Payday Someday

One of the most famous sermons in Southern Baptist history was preached by R. G. Lee, longtime pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis. First preached in 1919, “Payday Someday” became Lee’s signature sermon, delivered more than twelve hundred times over the course of his ministry.

The sermon told the story of Ahab and Jezebel’s murder of Naboth in 1 Kings 21. Naboth was dead. Ahab had his vineyard. No court would prosecute the king, and no army would remove him. From all appearances, wickedness had won. But God had not forgotten Naboth.

Elijah warned Ahab that judgment was coming. Days passed, then months and years. But the passage of time did not cancel the Word of God. As Lee famously put it, “Payday always comes. It is written in the constitution of God’s universe.”

That is also the message of Revelation 14:6–20. The dragon and his beasts may appear to be winning. Christ’s return may seem delayed. But the final harvest is coming. Those who reject God will face judgment, while those who belong to Christ will enter His rest. Evil will not escape, and obedience will not be wasted.

Because payday is coming someday, make your life count for eternity today. Revelation 14 gives us three truths that should shape the way we live.

There Are Only Two Ways to Live

Our culture tells us that life is an open field of possibilities. “Be whoever you want to be. Follow your heart. Live your truth. Choose your own path.” But underneath all the countless choices we make, Scripture tells us there are ultimately only two ways to live.

The first is to live for the glory of God.

In Revelation 14:6–7, John sees an angel proclaiming an “eternal gospel” to every nation, tribe, language, and people: “Fear God and give him glory . . . and worship him who made heaven and earth.”

The gospel begins with God. He made us and deserves our worship. Yet humanity rebelled against Him. Adam stood as our representative, and his rebellion brought guilt, corruption, and death to everyone who belongs to him. That is why we need another representative.

God sent His Son Jesus to rescue us. Jesus lived the life we should have lived and died the death we deserved to die. On the third day, He rose from the dead so that everyone who believes in Him can have eternal life. The Judge before whom we stand guilty has provided salvation through His own Son.

The alternative is to live for the glory of this world.

Revelation calls this world system “Babylon the great.” Babylon represents the spirit of godlessness that entices people away from worshiping their Creator. Like an unfaithful spouse, we look to other lovers to provide the pleasure, security, comfort, and acceptance we were meant to find in God.

We can seek satisfaction in sex, money, entertainment, alcohol, sports, social media, possessions, or a thousand other things. Many of those things may be good gifts, but none can bear the weight of our worship. Make a good gift your god, and eventually it will disappoint you, control you, or destroy you.

Babylon's pleasures always come with a hangover. Only Jesus can truly satisfy.

There are only two ways to live: for the glory of God or for the glory of this world. There is no middle ground.

There Are Only Two Eternal Destinations

Our culture has imagined almost every kind of afterlife. Yet at nearly every funeral, those possibilities tend to collapse into one confident assumption: They're in a better place.

Revelation 14 confronts that assumption. Heaven is not everyone's automatic destination. Scripture teaches that every human life is moving toward one of only two eternal destinations.

The first is eternal punishment.

Revelation 14:9–11 contains some of the most sobering language in Scripture, describing the eternal wrath of God against those who worship the beast. Many people find the doctrine of hell difficult or even morally repugnant. But anyone who wants to take the Bible seriously cannot simply ignore it.

Nor can we dismiss hell as the teaching of a harsh Old Testament religion supposedly corrected by a gentler Jesus. No one in Scripture warned more clearly and repeatedly about hell than Jesus. The same Savior who welcomed children spoke about outer darkness, unquenchable fire, weeping and gnashing of teeth, and eternal punishment.

His warnings were not cruel. They came from the Savior who loved sinners enough to tell us the truth—and who would endure judgment Himself to rescue everyone who trusts in Him.

Even if some of Revelation's descriptions of hell are symbolic, that does not make the reality less terrible. And one thing in the passage is unmistakable: hell is eternal. John says those who reject God “have no rest, day or night.”

That truth should not make Christians smug. It should break our hearts. Let it move us to give sacrificially so others can hear the gospel. Let it move us to speak courageously to our children, grandchildren, friends, and neighbors. And let it fill us with gratitude that Christ has rescued us from the wrath to come.

Because eternal punishment is not the only destination. Those who belong to Jesus are promised eternal life.

Revelation 14:12–13 says, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.” For Christians, what awaits us is rest. Life is a long and difficult journey filled with dangers, toils, and snares. But when our journey ends, we will finally be home.

John adds something remarkable: “their deeds follow them.”

Our good works do not earn our entrance into heaven. If you try to gain access to God on the basis of your record, you will never get in. Christ must be your access. He lived a sinless life, died in the place of sinners, and rose again. We are saved by trusting His work, not ours.

But when our faith is in Christ, our good works follow us. We obey because we have been forgiven, not in order to be forgiven. And not one act of Christian obedience will ultimately be wasted. Every unseen sacrifice, every resisted temptation, every quiet act of service, and every faithful gospel witness matters to God.

Grace does not make your obedience meaningless. Grace ensures that none of it is wasted.

There Is Only One Time to Respond

Revelation 14 ends with two harvests. John first sees “one like a son of man” seated on a white cloud, wearing a golden crown and holding a sharp sickle. The imagery points unmistakably to Jesus, the Son of Man and King of Kings.

When He returns, He will gather His people like a farmer gathering his harvest. Everyone who belongs to Christ will be brought safely home into a world without suffering, sin, or death.

But then John sees another harvest. This time the grapes of the earth are gathered and thrown “into the great winepress of the wrath of God.” It is a horrifying picture of final judgment. No one will be overlooked. No one will escape. Every injustice will be answered, every secret exposed, and every person will stand before the Judge.

A farmer may wait patiently for months, but he does not wait forever. Eventually the crop becomes ripe, the hour arrives, and the sickle begins to swing.

So it will be with the return of Christ.

It may feel like Jesus is taking a long time to return. But His delay does not mean He has forgotten His promise. A day is coming when the final person will be saved, the final gospel invitation will be given, and the Father will say, “The hour has come.”

None of us knows when that will happen. It could be generations from now. It could be much sooner. And even if Jesus tarries, none of us knows when our own life will end.

But we do know what time it is right now.

Now is the time to respond.

Once the harvest begins, there will be no opportunity to reconsider, repent, or change whom you worship. The time to prepare for the harvest is before the harvest begins. As Paul writes, “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

If you have never trusted in Jesus, respond today. Do not merely admire Him, attend church, or assume you are safe because you once prayed a prayer. Turn from your sin and place your trust in the crucified and risen Christ.

If you already belong to Jesus but have grown spiritually sleepy, wake up today. Return to the obedience you have postponed. Resist the temptation you have tolerated. Speak the gospel to the person God has placed on your heart. You are not promised another opportunity.

Make Today Count

After Elijah pronounced God's judgment against Ahab, nothing happened immediately. The next morning the sun rose. Ahab was still king. Jezebel was still queen. The vineyard was still theirs.

Days passed. Months passed. Years passed.

But the passage of time did not cancel the Word of God.

Eventually Ahab died just as God had said. Jezebel lived longer, but her payday came too. God's promises were not weakened by His patience.

The same is true today. Christ will return. Judgment will come. God's people will enter His rest. Until then, remember what Revelation 14 teaches us: there are only two ways to live—for the glory of God or for the glory of this world. There are only two eternal destinations—eternal punishment or eternal life. And there is only one time to respond—today.

Payday may not come immediately. But payday will come.

Because payday is coming someday, make your life count for eternity today.