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Once again, good morning. Please turn in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 14. Revelation chapter 14. I'll specifically be looking at two verses today. Revelation chapter 14, verses 6 and 7. I have divided this chapter into two major sections, the heart of God and the harvest of the earth.

And this morning I want to look at verses 6 and 7. Verse 6, and I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation, and tribe, and tongue, and people. And he said with a loud voice, Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come.

Worship him who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and the springs of water. Now there's nothing our world doesn't our world completely understands the tragedy of missed opportunities. I think you and I understand philosophers, secularists. And every just part of growing and living in this world, you understand the tragedy of missed opportunities.

One writer says it like this: There is nothing more expensive than a missed opportunity. Opportunities are like sunrises. If you wait too long, you miss them. Well, we have before us in the verses that I just read the last opportunity for some to switch their allegiance from serving the devil to serving God.

The last opportunity. And there will be that time in your life where there will be that last opportunity to switch allegiances if you haven't already done so. Just like there will be on planet Earth the last time for anyone to ever switch their allegiance from serving the devil to serving God.

And in our context, our passage this morning, there are those, we've been looking, a future generation who will go through the tribulation, even the great tribulation, who will live through the time of the beast in chapter 13, Satan's empire. There are those who will live through that time, and they will.

Live through that time because they will not repent. They will not turn to God, hardened in heart, the vast majority of them, and they will live in this time under the kingdom of this Antichrist world described in chapter 13. But in chapter 14, God gives us a vision, gives us a series of visions of the victory of the Lamb, the harvest of the earth.

First few verses, first five verses, we get this vision of the first fruits. You can see the heart of God revealed there in the way he protects his people, this 144,000, and vindicates them. They are the ones who are on Mount Zion, not going to be the dragon ultimately and his beasts, false prophet.

But there comes a time when the last invitation to be forgiven and saved and blessed will be over. So today, we want to look at how the heart of God has. Revealed in the way he deals with his people. We've already witnessed the heart of our Creator, God, and the way He deals with His people.

He protects them, He vindicates them, He loves proximity to them, loves to reign with them. These are the first fruits already we've seen. But here in this passage, we see the heart of God revealed in the way He deals with His enemies. It's a profound passage, profound couple of verses that touches on many things, showing us the heart of God, giving us a lot of points of theology, connecting to understand the hardness of man's heart, the goodness of God, and a message they can understand, even though dead.

Very profound passage. But if you look in verse 8, or 15, verse 8, let me read to you: there comes a time when the bold judgments are going to be poured out, and once those bold judgments start, they can't be stopped. Verse 15, 8 says, And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.

That is, the seven bold. Once they start, they cannot be interrupted. They complete. The wrath of God is poured out in its entirety. But before the seven bowls of wrath are poured out, before that which is started, that cannot be stopped, God issues one final and sincere invitation to unrepentant humanity.

A final invitation. And I want us to look at this final invitation at rebellious humanity so that none of us will miss the opportunity that is set before us. There is an opportunity to be in a right relationship with your Creator for all eternity. Don't miss that. Well, God's invitation, as we look at this, God's final invitation, it involves two things that I want to mention to you.

First, God's final invitation involves a final proclamation of the gospel. Look back at verse 6. And I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth and to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people. In chapter 14, six angels appear.

This is the first of the six. Notice, I saw another angel. Who is this last angel? It's an interesting question, but and I saw another angel, implying that he's referencing another angel. Could it be one of the angelic singers in verse 2? And I heard a voice from heaven, the sound of many waters, and the sound of a loud thunder, and those singing a new song, verse 3.

Is it part of one of the angelic chorus? Or is it one of the seven angels, or is it another one in distinction to the seven angels, the trumpet angels of 11:15? Well, if you really look at the nearest antecedent, in chapter 12, verse 9, or actually even before that, 12:7, you have Michael and his angels.

Regardless, it's a different angel, another angel. I call him the singing angel, the singing, no, the flying preacher, the preaching angel. That's who this is. This is this angel who preaches. He is flying mid-heaven. That is mid-air at a vantage point of great visibility. Everyone's going to see him and he's going to fly.

