Rev. 15,16 The
Bowls are Poured out
Intro: Jim Chicago Brutal winter
/ vacation Home in Florida for a few days escape cold / Wife away on Business Meet me there
A)
E-Mail that He made it
safely - Accidentally wrong e-mail #
B) His message went to a Little
old lady in Neb. the wife of a Pastor who had died early in the Week She
was Shocked when turned on her computer to Check her e-mail Messages
My Darling wife I just wanted You to know
that I arrived safely here & I am looking forward to You Joining me here
tomorrow
Signed Your
Beloved Husband
P.S. it
is HOT DOWN HERE !!!!!
Many living in St. Louis
Missouri experienced a Similar Shock
On Tues. Jan.29th, 1991
radio listeners in St. Louis Missouri were Shocked to hear that the end of the
WORLD was Just moments away
A) Regular Radio programming
was interrupted by that jarring attention signal of the Emergency Broadcast
System , that was followed by the voice of the Announcer who declared
Your Attention please THIS IS NOT A TEST
B) Rushed home to be w/ Loved
ones / wait for the missiles to fall / Basements / Shelters / Other News Confirmation
1)
On
every other Station it was Business as Usual
A) That is when they found out
the Announcement was False - & Unauthorized by
KSHE MANAGEMENT
1)
It
was merely the Actions of an Irresponsible Disc Jockey who was simply trying to
get People to think about the Horrors of Nuc. War
fortunately
no one was seriously hurt
But for a few very
long minutes a lot of people in St. Louis got just a faint foretaste of what
the earths last trial will be like /
A) A trial of FEAR, HORROR, DEATH & DESTRUCTION unlike the world as ever known BEFORE .
B) In Rev. Ch.s 15 &16 we come to the final series of
Gods Judgements, the seven bowls of Wrath
C)
After centuries of patient waiting and putting up w/ the arrogance, hatred
greed & the bloodshed that has characterized our
earth so long,
1)
God
says there comes a time when he will call a halt to it all
D)
This
is the time when the great cry of the oppressed of all ages is finally
answered: HOW LONG OH LORD HOW LONG ? " read v.1
15:1 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and
marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of
God is complete.
John says that he sees a sign that is
Great & Marvelous
A) To show us just how great & marvelous "great and
marvelous" is......
There is only one other place in the whole
N.T. that these 3 words are
used together.....
B)
It is There in v.3 where they are used
to describe the works of God!!
A)
The vision is "great and marvelous" Vision Because it is dealing with the things
of God.... HIS Divine judgement
1)
It
is great & Marvelous Because it
anticipates the return of the
Lord
Jesus Christ to the earth to establish His kingdom.
D) What is the sign ? ". seven angels having the seven last
plagues, for in them the wrath of God is
complete.
1)
Complete
= finished !!! Through
"wrath" is the word THYMOS = "a passion,
great anger, wrath".
A) We see the bumper stickers that say: "Smile, God loves
you" and we think: "how nice". But
there is another side to that:
Ps. 7:11"God is angry with the wicked daily".
A) Here we are about
to see the absolute ultimate conclusion
of
the wrath of God....
B) But it is not because God simply lost His temper over something
that man did.
1) God has been so longsuffering with man..... so patient with the world.
Psalm 103:8;10 "The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to
anger, and abounding in mercy. 10 He
has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our
iniquities.
D) But - Mankind would have nothing to do with God who is so merciful.
In fact, we are told Lam. 3:22
"It is of
the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed...."
A) The only thing that prevents this world from being utterly consumed today is the mercy of God
1) The only thing that is keeping the unbeliever in your family out of hell today is the mercy of God !!
E) Mercy can be defined as: "Not getting what you deserve".
This world DESERVES God's judgement and wrath
1) Men flaunt the fact that they are sexually intimate with other men..... women sexually intimate with other women....
F) And the laws of the land not only acknowledge their behavior as "socially acceptable"....
1) But They tell us that we have to let such people teach our children in school.... be "big brothers" or "big sisters".
