IT PICTURES THE UNSAVED, THOSE WHO FOLLOW THE BEAST, CHRIST REJECTORS AS BURSTING, OVERFLOWING, FILLED WITH JUICE OF SIN AND WICKEDNESS AND READY FOR THE HARVEST OF JUDGMENT.

6. AND THAT THE JUDGMENT OF GOD’S WRATH IS THE THEME AND CONTEXT HERE IS CLEAR IN VV. 19&20 WHERE WE WILL SEE OUR THIRD POINT TODAY, THE REAPING. LOOK AT V. 19 PLEASE.

III. THE REAPING, (READ V. 19)

A. NOW THE REAPING ANGEL RESPONDS TO THE DIRECTIVE GIVEN BY THE ANGEL IN V. 18 AND SWINGS HIS SICKLE.

* AND THE HARVEST WILL TAKE PLACE ON THE EARTH WHICH IS THE EPICENTER OF THIS JUDGMENT.

** AND BY SWINGING HIS SICKLE HE CUTS THE VINE OF GRAPES FROM THE EARTH, HE CUTS THE GRAPES FROM THE VINE, THE CLUSTERS OF GRAPES FROM THE VINE OF THE EARTH.

*** AND HE TAKES THE GRAPES THAT ARE RIPE AND THREW THEM INTO THE GREAT WINEPRESS OF THE WRATH OF GOD.

**** NOW BASICALLY A WINEPRESS IN THAT DAY SQUEEZED THE JUICE OUT OF THE GRAPES.

1. AND A WINEPRESS IN THAT DAY WAS CUT OUT OF SOLID ROCK FORMING TWO BASINS, TWO CONTAINERS, TWO HOLLOWED OUT PLACES, TWO VATS CONNECTED BY A TROUGH.

* AND THERE WOULD BE AN UPPER AND A LOWER VAT, AN UPPER AND LOWER BASIN.

** AND GRAPES WOULD BE TRAMPLED OR SQUEEZED IN THE UPPER BASIN, THE UPPER VAT, AND THEN THE JUICE WOULD RUN DOWN IN A DUCT INTO THE LOWER VAT.

*** AND WHAT PICTURE, A SNAPSHOT OF JUDGMENT, FOR THESE GRAPES – PEOPLE, ARE THROWN, CAST INTO THIS WINEPRESS OF GOD’S WRATH.

**** WHERE THEY ARE TRAMPLED, STOMPED, IN FACT THE SPLATTERING OF THE JUICE AS THE GRAPES ARE STOMPED CLEARLY AND VIVIDLY PICTURES THE SPLATTERED BLOOD OF THOSE WHO WILL BE DESTROYED.

2. AND WE KNOW THAT FROM V. 20 WHICH TALKS ABOUT BLOOD AND ALSO FROM WHAT REVELATION 19:15 & 17 SAYS:

* FOR REVELATION 19:15 SAYS: “FROM HIS MOUTH COMES A SHARP SWORD, SO THAT WITH IT HE MAY STRIKE DOWN THE NATIONS, AND HE WILL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON; AND HE TREADS THE WINE PRESS OF THE FIERCE WRATH OF GOD, THE ALMIGHTY.”

** AND THEN REVELATION 19:17-21 SAYS:

V. 17 – “THEN I SAW AN ANGEL STANDING IN THE SUN, AND HE CRIED OUT WITH A LOUD VOICE, SAYING TO ALL THE BIRDS WHICH FLY IN MIDHEAVEN, “COME, ASSEMBLE FOR THE GREAT SUPPER OF GOD,

V. 18 – SO THAT YOU MAY EAT THE FLESH OF KINGS AND THE FLESH OF COMMANDERS AND THE FLESH OF MIGHTY MEN AND THE FLESH OF HORSES AND OF THOSE WHO SIT ON THEM AND THE FLESH OF ALL MEN, BOTH FREE MEN AND SLAVES, AND SMALL AND GREAT.”

V. 19 – AND I SAW THE BEAST AND THE KINGS OF THE EARTH AND THEIR ARMIES ASSEMBLED TO MAKE WAR AGAINST HIM WHO SAT ON THE HORSE AND AGAINST HIS ARMY.

V. 20 – AND THE BEAST WAS SEIZED, AND WITH HIM THE FALSE PROPHET WHO PERFORMED THE SIGNS IN HIS PRESENCE, BY WHICH HE DECEIVED THOSE WHO HAD RECEIVED THE MARK OF THE BEAST AND THOSE WHO WORSHIPED HIS IMAGE; THESE TWO WERE THROWN ALIVE INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE WHICH BURNS WITH BRIMSTONE.

V. 21 – AND THE REST WERE KILLED WITH THE SWORD WHICH CAME FROM THE MOUTH OF HIM WHO SAT ON THE HORSE, AND ALL THE BIRDS WERE FILLED WITH THEIR FLESH.”