He's going to cover the circumference. He's going to get a message out. Look at what that message is. He is going to go to proclaim a message. And notice, every nation, and every tribe, and every tongue, and every people is going to hear it. Nothing is going to keep this eternal gospel from being proclaimed and being understood.

Saw another angel flying in mid-heaven, and in verse 7 it says, He has a loud voice. He has a message to proclaim, described as the eternal gospel. He's going to proclaim it. Nothing is going to keep this eternal gospel from being heard or proclaimed and heard and understood.

And I hear often in some mission circles this notion that Christ cannot return until the church has proclaimed the gospel to all people groups. I think that's false. I agree with the effort, but not the premise. We are to be engaged in mission for sure. And the gospel is going out and is going into the nations, and disciples are being made from all the nations.

But to say that Christ cannot return until the church proclaims the gospel to everyone is simply not the case. The gospel is going to be proclaimed, it is going to go through the whole earth. The church is to be part of missions taking the word to the ends of the earth.

But ultimately, the church, or ultimately, the gospel is going to be heard and understood even in this future generation through witnesses, through God's people, but also through the angel. The eternal good news is going to go out to every nation, every tribe, every tongue, every people group. Listen, Christ can rapture his church at any time.

It's imminent. There isn't some other prophetic thing on the calendar that needs to happen before Christ can come and gather his people to himself. But notice the words eternal gospel. That's what I like to focus on: eternal gospel, good news, good news, a message of good news that is forever good news, eternally good news.

Even after the initial proclamation, it is eternal good news. It is the good news, the forever good news that is good news and will ever be and will always be good news. This is one of the most beautiful scenes. You can step into it and see what's happening.

I think this is one of the most beautiful scenes I think I have ever seen or read about. When you think about the character and disposition of the world at this time and the blood that they have shed on God's people, how completely undeserving they are, and it's not just an innocent ignorance, it is a willful, stubborn rebellion.

They know God, they know who He is, but they prefer the perversion of their own ways. They prefer to worship idols, to go after those things instead of serving the true God. How undeserving these people are. And yet, I also see how willing and how desirous God is to receive them.

Still, even at this juncture, good news is being proclaimed. Good news. Even at this stage of human history, good news. And certainly at a time like this, in the context of where we are, the earth needs good news. And God wants them to hear it. You see God's heart there?

It's like what God is saying and going to say to this generation: you don't have to continue your war with me. There's good news. And the good news is for us today, you don't have to continue your war with God. It can be over with today. It's good news.

And you may be sitting here today, and you may be like these people who have demonstrated a career of being perverse in heart, idolatrous in mind, stubborn in will, blasphemous in mouth, and hateful toward God's people. Yet, know this: God still loves you as he does them. This is the good news.

This disposition of God toward people is the good news. This is the way the Creator feels about His creation, and He always will. That's why it is eternal good news. As John Piper said, It, God is the gospel. The nature of God is the good news, and you can see it right here on the pages of Scripture, even at this late juncture in human history, when perversion has gone to its ultimate height.

There He is, there is the God saying, You don't have to continue fighting me. By the way, this is the only place in Revelation where there. The word gospel is used. I love good news. We all love good news. In fact, I love it when my wife comes into my study and says, I know I'm interrupting you, but I got some good news.

And I know you'll be glad to hear it. Don't we love good news? And I can tell you about something when somebody proclaims good news, or they have something neat to tell you, something excited to tell you, you see it on their face, don't you? Just by the way, they come walking into your presence.

There's maybe a twinkle in their eye, maybe there's a smile on their face, or a tone in their voice. Think about the angel. This angel is excited and happy. He is excited and happy to proclaim good news after all that's happened. Here comes this angel. I've got good news for you.

For the whole world, every single one of you. I want all of you to hear it. You can have a good relationship with God even now. You can switch your allegiance even now. It doesn't get into all the components of the gospel that we would. Well, there's Jesus on the cross.

