The Church of God had undergone a very great trial; there had arisen a cruel and wicked persecuting system, described by John in his vision as a beast, a terrible dragon, of which we read that «it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.» This was bad enough; but afterwards there arose another system of evil, which was even more dangerous, because it was an imitation of the truth. Another beast came up out of the earth, having two horns like a lamb, yet he spake as a dragon; and of him John writes, «he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads.» I will not go into the symbolic meaning of these two beasts; it is sufficient to observe that they had very terrible power, and one might have thought that under their successive attacks the Church of God would have been destroyed. Yet note how this chapter begins.
Revelation 14:1. And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, Jesus is not dead, he still lives. He is not defeated: «a Lamb stood on the mount Sion.» He is not disturbed or troubled, but he stands in the posture of quiet confidence. «A Lamb stood on the mount Sion;» Jesus is not driven out of his Church, but he is still dwelling in the midst of his people.
That is something, yet unbelief says, «Well, I can understand that John saw the Lord there, but had he any people with him? Had he any Church? Listen: «I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion,»
Revelation 14:1. And with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.
They are all there, a vast number, a complete number, the exact number which in the seventh chapter of this Book had been described as sealed. They are all there without exception; not one of them is lost, but they all stand fast as a great army surrounding their glorious Leader. Yes, my brethren, in the darkest times, Christ has his Church still around him; it is with him as it was when the Lord said to Elijah, «Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.» Be of good courage; if your eyes are but anointed with the heavenly eye-salve, you may see, as John saw, the Lamb on mount Sion, surrounded by multitudes of faithful followers.
Revelation 14:2. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and so the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
As loud as thunder, and yet as musical as the choicest notes from a band of harps, such is the testimony of the saints, such is the expression of their exultant joy in their Lord.
Revelation 14:3. And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders:
See brethren, how little the powers of darkness can do; not only are the saints all there, but they are singing. The devil cannot rob Christ of a single sonnet; the stanzas of our grateful praise shall continue to be poured forth though all the dragons howl as they may: «They sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures, and the elders.»
Revelation 14:3. And no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
There is a special redemption, a «redemption from the earth.» For such redeemed men there is a special song, which no others can learn; and that song will be sung by them in the darkest of all days, in the roughest of all weathers. When the dragons seem to triumph, Christ shall still have his praise, blessed be his holy name.
Revelation 14:4. These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins.
This is the Scriptural metaphor for those who have not turned aside to idol gods, or to false opinions, or to unholy practices. You remember how Paul longed to present the Corinthian Christians «as a chaste virgin» to Christ; he desired that Christ might have all their love. These servants of God are of this sort, wholly the Lord's.
Revelation 14:4. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
Let no man deny, then, that there is a special and particular redemption of God's people. All men are not redeemed as these were redeemed, else the expression would be untruthful, or without meaning: «These were redeemed from among men.» There is an elect company for whom Christ especially laid down his life; they are his, and they are made to know that they are his, and to take the position of a blood-bought people who belong not to themselves, but to him who has bought them with his blood. These are the hundred and forty and four thousand who stand on the mount Sion with the Lamb in the midst of them.
Revelation 14:5. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
Kept, by divine grace, pure in doctrine, holy in life, devout in heart; these are the body-guard of the Lamb, the chosen companions of the King of kings, whose reward shall be unspeakably great for ever and ever.
Revelation 14:6-7. And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
The old interpreters used to understand these two verses as referring to the great Protestant Reformation. When the old dragon had done his utmost against the Church of God, and the thick darkness of the middle ages rested alike on the Church and the world, then God sent the Reformers, like flying angels, to preach the everlasting gospel, and their special message was, «Worship not saints, and angels, and relics, and crucifixes, but ‘worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.'»
Revelation 14:8. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, se fallen, that great city, because she made as nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Babylon always goes down when the gospel is preached; the very flight of the angelic preachers is sufficient to make old Rome totter to her fall. So our fathers used to explain this chapter, for so they understood it. I am not sure whether it refers to that or to any other particular form of anti-Christ; but whatever it may be, whenever the gospel is exalted, down goes the devil, and down goes the whole Babylonian system.
Revelation 14:9-10. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence the Lamb:
How we ought to dread any collusion with deadly error, any fellowship with the hypocrisies and falsehoods of those who would deceive, for if we receive the mark of the beast either in our forehead, so as to have unbelieving thoughts, or in our hand, so as to do evil deeds, we shall have to suffer in company with Babylon, that great system of error which is only an imitation and a counterfeit of Christianity! What tremendously terrible words these are: «He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb»!
Revelation 14:11-15. And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours, and their works do follow them. And I looked, and behold 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 time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
This is the ingathering of the people of God; you notice that this harvest of God is reaped by the Lord Jesus Christ himself, that Son of man, who sat upon the cloud, «having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.»
Revelation 14:16. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.
May you and I form a part of the great harvest! May we be found amongst those golden sheaves which are to be the reaping from Christ's great sowing when he gave himself for his people, and was cast into the earth as a grain of wheat to die, that he might not abide alone!
Revelation 14:17. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
The reaper this time is an angel.
Revelation 14:18. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; And cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.
This is the ingathering of the ungodly, they are not the Lord's harvest, they are the vintage of his wrath. This vintage is not reaped by him who wears the golden crown, the Lord Jesus Christ himself; but by one of his angels, who is bidden to thrust in his sharp sickle, and reap, for the hour of divine judgment has at last come.
Revelation 14:19. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. Shall any of us ever be cast into the great winepress of the wrath of god?
We shall, if we continue growing upon the evil vine, and are not grafted into Christ, the true and living Vine.
Revelation 14:20. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.
By which striking symbol the apostle describes the greatness and the terror of the overthrow which must happen to the ungodly when once God begins to deal with them in judgment. Oh, that the abounding mercy of God would give us a place in his great harvest, and not leave us to be gathered in the vintage of his wrath, for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.