How do we worship God in his wrath? In this message on Revelation 15–16, Pastor David Platt teaches us how to worship the sovereign and powerful Lord. The book of Revelation is a series of apocalyptic visions filled with prophetic pronouncements written as a congregational letter. These visions include various symbols and numbers (which often lead to various interpretations). These visions are arranged cyclically, not chronologically.
How do we worship God in his wrath? In this message on Revelation 15–16, Pastor David Platt teaches us how to worship the sovereign and powerful Lord. The book of Revelation is a series of apocalyptic visions filled with prophetic pronouncements written as a congregational letter. These visions include various symbols and numbers (which often lead to various interpretations). These visions are arranged cyclically, not chronologically.
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Speaker 2:Author and teacher David Platt, revelation 15 and 16.
Speaker 2:Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.
Speaker 2:And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands, and they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying Great and amazing are your deeds, o Lord, god the Almighty, just and true are your ways, o King of the nations, who will not fear O Lord and glorify your name, for you alone are holy.
Speaker 2:All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed. After this I looked and the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes around their chests, and one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever, and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.
Speaker 3:Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God. So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.
Speaker 2:The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea and it became like the blood of a corpse and every living thing died that was in the sea.
Speaker 3:The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water and it became blood. And I heard the angel in charge of the water say Just are you, o holy one, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments, for they have shed the blood of saints and prophets and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve. And I heard the altar saying the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun and it was allowed to scorch people with fire.
Speaker 2:They were scorched by the fierce heat and they cursed the name of God, who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.
Speaker 3:The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their sins.
Speaker 2:The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the gray river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east. And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs, for they are demonic spirits performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for battle on the great day of God, the Almighty. Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on so that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed. And they assembled them at the place that, in Hebrew, is called Armageddon.
Speaker 3:The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying it is done. And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth. So great was that earthquake.
Speaker 2:The great city was split into three parts and the cities of the nations fell. And God remembered Babylon the great to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.
Speaker 3:And every island fled away and no mountains were to be found and great hell. Stones, stones about 100 pounds each fell from heaven on people and they cursed God for their plague of hell because the plague was so severe.
Speaker 1:If you have a Bible and I hope you do, if you've not already turned there, then let me invite you to find Revelation, chapter 15, near the end of the Bible. We're fast approaching the very end of the Bible in this last book of Scripture. We are now a little over halfway through this series on Revelation. We have six out of 13 weeks left, including today. So what I want to do this morning is start with a quick review of what we've already seen in Revelation and a couple of things we've talked about when it comes to understanding Revelation, and then from there I want us to think about what I believe is one of the most difficult yet also most important questions for Christians to ask as they read through the book of Revelation. So let's start with a quick review. One sentence at the top there that we saw from the very first week that sums up this book.
Speaker 1:The book of Revelation is a series of apocalyptic visions filled with prophetic pronouncements, written as a congregational letter. Now that is a loaded sentence that just sums up the whole book. It's apocalyptic literature. Apocalypsis we talked about literally means an uncovering or a revelation of truth through visions. At the same time, this book is a prophecy about the future that pertains to the present. We've talked about how this book is, in a sense, the climax of all prophecy in the Bible. Yet at the same time, this is a letter that was written to churches in the first century, with implications for the church in all centuries, so it's specifically addressing Christian life in this world.
Speaker 1:Now, during the first week of this series, we talked about how the purpose of Revelation. This book was not written to create confusion for Christians or to cause division in the church, or even to promote speculation about the second coming of Christ. Instead, the whole purpose of this book was written to give unshakable hope to suffering Christians from the first century to the 21st century, to encourage such Christians to avoid sin in a seductive culture and world. This book was written to refute deception in the church and to fuel mission among the nations. The whole picture in Revelation is the church under attack, innocence from all sides, from opposition on the outside to deception on the inside. And John is writing this book as a letter to say to persecuted Christians in the first century who were being attacked for their faith and threatened in their lives, and to suffering Christians in the 21st century who are fighting for faith in the midst of different battles that we face. John is saying you may think at points that things are out of control, or you see a beast coming up out of an abyss to make war with your faith and persecute your life. But take heart, christ has conquered Satan and Christ has conquered hell. And Christ has conquered hell and Christ has conquered death. And Christ is in control and he sees your tears and he hears your cries and he is coming to raise you up to reign with him forever and ever. So fight for your faith and work to advance the gospel to the ends of the earth. That's the point of this book. This book is not intended to drive us to charts, as much as this book is intended to drive us to Christ and to each other in the church and to the Great Commission.
