In November of 1861, America was only several months in to the civil war. The country was tearing itself apart, and the issue of slavery hung prominently over the conflict. A woman named Julia Ward Howe traveled to Washington, DC, with her husband, Samuel Howe, who was a doctor and a well known abolitionist. While they were there, they heard Union soldiers singing a popular marching song called John Brown’s Body, which was a gruesome tale of a Union sergeant who died. A pastor who they were traveling with told Julia, “You know, you really ought to rewrite those lyrics to the same tune, so this could be something we could sing for worship in church.” She didn’t think much of it at the time.

But early one morning, before the sun came up, Julia suddenly awoke with words running through her mind. The words of Revelation 14 and 15, which is our text tonight. She immediately got up and started writing.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord: He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword: His truth is marching on. He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat: Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet! As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free.

Sing it with me!

Glory, glory Hallelujah! Glory, glory, Hallelujah! Glory, glory Hallelujah! Our God is marching on.

Now this Battle Hymn of the Republic motivated soldiers fighting the evil of American slavery, and it’s motivated congregations since the civil war to stay true to the mission, to go and make disciples.

You know, the Bible calls for two comings of Christ. Christ came the first time not to judge the world, but to save the world. To pour out His grace on us, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He came the first time to die for our sins, to save us from God’s wrath. But the second time Christ comes, He comes as the righteous judge, that God’s wrath would be poured out on the unbelieving world who rejected His free gift of salvation.

I talk to people all the time who say, “God is not a God of wrath, he is a God of love.” While the second part of that statement is true, the first part is not true. God has the high and perfect standard of holiness that can only be achieved through faith in Jesus Christ. By His grace we’re saved through faith. It’s not of ourselves, it’s a gift of God. But if anyone rejects that free gift of salvation, they are going to meet God’s wrath. We want to share the good news of salvation with as many people as possible because:

We don’t want anyone to experience the wrath of God.

Now to catch us up on where we are in Revelation, travel back with me if you will to the year 90 AD. You’ll remember that John, the Apostle John, has been exiled to the island of Patmos, he’s jailed there because of the word of God and because of his testimony (Rev. 1:9). Jailed John is there in exile, and glorified Christ shows up to him, visibly. John is given instructions for the church, he’s caught up into heaven’s throne room, and he sees what will take place, that is the end of the world, and the beginning of the new heaven and the new earth. We’re nearing the end of the tribulation when we are here in Revelation 14:14, take your Bibles and turn with me there, and let’s read exactly what John saw.

Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and one like the Son of Man, was seated on the cloud, with a golden crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.

-Revelation 14:14

Now you’ll remember where this depiction of Jesus, the Son of Man began in Daniel 7, when Daniel saw the same thing.

…one like a Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven…And to him was given dominion and glory and kingship, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.

-Daniel 7:13,14

Here Jesus has a sharp sickle in his hand because it’s time to harvest the works of the people.

Do you remember Jesus’s parable of the wheat and the weeds?

Jesus said the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while he was away, the enemy came, and sowed weeds among the wheat. When the crops began to grow, the wheat was plagued by the weeds. His servant said, “should we pull all these weeds?” The landowner said, no, if you pull the weeds, you’ll damage the wheat. Let the wheat grow so that we can remove it, and that’s when you’ll gather all the weeds and throw them into the fire.” Jesus gives us an interpretation of this passage:

“The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world; and the good seed—these are the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Therefore, just as the weeds are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom all who cause sin and those guilty of lawlessness. They will throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. Let anyone who has ears listen.”

-Matthew 13:37-43

Now I want to remind you that there are two types of people. Saved, and unsaved. There is no in between. Those who cause sin and are guilty of lawlessness are the unsaved. Those who are righteous have been made righteous through Christ, the saved.

At this point in Revelation the church has been raptured, caught up, harpatzo’d in the Greek. Now what’s left are the weeds, and it’s time for the harvest. Jesus also said that a good tree bears good fruit, and a bad tree bears bad fruit, you’ll remember this from Matthew 7. What’s about to happen is that Jesus and His angels are about to harvest all the bad fruit from the bad trees, the people who have been through most of the tribulation, yet have hardened their hearts to the Gospel. Remember, God redeemed 144,000 from Israel who have been the End of Days Evangelists. Multitudes have come to Christ as a result of the tribulation. Anyone with ears should have listened! Yet you have these last people on the earth who have refused to surrender to Christ and have chosen to worship the Antichrist. If you’re visiting for the first time tonight, by the way, you’ve just dropped into the deep end of Revelation, welcome!

