I do thank Matthew very much. 151 is where we are commencing. When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more, and the morning breaks eternal, bright, and fair, when the sea of diverse shall gather over on the other shore, and the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there. 151, we're standing as we sing. When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more, and the warring race shall turn to quiet night, when the sacred birds shall gather over on the other shore, ♪ When the road is long, I'll be there ♪ ♪ When the road is long, I'll be there ♪ ♪ When the road is long, I'll be there ♪ ♪ When the road is long, I'll be there ♪ ♪ When the road is long, I'll be there ♪ O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? ♪ Chosen ones shall go to their home beyond the skies ♪ ♪ And their role is all another while we wait ♪ ♪ And their role is all another ♪ ♪ And their role is all another ♪ ♪ And their role is all another ♪ When we take her for the pastor from the doctor's handsome, when we talk with all his comforts all again, and with all our prayers all again. And the road is calling out for you out there. And the road is calling out for you. And the road is calling out for you. And the road is calling out for you. And the road is calling out for you out there. We'll bow together in prayer. Let's wait upon the Lord this evening. Our eternal God and our Father in heaven, we draw near to Thee. We know there is a day coming when the roll will be called, and may we be found up yonder. We thank Thee for the great hope the gospel gives us. For, O Lord, it is through what Jesus Christ has done that will enable us to be there and to answer to our name. and to be found up yonder with the Lord, with His people, in that place of endless bliss and joy for all of eternity. And tonight we come to sing thy praises, to rejoice before thee, to give thee praise and thanks for thy mercy towards fallen humanity, that there is a way of salvation A way opened up back to God from the dark paths of sin at Calvary's cross is where we begin when we come as sinners to Jesus. And we thank Thee for each one who can testify tonight that they have indeed been brought as sinners to Jesus. We bless Thee for Thy grace, Thy sovereign grace in our lives, O Lord, that has brought that about and opened our blinded eyes and unstopped our deaf ears. O Lord, there was a time we did not want to know, we did not want to hear. There was such a willfulness in our heart against Thee that we deliberately turned away from Thee. The Scripture speaks of that enmity that there is in the natural heart. And we thank Thee, Lord, that in coming to Christ, that enmity is slain. It is removed. And instead of a dislike, instead of a disinterest, Lord, there is now a love for Christ. There is an interest in the things of God. There is an interest in His Word. There is a desire to know more of His truth, to know more of the Savior. And we pray tonight that Thou wilt bless our coming together. May Thy hand be upon us, we humbly pray. We're thankful for the times of prayer today, as we have waited upon Thee and called upon Thy name, right back through to Friday evening, as we gathered. Lord, it is our desire that Thou will break through and come and work by Thy mighty power. O Lord, save sinners, we pray, save loved ones, save family members, save those that come and go amongst us, those in our neighborhood, Lord, who live around about us, We ask, O Lord, that there would be a mighty work done. Time is short. Eternity, Lord, is sure. We pray that there might be those who would be in time. O gracious God, we pray that thou would so work even this very night across our land amongst us Lord, we pray that we might see and that we might hear of those who have come to Christ. We thank Thee there is those who have been gathered, and even in recent times, Lord, there have been those who have been brought to know the Savior, and it is our prayer that Thou would continue to do so. And work, Lord, may there be many that will answer to their name on that day. We pray that Thou will bless us this night as we gather here Remember each need there is amongst us, each one, Lord. Thou dost know all our circumstances, some not with us, who are unwell and laid aside. Minister to them. Do them good, we ask of Thee. We pray Thy blessing to be their portion and that Thou will raise them up and strengthen them. Perfect that which concerns them. We pray that Thou will do us good. Advance Thy cause and kingdom, we ask of Thee. Whether it's amongst boys and girls, in the Bible Club, Lord. We think of that as it changes evening this incoming week. We pray you'll bless among the boys and girls, whether it's in the regular services here. We think of the nursing home ministry as well. We pray, Lord, that in every way, I would be pleased to bless. Remember that meeting this incoming week as well in the fold there in Brian's house. We pray you'll own thy word there likewise and use it to accomplish much. So tarry with us now as we continue on this evening as we sing thy praises. And as we come around Thy Word, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. 