Revelation 14

v1-5: “Christ is with his church and among her in all her troubles.” With Him present, “not one of [His people] was lost in all the tribulations through which they went.” They had remained faithful by following the leading of his word, Spirit, and providence and “had not defiled themselves either with physical or spiritual adultery.” He will hold us fast!

v6-12: “Those who refuse to come out of Babylon [this world in rebellion to God] when called, and who are determined to share in her sins, must receive her plagues, and the guilt and ruin of such… idolaters will serve to show the excellence of the patience and obedience of the saints.” Idolatry “is a condemning sin in its own nature and will prove fatal to those who persist in it after fair warning has been given by the word of Providence.” It is by “the preaching of the Gospel, accompanied by the power of the Holy Spirit, that people are turned from idols to serve the living God.”

v13-20: Those who die in the Lord are blessed. They will “rest from all sin, temptation, sorrow, and persecution.” They will be rewarded with their works following them “as evidence of their having lived and died in the Lord.” Those who are “enemies of Christ and his church are not destroyed until they are ripened for ruin by their sin, and then he will no longer spare them.” Christ “will put in his sickle, and the earth will be reaped.”