“The Harvest of Judgment”
Revelation 14:14-20

“And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, ‘Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest is ripe.”  [Rev 14:15]

Our passage this morning describes the time of grace coming to an end.  Mercy, after a long period of time [from Genesis 3:15 to Revelation 19] will finally come to an end.  MacArthur writes:

“The time of grace is over, and there will be no more delaying the harvest of judgment.  The Son can now exercise the right to judge that the Father has delegated to Him (John 5:22, 27; Acts 10:42; 17:31) because the earth is ripe for judgment.  In fact, the verb translated is ripe actually means ‘dried up,’ ‘withered,’ ‘overripe, or ‘rotten.’  The grain (the earth) pictured here has passed the point of any usefulness and is fit only to be ‘gathered up and burned with fire’ (Matt. 13:40).”

It is a riveting description, indeed, yet a true meaning of the word.  The earth will be “overripe” for judgment.  It will be the culmination of unrepentant sin throughout the ages.  Sinful humanity will have trespassed beyond the point of any usefulness by God.  And it will be precisely at that point that mercy will have reached its fullness, and God’s judgment and righteous rule will begin.

Notice, though, the waiting, the longsuffering; the great mercy of God.  He will wait until the earth is literally overripe [rotten] with sin.  Oh the mercy of our Lord!  He is overly merciful because He is overly loving.  He will wait for that last person who has been chosen to choose Him, and then the end will come.

The good news today is that we are still in a time of mercy; you can receive Jesus as Lord today before His harvest of judgment.  But know this; judgment will come, which is what our passage describes.

Salvation is an eternal work; but it is not eternally available.  Paul taught that it is appointed once for a person to die, and then the judgment.  A decision for Christ must be made in this lifetime to secure a place in heaven for all eternity.

You would be wise to make a decision for Jesus today if you haven’t already.  Repent of your sins, ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins; and then ask Jesus to be your personal Lord.

He will do it the moment that you, by faith, ask.  Don’t wait.  Make today the day of your salvation.