Millions
of unborn children...... HUMAN LIFE.... are killed every year
A) 1 out of 5 young girls who have step dads are sexually abused
Rape and crimes of violence are in
astronomical numbers
B) Millions starve to death every year while harvested crops are destroyed or plowed under / by evil Govt.s
A) God who has let us come this far on the
basis of His mercy will one day
say: "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH !!!"
D) And the sad thing is that the world has been fooled into thinking that such a thing will never happen.... only because it hasn't happened yet !!
1) In reality it has happened.... the
flood; Sodom and Gomorrah
PREVIEW OF THE WRATH THAT IS
COMING
E) But Gods Patience & Mercy have been misunderstood by man that such a thing is never going to happen / taken it as a license to do as they please.
Eccl. 8:11 Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed
speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do
evil.
But here in Rev.
15 the Angels get ready to pour out the Bowl Judgements Signifying that the Wrath of God is complete READV 2-4
A)
Here
John sees those who have were Killed during the Trib. Who Defied the AntiChrist & Refused to take his mark
1)
Note
they are singing the Song of Moses & the Song of the Lamb Why these two
Songs ?
A)
Recall
the Song of Moses was sung by Israel after the victory at the Red Sea !!! Significance
of that Song
& Event is it was All God
1)
God
led them into that boxed in Situation trapped at the Red Sea But it was God who
parted the Waters
A) It was God who opened the waters and allowed them to Cross
over on Dry Ground !!!
1)
And
it was God who closed the waters up on their enemy / destroying the one who
had held them in bondage for so long
A)
Destroying the one who had oppressed them so Greatly !!! It was a Total work of God
1)
The Only thing that was required of them was to RESPOND in faith
& Cross over on Dry Ground !!!!!!
Likewise it is God
who through the Conviction of His Spirit leads us to the place where we see
that we are Boxed in Trapped By our
Sin
A) There is no way of Escape Nothing we can do to Change our situation
We are doomed & in need of a Savior
B) And He leads us to the Cross where we see the Lamb that was Slain for us There we sing the Song of the Lamb where once again
1)
We
see that the Victory that was SECURED & the
Deliverance that was SUPPLIED was a TOTAL WORK OF GOD
A) On the Cross /
through the Death of Christ Total Deliverance was accomplished / our enemy
was defeated
1)
The
Power that once held us in bondage was destroyed the Power of the Oppressor
in our lives was Done
away with / Rendered inactive
A)
As
God opened up not a Wall of water / but the Wall of Separation / that wall that Separated
the Sinner from a Holy God
1)
But
now that sinner could be made righteous by the Blood of Jesus Christ
EXPERIENCE - Sins forgiven guilt removed - ACESS
A)
And
the only thing that is required is that the Sinner respond in faith to the work
of Christ on His behalf
1)
Believing that when Jesus said it is finished that was absolutely true / in
that work my salvation is secured /Move over from darkness to light
Guys these are Songs
that we are going to be singing in Heaven Songs that testify to the Reality
that our Salvation is a total work of God
A)
Songs that Proclaim that Our
Deliverance is by His power Alone
B)
Shouldnt that be the Song
of our hearts even today !!!!!
READ V.5-7
C) Now the Description of the Angels in clothed in pure bright linen, and having their
chests girded with golden bands.
1)
SPEAKS of the Power, Majesty, and HOLINESS of God !!!!!
A)
The
Angels are handed the Bowls of Wrath as the Judgements were to begin which is
what we see as we move into Ch. 16
16:1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple
saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God
on the earth."
2 So the first went and poured out his bowl
upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped
his image.
Now
this is interesting when the first Bowl is poured out it results in a LOATHSOME
OR GREVIOUS SORE
Aa)A
very Painful Sore on all who had the Mark of the Beast and those who worshiped his image.