*** NOW THIS IS A FUTURE TIME WHEN GOD’S WRATH WILL BE POURED OUT WITH FULL FURY, IT WILL BE WHITE HOT.

**** AND THIS EVENT IS THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON WHEN CHRIST DEFEATS AND KILLS ALL OF HIS ENEMIES AND THEN SETS UP HIS KINGDOM AT THE END OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION.

3. AND THIS FUTURE TIME IS TALKED ABOUT IN REVELATION 16:12-16 WHERE THE PLACE THAT THIS SLAUGHTER TAKES PLACE IS IDENTIFIED WHEN THE ARMIES OF THE EARTH WILL GATHER AGAINST AND AROUND JERUSALEM.

* REVELATION 16:16 SAYS: “AND THEY GATHERED THEM TOGETHER TO THE PLACE WHICH IN HEBREW IS CALL HAR-MAGEDON.”

** AND A KEY IDEA HERE IN V. 16 IS GATHERED.

*** FOR AS WE GO BACK TO REVELATION 14:19 AND LOOK AT THIS REAPING OF JUDGMENT THAT TAKES PLACE, THIS ANGEL “GATHERED THE CLUSTERS OF THE VINE OF THE EARTH.”

**** AND THIS GATHERING ANTICIPATES THE GATHERING OF THE NATIONS IN REVELATION 16:14-16 AT ARMAGEDDON AND AS CHRIST COMES BACK IN REVELATION 19:15 WHERE WE SEE SIMILAR LANGUAGE, “CHRIST TREADETH THE WINEPRESS OF THE FIERCENESS AND WRATH OF ALMIGHTY GOD.”

4. SO THE HARVEST IS RIPE, THE GRAPES ARE AT THE BURSTING POINT AS THEY ARE PUT IN THE WINEPRESS OF GOD’S FIERCE JUDGMENT.

* AND BEFORE I MOVE ON TO V. 20, I WANT TO GIVE YOU SOME O.T. PICTURES, IMAGES, SNAPSHOTS OF THE WINEPRESS OF GOD’S WRATH.

** JOEL 3:13 SAYS: “PUT IN THE SICKLE, FOR THE HARVEST IS RIPE. COME, TREAD, FOR THE WINE PRESS IS FULL; THE VATS OVERFLOW, FOR THEIR WICKEDNESS IS GREAT.”

*** ISAIAH 63:2&3 WE AGAIN SEE THE VIOLENT IMAGERY OF THE WINE PRESS OF GOD’S WRATH:

V. 2 – “WHY IS YOUR APPAREL RED, AND YOUR GARMENTS LIKE THE ONE WHO TREADS IN THE WINE PRESS?

V. 3 – I HAVE TRODDEN THE WINE TROUGH ALONE, AND FROM THE PEOPLES THERE WAS NO MAN WITH ME. I ALSO TROD THEM IN MY ANGER AND TRAMPLED THEM IN MY WRATH; AND THEIR LIFEBLOOD IS SPRINKLED ON MY GARMENTS, AND I STAINED ALL MY RAIMENT.”

**** AND THEN IN LAMENTATIONS 1:15 IT SAYS: “THE LORD HAS REJECTED ALL MY STRONG MEN IN MY MIDST; HE HAS CALLED AN APPOINTED TIME AGAINST ME TO CRUSH MY YOUNG MEN; THE LORD HAS TRODDEN AS IN A WINE PRESS THE VIRGIN DAUGHTER OF JUDAH.”

5. NOW AGAIN THE LORD CRUSHES THE GRAPES AND OUT OF THAT COMES THE JUICE FROM HIS WINE PRESS.

* AND AS WE GO BACK TO REVELATION 14 WITH THOSE IMAGERIES IN OUR MINDS AS PICTURES TO SEE GOD’S WRATH, WE WILL LOOK AT V. 20 OF REVELATION 14 WHERE THE LOCATION OF THIS FUTURE WINE PRESS WILL BE. LOOK AT REVELATION 14:20 PLEASE.

B. READ REVELATION 14:20. NOW THE CRUSHING OF THE GRAPES IN GOD’S WINE PRESS WILL TAKE PLACE OUTSIDE THE CITY, THE CITY BEING JERUSALEM, NEAR MOUNT MEGGIDO ABOUT 60 MILES NORTH OF JERUSALEM.

* AND THIS BATTLE, BETTER DEFINED AS A BLOODBATH, WILL BE SO WIDESPREAD, FOR MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WILL BE GATHERED THERE, AS THE ANTICHRIST ASSEMBLES THE ARMIES OF THE WORLD AROUND JERUSALEM TO CRUSH THAT CITY.

** BUT THE TABLES WILL BE TURNED THAT IN AN ARMY APPROXIMATELY 200 MILES LONG, LIT. 1600 STADIA, OUT OF THE WINE PRESS OF GOD, BLOOD WILL FLOW ALONG THIS STRETCH OF LAND, BASICALLY THE DISTANCE IS THE LENGTH OF PALESTINE – ISRAEL.