Speaker 1:Now, all throughout Revelation, as we've said, we see visions, these visions that the book revolves around. The book is comprised of that John saw in the first century. Now, in your notes. These visions include we've talked about this various symbols and numbers, which often lead to various interpretations. We've seen this symbols like a lamb and a dragon, and beasts and locusts, like horses with human faces and lion's teeth and wings and tails like scorpions. We've seen numbers like 4, 7, or 12, 144,000, or 666, or 1,260 days, or three and a half years, and each of these numbers represents different realities, and this is where the book of Revelation seems to open itself up to all kinds of different interpretations that are associated with those symbols and numbers. So throughout the history of the church, bible-believing, gospel-preaching men and women have understood some of these visions and numbers differently, and nobody but God has the corner of truth on exactly how Revelation should be understood. God has the corner of truth on exactly how revelation should be understood. So some Bible readers take these images here to be literal. When John says this is going to happen in this way, he is saying these things are going to happen. Exactly like this, other Bible readers take different symbols and attach them to different historical realities, interpreting various parts of revelation in light of modern day events, maybe in Israel or among other nations. And, as I think has probably been clear, I understand Revelation more symbolically. The way I describe it is based on what one brother said.
Speaker 1:Greg Beal wrote a very thick, massive commentary on Revelation that has helped me in different ways on this, and he addresses people who ask him why he takes much in the book symbolically instead of literally. And he points out how John in the first verse of the book of Revelation, talking about allusions to Daniel in the Old Testament, john tells us that the book is filled with symbols. And so Beal says that he takes the book symbolically because he takes John's words in the first verse literally. So verse one John literally tells us that he's going to use a lot of symbols here. So he says I take the book literally in that sense. But so there's different views.
Speaker 1:Now a key point there, really quick, on the symbolic picture. Just because we interpret something symbolically here in the book of Revelation doesn't mean then we have a license to interpret everything in the book symbolically however we want. So this is a certain genre, type of biblical literature Apocalypsis that uses symbols and numbers strategically in a way that narrative parts of Scripture don't use symbols and numbers strategically. So when you read stories in the Bible about the Red Sea splitting in half or Mary giving birth to Jesus as a virgin, we don't have license to say, well, those stories are just symbolic, they didn't literally happen. No, that's a very different type of literature in the Bible that's clearly historical. These are actual events and we need to read them as such. But there are clearly other types of biblical literature that do use symbols strategically. It's not just revelation, it's poetry, like Song of Solomon, when the writer says to the woman your hair is like a flock of goats, your teeth are like a flock of sheep and your nose is like the Tower of Lebanon. Clearly no man would literally say that to his wife the Tower of Lebanon. Clearly no man would literally say that to his wife. So there's no question here.
Speaker 1:In Revelation we've got a predominant intentional use of symbols and numbers. Even today we've got bowls of wrath being poured out seven of them, a strategic number in the book of Revelation Bowls that are filled with God's wrath. Does that mean that they're literally filled with liquid wrath that's being poured out literally? All these images of painful sores and bloody water and sun, scorching heat and people gnawing at their tongues in anguish Are these literal or symbolic? And if they're symbolic, what do they stand for? So you can see how these symbols and numbers lead to various interpretations.
Speaker 1:Now, the point of all this and why I've tried to bring this back up here, why I want to mention this time and time again is that how somebody interprets Revelation is never a reason for division in the church, and I've gotten only a couple of stinging letters and comments in this series. But I hope we are seeing that Bible-believing, gospel-embracing Christians in the same church may have disagreements over exactly what this or that means in Revelation, and that is okay. What I'm trying to point out is, hey, different points, there's different opinions on this or that among Bible-believing, gospel-embracing Christians, but let's not miss the whole point of the book. This book of visions was written to encourage its original readers and hearers to persevere in their faith. It's written to encourage us to persevere in our faith, to realize who we are in Christ and to fight amidst suffering in this world for the spread of the gospel. So that's why we keep coming back to that Now.
Speaker 1:We've also talked about here in your notes how these visions are arranged cyclically, not chronologically, meaning when John says, just like he does in the beginning of our text today so you look at Revelation, chapter 15, verse 1, john says Then I saw another sign in heaven. That doesn't mean okay, this is what's going to happen next in history. Instead, I hope we've seen how these visions are repeating one another and they're intensifying along the way. Think about all we've seen so far. I put in your notes there, going all the way back to chapter 2. Since that time we've seen seven letters, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven visions last week and then this week seven bowls Revelation 2 and 3, seven letters to seven churches.
