The everlasting gospel of God’s free grace in Christ will be preached throughout the entire world. Though false religion spreads through and permeates the entire world, deceiving the multitudes, until it appears that the truth of God is entirely expunged from the earth (11:1-11), there is to be a time of great revival. Just before the end of the world, God shall stretch forth his mighty arm again and reveal his saving goodness, grace, and glory in Christ by the gospel. The Spirit of life from God shall enter into his church again, his witnesses will stand upon their feet and confound their enemies.
The power of antichrist shall be utterly destroyed, Babylon at last shall fall, and the abomination of false religion shall be thoroughly defeated (14:8). The superstitions of papacy, ritualism, freewillism, and works religion of every kind (Islam, Judaism, Mysticism, and Pseudo-Christianity) will be exposed, brought to utter confusion, and destroyed by the power and grace of God through the preaching of the gospel. Bad as things may appear at present, the truth of God shall prevail at last. The gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church of the living God.
The Lord Jesus Christ will come again to this earth to reign gloriously and forever in peace and righteousness (11:15). He who loved us with an everlasting love, washed away our sins in his precious blood, called us from death to life by the power of his Spirit, and robed us with his own perfect righteousness, shall come again in power and in great glory. He will destroy this present, sin-cursed earth with the brightness of his coming, and create a new heavens and a new earth, "wherein dwelleth righteousness." In this new creation, Christ shall reign as King forever. With Job of old, we shall see our Redeemer, who "shall stand at the latter day upon the earth" (Job 19:25-27).
When Christ comes again, there will be a great, general resurrection and judgment of all who ever lived upon the earth (Rev. 20:11-15; John 5:28-29; Matt. 25:31-46). I do not know how these events are to be chronologically arranged. But it is evidently revealed in Holy Scripture that there is to come, sometime, we know not when, but at the hour ordained by God from eternity, a solemn winding up of all the events of the world’s history. God "hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead" (Acts 17:31). "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Heb. 9:27). "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men" (II Cor. 5:10-11). It is that great and terrible day of the Lord which John sees and records for us in Revelation 14:6-20. In this passage, the final judgment has arrived. It is described under the symbolism of a twofold harvest.
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS COMING TO JUDGE THE EARTH (v. 14). On that great and terrible day of judgment, Christ shall come sitting upon a cloud to judge the inhabitants of the earth (II Thess. 1:8-10). He says, "Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give to every man according as his work shall be" ((Rev. 22:12). The Judge of all men in that great day shall be the Son of man, our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom all authority has been given (John 5:21-22; Dan. 7:13; Rev. 1:7). Christ is the Judge by divine right, because he is God. And he is the Judge by Right of his mediatorial accomplishments, having earned the place of highest authority and the right to judge all things by his obedience to God as a Man (Psa. 2:6-8; John 17:4; Rom. 14:9; Phil. 2:9-11).
The throne of judgment is described as "a white cloud." Our Lord does not borrow a throne from man. He sits upon a throne of his own making. No doubt the figure is symbolical, implying both supremacy and purity. Our Lord will never come in humiliation again. He will not stoop to assume an earthly throne, neither in Rome nor in Jerusalem. His throne will be a cloud in the heavens, so highly exalted and elevated that at one time all the inhabitants of the earth shall see him distinctly and hear his voice. All who ever lived shall be gathered before his august majesty! The throne of judgment will be a throne of greatness, majesty, and power, and it will be a throne of white purity (Rev. 20:11). Here John calls it "a white cloud." That word, "white," does not express so much the color of whiteness as it does the dazzling brilliance of light, holiness, and purity (I John 1:5). This throne shall be without spot or blemish. It will be a throne of strict, inflexible justice, brilliant, dazzling purity, absolute truth and perfect righteousness. Before this august, holy throne, from the lips of this great Judge, everyone will receive precisely his just, righteous, and true reward. All whose works are perfectly righteous and without any sin shall receive the reward of eternal life. All whose works are evil shall be justly condemned. All who believe on Christ shall be forever accepted on the basis of his blood atonement and imputed righteousness. All who believe not shall be forever damned on the basis of their own sin. The judgment will not determine or alter anyone’s condition or eternal estate. It will only reveal the grounds of man’s acceptance or banishment, execute the just sentence of the law, and vindicate the justice of God in both the salvation of his elect and the eternal ruin of the wicked.
Now look at the Judge himself. John says, "And upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man." This one whom John saw was and is the Son of man, our Savior, who is also the Son of God. He is called "the Son of man," because he is the truest man who ever lived. He is the Man after whose image man was created. He is the only man in whom manhood ever reached perfection. In that day, every eye shall see that this Man is himself God over all, blessed forever. Yet, he is a man. Though he is exalted to heaven’s lofty throne, our Savior is still a man. And when he comes to judge the earth, he will still be a man, the perfect man. The despised Nazarene is now Lord of all. The man striped naked, beaten, spat upon, mocked and crucified by men at Calvary is now the exalted King. The man who bears in his hands, his feet, his head, and his side the scars of his death shall be our Judge. And those very scars will either be our plea for mercy or his plea for wrath.