There's all those aspects of the gospel that we would see typically laid out. It's not the emphasis. The emphasis is at this juncture in history, God is still wanting them to hear good news and to respond to Him. And that is good news. You know, never forget that the gospel is good news.

We, even now, are heralds of good news. If you're in Christ, the taking of the gospel, the proclamation of the gospel to the ends of the earth locally here and wherever it is, it is forever good news. Going to people and saying, Look, you don't have to continue your war with God.

You can be at peace with your Creator. That is good news, isn't it? Yes. Never forget the gospel is good news, even if people oppose it. Even if people try to make you feel ashamed of it, even if people despise you for proclaiming it, we proclaim good news.

That's because that's what the gospel is. It is forever good news. And when eternities of eternities have passed, we will still be delighted. In just how marvelous our Creator's love is for us, it is eternally good news, and we can see it in the way He loves His enemies.

How much more will we experience it as people, objects of His love and grace in His Son? Oh, I'm happy to announce to you that even after all the ways you and I have sinned against God, He is still ready to receive us. And He has made a way to receive us without compromising or corrupting His holiness.

He can be perfectly holy and cleansing us and receiving us. And so it's good news. Even after all the ways you have sinned against God, you don't have to continue your war with Him at all. And even if you have come to Christ and you still walk in ways and think you've sinned beyond His grace or whatever, He is ready to receive you.

Do you see the heart of God here? He is the good news, and this is the good news. So, God's final invitation, it involves. A final proclamation of the gospel. But second, God's final invitation involves an expected response. And this is God's expected response. Expected response that God desires and expects.

That is right. Look at verse 7. And he said with a loud voice, fear God and give him glory. Because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and the springs of water. Do you see in this verse there is a clear articulation of how God expects people to respond to the gospel.

A very clear articulation. Three commands. And these three commands given to a future generation, or a vision given to a future generation, is true of all times. How does God expect you to respond to the good news? Well, there's three commands, three responses clearly articulated here in verse 7.

And each one of these commands is good news. Look at the first one. God. Fear God. That's it. Fear God. Fear God. You know what fearing God involves? It involves humility before Him. If you're exalting yourself, if you're going to fear God, you're going to have to humble yourself.

If you don't fear God, you elevate yourself. Fear God. It involves humility before Him and surrender to Him. To fear Him is to recognize, okay, yes, I am not only humble myself before you, but I am surrendered to you. And this is really good news, especially in the context.

Fear God as opposed to fearing man. Fear God as opposed to fearing the beast. Fearing the mark. Fear God rather than fearing the political and religious system that has joined hands in opposition to God's people. Don't fear them. Fear God. That's good news. Fear God. Don't fear the demonic.

Powers, the political structures that are allied against Christ. That's not who we're to fear. Very simple. We are to fear God. I love it. We are to fear God. You are to fear God more than your neighbors, more than your bosses, and more than your professors, more than your lack of things or the uncertainty of the future.

You are to fear God more than sickness, more than death, more than any other created thing. You are to fear Him. Doesn't that simplify life? And this, by the way, is not a new command. Any student of Scripture understands that this is basically Command 101. This is the very basic element of a right relationship with your Creator: to fear Him, deeply revere Him, to be afraid to cross His ways.

That's the idea. And listen, fearing God is the prerequisite to obeying Him. If there is no fear, there is no concern about obeying Him. Remember Moses when Israel was about to go into the land, and Deuteronomy 31:12 says this: assemble the people. The men and the women and children and the alien who is in your town, so that they may hear and learn the fear of the Lord your God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law.

So when Moses, God speaks to Israel through Moses and tells them, first thing you've got to do is you've got to learn the fear of the Lord. That is going to be prerequisite to you obeying my commands. You remember when Samuel was, when God was speaking to that generation of Israelites who wanted to place a king over them and chose Saul.

And Samuel goes and addresses them and he says this in 1 Samuel 12, 13, Now, therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen, whom you have asked for. And behold, the Lord has set a king over you. If you will fear the Lord and serve him and listen to his voice and not rebel against the command of the Lord, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God.

