God's Grace and Mercy Have Expired

If you had the attention of 1.7 billion people, what would you say to them as a believer in Jesus Christ? Would you assert your own agenda or would you share the gospel message to them instead? So why don't people who proclaim themselves to be followers of Jesus Christ do that, take for example the Pope. He could share the good news of the salvation that can be obtained in knowing Jesus Christ, but does he? No, he doesn't. He has his own agenda and that is like he has stated that there is no relationship with God except through the Roman Catholic church. In his eyes, you can remove John 3:16 from the Bible but that is a huge error!

Just to sum up what we have learned so far in our Bible Study through the Book of Revelation in Chapter 14, remember that the entire chapter is a parenthetical pause or insert and is not in chronological order. It has been inserted here by God in the midst of the Tribulation Period in the book of Revelation. It can be summed up this way:

Verses 1-5 are events that follow the Great Tribulation Period. (Ending).
Verses 6-7 are events that complete the Tribulation Period (Closing).
Verses 8-13 are events that make up the Tribulation Period. (Consisting).
Verses 14-20 are events that happen after the Tribulation Period (Judgment). 

Revelation 14:14-20 describe the judgment of God at the end of this period as it is revealed upon the earth. What is revealed is what's coming whether you like it or not. Remember you don't have to be here when it happens. This is now the time when God's grace and mercy have expired. It is the closing moments when Jesus will come forth out of Heaven in the Second Coming and execute judgment upon the earth.

Remember that when we left on in verse 13, John is in heaven and he hears the voice from heaven, which we know is the voice of God the Father, and also we hear the voice of the Spirit (capital S), which signifies that this is the voice of the Holy Spirit as well. We know that the Bible speaks of three different types of saints. (1) Old Testament Saints, which comprise of the period of time from Adam through John the Baptist, (2) Church Age Saints, which are comprised from the time of Jesus through the last 2000 years, and finally (3) the Tribulation Saints, which are those that will become believers from the time the rapture happens through the end of the Tribulation Period.

Ephesians 1:1 ~ "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:"

Colossians 1:1 ~ "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:"

If you look at the word "saint: in the Greek as it is used here, it is hagios = declared sacred, made physically or morally pure, to become blameless, now consecrated - (most) holy (one, thing) saint.

If you simply remove one letter from that and you look up hagos in Greek it means an unholy, desecrated thing. Something awful and unusable."

The difference is the letter "I" just like the difference between us and the world is simply that we believe in Jesus Christ, the great I Am!

Revelation 14:14-20 ~ "Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one who like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, "Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.: So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped. Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, "Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe." So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress as high as a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia."

These verses is speaking about Jesus Christ in a different role than we are used to. This is Jesus coming in all His authority as Judge. 2000 years ago He came in all His authority as Savior and Messiah!

Remember when John the Baptist sent word to Jesus asking Him if He was the One they were waiting for or should he wait for another? Jesus sent His apostles back to John with a message. That Jesus' focus is always on the salvation of the soul first before He comes to judge. John was waiting for the Judge, but instead he met the Savior and Messiah who was coming to introduces us to the way to salvation. When Jesus comes again, it will be as Judge. Jesus takes care of the important things first before He handles judgment and so should we!