This great Judge has on his head "a golden crown." That crown signifies both victory and sovereignty. The word used for "crown" means, "a crown won in conflict." It is the Victor’s crown. When Christ comes to judge the world, he will wear the crown which he won in the great battle which he has fought as our Substitute. What joy it will be for the believing heart to see him wearing the crown of victory when he comes. That crown indicates that he is coming to claim the spoils of his victory. The crown also signifies sovereign dominion. His will is irreversible. His power is irresistible. His judgments are irrevocable.
This Judge, sitting upon a cloud of purity, wearing a crown of gold, has "in his hand a sharp sickle." The scepter of his throne is a great reaping hook. It suggests that he has come to finish his last great work, to reap the harvest of the earth. And his work of reaping will be sharp, swift, and decisive. He comes, not to sow but to reap, not to water but to mow down, not to show mercy but to execute justice. What a sight that will be! The day of harvest will come suddenly, the work will be done swiftly, and when it is over, the Lord of the harvest will reign gloriously (Rom. 9:28).
WHEN CHRIST COMES AGAIN HE WILL GATHER HIS ELECT OUT OF THE EARTH (vv. 15-16). These verses speak of the harvest of wheat. The first order of business will be to gather his own people unto himself. He will gather his wheat into his garner before he mows down and burns up the tares (Matt. 3:12). The wheat which he sowed in the earth, watered with his own blood, and raised up by his Holy Spirit, that precious grain will be Christ’s first, primary concern when he comes again. (See John 12:24.)
The reaping of the wheat is the matter of first importance. Our Lord looks forward to the day when he shall gather his redeemed ones unto himself. This is his delightful work. His strange work of judgment must be done. But it is the work of his left hand. He puts it off to the very last. But "he delighteth in mercy!" The reaping of the wheat is the first in order of time, too. Paul tells us plainly that the dead in Christ shall rise first (I Thess. 4:13-18). There will be a general resurrection and a general judgment. There will not be two resurrections and two judgments, one for the righteous and one for the wicked, separated by a long period of time. When Christ comes again, the order of events appears to be: First, the dead in Christ shall rise first (I Thess. 4:14-15). Second living believers will be raptured, translated (I Thess. 4:17). Third, Christ will destroy the earth with the brightness of his coming and create all things new (II Thess. 1:8-10; II Pet. 3:11-13; Rev. 21:5). Fourth, the unrighteous, unbelieving will be raised to the judgment bar (Rev. 20:11-13).
Until Christ comes, the wheat and the tares grow together in his field. No man can tell the tares from the wheat until the harvest time. Should we try to uproot the tares, we would surely uproot some of the wheat. But in the harvest time, the wheat will be "ripe." The word "ripe" might be translated "dried." The meaning is twofold. First, the wheat is dried in the field and must be gathered, because the field has nothing more to offer it. There is nothing in the world for the believer, just as there is nothing in the ground for the dried wheat. Second, the wheat, at Christ’s coming, will be ripe for heaven. How is a man made ripe for heaven? Not by works, but by grace alone (Col. 1:12). Christ has put away his sins. Christ has given him perfect righteousness and a new nature. Christ causes that new man to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord unto the full maturity of faith. He needs only to drop his robe of flesh!
It is Christ himself who comes to personally gather his wheat. "He that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped" (v. 16). He alone knows the value of the wheat. He chose us, redeemed us, and called us. And he shall gather us. When he comes to gather his own, every precious grain of wheat shall be gathered into his heavenly garner. What a joyful, blessed hope! But there is another scene in this picture.
AFTER HE HAS GATHERED HIS ELECT OUT OF THE EARTH, THE SON OF MAN, OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, WILL SEND HIS ANGEL TO GATHER OUT OF THE EARTH EVERY WICKED UNBELIEVER WHO EVER LIVED AND DESTROY THEM FOREVER IN THE WINEPRESS OF THE WRATH OF GOD (vv. 17-20). After the wheat is harvested the grapes of wrath must be gathered as well (Matt. 13:41-43). In that day, the wicked will be clearly distinguished from the righteous. No one will make a mistake about them then. Here they are often confused. They go to the same place of worship. They sing the same hymns. They believe the same doctrines. We often mistake tares for wheat and wheat for tares now. But then, there will be no mistake. The cluster of unregenerate men will fall like grapes from the vine when the angel of judgment thrusts in his sickle. Notice, it is not Christ, but an angel of Christ that is sent to execute justice upon the wicked. Christ Jesus personally gathers his elect. But he will not even execute the wicked by his own hand. He has an angel appointed for the work of judgment. They would not have anything to do with him. And he will have nothing to do with them, except to deliver them over to the hands of an angel for execution. They despised him. Now he despises them. They mocked him. Now he mocks them. They would not have him. Now he will not have them.
These ungodly souls shall be justly condemned forever, because they
are fully ripe for judgment (v. 18). Like ripe grapes ready for the
winepress, they have filled up the measure of iniquity. They have reached
the highest point of sin. They have added evil upon evil until they are
fully ripe for wrath. All who persist in their sin, rebellion, and unbelief
shall surely be trodden in the winepress of the wrath of God without the
city (vv. 19-20). These verses describe the terrible sufferings of lost
men and women in eternity! But there is something far more terrible about
the doom of the lost than language can ever express: Endless banishment
from God and all that is good; endless wrath without mercy; endless torment
without relief; justice without mercy!