Overview of Revelation 14:

• V1-5: the 144,000.
• V6-12: the three angel’s messages.
• V13-20: the second coming.

Today we are going to start looking at the three angel’s messages.

Revelation 14:6
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,

This is the message that prepares the people to be part of the 144,000. How important it is then that this is given special attention, especially in our time.

“I saw another angel”

• The word angel means messenger.
• Galatians 4:14
  And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.
  • Paul was received like an angel of God. He was a messenger from God.
• God gave us the commission to go and preach the everlasting gospel.
  • Mark 16:15
    And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
  • That was the commission given to the disciples before He ascended up to heaven and it is the same commission that comes down to our time today.
• He wants us to be messengers for Him in the last days.
• So that angel there that is flying in the midst of heaven is not a literal angel who will preach this everlasting gospel, but it represents you and me!

How important is it to preach this gospel?

• Matthew 24:14
  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
• This is what will need to be done before Jesus can come back for a second time!

What story in the Old Testament talks about angels coming to give man a message?

• Lot – Sodom and Gomorrah.
• The condition of the world will be just like Lot’s days.
• Luke 17:28-30
  28 Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; 29 but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
• We are certainly living in the days where it is just like Sodom and Gomorrah.
  • Licentiousness, filthiness of the flesh. The morality of the nations are on a steep decline. It’s just like the days of Sodom!
• What was the other problem with Sodom?
  • Ezekiel 16:49
    Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
  • She had plenty of food. There was an abundance of idleness.
  • In Australia where there is Centrelink. You don’t have to work if you don’t want to and you can still support yourself!
• The messengers that came from heaven in that day had to act with urgency. To the extent that they had to pull Lot and the family out of Sodom.
• Such is the urgency of our message today and the urgency with which we have to attend to the people around us.
• Luke 17:32
  Remember Lot’s wife.
  • We are reminded about Lot’s wife. She became a pillar of salt. Why? Because she was so attached to her worldly possessions, to her worldly wealth.
• What will entice the people to receive the mark of the beast at the end of time? One of them is economy – no buying or selling.

“fly in the midst of heaven”

• Flying – it gives the concept of speed. There is a great movement.
• And it also depicts urgency.

What is the angel doing?

• He has the everlasting gospel in his hand to preach to everyone that dwells on the earth.

What is the everlasting gospel?

• We are going to look at it in the verses after this.
• But you must bear in mind that this is good news that is to go to the whole world.
• Yes – warning people about the mark of the beast and the wrath of God is good news! It’s part of the gospel.
• Telling people to fear God, that is the everlasting good news.
• It’s not just the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It’s not just the life of Christ on the earth.
• But this is God’s final messages to everyone on the earth before He comes for a second time.
• It is a warning message.
• It is a preparatory message for the second coming.

Everlasting

• Everlasting shows that no matter what man may try to do, this gospel will be impossible to destroy. In spite of all the attempts to obliterate it or pervert it, the good news of the gospel will still move forward with integrity.
  • Oh, Satan hates it so much because it is going to sweep away all his lies and deception.
• Everlasting also shows that it will have everlasting results. Acceptance of this gospel will lead to everlasting life.

Now let’s look at the next verse – the beginning of the three angel’s messages.

Revelation 14:7
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.

There are four parts to this first angel’s message:

• Fear God.
• Give glory to Him.
• The hour of His judgment is come.
• Worship the Creator.

What does it mean to fear God? This is where we will begin today.

Let’s start by looking at the passage where this phrase “Fear God” is first mentioned. It’s all the way in Genesis.

Genesis 22:12
And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

Abraham, called by God to sacrifice his own beloved son, Isaac. He was the son of promise. He was the son that God Himself named. God hold him that it would be through Isaac that all the nations of the world would be blessed.

• And then one day he comes and tests Abraham – calling him to sacrifice him.
• But Abraham would not hesitate to obey.
• He was wondering why though. He did not know what God would call him to do such a thing.
• God command was being pitted against His own promise.
• He was the son of promise. Now, sacrifice him.

Abraham would obey though. He would walk for 3 long days. He had 3 days to think about whether he should obey God or not. He had three days to decide if he really wanted to go through with it or not.

• But there he is. The son is tied up willingly. Abraham, weak with age and also the stress of the command from God could have been easily overcome by the son and run off home to tell mum what dad was about to do. But the son had obeyed as well.
• The altar is made. Isaac is laying there on the altar. And just as he is about to plunge that knife down into the sons chest, God calls out.
• Abraham stop – now I know that you fear God!

What did it mean to fear God in the context of Abraham’s story.

• It’s called obedience to God even when you don’t understand the reason why.
• Abraham did not know why God is asking him to sacrifice his son. But even though he didn’t understand the reason, he still went ahead to obey God to sacrifice his son.
• Romans 4:20
  He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God.
  • Abraham did not stagger at God’s word.
  • That obedience was not just works alone. It was built on faith in God’s word.
  • Faith was working together with his works!

This was a difficult test though. God’s promise vs God’s command. What enabled Abraham to go through with this dreadful act? What was he thinking?

• Hebrews 11:17-19
  17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,”
  • Here’s the situation.
  • What was Abraham thinking?
• Hebrews 11:17-19
  19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
• This was his thoughts:
  • God, I will sacrifice him. And you’re going to raise him from the dead!
• That’s the only way he could reconcile the promise of God vs the command that God gave him.

Do you see anywhere before Genesis 22 anything about a resurrection?

• Do you see anywhere in the first 21 chapters of Genesis where someone is being brought back to life after they did? No we don’t.
• So where did Abraham get this idea from that God was going to resurrect Isaac?
• He had to think beyond what had ever been done.
• He couldn’t rely on the past, the history books, to determine whether he should obey God or not.
• He had to think new thoughts. A resurrection!
• Of course, at the end he didn’t follow through with sacrificing Isaac. But still – he had to think those thoughts to get to the point where he would be willing to hold that knife up, ready to sacrifice his son.