Speaker 1:Then, after a throne room scene in Revelation 4 and 5, starting in Revelation, we see opening of seven seals At the end of the seven seals, at the beginning of chapter 8, we saw God's final judgment poured out on the earth in the beginning of chapter 8. But then, right after that, we see seven angels with seven trumpets and judgment seems to start all over again, seemingly from the beginning. That leads us to the end of chapter 11. Seventh trumpet sounds final judgment poured out on the earth. And then right after that we go in chapter 12, back to the coming of Christ in the world and the battle of Satan against God and his son and his people in human history, with a dragon and beasts and a lamb the harvest imagery on the earth. And then all that leads to today when we start in a sense all over again with seven angels and seven plagues, seven bowls of wrath, and the cycle repeats itself. So these visions are arranged in cycles like this and with each cycle things are intensifying.
Speaker 1:If you'll remember, with the seals, the judgments in the seals affected a quarter of the earth. When they saw the trumpets, they affected a third of the earth, and now, when we get to these bowls, they're poured out on all the earth. In a similar way, with the seals and the trumpets, we saw some of those judgments indirectly poured out on people. Some of those judgments were directly poured out just on creation. You get to these bowls, and all seven of these bowls the picture is wrath on people who have not believed in God, who have turned from God in their sin. So there's an intensification going on here with each of these. So sum it all up you got seven seals and trumpets and visions and bowls that are chronologically paralleling one another. At the same time they're intensifying as they progress, almost like they're spiraling like a snowball. They're heading toward this final vision of wrath and judgment and salvation.
Speaker 1:From this point on in Revelation, which we know, we're getting to that point because in chapter 15, verse 1, it says these well, look at it with me. I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished. So here is a picture of the consummate wrath of God being poured out in Revelation 15 and 16. Now, just to give an overview of what happens here in Revelation, chapter 16, you've got seven bowls of wrath being poured out on those who dwell on the earth. Specifically it says in verse 2, on those who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image, and that's a phrase that's used to describe unbelievers here in Revelation. So these are all who have turned aside from God to worship the things of this world. They were giving themselves in rebellion against God, not repenting of their sin, as we see played out over here all throughout Revelation, chapter 16. All throughout Revelation, chapter 16.
Speaker 1:So toward unbelievers, we see these seven bowls poured out First. First bowl we see just like the first trumpet earth is struck. Sores come upon people who bear the mark of the beast, which we saw last week was a picture of those who turned aside from the worship of God to worship the things of this world. So all who worship the things of this world will eventually experience suffering at the hands of the things in this world. So all who worship the things of this world will eventually experience suffering at the hands of the things. In this world Bowl number two, just like the second trumpet, the sea is struck. Every living thing in the sea dies as its water is turned to blood, just like the picture we see. All these plagues, for the most part, are based on plagues that were poured out on Egypt in their sin Pharaoh back in the book of Exodus. And just like we saw water turned to blood back there in Exodus, as a picture of God's supremacy even over the economic life support system of Egypt, we're seeing that here in the world God is supreme and ultimately those who put their hope in the economic life support of this world will see that it comes up empty.
Speaker 1:Third bowl God pours out his wrath in the rivers, which also turn to blood. Sinners who've shed the blood you look in verse six sinners who've shed the blood of saints and prophets now drink a cup of God's wrath. You've given them blood to drink. The whole picture is God punishing the persecutors of his people. Fourth bowl poured out specifically on the sky, the sun. It scorches people with fire Again. Is this littering? Oh, we don't know for sure. We know that this image is more than just getting a sunburn. This is fierce fire scorching people with heat. At the very least it's imagery of something horrifying. Fifth bowl unleashes torment on those who worship the beast, idolaters, who worship this world instead of God. They're plunged into darkness, separated from the one true God. They're suffering in anguish.
Speaker 1:Sixth bowl really not a picture of judgment in and of itself, as much as it's a picture of a preparation for wrath that's coming in the seventh bowl. In verse 13, you see the dragon and the first beast and the second beast here called the false prophet. So you got this unholy trinity here sending out demonic, deceptive spirits that call together the forces of this world to fight against God and his people. And all of that leads to the seventh bowl where cosmic judgment is fully poured out all across the earth. This is picture the history of this physical world coming to a close Massive earthquake, 100 pound hail falling from heaven on unbelievers, the rulers and the ways of this world. Finally, in the words of verse 19, drain the cup of the wine of the fury of God's wrath. This is the climactic final judgment here in 7th bowl. So mark it down God will one day pour out his wrath fully and finally upon the earth. Wrath fully and finally upon the earth, and everyone who has turned from him to worship the things of this world will drink his judgment forever. That's the point of these seven bowls.