238 is going to be our offering hymn just in a moment. Passing onward, quickly passing, but I ask Thee, whether bowing 238 as You're turning that up. We bid You welcome tonight, each one in the Savior's name. We're glad to see You. We thank You for being here. For those who are tuning in online, we welcome You also, and pray the Lord will indeed bless us. It is Missionary Council Offering Day, so do remember that in your giving this evening. It is a day of prayer as well, and we'll close out with a short time of prayer just after the service concludes for 10, 15 minutes or so. We will wait upon the Lord if you can remain for that time. Now this incoming week, the Bible Club is moving evening, and it's going to be half an hour earlier as well. So that's going to take place on Tuesday evening, now it's 6.30. So please remember that change of evening and also the change of time, and do pray the Lord will bless this change and that it will bring others in under the sound of the Word of God to the Bible Club. Wednesday night is our midweek meeting, Prayer Meeting and Bible Stud. That will be the same, 8 p.m. on Wednesday. I will be in charge of that. There is a meeting on Thursday afternoon in the Bryan's House Fold, if you'd remember that, in prayer. Some of the school pupils will be going around to take part in that as well, and I'll be speaking at that meeting. So we'd value your prayers for that. There is that function for school in the evening time. It's called a shopping evening, is how it has been promoted. So I sent that out on WhatsApp. So that's from 6 to 9 p. m. And you're welcome to come and have a look around there. There'll be various tables and cellars and so on. So it's a fundraiser for school. So remember that. And then on Friday night, there is the presbytery meeting. That's in Ballymena Church at 8 p.m., brethren. The services next Lord's Day, 11, 30, and 7, are the times of worship, Sabbath school at 10 a.m., times of prayer as well before the services. And I'll be preaching at those meetings. There's a meeting in the nursing home as well next Sabbath afternoon. All the calendars have gone now. There's still some of the wall planners there, so if you're interested in those, there's still a few of those there, but all the extra calendars that we got have gone. That senior citizens' meal is going to be Saturday the 3rd of January, so if you haven't put your name down and If you're interested in coming, we would encourage you to do that. Do that tonight, please, and that'll help me get near enough a final total for that. Now, that offering for Christopher, I said we'd get a total. £796 that has come to. So thank each one. who has contributed to that. And our brother Christopher did ask me specifically to pass on his thanks and appreciation to the congregation for their support of him as he is in college at this present time. This day, fortnight, there will be the Sunday school prize giving. Sabbath school pupils will be taking part in the morning service and Elizabeth McGill is going to be along to speak to them. So remember that. That's this day, fortnight, that that will be taking place the 14th of December. Do remember those who need our prayers, that the Lord will touch them and raise them up and strengthen them. We've been doing that today, but please continue to do that as the need arises. That's all the announcements. They're all in the will of the Lord. 238, then, is going to be our Offering Him, passing onward, quickly passing, but I ask thee, whether bound? Is it two than any mansions, where eternal rest is found? Passing onward, passing onward, tell me, sinner, whether bound? 238, keeping our seats for the opening verses. Planting a word with the apostle, O God, as we lay in wonder, Passing onward, passing onward, let me say a prayer of love. Passing onward, with thee passing, o'er the waves of time passing, ♪ Flipping, flossing over, flossing over ♪ ♪ Christ can be near, Christ can wait ♪ ♪ Flossing over, quickly passing ♪ ♪ In the open country roads ♪ ♪ Passing over, passing over ♪ ♪ Triumph of the Savior's love ♪ Let's stand for verse four then. ♪ Passing over, weep we pass him ♪ ♪ Time his horses swiftly brought him home ♪ Matthew's Gospel Chapter 13 is where we want to turn to first of all. We will be going over to Revelation Chapter 14 in a moment, but I want to read about the parable of the wheat and tares from Matthew chapter 13. We're going to be reading from verse 24 of the chapter. There's a number of parables. They're connected with the kingdom of heaven. In This 13th chapter of Matthew, the parable of the sower is found here, parable of the leaven, the parable of the mustard seed, and one of them is the parable of the wheat and tares. So Matthew's gospel, chapter 13, and we're going to read from the 24th verse. Matthew 13, verse 24. Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? And he said, Nay, lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. And in the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers, gather ye together first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn." And then if we go down to verse 36, we're going to take up the explanation of the parable. Verse 36, then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the son of man, the field is the world. The good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked one. The enemy that sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. As, therefore, the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity and shall cast them into a furnace of fire, there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father, who hath ears to hear, let him hear." And then if we go over to Revelation chapter 14, you can keep a marker in that portion because we're going to come back to that parable that the Savior taught just in a little moment or so. But if we come over to Revelation chapter 14, and we're going to read from verse 12 down to... Well, we're going to read to the end of the chapter. Revelation chapter 14, Verse 12. Here is the patience of the saints. Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors and their works to follow them. And I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and upon the cloud set Upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle and reap, for the time has come for thee to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. And another angel came out of the temple, which is in heaven, he also having a sharpsicle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire, and cried with a loud voice to him that had the sharpsicle, saying, Thrust in thy sharpsicle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. Amen. We know the Lord will add His blessing to the reading of His Word this night to all of our hearts. We're going to bow together in prayer and take a moment and ask the Lord for His help as we come to His Word. Our Father, once again, we are in need as we come to the Word of God. We cannot take this book up at any time, Lord, without seeking Thee for enlightenment, for help, for understanding to be given to us. We praise Thee that there is the promise of such. For the Holy Spirit is the one who is the author of this book, the teacher of it, the applier of its truths, the one who gives us understanding. Therefore, tonight we pray, Lord, that thou will come by and take of the things of thyself. As we seek to compare Scripture with Scripture, we pray that thou will speak to each one of us, O Lord. Oh, may we live in the light of the day that is set before us here. So bless us now, speak to our hearts. Grant help, Lord. We need that help to hear and receive the Word. I need that added help to preach. Grant that now, we humbly pray, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. There is no suffering for any class of God's people in any age like that which is going to come upon those who are the saints that will be martyred when Antichrist is reigning. That is the thrust of verses 12 and 13 that we have read here in Revelation chapter 14. I know that oftentimes that 14th That 13th verse is taken really out of its context, maybe at a funeral or a memorial service or something like that. That verse is taken and referred to, and it can stand in that sense. But if we seek to understand this particular portion in the context of what is in this chapter, then its immediate context is those who are martyred for the faith. during that time when Antichrist will be reigning on the earth. For example, in verse 12, you read, here is the patience of the saints. Because it had spoken beforehand there in the early part of the chapter, we thought upon it last Lord's Day evening, about those who will receive the mark. And the warning that goes out, that any who do will be doomed. There will be no salvation for any individual who takes that mark upon them or worships the beast. And then immediately there is set over against that because there will indeed be many who will take that name and who will indeed worship the beast, but there will be those who will not. And in verse 12, it says, here is the patience of the saints. Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. So there will be those who will refuse to take that mark. And in refusing to take that mark, they will be put to death, because that's the context then of the next verse. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, write, blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. So they're going to seal their testimony with their blood. They're going to be martyrs. And there is a special blessing reserved for the martyr. the individual who lays down their life for the Savior. And you'll see there in verse 13, blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. From henceforth, yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them. Well, that verse can stand on its own. There is indeed a blessing to those that die in the Lord. And as I say, many a time it is taken in that context, in funerals or memorial services, to refer to an individual who has died, who knows the Lord, who's died in Christ. There is indeed many blessings, but If we want to be specific tonight as to what that verse refers to in its context, it is referring to those who will seal their testimony with their life at that particular time. And here is the patience of the saints. Here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. They're going to refuse to take that mark. They're going to seal their testimony. with their blood. They're going to give their life. The Lord will have a people right up until that very point in the world. He will have a people who will be faithful to Him, and He will give the grace that is needed. He always does. We might think that's a terrible day to face, and it is, but tonight there's people who are sealing their testimony for Christ with their life. There's people tonight who are being persecuted. There's people these past few weeks, if you've been following the press reports and news reports that have been going out, who have been killed for no other reason than they belong to Christ. So that is ongoing. What happens at this particular time is it is going to be far greater in the sense that it's going to be far more widespread. Now there's isolated, maybe isolated cases isn't the right term to use, but more localized incidences in various countries of the world where that is taking place at present. But there are those today who are losing their life and sealing their testimony. And there's a blessing for them as well. But there's going to be this blessing that is pronounced upon those who will seal their testimony. And that brings us then to consider what follows on here. Because in verse 14, we have a description of the coming of the Lord. Because this chapter is highlighting a number of events that are going to take place just prior to His coming and immediately at His coming. Some of these are revisited later on, in the book of the Revelation, but they're set down now. I said that at the very beginning of our studies in this book, that the Lord often does that. He will give us an overview of something, and then later on He might go back and fill in some more details. It's that law of recurrence. that you find repeatedly in Scripture. And that's certainly the case here, because we're going to think about His coming. Verse 14 is very obviously referring to His coming. But then if we get over to chapter 19, we're going to think even more in more detail about that coming. But if you look there at verse 14 and what it says in this particular place, it is obvious that it has to refer to his coming. John looks again. Chapter 14 begins with those words, and I looked. And verse 14 here starts with that same phrase, and I looked. And what did he see? It says he beheld a white cloud. He beheld a white cloud. Now the cloud is indeed the signal of the second coming of the Lord. Because you can