A) Here
is what I find interesting Taking the mark of the Beast would seem initially
like a Logical thing to do ( technologically advanced)
B) You cant Buy or Sell w/ out it it is the only way
to survive the only
way
to make it in life Why not follow the AntiChrist his plan seems good
1)
Yet those who buy into
his plan who take his mark thinking that is the thing to do ( Get w/ the
Cashless Society System
A) Those who do so are going to be inflicted w/ a
Grievous sore / a painful affliction ( I think it is
possible that the Sore will be where mark is )
The reason I find
this interesting is it is a good Picture of the results of Sin They were
warned dont take the mark / dont worship the beast
A) But the warning is ignored because it makes so much sense / it seems so Right ( so good )
B) But that which seemed to be the right thing the
Logical thing results in great Pain
C) We experience the same thing when we disobey God
Perhaps you enter into an Unequally Yoked Business
Deal
1)
Go into Business w/ an
unbeliever Partners
A) Seemed right seemed like the Logical thing to do
even though God in His word instructs us not to do so ( It is ok)
1)
What happens it
turns Sour two
cant walk together unless agreed there is a Conflict What
fellowship Light w/ Darkness
A) The very thing that you thought was going to
Brighten up your life ends up burning You!!!!!
Or Perhaps you enter
into an unequally yoked Dating relationship
( You think I will be
a good influence on her/ him ( results in Pain)
A) Hurts Your walk w/ the Lord Instead of You
influencing them / they influence you and tear you down
B) And there are 100s of examples that we could use of what happens when we ignore
the Word of God & Rebel & do what we think is right
1)
How it back fires
& that which we thought was going to bring us Pleasure Causing us Pain
A) Samson & Delilah / Lot with Sodom / Eve with the
forbidden Fruit / Abe going into Egypt
B) The Lesson is that we need to trust the Lord that
His ways are Right & that what He says is Best trust that to work out
Now when we sin &
we come to the Lord in repentance and confess that Sin He is faithful &
Just to forgive our sins & to Cleanse
..
A) But the thing that we need to remember is that even though we receive forgiveness of our sins
B) There still are Consequences to our Actions / Law of sowing & reaping we reap what we Sow
Sow flesh destruction
1)
We Receive forgiveness
- & are Placed right Standing w/ God because Christ paid the Price His
Blood Covers & cleanses / Still REAP
C)
But in the Trib. Those who take the Mark Forgiveness is no longer Possible
1)So the first Angel pours out his bowl resulting in
Painful Sores
.Beast Read v.3,4
As the next two
Angels pour out their Bowls we see that the earths water supplies are infected
Water is turned to blood
A) Considering that the oceans occupy about three fourths of the earths surface, you can imagine the extent of this judgment. / Plus rivers
B) Pick up a Globe picture everything that is blue being Red all the Fish life is going to die affect the Food Supply
1)
As well as the Production of
Oxygen
A) Devastating affects of the Living Conditions for those who are on Planet earth !!!!!!
B) After these first 3 bowls are poured out
the Angel over the Water breaks forth into to Praise v.5-7
5 And I
heard the angel of the waters saying: "You are righteous, O Lord, The One
who is and who was and who is to be, Because You have judged these things. 6
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, And You have given
them blood to drink. For it is their just due." 7 And I heard another from the altar saying,
"Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments."
Note the Angel of the waters seems to indicate perhaps
that Angels are not only assigned to people but perhaps areas
A) This Angels area to tend to is the Waters / the oceans & the Streams / the rivers & after the Bowls are poured out & the waters turn to blood
B)
He is not complaining He is not Saying what is the big idea turning
the waters to blood - INSTEAD HE IS DECLARING
"You are righteous, O Lord, The One who is and who was
and who
is to be, Because You
have judged these things.
6 For they have shed
the blood of saints and prophets, And You have given them blood to drink. For
it is their just due
Note the Angel declares that the Lord gives Blood to Drink
to those who Shed the Blood of the Prophets & the saints
A)
Would seem to be an
indication that the Lord is here avenging the Blood of all the Martyrs
throughout History
B) Millions who have died for their Faith in Christ 250,000 a Year since 1900 Hundred
1)
The Angel declares this is Right Righteous that Your turn their water into to Blood
C)And then a Voice from the Altar Echoes this
Pronouncement in v.7 by declaring , true and righteous are Your judgments."