Speaker 1:Now, all of that leads to a critical question lying behind this text and the entire book of Revelation. So, over and over and over again, in seals and trumpets and bowls, we are seeing the wrath of God towards sin, the judgment of God on sinners, graphically and frighteningly portrayed and illustrated. We've seen people hiding in caves calling out for rocks and mountains to fall on them to save them from wrath. We've seen people tormented by killer locusts and horses, with fire from their mouths and terror from their tails. We've seen people punished with fire and sulfur in such a way that the smoke of their torment rises forever. Now, here at the end of chapter 16, we've got hundred pound hailstones falling on people. But in the middle of all this, and particularly here in this text that we've got before us today, the beginning of chapter 15, and then in the middle of chapter 16, right in the middle of these bowls of wrath, in this scene where the wrath of God is finished, we see a song of worship.
Speaker 1:Chapter 15 opens up. Look at verse 3. The saints are singing Great and amazing are your deeds, o Lord, god the Almighty. Just and true are your ways, o King of the nations, who will not fear O Lord and glorify your name, for you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed. And then there's worship in heaven. Right after this third angel pours out this third bowl verse 5,. The angel says just, are you a holy one? Who is and who was, for you brought these judgments, for they have shed the blood of saints and prophets and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve. I heard the altar. So this shout on the altar comes says yes, lord, god the Almighty, true and just are your judgment. Now we're going to see this even more in the chapters to come.
Speaker 1:Turn over real quickly to Revelation, chapter 19. Let me just give you a little preview of where this is going. In Revelation 17 and 18, next week we're going to see God's judgment fully and finally poured out on Babylon, a picture of His judgment being poured out on the ways of this world and unbelievers in the world. And look at the response right after that In Revelation 19,. After God's wrath is poured out, we hear a multitude of voices in heaven, and listen to what they're crying out Revelation 19 and 1. Hallelujah, salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just, for he has judged the great prostitute that's Babylon, who corrupted the earth with her immorality and has avenged on her the blood of his servants. Once more, they cried out Hallelujah, the smoke from her goes up forever and ever. So you got God pouring out his wrath on sinners, and saints are crying out Hallelujah, praise the Lord, god being worshiped in his wrath and his wrath.
Speaker 1:Now, if we really think about that, that is very challenging to comprehend On one level. On the one, it's challenging to comprehend the wrath of God altogether. In the first place, we think of God as full of kindness and full of love and full of compassion and full of mercy, and he is full of all of those things. At the same time, the Bible is clear he is full of wrath. So how do you view God as full of wrath? And then then take that a step further. How do you worship God for his wrath, as God pours out his just wrath upon sin and sinners.
Speaker 1:You've got imagery of unbelievers being tormented in these chapters. How does that provoke worship? And what's interesting maybe even more challenging is all of this is reflecting a prayer that was prayed by saints who had been slain for the Word of God, back in Revelation, chapter 6, when they were crying out for God to do this, to show His justice. So they were praying for this. How do you pray for this? They were praying for this in view of worshiping God as he would do this. This is challenging to think about, isn't it?
Speaker 1:So I feel the need, pastorally and personally, to pause in this book and ask this question how do we worship God in his wrath? Think about it. Think about heaven even. How will we joyfully worship God in heaven while multitudes and multitudes of people experience utter torment, forever in hell? Worship in heaven with the smoke of torment coming up forever and ever how do those go together? Joyful worship in heaven with the smoke of torment coming up forever and ever how do those go together? Joyful worship in heaven, indescribable wrath in hell? How do these connect? So that's the question I want to ask how do we worship God and his wrath?
Speaker 1:And three steps that I want to lead us through to understand what's going on here in Revelation, as God is being, has been and will be worshiped and is wrapped. So step number one we must start with a high view of God. This is where we've got to start. This is where the song in Revelation 15 begins, verse 3,. So consider the greatness of God with me in these verses. First, god is sovereign over all. Now we've seen this over and over again in the book of Revelation.
Speaker 1:Words of Psalm 24, verse 1, god is sovereign. What that and all who live in it. God is sovereign. What that means is he's in control. He has authority over everything. God is sovereign, in the book of Revelation, over past, present and future. God is sovereign over the sun and the moon and the stars and the skies and the seas. He's sovereign over every animal on this earth and every man and woman on this earth. He's sovereign over Satan, the dragon, first beast, second beast, every other demonic spirit. He's sovereign over the persecuted and he's sovereign over the persecutors. He's sovereign over suffering. He's sovereign over sin. He's sovereign over death. From beginning to end, god is in control. He is the Lord, god, the Almighty, and he governs everything in the universe, now and forever.
