The Bowls of Judgement
The Revelation of King Jesus • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 1 viewHBI : We all deserve the wrath of God and we are either going to praise God because we are saved from that to eternal life or we are recieve the wrath of God because we are guilty of sinning against Him.
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
A. W. Tozer said that “when God asks justly He is not doing so to conform to an independent Benchmark or standard of grading but simply acting like Himself in a given situation”. We try to gather truth and make sense of what God is doing in the judging of the world and we can’t. We are using our own standard of measurement to try and Make sense of what God has planned and it doesn't work. God does not need to conform to our standard of what we think He should do.
Here we have two different pictures of who God is and what He has done, God doesn't ask us to reconcile who He is but rather trust that who he say He is is the truth. The first picture is of a loving God who asks us to worship Him in His sovereignty. We have a contrast between worshiping God in truth and fear and the judgement of God on those who refuse to do just that.
It reminds me all of Psalm 2, people raging and scheming against God because of their flawed view of who they think He is. It also reminds me of a story in a series of books that I read when I was a teenager. The book series was about a group of teens given the power to change into any animal they touch to fight an evil race of aliens that where trying to invade the earth. Within the series there is a book that talks about this completely separate tiny race of aliens called the helmecrons who are kind of humerus. They have tiny ships, and tiny people in the ships. Kind of like a chihuaua who has little dog syndrome and must prove it’s superiority to every other creature bigger then it, which is pretty much everything. This tiny race of aliens are on a mission to make up for there diminutive stature. They try and fail to take over the group of teenage warriors and then take over earth. They never really stood a chance.
We are like this little group of aliens (just a story I do not actually believe i aliens) or that little very annoying dog with a superiority complex. sometimes as believers but most often before we come to that life changing understanding of the gospel of Jesus. We rail and cry out against God, thinking that we are in charge, that we are gods of our own life.
HBI : We all deserve the wrath of God and we are either going to praise God because we are saved from that to eternal life or we are recieve the wrath of God because we are guilty of sinning against Him.
The Prep
The Prep
What is the purpose behind the judgement of God? Why does it have to happen in the first place? How can we praise God in spite of what we see is going to happen? These are some of the questions we answer as we go through the next few chapters. We start out with praise again. We see this quite often throughout the book of revelation. the contrast between the nations need to praise Gd and the result of their not wanting to praise God.
Then I saw another great and awe-inspiring sign in heaven: seven angels with the seven last plagues; for with them God’s wrath will be completed.
I have started to outline sermons on a white board in my office. The I can walk around and think while I research. This has been one of the hardest series to do because of the content and because people get so set on their interpretation of a lot of this that I was a little scared to make people angry. So my whiteboard has been really full lately. But along we go anyways. There are a few things that made it on to ijthe whiteboard this week that I wanted to point out.
a sign
The first is the sign. Verse 1 tells us this is a sign. What is the purpose of a sign? We struggle to understand whether the meaning behind a lot of the passages in the book of Revelation are symbolic or are they literal? John saw signs. the main point behind it all that we need to be able to agree on is the signs John saw where meant to portray a message. The signs all pointed, or are meant to point people to the same message.
The message they are all meant to point people to is that we are all going to meat Jesus, either in life or in death. We will all bow down before Him so we must be prepared. A symbolic display to emphasize a message.
7 & 7
& angels and the 7 last plagues. Remember the message behind what this could mean. this is not just the number of the plagues that are being visited on the people who refuse to believe in God, not just a set number for angels. But the message behind it is the completion of the wrath of God through the sending of the plagues.
we also see the wrath of God which is inevitable result against the sins of the people.
Victory in Jesus.
I also saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had won the victory over the beast, its image, and the number of its name, were standing on the sea of glass with harps from God.
We see here a hymn, a contrast between the wrath of God and the praise of God for what He has done to allow is to be saved from His wrath. A vision of those who had been killed by the beast, by the A of D who had not received His mark or bowed down to him.
Why harps? I do not know. If you look to the Psalms praising God with instruments is common but it is not a big deal. The idea being a group who refused to bow down worshiping God.
3 They sang the song of God’s servant Moses and the song of the Lamb: Great and awe-inspiring are your works, Lord God, the Almighty; just and true are your ways, King of the nations. 4 Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All the nations will come and worship before you because your righteous acts have been revealed.
Verse 4 raises a rhetorical question. That is a question that makes a statement more then it is meant to actually be answered. Who will not fear or glorify the Lord? that means that we will all, whether you like it or not are going to fear and glorify God at some point.
It starts out by praising God highly for His deeds and what He has done. This is cause for wonder and praise. The second part emphasizes God’s justice and faithfulness.
This is also echoed from in Exodus.
The completion of the wrath and judgments of God are started with the reminder that we can praise Him for what He has done for us. Or that we will praise Him. one willingly one unwillingly.
