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Okay, let’s take our Bibles this morning and turn to Revelation chapter 16 as we continue in this great last book of the Bible.
Revelation 16 RC Sproul would put out a little magazine called Table Talk and um if you ever read that it’s quite encouraging actually and Dennis Johnson wrote in article once on the new heaven and new new earth and um he said that Dr.
Sproul frequently reminded us that right now counts forever.
Amen.
And this phrase concisely captured the relationship between the gospel and the new heaven and the new earth. Excuse me one second. This was Yeah.
Okay. Good. All right. So the so the good news of Jesus Christ sacrificial death and his glorious resurrection has eternal ramifications for the destiny of every human being.
Your response to the message and to the message of the gospel, whether in humble trust or in defiant unbelief, will be the tipping point between boundless bliss beyond your wildest dreams and unrelenting torment beyond your worst nightmares.
So the living God sovereign over over every atom of the universe and every nano second of history is directing the cosmos toward a consummation that will display the majesty of his wisdom, his power, his justice, his mercy forever.
that everywhere to behold we will see the manifestation of the glory of God. So the present heavens and earth stained by human sin and cursed it will wear out.
It will be changed.
It will be shaken and removed.
For the first heaven and earth, no place will be found.
But in thestead, the Bible says there will be a new heaven and new earth will appear.
The promise is as old as Isaiah Isaiah’s prophecy. I create a new heaven and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered nor come to your mind.
The Apostle Peter Peter reiterated those words where he said in his epistle, “There’ll be a new heaven and new earth where righteousness dwells.” We’re looking forward to that day because the more we live in this world, the less we see righteousness and the more we see unrighteousness and wickedness.
See, Revelation is the last book of the Bible that keeps us in the tension between the old and the new heaven and earth.
That the living God is directing human history toward a consummation.
And now in chapter 16, the terrors of God come to earth and moves the eager reader and the attentive listener to stay awake and spiritually remain ready for the Lord’s return.
If you look at verse number 15 of chapter 16, notice what it says there.
It says, “Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.” The Bible is saying when we’re reading Revelation, it should cause that tension between the here and the future and cause us to really look at where do we stand with the Lord and how are we living our life until the Lord comes to end his program here on earth.
So last time we saw the preparation of God’s final wrath from chapter 15 verse 1-8.
And we saw, look at chapter 15 verse one.
There was a sign in heaven. Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous.
seven angels who had seven plagues which are the last because in them the wrath of God is finished.
So the sign in heaven given by this from this this angel produces great and marvelous things in John’s heart.
And these seven angels are to carry out the mission to pour out the seven plagues upon the earth.
And the plague is is like a word that means the blow of God, a whip, a whip type of treatment that God gives the world at that time. that God will smite the anti-Christian empire with seven fearful blows before he utterly crushes his empire with the last judgment. And then of course the seven bowls of God’s wrath are poured out and God is the agent who brings to a conclusion final judgment.
Heading on from chapter 15 to 16 and looking again at verse number one of chapter 15. It says, “Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues which are the last because the wrath of God is finished.” So this is not just the wrath of God, but it is the last of the wrath of God.
It is the finish of it. The wrath of God will begin in a limited way and it will gradually get worse until it is finished.
So before the angels can pour out their bowls of the wrath of God on the earth, John hears the command out of heaven from God Almighty himself.
The loud voice comes from the temple in heaven which is filled now with the shikina glory of God. And remember from last time, no one could enter the temple.
And only God is now in the temple until the completion of God’s wrath.
Verse number eight of chapter 15, notice it says, “And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power. And no one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.
So now today we’re going to be looking at the pouring out of God’s final judgment in the first 11 verses will be the part one of of this message.
Let me pray before I go on. Lord, this morning as we look at your word today, I thank you so much that we’re able to hold it in our hands. We’re able to read it. And we know Lord there’s a blessing that comes with the reading of Revelation that those who take it seriously, who have ears to hear, who want to put it into practice, who know it is is it is the truth, who knows behind the one who is behind the truth and who holds Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will be blessed by this message and this word. And Lord, we want your blessings. We need it. Your blessing so much. And Lord, we thank you when you give it. Help us to realize when it comes that we can give you the praise and the glory and the honor for all that you bestow upon us and the truths that you unveil to us from the word of God. So help us now, Lord, to understand your truth in revelation for our benefit so we can know where we stand with you. And I pray in Christ’s name. Amen.
So verse number one, we see the commanding voice of God. In verse one, it says, “Then I heard a loud voice,” meaning that this is the only voice that one hears. It is the loudest and it comes from the temple to the seven angels. And this voice, this heavenly voice comes with two commands. In verse number one, notice as this loud voice goes up out saying to the seven angels, the first command to the angel is go.