Speaker 1:That's step one. Start with the high view of God, god's sovereign over all. Second God is feared by all. Who will not fear you, o Lord? Verse 4 asks End of verse 3. You're the king of the nation.
Speaker 1:These verses have rich background in the Psalms, prophetic material like Isaiah and Jeremiah and Zechariah. You remember psalmist? Psalm 46, verse 10 records God saying Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in all the earth. That's a promise. Psalm 86, verse 9 and 10, all the nations you have made will come and worship before you, o Lord. They will bring glory to your name, for you do great and marvelous deeds. You alone are God. Isaiah 45, verse 22,.
Speaker 1:God says I am God. There is no other To me. Every knee shall bow. God is to be feared by all and God is to be glorified above all, glorified above all. Verse 4, who will not glorify your name, o Lord? Later, in chapter 16, verse 9, give him glory what we read just a second ago in chapter 19,. Salvation and glory and power belong to our God.
Speaker 1:Chapter 19, verse 5, praise our God, you, his servants for you who fear him, small and great. Verse 6, hallelujah for the Lord, our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him glory. God is glorified above everything, sovereign over all, to be feared by all. Glorified above all. God is holy in all his attributes. Verse 4, you alone are holy. You're radically set apart from this world, completely other, without error, without equal, separate, perfectly pure, untouched by sin, intolerable of sin. God stands above the world in absolute holiness. All of his attributes are holy. His love is a perfectly pure holy love. His power is holy power. His knowledge is holy knowledge. His grace is holy grace and his wrath is holy it's perfectly pure wrath. God is holy in all his attributes and God is righteous in all his ways. Now, this seems to be the primary phrase in which God receives praise throughout these chapters.
Speaker 1:Chapter 15, verse 4 says all nations will come and worship you. Why will they come and worship you? Answer for your righteous acts have been revealed. Chapter 16, verse 5. The angel says just and true are you, o holy one who is and who was, for you brought these judgments. Verse 6, you have given people what they deserve. Verse 7, yes, lord, god the Almighty, true and just are your judgments. God's wrath is a demonstration of God's righteous judgment.
Speaker 1:One of the backgrounds for this song in Revelation 15 is Deuteronomy, chapter 32. A song there in Deuteronomy, chapter 32, verse 4, says God is the rock. His works are perfect and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he In the words of Psalm 145, 17,. The Lord is just and fair and right and good. God never judges wrongly, never. Revelation is saying. In the end this will be clear After the final judgment of man. We're not going to come away with any unanswered questions. We're not going to say was that really just? Is that really fair? Are we sure God made the right call? God is not a replacement referee in the NFL. God always makes the right call and on that day it will be absolutely clear God is just, god is fair. God always, fully, finally and eternally makes the right call.
Speaker 1:And even in our sinfulness, deep down inside you and I long for justice from God. Even if you're not a believer in Christ today, even if you would say you don't even believe in God, there is a sense in which I believe. You long for justice in a God. When you and I see evil in the world. We think surely this is not all there is. We see mass murders in Holocaust history and we think surely there will be judgment for this. Surely those responsible for this will one day be judged. I'm reminded of Tim Keller's quote when he's talking about the resurrection of Jesus and he's linking the fact that Jesus' resurrection will guarantee that evil will one day be judged, that this world is not all there is, and Keller says.
Speaker 1:I always say to my skeptical secular friends, even if they can't believe in the resurrection, they should want it to be true. Most of them care deeply about justice for the poor, alleviating hunger and disease and caring for the environment. Yet many of them believe that the material world was caused by accident, that the world and everything in it will eventually simply burn up. They find it discouraging that so few people care about justice without realizing that their own worldview undermines any motivation to make the world a better place. Why sacrifice for the needs of others if, in the end, nothing we do will make any difference? However, if the resurrection of Jesus happened, that means there's infinite hope and reason to pour ourselves out for the needs of the world.
Speaker 1:Don't we all have an innate, built-in longing desire for justice that says certainly, this world is not the total picture. Shootings and wars don't have the last word. Injustice and evil don't have the last word. Injustice and evil don't have the last word. Don't we, in a sense, a hunger for a totally good and completely fair God to make everything right in the end? And that's the picture of Revelation A God who is righteous in all his ways, making everything right in the end. In the end, there will be no more injustice period. Justice will be totally complete because God is righteous in all his ways, just in all his judgments. And finally, god is loving toward all his creation. He's loving toward all his creation.