We start out by being reminded of who God is and what He has done. He invites us to bow down before Him in worship of Him. We must praise God for His deliverance for He has promised that we may be delivered for our sin.
We do not praise God because of the suffering, but because we will one day be saved from it. But through the suffering we realize that Jesus is coming soon. We can praise Him through it all ad we should, even when He doesn't save us from it.
The Plagues - 16
The Plagues - 16
With this in mind, what has God done to try and get your attention. What did it finally take for you to turn to God? Maybe it was not that much, maybe you always followed God and never really did anything bad. Praise the Lord! But for those a little more hard headed like I was, God had to get my attention. Sometimes we have to be brought to the end of ourselves, we have to be made low so God can finally get our attention.
We are told that the wrath of the lamb, the plagues sent out are for those who still refuse to follow Jesus and bow down to Him. It is one last chance to get peoples attention.
7 plagues we read about in this chapter.
1 Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.”
The bowls of the wrath and anger of the Lord that will pour judgement out on the people that have bowed down to the beats, and to try and turn around those who have not are the same bowls that contain the prayers of the martyred saints. Vengeance is mine says the Lord.
Lets run through the list of plagues that we are going to see. Remember, the timing of all of this is kind of up in the air. I do not believe the three sets of judgement are necessarily chronological but rather during the same period of time. If we continue though with the theme that the signs are meant as a message then we must rememeber to keep the message the main point. Turn to Jesus, prepare to meet Him before it is to late.
2 The first went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and severely painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped its image.
3 The second poured out his bowl into the sea. It turned to blood like that of a dead person, and all life in the sea died.
4 The third poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood.
The first three plagues reveal sores on all those with the mark of the beast. This alone would be suspicious. Like If I am looking out not having received the mark yet and everyone with it suddenly got sore, I might look to something else for help. Like I don't think I want that.
The sea and the fresh water turned to blood. Seems to be at least long enough to kill all life in the waters though we are not sure for how long yet. Imagine the impact this is going to have on the world, and the shipping industry.
In the midst of this we have what almost seems out of place but yet is not that but a good reminded for Us. We wonder How can a just God do this?
5 I heard the angel of the waters say, You are just, the Holy One, who is and who was, because you have passed judgment on these things. 6 Because they poured out the blood of the saints and the prophets, you have given them blood to drink; they deserve it!
7 I heard the altar say, Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and just are your judgments.
These three verses are an inclusio it would seem like. A theme sandwich.
Just and true are your ways oh Lord, even in your judgments. It begins and ends with this idea.
Why is God just and true in the midst even of these horrible judgments? We see that in verse 6. They deserve the wrath of God because they poured out the blood of God’s children, the refused to turn to God even through all of the chances they had. It seems harsh because it is. We all deserve this if not for the blood of Jesus.
8 The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun. It was allowed to scorch people with fire,
10 The fifth poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues because of their pain
12 The sixth poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east.
These are all self explanatory,. The last bit I want to focus on through all this is one of deception. We have the plagues to remind people who is the one true God and we see Satan sending out emissaries to attempt to keep deceiving people into following Him. The evil spirits come from the man indwelt by Satan and His evil false prophet. They are given the power to do miracles and deceive many.
We are told that they will persuade the powers at the time to come together to battle against the Lord God. This is where it reminds me of that little Chihuahua trying to take over the world. The can bark and bite but in the end they will lose. They attempt to defeat God but in the end God wins the victory. God says that He has already won.
15 “Look, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who is alert and remains clothed so that he may not go around naked and people see his shame.”
The seventh and last plague is a great earthquake with enormous hail.
So What?
So What?
Look I am coming like a thief in the night we must be prepared says the Lord God almighty. Psalm 2 tells us that people rage and plot and scheme against the Lord God but they do it in vain. Like those diminutive aliens in my book as a teenager, or that little annoying dog I am always tempted to turn into a football, they try and fail because in the end God has won the victory.
God’s judgments are just and have a purpose.
God’s judgments are just and have a purpose.
The world has oppressed the children of God since forever. Many do not like to talk about the divine judgement of God, but we all deserve it. The purpose is to get our attention for one. Stop trying to live life on your own, you need Jesus. You do not have to be lost in sin forever. Turn to Him. For it will come to the point where God’s judgement will turn from trying to get your attention to true judgement because you refused to follow Him. It has a purpose, turn to Him before it is to late. The wrath of God is Just, but it doesn't have to happen to you.
Rather we must praise God
Rather we must praise God
We must praise God for His deliverance. Through all we face we must praise God for what He has done for us. We must share the message of the gospel because there are those that will face the wrath of the lamb. We must work hard to point them to Jesus as well. How can we praise God even in the sorrow, even in the lack of healing? even in the suffering?
These are all just birth pangs leading up to one day being with Jesus. Be prepared!