But if you will not listen to the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the command of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you as it was against your fathers. Fear the Lord. If you don't learn the fear of the Lord, Lord, and you put a king over you that doesn't learn the fear of the Lord, guess what?

The whole nation of you is not going to obey the king's commands or the Lord's commands. You will not continue to follow the Lord. But fearing the Lord is something that can be learned. Psalm 34:11, Come, children, listen to me, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

Solomon, you remember when he's summarizing his whole study of life, Ecclesiastes 12:13, the conclusion, when all has been heard, is fear God and keep his commandments, because this applies to every person. He says in Proverbs 1:7, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

And then in that wonderful chapter of Isaiah, chapter 11, where we are get a vision of God's coming king, the one that he anoints. Listen to what it says in Isaiah 11:1. Then a shoot will spring forth from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of Counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. And he will delight in the fear of the Lord. And he will not judge by what his eyes see, nor make a decision by what his ears hear.

God's king is someone who delights in the fear of the Lord. You see this in Christ. One thing you say, he not only feared the Lord, feared God, he delighted in fearing him. Listen, the first step toward Christ's likeness is fear of God. Being afraid to cross him.

And by the way, if you sin against him, he has made provision for that sin and expects you to deal appropriately with sin with the offering that he has made. He took into account sin. And so when we do sin and you don't deal with it properly, it's not showing fear for the Lord.

You say it's too good to be true. He confesses. Yes, so much of this stuff just seems too good to be true. That's why it. Is called the gospel. Even when we sin, even when I fall down, you can't stay there because of the fear of the Lord.

God doesn't want you to stay there. He wants you up, He wants you in relationship with Him, and He has prepared a way for you to, and He expects you to walk in that way. So, even when we stumble, you should be too afraid to stay there because of the wonderful provision that He has made in Christ.

So, this command is not new. It's the one thing that God expects all humanity to get. This is basic life. This is obvious. This is elementary. This is the easy truth. God is God, you're not. Fear Him. This is the one thing that God expects you to get.

And those who don't get it are going to be deemed eternal flunkies. Willful, deliberate, suppressing the obvious. I love this truth. Fear God. For a simple person, simple-minded person like this, like me, this makes it so easy. Simple-minded person like me loves this truth because it makes it so, like, it makes life so much easier.

Since God is the ultimate judge, He's the one to whom we're ultimately accountable. I don't have to fear anything else but God, that makes life simple. I don't have to fear the what-ifs, I don't have to fear all the demonic powers of evil. I don't have to fear a hostile government, I don't have to fear anything because the Bible tells me there is one I am to fear, and that is God and God Almighty, and God Almighty alone.

That sure simplifies life. Yes, we are to respect the authorities that He places over us, but we do so out of fear of Him. So, God's final invitation involves the expected response of fearing Him. But there's a second in our text: Give Him glory. Look at verse 7.

The angel said with a loud voice, Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Give Him glory. You know what giving Him glory involves? It involves. Recognizing God as God, His attributes. He is God in power. That is, He is omnipotent. He has all power.

He is God in knowledge. That is, He is omniscient. So giving Him glory involves this idea of recognizing God as God and denouncing the false way, refusing the false way, recognizing the right way that God is God and refusing the false way that elevates man to such a place.

And in the context, this is really, think about this in the context in which it's given: Give God glory, fear God, and give Him glory. Don't worry about this beast, don't worry about the dragon, don't worry about the false prophet. You give glory to God, you recognize God as God, and this is this is the whole satanic system has joined and come together in chapter 13.

Satan's been kicked out of heaven, he's taken out his last vengeful battle upon earth. He's been kicked out of heaven, so he allies the earthly forces against God. And so, Those living at this time are going to be experiencing the satanic pressures of the beast, the fleshly wishes of a perverse society, and they're going to be pressuring them to concede in worshiping and paying tribute, taking the mark and paying tribute to this satanic beast.