Speaker 1:You say, well, where's the love of God in all this? Well, over and over again in the book of Revelation, we see God giving people opportunities to repent. Even here, in chapter 16, they still did not repent. Pawning, it's possible. The picture is a God who is patient with people. All throughout this book, these verses are just dripping with the gracious willingness of God to save all who turn to him.
Speaker 1:He is Exodus 34, the Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God. He is slow to anger. Even in these pictures of his wrath being poured out, there is still a patient mercy that is willing to save all who will turn. It's only by the love of God that sinful man is given opportunity, over and over and over again, to repent of sin and receive mercy. So God is sovereign over all, feared by all, glorified above all. God is holy in all his attributes. God is righteous in all his ways. God is loving toward all his creation.
Speaker 1:The clear conclusion, then, is this God is infinitely worthy of eternal worship period. God is infinitely Eternal. Worship starts, brothers and sisters, with a high view of God, and then move to a humble view of man. These bowls in Revelation, chapter 16, give it to us, along with the whole book of Revelation and the whole Bible, depicting the depravity of man, putting it on display. See the picture of mankind on display even just here in Revelation 16.
Speaker 1:We have denounced the sovereignty of God. The picture is of man who asserts independence from God, turns aside from the authority of God. Independence from God, turns aside from the authority of God, even assumes the place in the throne of God. This is what we all do. We all offer allegiance to foreign gods instead of the one true God, whether it's money or possessions, or success or sex, or worldly pleasures and pursuits, superficial religion, self-centered living. It looks different in all of our lives, even presumed self-righteous living. We assert ourselves on the throne that only the sovereign God belongs on.
Speaker 1:We have denounced the sovereignty of God and we have disregarded the fear of God. So I've mentioned a couple times the plagues in Exodus. Remember Pharaoh in the book of Exodus. His plagues were being poured out on him and the Egyptians and despite God's judgments toward his sin, despite the devastating effects of sin around him, he still will not fear God and he is us. Despite the harmful effects of sin all around us in our lives, in this world, we still go walking, in some cases running back to sin, with no fear of God. We have disregarded the fear of God over and over again, these bulls. They still did not repent. No fear. And we've defamed the glory of God. Chapter 16, verse 9, they cursed the name of God, who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory. Same thing in verse 11, they cursed the God of heaven. Chapter 16, verse 21,. They cursed God, they slandered the name of God. Think of that, the God who alone deserves all glory and honor and praise in all the universe, from every nation. This God we mock and curse. It's a picture of mankind. We have defamed the glory of God. To repent is to refuse to turn from evil ways and sinful deeds to continue in them, further separating ourselves from the holiness of God, dishonoring Him, and we have despised the righteousness of God In these verses, when God pours out judgment on guilty man, guilty man responds by saying that's not fair.
Speaker 1:That's not just, that's not right. And this is common all across the place, even among Christians. In the church, we look at pastors like this and our first inclination you feel it inside. Is this really fair? Is this just for God to do? People even start pointing the finger at God, saying you can't be God and pour out wrath like this. I don't believe in a God like that. My God doesn't have wrath. It's like we're unquestionably guilty murderers or rapists, robbers or thieves who, upon hearing the sentence of our guilt from the bench, we cry out who do you think you are judge? You're the one who's wrong. I'm the one who's wrong. I'm the one who's right. I'm the one who's good. You're not good, I'm good.
Speaker 1:We have despised the righteousness of God and in it all, we have denied the love of God. Despite opportunity after opportunity to repent, despite warning after warning of judgment, man continues to curse god. Man refuses to repent of sin. In the words of romans 2 do not see. The riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience are intended to lead you toward repentance. And sinful fan says no, god is not loving toward me, god is not good. Good, we have denied the love of God. So here's the picture of man. We have denounced the sovereignty of God, we have disregarded the fear of God, we have defamed the glory of God, we have dishonored the holiness of God, we have despised the righteousness of God and we have denied the love of God. The clear conclusion that is unavoidable we are infinitely deserving of God's eternal wrath Period. If God, if God is infinitely and eternally glorious, infinitely and eternally holy, eternally holy, infinitely and eternally just, infinitely and eternally loving, then our sin is infinitely and eternally offensive to Him. One sin against God is an infinite offense against God. An infinite punishment is deserved. Realize this, don't miss this. The measure of sin is determined by the magnitude of the one who is sinned against. The measure of sin is determined by the magnitude of the one who sinned against. If you sin against a log. You're not very guilty. You sin against a man or a woman. You're absolutely guilty. You sin against an infinitely holy God. You are infinitely guilty.