Another angel came out of the temple, crying out in a loud voice to the one who was seated on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap, for the time to reap has come, since the harvest of the earth is ripe.” So the one seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

Then another angel who also had a sharp sickle came out of the temple in heaven. Yet another angel, who had authority over fire, came from the altar, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the vineyard of the earth, because its grapes have ripened.” So the angel swung his sickle at the earth and gathered the grapes from the vineyard of the earth, and he threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath.

-Revelation 14:15-19

Romans 2:6 tells us He will repay each one according to his deeds. All of the bad fruit from the bad trees is gathered into the winepress. Now to give us a little color on what a winepress is, you would have this massive barrel, often made of bricks, they would fill it up with grapes, then people would get in, trample the grapes, and the grape juice would pour out through a trough and into a wine barrel. But look what happens here:

Then the press was trampled outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press up to the horses’ bridles for about 180 miles.

-Revelation 14:20

Remember from last week, we’re at Mt. Zion, the south wall of Jerusalem, Jerusalem is the city this is referring to. The blood of this bad fruit has risen five feet tall, for a 180 mile radius around Jerusalem. This would completely cover Damascus and Beirut, down to eastern Egypt. This will be a catastrophic flood of blood. Now if you were in this situation, let’s just say that you were around for this, wouldn’t you think, I should really repent. I should turn it around, I should get on board with Jesus. I know I would. But you’ll remember Proverbs 29:1 that says it’s possible to stiffen your neck so often that you’ll suddenly be broken beyond repair. A stiff neck is a neck that refuses to bow. Now I can’t explain this, but I’ve met too many people who have been so resistant to the call of Christ, that it seems like all their hope for salvation is lost. If you’ve found yourself in that situation, you can’t do anything to get yourself out of it! But God can. Surrendering to Christ is simple, it’s about following Jesus, wherever He takes you. There is no person God cannot save, there is no promise God cannot keep, there is nothing that our God cannot do. We’ll have an invitation tonight to surrender your life to Christ. Hebrews 3 and 4 tells us multiple times, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart! Let today be the day of your salvation. In fact, while this is happening, the great winepress of the fruit of the deeds of the earth, the Christians who had repented, those who had surrendered to Christ, are singing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb.

Then I saw another great and awe-inspiring sign in heaven: seven angels with the seven last plagues; for with them God’s wrath will be completed. I also saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire…

-Revelation 15:1-2

Remember this sea of glass from Heaven’s throne room in Revelation 4, and now it’s mixed with fire, and this choir of believers is in heaven!

…and those who had won the victory over the beast, its image, and the number of its name, were standing on the sea of glass with harps from God. They sang the song of God’s servant Moses and the song of the Lamb: Great and awe-inspiring are your works, Lord God, the Almighty; just and true are your ways, King of the nations. Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All the nations will come and worship before you because your righteous acts have been revealed.

-Revelation 15:2-4

This is the song that Moses and the Israelites sang in Exodus 15 immediately after God parted the waters of the Red Sea and delivered them from the yolk of slavery to Egypt. I can’t wait to preach through Exodus because that entire book points us to the Christian life. Just as God delivered His people from physical slavery to the world through Moses, God delivers His people from spiritual slavery to sin, through His son. These people who came to Christ during the tribulation are rejoicing in their freedom, while those who have not surrendered to Christ are suffering during the tribulation. Those who sided with the devil and the antichrist and the false prophet thought they had it right, but we see now that they were wrong. And isn’t that true today? This world is full of people who do not understand their need for a savior. People who are pulled into the prosperity of the world, but do not see the prosperity that is promise of God. These are the people we’re called to reach, to share the gospel with as many people as possible. And all anyone has to do to end their lostness, is repent. You’ll get used to me saying this because I say it often. Repentance is easy, all it means is that you were walking one direction, away from God, and you decide to turn it around, and instead of walk away from God, walk towards God! God has given us so many opportunities to realize our need for a savior. The emptiness we feel, when we try to find our purpose in all sorts of things other than God. The consequences we face, when we make sinful decisions that are not God’s intention for our lives. The isolation we experience, when we try to go at it alone, and when we do, we feel, alone. You don’t have to experience emptiness and isolation.