But here comes this angel with good news. Don't worry about all that. You give glory to God. You recognize God as God and don't be afraid to denounce the false way. And by virtue of them not taking the mark, guess what? They denounce the false way. There isn't this neutral ground.

The satanic pressure is like, look, if you're not with us, you are denouncing us. And so that's the idea. But this, too, is good news. I love this. No one else is God. Everyone, every being in heaven and on earth are accountable to him and how they respond to him.

This is the great equalizer. This I have in common with. With all the angels in heaven, all the fallen angels that revolve, that all humanity, every creature of the earth, I am ultimately, like them, accountable to God and how I respond to Him. That is the great equalizer.

And what's really wonderful about this is I don't have to always be right. He's God, He's got all the power, He's the one with all the knowledge. I don't have to always be right. Even if I'm wrong, I can acknowledge the false way and denounce it because I can give glory to God.

And that is the command: give glory to God. You don't have to be right. What you have to do and what you're called to do is to denounce the false way, even if you're the one that's been propagating it. Doesn't that make life simple? You don't have to always be right.

And that's basically what giving glory to God is: about admitting you're wrong and that He is right. And admitting that everything else that doesn't agree with God is wrong and He is right. That's the false way. And giving glory to God is about declaring. And recognizing God as God.

And this, too, is not a new command. Remember in 1 Chronicles 16, 24, tell of his glory among the nations, his wonderful deeds among the people. For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. He is also to be feared above all gods. Psalm 22, 23, you who fear the Lord, praise him.

All of you descendants of Jacob, glorify him, stand in awe of him, all of you descendants of Israel. This is what glorifying God is recognizing God as God and the greatness of things that he does that only God can do and celebrating those and right relationship that we have with him in his son.

Isaiah 42, 12 says this, let them, speaking of the inhabitants of the earth, let them give glory to the Lord and declare his praise. The Lord will go forth like a warrior. He will arouse his zeal like a man of war. He will utter a shout. Yes, he will raise a war cry, and he will prevail.

Against his enemies. Are you an enemy of God? Know this. You're not going to out God. You're not going to prevail over him. What do you think? You today who know you're not in a right relationship with him, can you stand against your maker? Then give him glory.

Recognize God as God and denounce the false way that you've been living in. But back to Revelation chapter 14 and verse 7. Fear God and give him glory. Why? Why does the response to the eternal good news involve fearing God and also giving him glory? Well, it tells us in verse 7: look back, because the hour of his judgment has come.

Give. Yield to God glory. Why? Because the hour of his judgment has come. And this is the proper response to the judge. In this capacity, he is judge. Fear God. Give him glory. Why? Because he is the impartial judge, the one who controls the final destiny of. Your life, my life, and the lives of everyone in creation.

That is why you are to fear God and give Him glory because He is the one who controls the final destiny of all creation. So fearing Him and giving Him glory is expected. Third, the expected response to God's eternal gospel is to worship Him. Worship Him. Look at back at verse 7.

The angel says with a loud voice, Fear God, give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. And then He says, This, Worship Him, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and the springs of water. The idea of worship: fall down before Him, welcome Him respectfully, take His mark upon you.

He is the judge of all things. Why? Because He is the creator of all things. It is grossly improper. For a fellow creature to worship a fellow creature. That is way off. And I don't care from what realm you're talking about. It is grossly improper for a creature to worship an angel or to worship an animal.

It is grossly off because he is the creator. God is the creator. And because of that, we are to worship him. And this, you think about it again, at this juncture in human history, the entire world system, political, religious, economic, all of it, is pressuring and deceiving people to bow down to the beast.

And yet, here comes this angel with good news. Don't worship the beast. Worship God. And it's interesting. In his message, he says, worship him who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, the springs of water. Guess what the people have been experiencing? They have been experiencing, they've already experienced the first four trumpet blasts.

Do you remember those? One is against the third of the earth's vegetation, other against the A third of the sea. The other, there is a star called wormwood that affects a third of the springs, the fresh drinking water supplies. You have the fourth trumpet, the darkness, a third of the sun and the moon doesn't give off its life.