go back to Acts 1 verse 9, when the Lord ascended up from this earth, after He had risen from the dead and He had spent 40 days with His disciples, He took them out to the Mount of Olives, and after He had spoken to them, it tells us that He ascended up into heaven. And in Acts of the Apostles chapter 1 and verse 9, it says, a cloud received Him out of their sight. A cloud. Here's the cloud again. He's coming on the cloud. We know that Acts 1, verse 11, the words of the angels to the disciples, this same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Well, there's a number of points of comparison there as to how the Savior left this world and how he's coming back. For example, he left visibly, he left personably, but one of the points is that he left on a cloud. The disciples saw the cloud receive him as he went up from this earth. And it says here in Revelation that John looked and behold, a cloud. And there's one that's sitting on the cloud, we are told, and he is like unto the Son of Man. This has to be his coming again. because it ties in exactly with what you have there in Acts 1 and verse 9. It's also in agreement with what the Savior said Himself in Luke chapter 1, 21 and verse 27. And then shall ye see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Luke chapter 21, verse 27. Then shall ye see. Well, that's what it tells us here John is doing. John is looking And I looked at Caes, and behold, a white cloud." So the Lord Jesus has already told that Himself during His earthly ministry. It's recorded in Acts 1 that He's coming in the cloud again. John sees Him here now in vision. doing that very thing. So this verse has to refer to His coming. It's a white cloud. Purity and holiness and righteousness always is associated with Jesus Christ. but on that cloud there is one like the Son of Man." That's one of the titles for the Lord Jesus Christ. John himself tells us that back in chapter 1, verse 13, because he saw one in the midst of the golden candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man. And we know that that was Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, the great King and sole head of His church. So what do you have? Men and women, in verse 14, is the coming of the Lord here, set before us in this 14th verse. But not only is he coming on the cloud, but it tells us there as well that he has a golden crown upon his head. He's coming in power and great glory. He's coming as the king of kings. He's coming as the greatest of all monarchs. He's coming to claim his own. The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, and He's coming to lay claim to that. But again, that's in keeping with what the Lord said Himself, Matthew 25, verse 31, when the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the angels, all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory. So at that very time when He's coming in glory, and He's coming with the holy angels, and it's the Son of Man that is mentioned there again in Matthew 25 in verse 31 who is coming, He's going to sit on the throne of His glory. Well, He's coming with a golden crown upon His head. He's coming crowned. This is the victor's crown. I've pointed that out before. There's a difference in the crowns that are mentioned. There's the monarch's crown, the word diadem. If you think of even the crown that our monarch wears or the previous monarchs, you can go to the Tower of London there and you can get a tour around the crowns. There's various crowns that they wear at certain functions and on certain occasions. And there's diadems in them. There's jewels in them. Well, that's the word crown in the New Testament language. It's the word diadem, and it's always referring to the monarch's crown. And there's only three times that appears in all of Scripture. Most of the references to crown in the New Testament is the word for victor's crown. It's actually the word we get Stephen from. And it's referring to a victor's crown. For example, it's the crown that is given to the runner in the race. Paul speaks about the individual who runs and wins the race and gets the crown, because that was the practice, as you know, in the Grecian games in ancient times. They give them a laurel crown. There was no gold medals handed out back then. It was a laurel crown, and they were praided through. The city afterwards, when all the games had concluded, they were praided through, and everyone who had won was wearing a laurel crown. That's the word that is here. He's coming as the victor. He's not coming in defeat. Not at all. It's the very opposite. Christ is coming in power and in great glory, the Bible tells us. He's coming as the victor. He's going to destroy Antichrist by the coming, by His own coming, by the brightness of His coming, it tells us in 2 Thessalonians. There isn't even going to be a battle in that sense. There's not going to be a conflict because as Christ appears in all His splendor and all His glory, It says there that He's going to destroy antichrist by the brightness of His coming. So He is most definitely coming as the great and mighty victor. But again, that's in keeping with Scripture. In Daniel, we read these words, I, Daniel, in the night visions, I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man came when the clouds of heaven came to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before them, and there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed." Daniel chapter 7, verses 13 and 14. Now, how many points of comparison are there in Daniel? those two verses that I've just read with you and what you have here in Revelation 14. There's mention made of the Son of Man. There's mention made of the clouds. There's mention made about Him being given a kingdom. Those things are here in Revelation chapter 14 and verse 14. There's something else that we want to major on this evening that is in His hand in verse 14 of Revelation 14, and that is a sharp sickle. There is a sharp sickle. The sickle is the instrument of harvest. The instrument of