Speaker 1:Azeem is an Arab follower of Christ, former member of this church, now back in the Middle East. He was telling me a story about sharing the gospel with a taxi driver in his Muslim country. The driver believed that he would pay for his sin for a little while in hell. As they were talking about the gospel, this is what came out he believed he'd pay for his sin a little while in hell, but then he'd surely go to heaven after that. After all, he had not done that many bad things. So Azeem said to him If I slapped you in the face, what would you do to me? Driver replied I would throw you out of my taxi.
Speaker 1:Azeem continued if I walked up to a random guy on the street and just slapped him in the face, what would he do to me? The driver said he'd probably call his friends and beat you up. Azeem asked well, what if I went up to a policeman and slapped him in the face? What would he do to me? The driver replied you would definitely be beat up and then you'd be thrown into prison. Finally, azeem asked this question what if I went to the king of this country and I slapped him in the face? What would happen to me then? Driver looked at Azeem awkwardly, laughed and said you would be dead. Asim looked back at him and said so you see, the severity of sin's punishment is always a reflection of the position of the person who you have sinned against. The driver started to realize that he had been severely underestimating the seriousness of his sin before God. Have you Underestimated the seriousness of your sin before a holy God? Likely you have, Like likely we have.
Speaker 1:You know why we have a hard time comprehending the worship of God in His wrath. It's because we have these things totally backwards. Instead of a high view of God, we have a low view of God, and instead of a humble view of man, we have a low view of God. And instead of a humble view of man, we have a high view of ourselves. We think of men, we think of ourselves as basically good.
Speaker 1:There's exceptions, like Hitler in the world, but on a whole we're nice, kind, loving, compassionate people. We're good. We deserve second, third, fourth chances. Man is lovable, it's assumed. Everybody's going to wander off a little bit and we have in a sense a right to experience independence from God. But we're worthy of his forgiveness and we warrant happiness from him in heaven.
Speaker 1:How can God be good and give us anything else? Hell, torment, judgment, wrath Anybody really deserve that? It's hard for us to understand. It's hard for us to understand until we realize that the one thing man deserves before a holy God is everlasting, eternal wrath. That is abundantly clear in Revelation 15 and 16, and it is abundantly clear in the entire message of the Bible. But thankfully the Bible does not stop there. Praise be to God. That's not the end of this story.
Speaker 1:Start with a high view of God, move to a humble view of man and then land on the hope of the gospel. So what has God done? Two men, four men and his sinfulness. And the message of Revelation is wonderfully clear. God has sent a child, his son, born of woman.
Speaker 1:Revelation, chapter 12,. Christ Jesus, who lived a righteous life of obedience to God on this earth and then, as a lamb, led to a slaughter, died a sacrificial death for sinners in their place. This is the message of Christianity. This is what the cross of Christ is all about. What happened at the cross? Why is the cross so significant? Why is the cross of Jesus Christ the central event in all of human history? Here's why Because at the cross, god expressed his wrath towards sin.
Speaker 1:All of these physical pictures of suffering we see in the cross, mock, beaten, scurred, spit upon crown of thorns, crushed into Jesus' head, nailed naked to a wood cross, his hands and his feet, the most bloody, brutal picture of killing someone known to mankind in that day All of these physical pictures. All of these physical pictures represent spiritual reality, the payment of sin. He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. The whole picture here some people say, some preachers even say well, god could not bear to see what those soldiers were doing to his son, so he turned away. Not true? God turned away because he could not bear to see your sin and my sin upon his son. And the son was showing us what the wrath of God looks like toward sin, what the beauty is at the cross.
Speaker 1:God is not only expressing his wrath toward sin at the cross. At the same time, god has endured his wrath towards sin at the cross. At the same time, god has endured his wrath against sin. This is God himself in the flesh, the form of Jesus Christ paying the price for sin on our behalf. You remember what Jesus said before he went to the cross in the Garden of Gethsemane. Father, if it is possible, let this what pass from me. It's cup. Isaiah 51, 17,. Isaiah 51, 22,. Revelation 14, cup filled with the wine of God's wrath, with the fury of God's wrath. He knew that what he was going to do was experience the wrath of God against sin, to endure the wrath of God against sin. The whole picture of the cross is Jesus doing what we deserve to do, jesus standing as a substitute in our place, and as he drinks the cup of God's wrath down, he turns it over and cries out it is finished. At the cross, god has expressed his wrath towards sin, endured his wrath against sin, and at the cross cross, god has enabled salvation for sinners. One writer said the cross demonstrates with equal vividness both God's justice in judging sin and God's mercy in justifying the sinner.
