Have you ever felt, when you’re getting angry, that you are filling up in a way that if people aren’t careful, you will explode and your wrath will be poured out on everyone around you?
For some of us, it takes a lot for us to fill up with anger or wrath. For others, it’s really easy to get to that point of explosion.
Well, God doesn’t work that way. You see, God does fill up with wrath, but He doesn’t have an emotional fit where He is out of control. Rather, God has a plan to purposefully pour out His judgment and wrath on sin and sinners.
Make no mistake, God’s judgment is more terrible than anything we can imagine, but it is not reckless; it is planned and purposeful.
Today, we’re back in our series in The Book of Revelation, and we’re looking at Revelation 15 and 16. The title of today’s sermon is “The Bowls of God’s Judgment.”
In this sermon, we can see God’s wrath and judgment stored in seven bowls, which will be purposefully poured out on sin and sinners.
Before we go any further, let’s go to God in prayer and ask Him to speak to us.
(prayer)
Ok, you may notice from your notes that we have a lot to cover today, so let’s get to it.
First, notice an . . .
I. Introduction to the bowls.
Remember that the Book of Revelation is a vision to John the Apostle of what God will do as we approach the end of all things on this earth.
Let’s look at Revelation 15.
15:1 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. 2 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. 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.
5 After this I looked, and the heavenly temple—the tabernacle of testimony—was opened. 6 Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, dressed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes wrapped around their chests. 7 One of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God who lives forever and ever. 8 Then the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.
So, let’s pick up on a few truths from this introduction that we have in Chapter 15.
First, John is witnessing yet another awe-inspiring sign from heaven.
John has seen so many incredible aspects of this big vision that became the Book of Revelation that it’s hard to imagine how he processed all of this information.
Here, this sign includes seven angels with what John calls “the seven plagues.” The seven plagues are not revealed in Chapter 15, but they will be in Chapter 16.
Notice also that John says, “ . . . for with them God’s wrath will be completed.”
There is an indication here that we are getting near the end of God’s judgment being poured out.
Now, we know we’re not at the final end, but the end is coming. God’s wrath will be completed soon.
Third, John notices something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, which has with it the people who had won the victory over the beast.
These are people who won victory over the beast in the sense that they did not worship the beast or take his mark.
Though some of these people may have actually been killed for their faithfulness to Jesus, they are nonetheless victorious in Jesus, and they gained a great reward for their faithfulness.
Next, we hear of this song of Moses and the song of the Lamb.
We can dig into these songs more at “Digging Deeper” this Wednesday night.
However, I want you to pick up on something: Just before God is about to pour terrible judgment and wrath on sin, He is worshiped.
You see, God is not only worthy of worship because of His love and forgiveness; He is also worthy of worship because of holiness and judgment.
In verse 5, we’re introduced to John’s vision of the heavenly temple.
The seven angels come out of the temple, then one of the four living creatures (mentioned earlier in the book) gives the seven angels the seven bowls of God’s wrath.
After the angels come out of the temple, the temple is filled with smoke from the glory and power of God.
When God’s glory and power fill the temple in order for His wrath to be poured out, no one else can go in the temple until that time is complete.
So, this is our introduction to the bowls.
Let’s transition now to the . . .
II. Pouring out of the bowls.
We’re going to journey through these rather quickly.
First, notice . . .
Bowl #1: Painful sores.
We see these in Chapter 16, verses 1 and 2:
16:1 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.” 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.
Notice who is receiving the judgment here: those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
Those who did not choose Jesus are receiving judgment, the first of which is painful sores.
Next, look at . . .
Bowl #2: Sea of blood.
Look at verse 3:
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.
We’ve heard something like this before in Revelation, but in this case, we’re told “ . . . all life in the sea died.” Not some; all.
Similarly, . . .
Bowl #3: Rivers and springs of blood.
Look at verses 4-7:
4 The third poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. 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.
Some of these people who are being judged by God are guilty (among other things) of killing followers of Jesus.
They shed blood; now what they drink will be turned to blood.
Next, see . . .
Bowl #4: Scorching sun.