harvest. Because as it follows on in the next verse, there's an angel that comes out of the temple, and cries with a loud voice were told to him that sat on the cloud, to the Son of Man who's coming in power and great glory, thrust in thy sickle and reap, for the time has come for thee to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped." So there is a harvest time that is coming. there's going to be a reaping. And that's what we want to consider this evening to a little more degree than what I've already mentioned to you by way of introduction. The harvest time of the earth. The harvest time of the earth. And what I want you first of all to notice here is that there are two parts to this gathering. that is mentioned here, just in the same way as there were a number of parts to the harvest in Israel. It's only a few Sabbaths ago, I think I was mentioning that, that there is a difference. The harvest was spread out over many months. They started off the barley harvest, and then the wheat harvest, and then the harvest of the vines as you progressed on through the summer months. And then finally, when you got into September and October, there was the last of the harvest that was gathered in. Oftentimes, it was the olives that were among the last. Well, when you look here at these verses in Revelation chapter 14 from verse 15 down to the end, there is very clearly set before us two gatherings, two harvests themes, because there is a grain harvest that is mentioned. And those are the verses that I've drawn to your attention already this evening. Down there to the end of verse 16, that there's this individual, the Son of Man comes on the cloud. There's this angel comes out of the temple, calls upon him to thrust in his sickle to reap the harvest of the earth, for it is ripe, and he does that. And then when you get to verse 17, it says there's another angel came out, and he also has a sharpsicle. And there is another individual in verse 18 who comes out and cries to Him to thrust in the sharpsicle again. And at the end of verse 18, it says, gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully ripe. So, do you notice there are two parts to this? There is the grain harvest, that you have there in verses 15 and 16, and then there is the vintage harvest or the vine harvest, and that comes there afterwards. So there are two parts that we need to consider. We're only going to consider the first one of these tonight, but there are two here, and we need to make that distinction in our own minds and in our own understanding of the Word of God, because It's important to ask, well, where are we going to fit in on this? As we understand, well, what is this referring to? What are these two separate thoughts of harvest here? What's the wheat harvest and what's the vintage, the vine harvest? Where do we fit in here? Well, we do well to ask ourselves that question. But before we progress any further, remember what John the Baptist said about Jesus Christ. Long before the Savior ever started His earthly ministry, John was preaching and declaring. And in Luke chapter 3, verse 16 and 17, John is answering those who came to Him, wanting to know, was He the Messiah? And John said, I am not. And John answered, it says in Luke 3 verse 16, I indeed baptize you with water, but one mightier than I, cometh the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. And then here's the verse I want you to notice, whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor and will gather the wheat into his garner. but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. The wheat he will gather into his garner." That's what we read about here tonight that we want to think about. The Lord is going to separate the wheat from the chaff, and He's going to gather the wheat into His garner. He's going to gather up the chaff. It tells us that we'll be burned with fire unquenchable. That's what is here before us in Revelation 14. The Son of Man is coming. He's coming on the clouds. He's coming with a crown, a victor's crown. He's coming with a sickle in His hand. He's coming to reap the harvest of the earth. And there's this cry goes out and tells Him, cast in the sickle. The harvest is ready. The harvest is ready. We thought about those warnings that were given by the angels there in the previous verses. We're not going to go back over that now. But you think about it in that particular context. There is warning that has gone out, warning that has gone out. And I said last Lord's Day evening, for some it will be too late. They will have already taken the mark of the beast, and they're doomed. There comes a harvest time. Just to complete the thought here of these two harvests before we move on to look at the first one of these, in Revelation chapter 19, if you go over there to verse 15, it speaks there about this gathering of the grapes, which is the second part of this harvest that follows on there in the latter part of Revelation 14. But as I say, the Lord goes back to this. at a later time. And if you go over to Revelation 19, just to complete our understanding of this at the present time, verse 15, it says, "'Out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron.'" And then there's the words, "'And he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.'" There's the harvest of the vintage, the vine. You have that at the end of Revelation chapter 14. And we'll come, God willing, to think about that at another time. Now, having framed in our mind, I hope, that there are two parts to this harvest, let's come back and think about the first part, because that brings us to think about this parable of the wheat and the tares that the Savior told. We read it there tonight, and we're going to turn over to that just in a moment's time. This angel that comes out of the temple and cries out to Him, cast in the sickle, reap the harvest. Well, what the Savior is going to be doing there is the fulfillment of that parable that He taught His disciples about the kingdom of God. And if you would turn back over there for a little time as we think about some things that the Lord Jesus is saying here that I think is important for us to take notice of, we can notice the field and the sowers and the seed. You're going to be familiar with this. The field is the world, verse 38. The good seed is the children of the kingdom. The tares are the children of the wicked one. The enemy that sowed them is the devil. So we can see the explanation given there for, well, what does the field represent? It represents the world. The kingdom of heaven is in the world. It is those who are in the world, who live in the world, but who take the name of Christ upon them in the world. They're those who are good seed, wheat. They're those who are the sowings of the devil, the tares. There's a harvest time that is mentioned in verse 39. The harvest is the end of the world. And that's repeated then in verse 40 as well. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. And it's the word age. there, the end of the age that is referred to. It's not the end of the physical world, but it's the word eon. We talk about the eons of eternity. It's the reference to the end of a period of time, the end of opportunity for some. That's certainly going to be the case. It's the end of a period of time. And at that time, there is a harvest that is going to take place. So you can marry up what you have in the parable of the wheat and tares with what we have in Revelation chapter 14, verses 12 to 14, where it tells us about this grain harvest that is going to take place. In verse 39 there of Matthew 13, you also have those who will do the reaping. The reapers are the angels. Verse 41 tells us that the Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they're going to gather certain things. So the angels are going to play an important part. Well, we know the angels are coming with the Lord. It tells us that elsewhere in Scripture, that not only are the redeemed coming with Him, all those who have gone before, gone to glory, all down through time, they're coming with the Lord, most certainly, but all the angels are coming, 10,000 times 10,000 of angels are coming. And what is He going to do? He's going to send them into the field to reap the harvest. Yeah, He's the one who has the sickle in His hand, who gives the command, but just like Boaz and his reapers, If you go back to the little book of Ruth and read there about the reapers that were at His direction and acting as He instructed them, so the Lord has His reapers. The reapers are the angel. He is the one who is pictured with a sickle in His hand. He's sending out the command, reap the harvest. Reap the harvest. And these angels are going to go forth to reap the harvest. And one of the most important things that I want you to go back and notice is in verse 30, and that is the order in which the reaping takes place. Now, remember the conversation. There is the discovery of the tares that have been sown in the field. There is the explanation that an enemy hath done this. And the servants have said to the man who owns the field, will we pull out the tares now? And he says, no. Let both grow until the harvest time. And verse 29 gives us the reason. "...lest, while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them." Verse 30, "...let both grow together until the harvest. And in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers..." And here's the line I want you to notice that gives the order. "...gather ye together first." First the tares. and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn." There is an order to notice here. When the Lord comes and He's going to reap this harvest, who is He going to reap out first? It's the tares. It's the tares out of His kingdom. That's the individuals who are going to be reaped out first. Now, what is pictured here is all those who profess Jesus Christ, who take His name, the kingdom of heaven is likened unto. These are all the parables of the kingdom. They're not a reference to all the world, because that's not what it says in Matthew 13. They are a reference to the kingdom of heaven, to the professing kingdom. We could call it Christendom. Let's call it that tonight, so we get an idea of what is being referred to here. all of Christendom, everywhere and everyone who professes the name of Christ. Not everybody that takes His name is a true believer. Some of them are the devil's tares. Some of them are the planting of the devil. They're not the planting of the Lord. They're the planting of the devil, and they're tares. Yet they take the name of Christ, and they claim to be His. There's going to be those who are going to stand before the Lord, and they're going to say, Lord, Lord, did we not do this in your name? And He's going to say, I don't know you. I don't know you. So, we're not thinking here about all the world. That's not what it says here in the Scriptures about who is being reaped at this time. It's referring to His kingdom. It's referring to those who take His name, who claim to be His. And there are those that are genuine wheat, They're going to be gathered into the garner, but there are those who have been sown among this kingdom, and they're tares. They're the devil's work. They take the name of Christ, and yet they have no experience of His grace, no experience of redemption, no experience of the new birth. They're not the Lord's. And the Lord says to His angels when He comes, you reap out the tares first. Reap out the tares. We have let them grow. We didn't pull them out at the time when they were sown. We have let both grow together until the harvest. Now the harvest time has come. Reap out the tares first of all. And I would like you, if you underline your Bible, to underline that word first in verse 30, because the Lord is telling us the order in which this is going to happen. He's going to say to His angels first, reap out the tares. Reap out the tares. Now, if you come down to verse 41, you find a little more of the explanation and the interpretation of this. Verse 41 of Matthew 13, the Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire, and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Do you see the order here? Because having done that, then we read verse 43. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father, who hath ears to hear, let him hear. So when this reaping of the tares have taken place, and they are reaped out, and they are bundled together, and they are cast into the fire unquestionable, then it says, what will be left will be the righteous. and they will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father, a purified kingdom, a purged kingdom. The tares will have gone by then, and nothing but the pure grain will be left, and they will be gathered in to the kingdom If I can change the metaphor a little bit, go over to Matthew chapter 25, please, and look at verse 31. Matthew chapter 25, verse 31. As I say, the picture changes here from a grain harvest to the shepherd dividing the sheep from the goats. But again, we know this portion So, familiarly, well, Matthew 25, verse 31, when the Son of Man, there's that title again that we're thinking about, shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory. That corresponds and marries up with what we've been reading in Revelation 14. But verse 32, And before him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divided his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Now, as I say, the metaphor changes from a grain harvest and the wheat and the chaff to sheep and goats. But the principle is the same. There's going to be a division. There's going to be a separating out. And we know from the parable that first the tares are taken out. You follow on there in Matthew Chapter 25, going through those subsequent verses there, and you find what the King says to those on his right hand and those who are on his left. Those who are on his right hand are going to inherit the kingdom, it says, prepared for them from the foundation of the world, verse 34. As for those who are on his left hand, You find them in verse 41 of Matthew 25. So, it is this separation. Although the picture here is sheep and goats, Matthew 13, it's similar to Revelation 14. It's a grain harvest. There's going to be a reaping. There's going to be a harvest. There's going to be a separation. There are those who are going to be singled out as tares. They don't belong to the Lord. They're among the nations. The kingdom of God is among the nations. We read in other places how the gospel was to be preached among the nations. There's going to be true wheat among the nations, across the nations. But also across the nations, there's going to be tares, so on. That is very clear in Matthew 13 in the parable of the wheat and tares. Wherever tonight there is wheat, wherever tonight the gospel is preached, and the true kingdom of God is, the devil is, he's at work. He's putting in the counterfeit, the tares. Those who look like Christians, maybe even take the name of Christian, but they're not true wheat. They're not truly His. They have no experience of salvation. They may be found among the people of God. As I say, they could even take the name of being the people of God. They may claim to be a Christian. Many of them will. Matthew 25, there, if you've still got that portion open in front of you, there will be those that will say that when "'When have we done anything ever against you?' they'll say to the Lord." There is going to be a separation. So, when we come back to Revelation chapter 14 here, and we read here about this harvest time, the Son of Man comes with a sickle in His hand, and He casts it in for the harvest time has come. It tells us that the earth is ripe, This is the season for harvest, and the earth was reaped. The end of verse 16, the earth was reaped. Well, there begs the question tonight, are we wheat or are we tares? Are we wheat or are we tares? Do we have a genuine experience of the grace of God in our lives? Have we come to Christ? Have we sought Him for salvation? Have we repented of our sins? Because there will be those who will take the name of Christian, and they haven't done that. They haven't done that. They will not have sought the Lord. They will not have repented. They will not have been converted. They are tares. The Lord is going to purge His kingdom. It does tell us in Matthew 13, verses 42, 43, that there's going to be wailing and gnashing of teeth when that takes place. There's going to be great distress, great distress in those who are found out to be nothing more than wheat. Oh, there are those today, there are those tonight who claim to be Christian, They have no intentions ever taking the sinner's place in coming to Christ for salvation. How dare you tell them that they're a sinner? How dare you tell them that they need to be converted? They're upright and decent and respectable, church-going, and they don't see their need to be saved at all. And they would be most offended to be told that they need to be converted. they're going to discover to their eternal cost they do need to be converted. And just taking the name of Christian and claiming to be Christian without any work of grace being wrought in their heart is going to make them nothing more than tares, nothing more than tares that are going to be bundled up and cast into the fire for burning. Is it any wonder that verse 43 of Matthew 13 finishes with the words, "'Who has ears to hear? Let him hear.'" Oh, what a solemn message. The Lord often adds that to very solemn truths that He's declaring, "'Who has ears to hear? Let him hear.'" That's a solemn truth. That's a solemn truth. But oh, what Joy there will be on the other hand when the righteous shine forth as the Son in the kingdom of their Father, when there will be for the very first time a purified kingdom and everyone in it a true child of God. That will be the first time ever. Remember from the very beginning. There's no end of discussion. When did the kingdom of God begin in the earth? Well, let's leave that aside to some