Speaker 1:2 Corinthians 5 21,. God made him, who had no sin, to be sin for us, in our place, instead of us, in order that we might become the righteousness of God. There is no news in the world greater than this news. We stand before a holy God deserving of holy, infinite, eternal wrath. But God has sent his Son in our place as our substitute. He has lived the life we could not live. He has died the death we deserved to die and he has conquered the enemy, sin, satan, death itself that we could not conquer. He has risen from the grave and he stands ready to save all who will trust in him. So what shall we do then?
Speaker 1:Those who are not followers of Christ urge today repent and receive the mercy of God before it is too late. Repent, repent, repent. Hear the words of Jesus in Revelation 16, 15. Behold, I'm coming like a thief. I'm coming like a thief. It's going to be sudden. If you know a thief is coming to your house, you rearrange your schedule around that news, you prepare for that. So see that God has brought you into this room today to hear good news of his grace, to hear that you are under his wrath and sin, but he has made a way for your salvation. So do not point the finger at him and prideful accusations against him. Bow the knee before him and receive his wondrous love and mercy today. Turn for your sin and receive his mercy before it is too late. This opportunity will not last forever and for those who are followers of Christ, walk in purity. So this whole picture in Revelation 16, 15, behold, I'm coming like a thief is really aimed at Christians. Blessed is the one who stays awake keeping his garments on, that he may not go out naked and be seen exposed. The whole picture is Christian Be found hating sin and walking in purity when Christ returns.
Speaker 1:Brothers and sisters, some of you today, many of us, are toying with sin, are wandering into sin in this or that area of our lives, standing in disobedience. When God is saying to do this or that, let the wrath of God motivate you to walk in purity. Now follow this. This is key. How does the wrath of God motivate us to walk in purity? We walk in purity not because we fear the wrath of God toward us. The beauty of the cross is that wrath has been taken, that cup has been taken down. There's no longer condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. You're free. You don't have to worry about the wrath of God towards you. You're in Christ. So we don't walk in purity because we fear the wrath of God toward us. We walk in purity because we feel the wrath of God toward sin, because we see sin and we realize this is what God hates in His holiness. We see sin and we realize this is what happened Jesus drove Jesus to the cross. We realize this is what Jesus came for.
Speaker 1:So why would I continue in disobedience, walk in purity in this way, motivated by the wrath of God, and witness with urgency Jesus is coming, judgment is coming. You know this, christian, I know this. There's people who we live next to, there's people you work around, there's people all around us in this city who don't know judgment's coming. They're under the wrath of God. Do we believe this? Do we believe this is actually going to happen? Do we believe, no matter how it plays out, symbolically, literally, whatever do we believe the judgment of God is coming? And if we do, may we be propelled, compelled, to make the good news of God's grace known to those who are under God's wrath. Jesus has paid the price for sin. Make it known, make it known here, make it known among people, groups around the world that have never even heard the name of Jesus. Let them know there's a Jesus who came, who paid the price for all your sin. What better news in the world? Yes, we give our lives to make this known. We witness with urgency and then bring it back around full circle. We worship with sincerity.
Speaker 1:So come back to our original question how do we worship God and his wrath? Here's how, with all sincerity and all joy and passion, it is right and good and fitting to praise God for his wrath. Follow this it's not just evidence of his greatness, his wrath is also a reflection of his goodness. Think about this. God's love without wrath would be totally indifferent. If you use it as an example, if you love Jewish people, you hate the Holocaust. Can you be indifferent in matters of love? My love for my wife, my kids, leads me to hate and oppose everything that threatens to harm them, to hate and oppose everything that threatens to harm them.
Speaker 1:Love requires wrath. In this sense, it is good for God to hate that which destroys. God's love without wrath would be indifferent. God's justice without wrath would be totally ineffective. If justice cannot be carried out, executed, if there is no authority there, then you have powerless justice. It is no good. What good is a judge making a judgment if there is no enforcement of that judgment? That's not justice played out. Justice without wrath would be ineffective. The beauty of the Godhead, the wonder of our God that leads us to worship him is that all of these attributes come together. God's love, justice and wrath together are indescribable. Therefore, we worship with joy and sincere passion and we will worship forever.