Next Part 16 The 144,000
Chapter 14 The 144,000 and the Victorious Judgment of the Lamb
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- "18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the Earth; for her grapes are fully ripe."
Verse 18 describes "another angel", which had "power over fire". Jehovah is a "Consuming Fire" (Deuteronomy 4:24), and "His angels spirits, and His ministers[i.e., angels] a flame of fire" (Hebrews 1:7). Just as the Angel of the LORD, which was the Pre-Incarnate Christ, ascended into Heaven with the flame from off the altar, i.e., "For it came to pass, when the flame went up toward Heaven from off the altar, that the Angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar" (Judges 13:20), this angel of the Apocalypse (14:18) deals with the holiness of the sacrifices to God, i.e., he "had power over fire" (14:18). "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Romans 12:1). Fire represents the cleansing, purging, and acceptance of the sacrifice by God. "And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces" (Leviticus 9:24). The Bema Seat Judgment of the Saints will not reveal the sinfulness of the Saints' works, but the worth of all that is done by the Saints, while in the flesh, for the purpose of reward-- not punishment. "13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. 14 If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire" (1Corinthians 3:13-15).
Next Part 17 The 144,000