God has already, with the first trumpet judgments, has sent a warning. He is God over all of these elements, and he's going to complete the job in the bold judgments. And once they get started, they are going to be completed. And so he is calling them. He is reminding them.

The angel is reminding them: listen, don't worship the beast or anything else. Worship God, who has already demonstrated authority over all of these realms. He demands worship, and it is right to worship Him because He is the Creator. What is God doing at this juncture? God is forcing the nations to choose between worshiping God and being saved.

Or worshiping the beast and being condemned with him. But there's application to us today, right? To whom will you render homage? To whom will you render praise? To whom will you give the affections of your heart? It is the Creator to whom we are all to bow. And this too is good news.

Listen, God loved us enough to create us in the first place. Did you know that? God, think about it, I'm here, you're here. Why? Because you have a Creator who loves you. And even though you have sinned against Him, He still wants a relationship with you. But here's the point: Since He is Creator, He must relate to us as Creator.

And we must acknowledge Him as such, or else we cannot be in union with Him. He is Creator. That's who He is. The angelic invitation here is for you to be in union with your Creator. And if you do not acknowledge Him as your Creator, you cannot. Be in union with your Creator because He is your Creator.

Listen, life will always be out of order until you give your Creator, God, His rightful place in your heart. Until you relate to your Creator properly, your life will be out of order. And it is the gospel that corrects our worship disorder. That's what we have, worship disorder, and it is the gospel that re-establishes God's throne in our lives.

Well, God's final invitation involves a final proclamation of the gospel and an expected response to that gospel. It's important to point out that the gospel that the angel heralds is not a simple suggestion to give God a try, but a command to fear God, give him glory, and worship him.

That's the demands of the gospel. And it is good news. When the gospel draws near, it is bringing to you the good news to fear him. Above all else, give him glory above all else to delightfully worship him, to pay homage to him, to all of this, to fear God over everything else, recognize God as God, denouncing the false way and bowing before him.

Well, this is the last chance as we look at this future generation. This is the last chance for these people to change allegiances. You see, there does come a time for the last call, the last opportunity. Some may even be here today, and this may be your very last call to respond to your Creator.

You don't know what tomorrow brings. You don't know what this afternoon brings. But the call is here today. It's an opportunity for you to switch allegiances. It's also a call for you to get more serious about your allegiance to God. One writer said this that reflects a common sentiment among even unbelieving people.

In the end, we only regret the chances we didn't take. The relationships we were afraid to have, and the decisions we waited too long to make. You see, hell itself is an eternal monument to a missed opportunity. That's what hell is: it's an eternal monument to those who missed the grandest opportunity ever.

You know what hell is? Hell is God's wrath on display forever. You know what heaven is? God's favor on display forever. To miss the opportunity, to come under the eternal, loving favor of your heavenly Father is life's greatest tragedy. It is the greatest loss. In light of the incredible invitation to be in a right relationship with your Creator and to forever come under His eternal favor and demonstrations of that from eternity to eternity throughout eternity, that is God's greatest promise.

That is the greatest opportunity. And to lose that, to miss that, is life's greatest tragedy. So respond to him. Fear him. Give him glory. Recognize God as God. Denounce the false way and worship him. And you know what? Even as believers, we're expected to grow under these commands.

We are to grow in fearing God. We are to grow in giving glory to him. We are to grow in worshiping him. Each day is an opportunity to live and walk with your Creator and to squander any day of your life is tragic waste. What an opportunity is set before us today.

The opportunity to fear and revere God more deeply, to glorify Him more diligently, and to worship Him more boldly. These are great days to be alive. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we bow our hearts before you, confessing that you and you alone are to be feared. It is our heart's desire.

To give you glory, it is our heart's desire to recognize you as God. Please show us ways where we are not recognizing you as God, where we are acting as God. Father, help us to denounce the false way. Embolden us to be more vocal in worshiping you and celebrating your praise.

Lord, we thank you for each day. May we treasure and be good stewards of them. Thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.