1) True & Righteous are the Lords Judgements
Now this is where a lot of people have a hard time they
say how can God be a God of Love & inflict such pain upon the World
A) Here is what they need to understand God is acting at this time as a Loving Father as a Thoughtful Physician dealing w/ the Cancer of Society
A)
Suppose I went to the Doctor w/ my Daughter Amanda
Doctor told me that she had Cancer it was spreading
eventually Kill her
Mr. Salvato we need to act immediately I need to schedule an operation
C) But
what if I resisted
.
D)The Lord is dealing w/ the Cancer He has been very Patient / but now
He is going to deal w/ it severely
1) Lord to Abe send people into Egypt until the Iniquity of the Amorites is complete 400 Yrs to Repent
So the Angel &
the voice from the Altar declare Righteous & true are Your Judgements Oh
Lord
A) Now This
really Blesses me such a Help as I go
through this life as I walk on the Journey
B) Those who
are in Heaven those who are before the Lord the Angels / the 4 Living
Creatures / 24 Elders / The Saints
1)
All have this same
Perspective JUST & TRUE are your ways / TRUE & RIGHTEOUS are Your
Judgements oh Lord
A) That is their perspective concerning all that God
does !!!!!!
TRUE &
RIGHTEOUS
Now the older I get
in the Lord been a Christian now for 25 yrs and I am growing in my
understanding of certain things /
A) DISCOVERING the Magnitude of certain TRUTHS that is one of the joys of the Christian life So much to learn never Scratch surface
B)
But at the same time there are other things that I just dont have a clue
about I dont understand ( No one really seems to )
1) But this is what I know is TRUE
- The Lords Judgements are True
& Righteous All that He
does is Right
C)And
when we get to heaven there isnt going to be one of us who
stands there thinking ( I think you
really Blew it on this one God !!!)
1)
Lord I want to Protest that Decision
- Not going to be out of Fear I dont dare open my mouth
A)
No when we
get to heaven we are going to see the Wisdom / the Brilliance the Incredible
Logic in everything that God has done & Does
1)
And like the
Inhabitants of Heaven now Our reaction is going to be EXCELLENT LORD TRUE & RIGHTEOUS
..
Which
means the more Heavenly minded I become now / the closer to the Lord that I get
the more time I spend in His Presence here
A) The Less I will be prone to question God & His decisions LISTEN The more mature a person becomes the less they QUESTION
B) Doesnt Necessarily mean that
they understand More but they
have come to Believe that whatever the
Lord does in their life
1)
whatever He Chooses for them - it is RIGHTEOUS & TRUE !!! IT IS RIGHT ON!!! IT IS GOOD
C)NOTE
: Also answers the Question ( what
about the pigmy in Africa &
the
Aborigine in Australia ( we will say Just & true )
1)
Romans 1 Because of
Creation no one is w/out excuse !!!!
MOVING ON V.8,9
A) For a brief time, the sun's heat is suddenly increased. Scientists are familiar with this phenomenon.
1) Every now and then great flares of fire burst from the surface of the sun, causing havoc with the magnetism of the earth, affecting radio waves, etc.
A) We have known about this for a long time but Here apparently is an enormously increased flare from the sun
1)Which creates intense heat upon the earth. People will suffer in Anguish
anguished and suffer as a result.
B) Interesting that those who turned their
backs on the SON will experience the burning of the SUN !!
V.10-11
Next we see that the earth is plagued
by darkness
A) This is I think a preview of what Hell is going to be like apparently this DARKNESS is so DARK that it causes pain !!!
B)
I dont
know if it is referring to an emotional pain like a Deep Depression that is brought on by the Darkness ie
Alaska Suicides
1)
Or if it is a physical pain
that is the result of the Darkness itself
A)
Or if it is
the combination of the Pain resulting from the sores / the burning of the Sun that is intensified by
the Coldness from the Dark
1)
But notice these
people who can barely speak because of the pain that overwhelms them still
find it in their hearts to Blaspheme God
Now this is a Good
example of why Hell is going to last forever
A) Those who question why does Hell have to be forever wouldnt 100yrs be sufficient ? 1000 yrs / 1 million max why forever ?
B) Those who
go there will not repent Hearts so hard spend eternity Blaspheming God
12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river
Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the
east might be prepared.
A)
The Euphrates river is
referred to 25 times in the Scriptures & is highly Significant .