*** BUT FOR THIS DISTANCE BLOOD WILL BE UP TO THE HORSES BRIDLE – APPROXIMATELY 4 FEET HIGH.

**** AND I DON’T THINK BLOOD WILL BE FLOWING 4 FEET HIGH FOR 200 MILES, BUT THE SLAUGHTER WILL PRODUCE SO MUCH BLOOD THAT WILL BE SPLATTERED UP TO THE HORSES BRIDLE.

1. IN OTHER WORDS BLOOD WILL SPLATTER INTO THE AIR PROFUSELY ALL ALONG THE WHOLE LENGTH OF THE BATTLE. THERE WILL BE A LIBERAL SPLATTERING OF BLOOD, THERE WILL BE A SEA OF BLOOD IS THE MEANING.

* AGAIN THIS WILL NOT BE A BATTLE, BUT A SLAUGHTER AS THERE WILL BE A CRUSHING JUDGMENT LIKE GRAPES IN A WINE PRESS.

IN WRAP UP: (1) TWO APPLICATIONS. YOU MAY NOT LIKE THE WRATH OF GOD AND THE TERMINOLOGY USED TODAY IN GOD’S WORD.

* AND THE REASON FOR THAT IS A LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF HOW TRULY HOLY GOD IS, HOW PURE HE IS IN HIS PERFECTIONS AND HOW VENGEANCE IS HIS IN HIS DIVINE JUSTICE.

** AND YES WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE THERE IS INJUSTICE. BUT GOD ALMIGHTY ALWAYS DOES THE PROPER PUNISHMENT FOR THE CRIME. NO ONE GETS AWAY WITH SIN.

*** AND ONE TINY SIN OFFENDS GOD FOR IT IS AN AFFRONT TO HIS BEING AND HOLY CHARACTER.

**** AND SO HE WILL CRUSH SIN ONE DAY AND STOMP IT OUT, WHAT ULTIMATELY CAUSE HEARTACHE, WAR AND DESTRUCTION.

(2) BUT UNDERSTAND THIS, IF YOU ARE IN CHRIST TODAY, FOR IF YOU ARE IN CHRIST, KNOW CHRIST, HAVE REPENTED AND RECEIVED CHRIST, YOU HAVE BEEN RESCUED FROM GOD’S WRATH.

* FOR GOD IN HIS LOVE AND MERCY DECIDED TO SAVE SOME PEOPLE FROM HIS HOLY WRATH THAT JUDGES SIN.

** BUT OUR SIN WAS JUDGED IN CHRIST, FOR SIN WAS CRUSHED IN CHRIST AS CHRIST WAS CRUSHED, FOR ISAIAH 52:14 AND ISAIAH 53:5 & 10 SAYS: READ THEM.

*** SO HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD? HE IS SO GREAT FOR HE PURCHASED SO GREAT A SALVATION FOR SINNERS LIKE YOU AND ME WHEN WE DESERVE HIS WRATH.

**** SO TODAY AS YOU WANT TO SIN, THINK OF THE HIGH COST OF YOUR SALVATION, AND WHEN YOU DON’T WANT TO READ YOUR BIBLE, LOVE YOUR ENEMIES, WITNESS TO THE LOST, PRAY, COME TO CHURCH, SERVE, GIVE AND WHATEVER, THINK ABOUT GOD’S MERCY AND NOW YOU HAVE BEEN RESCUED FROM THE WINEPRESS OF GOD’S WRATH AND OUT OF LOVE AND GRATEFULNESS, OBEY!

(3) BUT LASTLY, IF YOU ARE HERE TODAY WITHOUT THE RISEN SAVIOR, THE LORD JESUS, BE WARNED THERE IS A FRIGHTENING FUTURE AHEAD AS THIS INCREDIBLE SCENE INDICATES.

** AND THOSE WHO REFUSE TO REPENT AND TURN TO JESUS CHRIST, THE ONLY SAVIOR WILL FACE POTENTIAL JUDGMENT IN THIS LIFE, IF YOU LIVE UP TO THIS TIME, BUT FOR SURE IN THE PLACE OF EVERLASTING JUDGMENT, EVERLASTING WRATH IN HELL.

** AND IN HELL THE WINE PRESS OF GOD’S WRATH WILL GO ON FOREVER. AND ONE DAY YOU WILL WAKE UP AND REALIZE, READ HEBREWS 10:31 AND HEBREWS 12:29.

*** MY PRAYER AND BURDEN FOR ANY OF YOU WITHOUT CHRIST WOULD BE FOR YOU TO YIELD TO THE PSALMIST’S ADMONITION TODAY AND WHAT JESUS SAID.

**** PSALM 2:12 SAYS: “DO HOMAGE TO THE SON, THAT HE NOT BECOME ANGRY, AND YOU PERISH IN THE WAY, FOR HIS WRATH MAY SOON BE KINDLED. HOW BLESSED ARE ALL WHO TAKE REFUGE IN HIM!”

(4) AND THEN JESUS SAID IN LUKE 13:3 (READ IT).

* TURN TO JESUS CHRIST TODAY AND FLEE FROM THE WRATH TO COME! LET’S PRAY.