degree tonight, but let's start off with the disciples. Let's start off with the disciples. They were not a perfect group of individuals. One of them was the devil, the Lord said, Judas Iscariot. So from the very beginning, as I say, let's take it from the Lord Jesus' time on earth when He chose His disciples. and say from there right the whole way down through time until this very moment and right until the moment the Lord comes when He's going to purify His kingdom. At no time has there ever been a perfect kingdom on earth. It has always been populated by wheat and tares, always. It never has been anything else, but there's coming a time when it's going to be purged and purified, and it's going to happen when He comes on the cloud. He comes with the crown upon His head, with the sickle in His hand. He's coming to reap, and He's going to reap out the tares, and He's going to purify His kingdom. And then, for the very first time, there is going to be a kingdom pure. And everyone in that kingdom who claims and takes the name of Jesus Christ are going to be truly His. the Scripture tells us, the Lord knoweth them who are His. The Lord knoweth them who are His. I'll leave one other verse. We're going to finish here in a moment because we have a prayer time afterwards, but we know that verse. How often is that verse quoted in prayer? Judgment begins at the house of God. Do you know what that actually means? That actually is a reference to what we're thinking about tonight. We quote that verse, judgment must begin at the house of God. But look at it. Go and look at it in its context and think about it. It is referring to this, where does the Lord begin when He comes? He's coming in judgment. He's coming to deal with those who are His enemies. We're going to get on to think a little bit more about this in the rest of Revelation chapter 14. But where does He start? He starts with His kingdom. He starts with His church. He starts with the house of God. He's going to purify His own house, His own kingdom. That's like Him done to a house. He's going to start at the house of God, and He's going to bring judgment to the house of God, and He's going to purify it for the first time ever. It'll be a pure church, a pure kingdom. All the wheat will be gathered in, all the tares gathered out. Now, tonight, are we wheat or tares? Is it any wonder the Lord says, who hath ears to hear, let him hear? O, let it sink down into our hearing this night. Am I wheat, or am I tares? May we be truly wheat. May we be those who know the Lord. Let's bow together in prayer. Our Father, we pray that we might be the true wheat gathered into the garner of God, truly His. Lord, to be truly His, we must have that work of grace that changes us. We have to be regenerated souls, born again by the power of the Spirit of God from above. Lord, not just taking a name, not just some outward conformity, but a work that is wrought in our hearts, for the Lord sees the heart. The Lord knoweth them that are His. And we pray tonight, Lord, that we might indeed have ears to hear. Oh, may we not close our ear to this thought, to this truth. We pray that the truth of it will enter in and impact our lives this very night. Have mercy. Lord, we pray for the unconverted. We pray for many who have associations with church and Christians, and many, Lord, feel to... that they want to be among them to some degree and even take the name of Christian maybe. And yet, Lord, tonight they have no experience of God's grace. Lord, have mercy on such, awaken them. Oh, bring them to the realization that it's, that's not enough, that there is a work of grace that must be wrought in a heart. Have mercy, bless Thy Word to us, we humbly pray, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. 282 we're going to close with. 282. "'Tis the promise of God, full salvation to give unto Him who in Jesus His Son will believe. Hallelujah, it is done. I believe on the Son. I'm saved by the blood of the crucified One.'" And here's those to whom the promise is given, those who have called upon His name. We're going to stand and sing verse 1, 3, and 5 of this hymn, 282. Verse 1, 3, and 5. ♪ The nation to be ♪ ♪ Until in the arm of Jesus Christ the Lamb be laid ♪ ♪ Alleluia, Jesus, the King of this land ♪ ♪ I say, I am the Father, to save my blood ♪ of the sun, I'm saved by the blood of the Christ. Saved by the blood of the Christ. Saved by the blood of the Christ. Saved by the blood of the Christ. Saved by the blood of the Christ. Saved by the blood of the Christ. Saved by the blood of the Christ. Saved by the blood of the Christ. Saved by the blood of the Christ. Saved by the blood of the Christ. Saved by the blood of the Christ. Saved by the blood of the Christ. Saved by the blood of the Christ. Saved by the blood of the Christ. Saved by the blood of the Christ. Saved by the blood of the Christ. Saved by the blood of the Christ. Saved by the blood of the Christ. Saved by the blood of the Christ. Saved by the blood of the Christ. Saved by the blood of the Christ. Saved by the blood of the Christ. Saved by the blood of the Christ. Saved by the blood of the Christ. Saved My earth and his love, I lay on the sun. I sing my lullaby, music, I walk. My earth and his love, I lay on the sun. I sing my lullaby, music, I walk. ♪ Our hymn of glory, glory, our glory ♪ ♪ And the theme of our praises forever shall be ♪ ♪ Alleluia, it is done, finally all is done, all is done ♪ Our Father, we pray that we might be saved by the blood of the crucified one, that we might be those who have come to believe on Jesus Christ, to the saving of our souls, Bless Thy Word. Be with us now as we close this part of our gathering. Bless the prayer time that follows on. Be with us all as we take our leave of this house this evening. May Thy people know Thy abiding presence by keeping power in our lives until that day when Jesus comes or calls. For we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. If you can stay for the time of prayer, few moments and we'll commence. so