Look at verses 8-9:
8 The fourth poured out his bowl on the sun. It was allowed to scorch people with fire, 9 and people were scorched by the intense heat. So they blasphemed the name of God, who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory.
Now, we hear that the sun is so intense that people are scorched by the heat.
Notice also that people start to blaspheme God, and they do not turn from their sin (more on that later).
We see . . .
Bowl #5: Darkness
Look at verses 10-11:
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 11 and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they did not repent of their works.
The darkness likely intensified the misery that these people were already experiencing, and we’re told that they gnawed on their tongues because of their pain.
Again, they didn’t turn to God. Rather, they blasphemed, or spoke strongly against, God.
Next, we see . . .
Bowl #6: Euphrates dries up
Look at verses 12-16:
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. 13 Then I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming from the dragon’s mouth, from the beast’s mouth, and from the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are demonic spirits performing signs, who travel to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for the battle on the great day of God, the Almighty. 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.” 16 So they assembled the kings at the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.
Now, many of you have probably heard of Armageddon before and know of it as a final battle of sorts.
Indeed, there does appear to be an assembly of forces here.
However, we need to be careful not to make more out of this verse than what we know. After all, this is the only place where Armageddon is mentioned in the Bible.
So, here’s what we know: The Euphrates River dries up in some way, kings from the east make their way across it, and demonic spirits that are like frogs in some way perform signs to convince rulers from the world to gather for a great battle.
This is what we know. We’ll dive into some theories related to this more on Wednesday night.
Notice also that Jesus speaks here. He says, “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.”
Jesus is reminding His people to be ready for this moment. Be ready for God’s judgment. Be ready for a great war. Be ready for the end.
Finally, we see . . .
Bowl #7: Catastrophic events.
Let’s read the rest of the chapter.
17 Then the seventh poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. And a severe earthquake occurred like no other since people have been on the earth, so great was the quake. 19 The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the Great was remembered in God’s presence; he gave her the cup filled with the wine of his fierce anger. 20 Every island fled, and the mountains disappeared. 21 Enormous hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, fell from the sky on people, and they blasphemed God for the plague of hail because that plague was extremely severe.
Here, we learn about these really drastic natural events that bring devastating effects to the earth; they are catastrophic.
We see lightning, thunder, an earthquake, and enormous hailstones.
All of this catastrophe results in the earth splitting apart and being severely damaged.
Don’t lose sight of the fact that at the beginning of this bowl, a voice from the temple said, “It is done!”
Well, who was in the temple at this time? God was.
This voice is likely the voice of God saying that the final bowl is being poured out.
Ok, those are the bowls. Before we finish, let’s reflect on a few . . .
III. Observations from the bowls.
First, see that . . .
#1 – The bowls mirror many previous judgments.
There are similarities between these judgments and previous judgments in the Book of Revelation.
There are also similarities between these judgments and some of the plagues at the time of the Exodus.
There are also similarities in other places in the Bible.
However, the bowls are also different in some ways, which takes us to observation #2:
#2 – The bowls are more severe than many previous judgments.
These judgments have more devastating results than a lot of other previous judgments in The Book of Revelation and in the Bible.
The main exception is the global flood with Noah. However, outside of that, there’s nothing so terrible as these judgments that are coming from the bowls.
Finally, . . .
#3 – The bowls produce no repentance, unlike some previous judgments.
In some previous judgments in Revelation and in the Bible, we see repentance result; we see people turn from their sin.
However, that is not the case here. Rather than repent, those who experience this judgment do not repent, and they blaspheme God.
Well, those are some observations. Let’s bring this to a close with our . . .
Bottom Line: People must choose Jesus or judgment.
This is the truth that emerges from Revelation 15-16.
Those who choose Jesus may suffer for a short time on this earth. However, those who do not choose Jesus will suffer the terrible judgment of God.
God will not overlook sin. At His appointed time, God will judge sin and sinners.
There is only one choice that lies before humanity: Jesus or judgment.
Challenge yourself this week in this one way:
Weekly Challenge: Embrace repentance.
Repentance means to turn from something.
We need to embrace turning away from sin and turning to Jesus.
Also, we need to embrace the idea of bringing others to repentance.
(Gospel presentation)
(closing prayer)
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