Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation.  Tonight is study #23 of Revelation, chapter 14.   We are continuing to look at Revelation 14:10:

The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

We have come to the very end of this verse and we saw last time that “fire and brimstone” is not literal – it is spiritual.  It comes forth from the mouth of God through the Word of God.  As God’s people declare the teachings of the Bible in the Day of Judgment, they are, in a sense, bringing “fire and brimstone.”  The Bible itself teaches “fire and brimstone” because it is what the Word of God declares for the Day of Judgment.

What we want to look at in this study is that the sinner (the one that has worshipped the beast) is tormented with “fire and brimstone.”  We know, from Revelation, chapter 9 that the “torment” is for a figurative five months which points to the duration of Judgment Day, which very likely will be 1,600 days.  This is done “in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.”  We have no doubt who is in view when it says “in the presence of the Lamb,” because the Lord Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God.  The Bible is very clear about that and there are many references to Him as the Lamb of God.  For instance, if we go back to Revelation, chapter 5, it says in Revelation 5:5-9:

And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

It is clear that the Lamb is the Lord Jesus Christ who offered up Himself from the foundation of the world.  The Lamb, according to Revelation 13:8, was slain from the foundation of the world.  He is the one that is getting all the praise, glory and honor in Revelation, chapter 5, because He has redeemed and saved His people.  The Lamb is the Saviour, as John the Baptist proclaimed: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.”

But the Lamb is also the Judge of all the earth.  God has given to Him judgment and now He sits upon the throne of His judgment.  The Bible says, regarding true believers, in 2Corinthians 5:10: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.”  We must all be made “manifest” (that we are God’s children) and that is what is happening today, and it is one of the reasons the Lord has left His people upon the earth in the Day of Judgment.  It is to make this “manifest” and to show forth what had happened from the foundation of the world, because we were “in Him” when He paid for our sins at that time.

Concerning Revelation 14:10, we know that God is judging the world now and, therefore, their torment with “fire and brimstone” is being accomplished in His presence (the presence of the Lamb).  But it also says that this is being done in “the presence of the holy angels.”  We have to think about that.  What does God mean by “holy angels”?  We know that the Greek word “angelos” or “angelon” (in its plural form) is a word that can also be properly translated as “messengers.”  Let us look at a couple of verses.  The first verse is Luke 7:24:

And when the messengers of John were departed…

And this is the Greek word “angelon,” which is the same word translated as “angels” in our verse.

And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John…

John had sent some of his messengers, or followers, to Jesus to ask Him, “Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?”  These were people; they were followers of the prophet John and the things that he taught and, yet, the Greek word is the same word that is translated as “angels” in Revelation 14:10.

Also, it says in Luke 9:51-52:

And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.

The Lord Jesus sent “messengers” and it is the same word translated as “angels.”  It is the people of Christ or the followers of Christ.  They were “sent” to perform a certain task and, therefore, they were His messengers.  Whenever God sends forth His people to accomplish a task, His people are performing the role or duty of a messenger.  When God sent the Gospel into the world with the “Great Commission” to evangelize the earth during the day of salvation, the people of God went forth as “messengers of the Gospel.”

In John, chapter 1, we read of Nathanael, who has an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ.  Nathanael is convinced, after speaking with Jesus for just a little while, that He was the Messiah.  It says in John 1:49-51:

Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

Now, as we think about this, we have to realize that this never happened as far as “angelic beings.”  There is no account in the New Testament where angelic beings were ascending and descending upon Christ, with the people of God witnessing it.  No – that never happened.  It is only when we look at this from the perspective of God saving sinners that we can understand what the Lord Jesus said to Nathanael: “Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending, or God’s “messengers” ascending.  When God saves one of His elect during the course of that person’s life, instantaneously, that person is transported into the heavenlies to be seated in Christ Jesus.  This is what is in view when it says, “the messengers of God ascending,” through salvation.  Now they did not go anywhere physically or literally.  They heard the Gospel and God saved them, but nothing outward happened; they just went about their business.  Of course, the effects of that would eventually show forth in their lives and they would do the will of God, but, spiritually, they “ascended” as a messenger of God and “descended upon the Son of man.”  What does “descended” means?  When God saved someone in time past, that person was immediately commissioned to go forth with God’s Word and to be a messenger of the Gospel.  The same message that saved you is not to be hoarded, or kept to yourself, but you are to go into the world with the Gospel, however you can accomplish that.  So when people were saved, they ascended, spiritually, and God, as it were, immediately dispatched them back to earth to fulfill His will in performing the task of being a messenger of His Word. 