Christ died so that you could have life and have it in full!

Let today be the day of your salvation.

Next, John sees the heavenly temple open.

After this I looked, and the heavenly temple—the tabernacle of testimony—was opened. Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, dressed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes wrapped around their chests. One of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God who lives forever and ever. Then the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.

-Revelation 15:5-8

Seven angels, carrying seven plagues, one of the four living creatures, remember them from heaven’s throne room in Revelation 4? I said we would see them again and again, and here they are, handing over seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God. This is the final stage of the tribulation, and no one is allowed to enter the temple until it’s completed. Nothing can change this plan.

So John hears a loud voice from the temple, saying,

Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.”

-Revelation 16:1

As we get through these bowls, this is going to sound familiar. These bowls will be just like the trumpets from Revelation 8-9, which were just like the plagues over Egypt during the Exodus. The main difference between these bowls of wrath and the trumpets of judgement is, the trumpets affected a third of the earth, while these bowls of wrath affect the whole earth. But notice this striking similarity to the plagues of the Exodus and these bowls of wrath. Just as God protected His people and kept them safe in the land of Goshen, God will protect His people during these dark days of the tribulation.

The first went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and severely painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped its image.

-Revelation 16:2

These painful sores only affected the people who worshipped the beast.

God will always save His people for eternity.

As Christians, sometimes we’re focusing on the wrong miracle. We want answers now. We want deliverance now. God’s promise is eternal. That we’ll be in heaven with Him forever. That promise is better than anything we could ask for on this earth.

We see the second bowl, the sea turns to blood, the third bowl, the rivers and water sources turn to blood, the fourth bowl, the sun, instead of going dark, scorches the people with fire. But instead of repenting, the people blaspheme the name of God, who has power over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory.

Then, the fifth bowl, it’s complete, and total darkness. The beast’s kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues because of their pain and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they did not repent of their works.

And then we get to the sixth bowl. The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east.

-Revelation 16:12

Now I’ll give us a little geography, the Euphrates river runs northeast and southwest, through modern day Syria and Iraq. In this second to last bowl, God is drying up that river to make way for His enemies to cross over to Jerusalem. These enemies will be coming from Russia, China, and India. Not that I’m calling out those specific countries, this is just geography. But look what God is doing, he’s preparing the way for the Battle of Armageddon. He’s saying, “Come and take it!”

Then I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming from the dragon’s mouth, from the beast’s mouth, and from the mouth of the false prophet. For they are demonic spirits performing signs, who travel to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for the battle on the great day of God, the Almighty.

-Revelation 16:13-14

And then, we have a word from our Lord, the very words of Jesus Christ in this moment.

“Look, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who is alert and remains clothed so that he may not go around naked and people see his shame.” So they assembled the kings at the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.

-Revelation 16:15-16

Now any student of the Old Testament will know this place well. This is the valley of Meggido. A place where many battles have been fought. Beginning with Joshua and the conquest of the promised land. Deborah and Barak’s great battle in the book of Judges. Jehu’s defeating of the wicked king Ahaziah. Israel’s King Josiah’s battle against Pharoah Neco. And this will be the place where the final world war is fought. But let’s look at the words that Jesus said.

“Look, I am coming like a thief."

-Revelation 16:13

This means He is coming when you’ll least expect it.

"Blessed is the one who is alert and remains clothed so that he may not go around naked and people see his shame.”

-Revelation 16:13-14

How does God deliver His people to salvation? Through His Son, Jesus Christ. Galatians 3:27 says:

“For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ.”

-Galatians 3:27 CSB

Throughout the history of the world, there have been soldiers changing uniforms. One such soldier from the Civil War was a Mississipian named James Rowland. Rowland had gone to war with the Confederate army, but after realizing that he was on the wrong side of history, that he was fighting for darkness, he decided to take off that gray uniform and clothe himself in blue. And that’s a picture of our salvation. We realize we’re on the wrong side of eternity, and we repent. We turn around, and instead of clothing ourselves in darkness, we clothe ourselves in Christ. Jesus said to let your light shine. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Let your light shine. If you’ve found yourself here today and you’re clothed in darkness, there is only one thing to do. Clothe yourself in Christ.