The second command God tells the angel is pour out, go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God. So God pours out escatological wrath. The wrath of God is filled up. So therefore, he must pour it out on an idolatrous and sin-cursed world which has fallen far away from God, the God of heaven.
And the emphasis here is on the sovereignty of God even as he controls and overpowers this the forces the satanic forces that have taken place and is taking place on the earth at that time.
Now this whole reason of the seven bowls is because seven does have a specific meaning in scripture. It’s the meaning of completeness. It’s the meaning of finishing something. Now, quickly take your Bibles and turn to Leviticus because I want you to see that this is kind of reminiscent of what’s already in the word of God. Leviticus chapter 26 quickly. Uh Genesis X is Leviticus. So, it’s right in the front of your Bibles.
And notice some of the verses. I’m not going to read the whole section, but a couple verses to get you give you a sense that this whole thing about completion, when something is complete, God acts.
And notice in Leviticus 26 in verse number 18, it says in verse 18, “If also after these things you do not obey me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.” Then in verse 21, if then you act in hostility against me and are unwilling to obey, obey me. I will increase the plague on you seven times according to your sins.
And then in verse 24, same chapter, it says, ‘ Then I will act with hostility against you and I, even I will strike you seven times for your sins.
Verse 28, same chapter.
Then I will act in wrathful hostility against you. I even I will punish you seven times for your sins. You can see that there’s a time when the grace of God ends. The mercy of God is finished and God must judge.
But you notice all along the way, he’s been given an abundant of time to repent and to come to the Lord and to change.
But in this case, we see that God wanted to make it clear who was the person pouring out the wrath. It was he himself and why he was pouring it out because of the multitude of their sins.
So back back to Revelation.
So what we have here in Revelation is the seventh trumpet sounded and the third woe judgment containing the bold judgments are declaring Messiah’s kingship over that which was claimed by the antichrist.
The seven bowls will affect the whole earth and the first four BS parallel the first four trumpets but this time it affects the whole world the whole earth.
It’s God’s world and he must do what he he must do for his righteousness sake.
Revelation chapter 14 verse 7. No need to turn there. It says, “And he said with a loud voice, fear God and give him glory because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of water.” See, so there is a completeness connected to these judgments. There is a finality connected to these judgments and we see that they also magnify God as sovereign and holy and expose the darkness and depravity of men’s hearts.
So that’s the commanding voice that comes from the temple. And then notice in verse number two, the condemning vengeance actually goes down all the way to verse 17.
And now we see the first bowl. And we’ll see these bowls being poured out rapidly. Unlike the trumpets and unlike the seals, now it’s rapid judgment.
Everything’s going to be finished. And remember, 16 is a preview, chapter 16, of what’s going to go on in the rest of the book of Revelation, but this is giving us the picture of what will come and what will finally happen. So there is the condemning vengeance of God in verse number two. The first bull is the gangarous, torturous sores that come upon men. Verse number two. So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth and it became loathome and malignant sores on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image. So the pain that will follow disobedience to God will be sores of torture poured out on those who receive the mark of the beast and worship the antichrist.
They are singled out alone to receive awful skin abscesses, ulcerous soores all over their body, often caused by infection.
And these sores, these ul ulcerous sores will de debilitate a population making it impossible to walk, to sit, to lie down without excruciating pain. So when this happens, people will be running to the store for medicine, but the medicine supply will run out very quickly. It will diminish in just a few days causing great strain on future supplies which would cause a universal disaster because remember this is a worldwide thing. This is not localized. This is not just on one nation. This is on all the nations of the world. This takes place.
There’s an Exodus motif in this passage of scripture that’s in play here, showing us that the same God who poured out his wrath and judgment on the Egyptians is the same God who’s pouring out deserved judgment in the end time on those unwilling to obey on those who are hostile towards God. These are not just anybody.
Remember, it doesn’t come upon his people. These bold judgments remind people who it is who is behind all these devastating plagues. The God of Israel, the God of creation, he is the jealous God who will have no other gods before him. He is the almighty God who has authority over all things. And it also shows that the people of God were spared from the outpouring of God’s wrath because there will be people still within the tribulation that know the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Some of them remain alive but free from these plagues. And remember back in Exodus the plague, the sixth plague boils came upon man, beast, magicians, and the Egyptians themselves. but not on the people of God. So that is the first bowl. The second bowl back in Revelation 16 verse number three is the global red tide. In other words, the sea turns to blood. Notice what it says. The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea and it became blood like that of a dead man and every living thing in the sea died. Now if you remember uh that onethird of the sea the salt water was turned to blood during the second trumpet judgment. In the second bold judgment the rest of the salt and brackish waters of the world of the world’s oceans will be turned into blood destroying the remainder of the sea life. And if you notice, it says that it became blood like that of a dead man. When someone dies, their blood becomes very thick and syrupy. It doesn’t flow easily anymore. And so we say it, see if this happens, it’s not just the fish that die like in the first Egyptian plague. Here the emphasis is on everything in the sea dies. If everything dies in the sea and floats to the top, it will affect everything. The shipping lanes, the stench from the dead things will permeate the air, turning it foul, which will eventually breed more disease. the food supply and other products taken from the sea will be finished and many people will lose their their their jobs and their livelihood because they got it from working on the sea.