So, in this passage, the “angels of God” are true believers; they are people that God saved who are commissioned with the task of carrying the Word of God.  This was the “message” that they were to bring to others – to their families, their friends and whoever they might encounter on the earth.

As we were reading in Revelation 14, it is the time Christ comes in judgment.  We also find Matthew 25:31-32:

When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

Here, Christ is coming with “all the holy messengers.”  Now it is possible that these could be angelic beings.  God does have creatures He created that are known as “angels,” which He says are “ministering spirits to the heirs of salvation,” as it says in Hebrew, chapter 1.  Could they be in view?  Well, when we read of the Lord Jesus coming, who do we read of that comes with Him, again, and again?  Who is with Him?  Do we find angelic beings?  Let us look at Revelation, chapter 19, where it speaks of Christ is the Judge, and it says in Revelation 19:11:

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

Then it says in Revelation 19:13-15:

And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.  the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And 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 he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

Christ is in view and “armies in heaven,” that are “clothed in fine linen, white and clean.”  God explains who wears “fine linen, clean and white” earlier when He speaks of the bride of Christ in Revelation 19:8:

And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

They are the saints, not angels.  The angels never fell into sin (the ones that remained in heaven) and they do not need a covering for their sins because they never sinned.  It is only sinners that have been redeemed and washed by the blood of Christ who are given “fine linen, clean and white” to wear; it is the “righteousness of saints” which comes from Christ’s righteousness, as He paid for their sins through the fires of baptism and purged their sins from them.  These are the ones that judge the world with Christ – He comes with the saints: “The armies in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.”

This is also what is says in Jude 1:14:

And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all…

The Lord comes in judgment with “ten thousands of his saints,” and “ten thousands” would point to the completeness (all) of His saints.  So when we read, as we did in Matthew 25:31, that Christ comes with His “holy angels,” or as we read in Revelation 14:10 that the cup of God is given to the wicked that are tormented with fire brimstone “in the presence of the holy angels,” the holy messengers can only be referring to the people of God. 

Actually, the word “holy” is “hagios,” Strong’s #40, and it is the word translated as “saints” in Jude and elsewhere.  So “holy” and “saints” are the same word, so these are the “saints,” or the “saint messengers.”  They are the people of God and the Lord Jesus comes with ten thousands of His “holies” or of His saints, all the elect people.  So we can see why it says that the judgment of the wicked is done in the presence of the holy messengers and before God.  God is omnipresent, so no matter where the judgment was worked out, it would be in His presence.

God has left most of His people remaining and alive on the earth in the Day of Judgment and it is the vast majority of them because it was the great multitude that completed His salvation program.  The overwhelming majority of those that He saved throughout history are alive today.  Maybe God saved a handful of millions all throughout history and then He saved the best until last and He saved tens of millions in the “little season” of the Great Tribulation when the world population had expanded to billions of people for the first time in the world’s history.  God saved a great multitude from every tribe and nation and tongue and, therefore, those that are currently living on the earth are the overwhelming majority of God’s elect.   Yet, all the elect are in view, coming with Christ in judgment, because it is the fact that all of His elect are saved that allowed God to shut the door to heaven, to put out the light of the Gospel and to end His salvation program.  All the elect are saved so they are all a weapon in His hand to “break in pieces” the unsaved people of the earth.

As it says here, this is done “in the presence of the holy messengers,” and it reminds us of what we read when we went through Psalm 37.  There are a couple of verses in this Psalm, but I am just going to read one of them that really has application to this.  It says in Psalm 37:34:

Wait on JEHOVAH, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.

You shall see it.  Here, God is telling His people to “wait on JEHOVAH,” and we have learned this is very important for these days “after the Tribulation.”  It is of great necessity because the Bible says, “In your patience, possess ye your souls.”  We must wait on the Lord during this severe time of trial and testing and during the time of the pouring out of His wrath upon the rest of mankind.  And we have seen the wicked “cut off” when God shut the door of heaven.  It was just as much an act of “cutting off” the wicked of the world as the act of “renting the veil of the temple” was in cutting off national Israel.  It was an action performed by God and with one blow, He closed that spiritual door and “cut off” every unsaved person on the earth and we are witnesses.  As these things come forth from the Word of God and God opens up information about the “righteous judgment of God” in the Day of Wrath, we are seeing it with eyes of faith.  We are seeing it and it is being done in our very presence.