1)
It formed the Northern
boundary of the Land Promised to Abe in Gen.15 the Nile forming the Southern
Boundary
A)
The
Euphrates is 1800 miles long 30 feet deep & between 300-1200 feet wide
1)
The Size of the river
caused Skeptics to scoff at this verse & this idea that the river could dry
up virtually impossible
A)
But in 1994 the site
manager of the Ataturk Dam located at the head waters of the Euphrates was
quoted in the ATLANTIC MONTHLY
1)
That is not a Christian publication
A)
He declared that they
could stop the flow of water into Syria & Iraq for up to 8 months in order
to regulate their Political Behavior
But this something
that God is going to do to Provide a passage way for the Kings of the East
Who are the Kings of the East
A) Grk gives us a Clue Kings of the rising Sun many Commentators believe that this is referring to China & Japan
B) The Convergence of China & Japan has been the
Fear of Military Strategist for Yrs
1)
Combining
the Technological advances of Both
nations plus the fact that China now Boast it can field an army of 300 million
men
b) Ό of the earths population lives in China 1.5 Billion
people by next month - Yrs ago they
began to control the Population
1)
By regulating that
families could only have one Child
c) Well
because most Families had a desire to see their Family name carried on everyone
wanted a Boy resulting in the aborting of Millions
girls
1)
So today there are 9 men for every girl in China Which is
the reason why they can field such a Massive Army
A) But here we see the Lord Orchestrating things to
bring the nations together for the Final Battle Battle of Armageddon
1)
Gathered together in
the valley of Meggido
Plot thickens v.13-16
A)
Now How the
enemy is going to do this I am not sure perhaps through Channelers or Mediums
or something
1)
But These kings are
going to Converge in this great Valley over in
Israel
called Armageddon -
This Valley located
60 miles north of Jerusalem in the Jezreel Valley has been filled w/ Warfare
A) There Gideon & His 300 men defeated the Midianites
There Samson took on the Philistines in a Key Battle
B)
king Josiah
was Killed at Meggido / Debra & Barak defeated Sisera at
Meggido
1)
The Turks, the
Egyptians, the Muslims, The Syrians & the Europeans have all waged war in
this Valley
A) And When Napoleon went to Egypt and
Passed through the Jezreel valley
declared If
ever there is a place on earth where the last WAR must be fought it is here in
this Valley
ARMEGGEDON = The
Mount of Rendezvous And when John sees the Nations of the World being
Gathered at this place
A) Sure it would be a scary sight to see so many nations coming toward Israel but in v.15 the Lord gives Him a little reminder
B) 15 "Behold, I am coming !!!!!!!!! Speaking of
His 2nd Coming where the Lord is going to meet these armies &
Destroy them !!!!!
READ V.17-21
So we see here that
the nations are Judged the earth is Shaken the Kingdoms come Crumbling down
100lb Hail falls out of Sky
A) What was the O.T. punishment for Blasphemy According to Lev.24:16 Stoning !!!
B)
What is happening here
? 100LB hail stones falling out of the Sky !!!
Listen In many ways
the Bible is the Story of 2 Mountains both deal w/ the Wrath of God
A) One Mt. Is here at Armageddon the Mt. Of Rendezvous where Gods Wrath is poured out upon those who follow the Anti-Christ
B) The Other is on Mt. Calvary where the Wrath of God was poured out upon His Son JESUS CHRIST
1)
Both deal w/ Bloodshed
as the blood flows to the Horses Bridle at Meggido and from the Sons veins at Calvary
A) Both are COMPLETIONS / the voice from Heaven Cries it is Done at Meggido - / while the
voice from the Son of the CROSS
1)
Cried it is Finished !!!!!
A) Will you endure the final wrath of the Father at Megeddo, or will you embrace the Finished work of the Son on Calvary Chapel
1) The Choice is Yours !!!!!
The
Reason Jesus had to live a perfect life was so that His perfect life could be
Credited to Your account / The Father treated Jesus as if He had lived Your
life so that He could treat you as if you lived His life
Your sins were
put to His Account / so that His perfect life could be credited to your
account ISNT THAT INCREDIBLE