Sermon: God’s Final Declaration on Judgment, Revelation 15–18

Listen to the Sermon:

https://grantspasschurchofchrist.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/07312016godsfinaldeclarationonjudgmentrev15-18donruhl.mp3?_=107312016GodsFinalDeclarationOnJudgmentRev15-18DonRuhl

 

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God’s Final Declaration on Judgment 

Revelation 15–18

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • July 31, In the year of our Lord, 2016

Prelude: 

1. Of God’s judgment, it is written,
   
   6 For exaltation comes neither from the east
   Nor from the west nor from the south.
   7 But God is the Judge:
   He puts down one,
   And exalts another.
   8 For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup,
   And the wine is red;
   It is fully mixed, and He pours it out;
   Surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth
   Drain and drink down.
   (Psa 75.6–8)
   
2. This is the message of Revelation 15–18. 
   1. When you arrive at Revelation 15–18,
   2. you will have already seen judgment promised or happening.
      1. Jesus pronounced judgment against five of the seven churches of Asia.
      2. The seven seals showed judgment against the enemies of God’s people.
      3. The seven trumpets showed judgment again for our enemies.
      4. The people who fight the Lord’s two witnesses suffer judgment.
      5. Michael the archangel throws Satan and his angels out of heaven.
         1. Then we arrive at chapters 15–18 and
         2. see the bowls of judgment against the evil city and nation
            1. that persecuted the church in the first few centuries, and
            2. we understand it to happen to any other nation that does the same.
   3. Except for the judgment against the five churches,
      1. all the other judgments come as an answer
      2. to the prayers of the saints in Revelation 6, at the opening of the sixth seal,
         
         10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Rev 6.10).
         
      3. If you have read the Psalms,
         1. you know that the souls under the altar
         2. were not the first ones to ask that question.
      4. Consider the 13^th Psalm,
         
         1 How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?
         How long will You hide Your face from me?
         2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
         Having sorrow in my heart daily?
         How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
         (Psa 13.1–2)
         
         1. When people talk behind your back,
         2. when people try to ruin you,
         3. when the world fights you constantly,
            1. you want someone to do something about it,
            2. you want the tormentor silenced,
            3. you want the wrongs righted.
3. From the opening of the sixth seal unto the chapters we see today, 
   1. God has been answering their question.
   2. Ask God, How long? and
      1. He may move Heaven and Earth for you.
      2. True, the delayed judgment against our enemies frustrates us, but
      3. the Book of Revelation assures us it is coming.

Persuasion: 

1. The Saved Worship 
   1. Revelation 15.1 gets us ready to see
      1. seven angels with plagues of the wrath of God,
         
         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 (Rev 15.1).
         
      2. Verse 6 shows that they have the wrath of God in golden bowls.
   2. However, before they pour out the wrath of God,
      1. we see a scene of victory and worship,
         
         2 And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God (Rev 15.2).
         
      2. Then we hear them singing in worship,
         
         3 They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying:

         “Great and marvelous are Your works,
         Lord God Almighty!
         Just and true are Your ways,
         O King of the saints!
         4 Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
         For You alone are holy.
         For all nations shall come and worship before You,
         For Your judgments have been manifested.”
         (Rev 15.3–4)
         

      3. The sea of glass:
         1. The children of Israel escaped bondage
            1. through the waters of the Red Sea and
            2. thereby they were baptized into Moses;
         2. the followers of Jesus Christ escape the bondage of sin
            1. through the waters of baptism and
            2. thereby they are baptized into the Lamb.
         3. Therefore, we will sing the Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb.
   3. While God judges the world, we worship Him!
   4. Worship happens often in the Book of Revelation.
      1. John was worshiping when Jesus first appeared to him in chapter 1.
      2. Chapters 4 and 5 show worship in heaven.
      3. Chapter 7.9–17 shows the saved worshiping God.
      4. Chapter 8.1–4 shows prayer as worship.
      5. Chapter 11.17–18 shows worship in heaven.
      6. Then we see it again in chapter 15.
         1. And the worship is associated with
         2. Moses and the Lamb, Jesus Christ.
2. God’s Judgment on the Enemy 
   1. Do you remember why God put the ten plagues upon Egypt?
      1. God through Moses told Pharaoh to let Israel go
      2. that they might worship Him in the wilderness.
         1. Pharaoh resisted.
         2. His nation suffered because he would not let Israel worship God.
   2. Why did our brethren hide in the catacombs and other places?
      1. They wanted to worship God, for
      2. Jesus had said of the Father,
         
         23 “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4.23–24).
         
         1. Rome tried to prevent Christians from worshiping God, and
         2. Rome suffered the horrible consequences.
            1. Shall any other nation suffer for preventing worship?
            2. Yes, history shows it and you shall see yet more.
   3. Then the events of chapter 16 happen,
      
      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” (Rev 16.1).
      
   4. Next John said,
      
      1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication” (Rev 17.1–2).
      
      1. The angel carried John
         1. into the wilderness,
         2. where the woman in chapter 12 had gone.
            1. That woman represented God’s people.
            2. They were the followers of Jesus Christ.
      2. Then John saw this woman sitting on a beast.
         1. She had united with the beast of Rome and
         2. together they turned on the people of Christ.
   5. In 17.5, John revealed a symbolic name for the woman:
      1. She was spiritual Babylon.
      2. And like Babylon of old, she would fall.
3. The Great Enemy Falls 
   1. The next chapter begins with an announcement of the fall of this woman,
      
      1 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. 2 And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! 3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury” (Rev 18.1–3).
      
   2. When the church united with Rome,
      1. you can imagine the incredible power and wealth that she had.
      2. Therefore, when the Church/Rome combination, fell everyone felt it,
         
         9 “The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, 10 standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come’” (Rev 18.9–10).
         
   3. To secure her downfall, watch what a mighty angel did,
      
      21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore” (Rev 18.21).
      
   4. The angel explained her destruction,
      
      23b “For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived. 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth” (Rev 18.23–24).
      

Exhortation: 

1. What then shall we say to these things? 
   1. What does the God of Heaven want us to know?
      
      16 “Behold, I have created the blacksmith
      Who blows the coals in the fire,
      Who brings forth an instrument for his work;
      And I have created the spoiler to destroy.
      17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
      And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
      You shall condemn.
      This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,
      And their righteousness is from Me,”
      Says the LORD.
      (Isa 54.16–17)
      
   2. God created
      1. the one who makes instruments of oppression, and
      2. the one who wields those instruments.
   3. Therefore,
      1. He can control the making of weapons against us, and
      2. He can control those who use those weapons.
         1. That means that He can insure
         2. that no one prospers against us.
2. However, you have to continue as a servant of the Lord. 
   1. Some believe erroneously that once they are saved,
   2. they are always saved.
      1. Why then does the Bible innumerable messages of repentance?
      2. Why then did Jesus tell
         1. the church at Ephesus to repent,
            
            5 “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent” (Rev 2.5),
            
         2. the church at Pergamos to repent (2.16),
         3. the church at Thyatira to repent (2.21–22),
         4. the church at Sardis to repent (3.3),
         5. the church at Laodicean to repent (3.19)?
   3. In the section of Revelation that I showed you briefly today,
      1. John wrote that men did not repent of blaspheming God (16.9), and
      2. John repeated that men did not repent of this sin (16.21).
3. Yes, we all need to repent of our sins. 
   1. Let us repent before it is too late.
   2. Turn to Jesus now.