James 2:21-22
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?

• Faith and obedience go together. Faith and works go together.
• James 2:24
  You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
• James 2:26
  For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
• Abraham is known as the father of faith.
• The 2 components of the 144,000, their characteristics – they have the faith of Jesus and they keep the commandments of God.

So to fear God, is to have faith, to build your faith that is revealed through our obedient acts.

• At the end of time you will either fear God or fear man.
• If you fear God, you will receive the seal of the living God.
• If you fear man, you will worship the image of the beast and receive the mark of the beast.

What does it mean to fear man?

• John 9:22
  His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue.
  • Jesus heals this man that was born blind.
  • The Pharisees are not satisfied that this blind man testifies that it was Jesus that healed him.
  • So they keep digging and prodding and asking him.
  • Eventually they go to his parents to ask what happened and they were the ones that feared the Jews.
  • They replied the Pharisees by just deflecting – he is of age, just ask him yourself.
• They didn’t want to stand up for Christ because they feared to be put out of the synagogue.
• This was a fearful thing back in those days because the whole nation was one religion. If you were put out of the synagogue, it affected you in every way. You’re an outcast. You can’t just go to another synagogue. They were all the same, they were all connected.
• They cared more for their livelihood and their reputation and their lives more than standing up to vindicate the name of Jesus.
• That’s just like the mark of the beast. Many will care more for money than for standing up for Jesus.
• John 12:42-43
  42 Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
• They loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

Galatians 1:10
For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

• For you to become a servant of God, you must fear God.
• The 144,000 are called the servants of God in Revelation 7.

1 Corinthians 7:23
Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.

• Jesus died on the cross for each of us so that we would not be the servants of men.
• If we have truly been saved, we will not be afraid of the beast and the image and the last days. We will stand for the right though the heavens fall.

Acts 4:18-20
18 And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. 20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.

• If you fear God, you won’t follow the commandments of men. You won’t be afraid of people threatening you.

Acts 5:29
Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

If you fear God:

• You would please God.
• You’ll be a servant of God.
• You will keep the commandants of God and not follow after the traditions of men which are contrary to God’s commandments.
• Deuteronomy 6:2
  That you may fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.
  • To fear God is to keep His commandments.
• Deuteronomy 10:12-13
  12 “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good?
  • To fear God is walk in all His ways, to love Him with all your heart, and to serve Him.
  • To keep His commandments – repeated here again.
• Obedience is emphasized very much!
• Mark 12:30
  And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.
  • So when Jesus told us this, what He was really telling us to do is was to fear God!
  • Fearing God is related to loving God. To love Him with all of our hearts.

What else does it mean to fear God?

• Proverbs 1:7
  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
  • To fear God is the beginning of knowledge.
• Daniel 12:4
  “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”
  • The increase of knowledge is showing that there will be more people that will fear God at the end of time.
• Psalms 111:10
  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.
  • To fear God is to have wisdom, heavenly wisdom.
• We need all this knowledge, wisdom and understanding for what purpose? That we may understand how to keep God’s
• The prayer for wisdom, to ask God to help us in our minds is not for just simply excellence in our education and our work.
• The number one reason why God wants to give us wisdom is for the purpose of understanding how we may live and walk before Him perfectly without spot or wrinkle.

Proverbs 3:7
Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and depart from evil.

• To fear God is to depart from evil.
• Exodus 20:20
  And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.”
  • If we fear God, we will not sin.
• Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.
  • To fear God is to keep His commandments.
• We’ve come at this from a few angles and it’s pretty clear that God wants us to keep His commandments!
• But there is an extra element that we need to experience if we are really to keep the commandments of God.
• Psalms 112:1
  Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who delights greatly in His commandments.
  • God doesn’t want us to obey Him out of literal fear of being thrown into hellfire or of punishment from God.
  • He wants us to delight greatly in His commandments!
• There needs to be this element of an emotional response from us in the keeping of the commandments. He wants us to delight! God does care about how we feel.
• Keeping God’s law should not be a drag.
  • There should be love and joy.
  • Loving God with all our hearts.
• Other examples of delight:
  • Psalms 1:2
    But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.
  • God wants us to delight in the law.
  • Isaiah 58:13
    “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight…
  • God wants us to delight in the Sabbath.

How? How to have this delight?

• Psalms 40:8
  I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart.”
  • We must have the law in our hearts.
• Hebrews 10:16
  “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,”
  • God wants to have the law in our hearts.

How to get the law into our hearts?

• We must ask God to write it there. He’s the One that will do it.
• But is there anything on our part that must be done? Of course there is.
• Psalms 1:2
  But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.
  • We have to meditate on the law of God.
• As often as we do it, that is the depth to which we will love God.
• We do our part, God will do His part.
• We have to make an effort.
• Philippians 2:12-13
  12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
• But ultimately, it really is all Christ!
• 1 John 4:19
  We love Him because He first loved us.
• He is the One that has taken the first step. Now He’s just waiting for us to respond.
• Take the time to meditate on the word.
• You will begin to find more delight in it.
• Then you will begin to find delight in the practicing of His word.
• The law is no longer a burden, but a delight.
• And when that law is in our heart, and the delight is all there, and obedience is that delight, then the next step is just a result of all that’s been happening:
• Psalms 119:11
  Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

The 144,000 are blameless. They stand before God’s throne without fault. They are standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion.

• And it all began with fear God. Hiding God’s word in their hearts!
  • Living by faith.
  • Delighting in the Law.
  • Meditating on His word.
  • Loving obedience.
  • Servants of God.