Such disease had the potential of causing economic comp collapse and you know any one of these bowls if you look at them have the potential to destroy all of life. They are the end.
And just like the Exodus plague, the Nile was turned to blood and all the fish died. The Nile became foul. Uh Egyptians had difficulty finding water to drink and the people of course of God while this is going on were spared those things. So that is the second bowl. The third bowl, notice what it says in verse number 4-7.
the gory red rivers.
That means the fresh inland waters turned also to blood. Verse number four, then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water and they became blood. So the thing that most people take for granted of and that is the access to clean drinkable water is gone. And if the fresh water that supplies most of the drinking water becomes blood and unable to drink, then many many will die because of that.
And just for your information, a human being could typically survive about three or four days without drinking water. In ideal situations, one may survive about a week, but that’s about it.
So our passage is clearly communicating to us that there is no ideal situation here but the opposite unsuitable conditions for survival.
So many things in creation use water.
Even man and man-made energy sources use water like nuclear plants. Seems like we’re going to start building them again.
They need water to cool down the reactors. If fresh water is not available, then disaster follows.
And that’s just some of the things that are going to take place. So, even in these first bowls that are poured out, you can see the devastating effect it’s going to have on the whole planet. And it’s going to be very clear who’s doing it.
The planet will know who’s doing it.
And I believe that Revelation wants us to know that’s clear because especially of the pause that we we see in the next passages of scripture. And the pause is this. The angel who’s in charge of the water of the world now launches out in a doxological hymn of divine justice.
Notice he gives there’s several reasons why judgment comes.
And the first reason for God’s fierce wrath is found in verse number five.
Notice what it says there. It says, “And I heard the angel of the waters saying, “Righteous are you who are and who were the holy one because you judge these things.” So the first reason for this wrath of God is that the Lord pours out his wrath to satisfy his own holiness. And the angel of the angels of heaven recognize this.
In fact, the normal word for holy used in the in the Greek is haggias. But here that’s not the word here. The word for holy here is the word hus which is connected to the law of retribution.
That means the god supremely sanctions his law against uh his righteous law against the people on earth. It re refers to the fact that God is set apart and stands above the events of the world. That God’s sovereign over history and his great judgment is part of that history.
He is just, in other words, in bringing these judgments because he is the holy one.
That’s something that the scriptures been teaching all along. Like Psalm says, God is a righteous judge. And then in Psalm 9 that we read this morning, he will judge the world in righteousness and execute judgment for the people with equity.
If one rejects God, if one rejects God of the living waters and the creator of the springs of water, well, it ends in inevitable judgment.
And that must happen because God’s now his justice is filled up. Now it’s flowing over and coming out. But I want you to notice something else in uh verse number five.
The statement notice who are and who were is missing something.
It’s absent of the last phrase.
There’s no who is to come. If you look back over to chapter 4 in verse number eight of Revelation, you’ll find there where it says, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God the Almighty who was and who is and who is to come.” Well, what happened to who is to come? Well, the reason for this omission is because the end has arrived.
God has come in his righteous judgment.
And if you remember back in chapter 4 verse 8, this is where we were introduced to the four living creatures.
And those creatures are the wise cre.
They’re the wise creatures who joyfully fulfill the tasks assigned to them by the Lord. And remember their main message in heaven was they were to proclaim the holiness of God.
And they were centered all around the throne of God.
And these four living creatures, the Bible says, has had eyes full of eyes in front and behind. Meaning that their eyes all around were that they had vigilance over all of God’s creation.
And these four living creatures functioned for which they were created.
Constantly engaging in praising God. And remember that God gave them the task.
Not the angels. Look at chapter 15:7. He gave them remember this task. But the one 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. Those are the ones who proclaim the holiness of God. And so because holy calls attention to all God is, which means his final judgment upon humanity and creation will be a holy judgment.
And who best to initiate the task to give the final bowls of God’s holy wrath than a representative from the ones who proclaim his holiness in the heaven around the throne of God.
And just for reminder, what is it? What is the meaning of holiness? The title the holy one of God means that Jesus is infinitely and absolutely holy, fully and perfectly divine. That he came down from heaven to save sinners. And he is set apart from sinners. And he is completely sinless without moral blemish, perfect in all his ways. His being is holy. His character is holy. His mind is holy. His words are holy. His actions are holy.
His ways are holy. And yes, his judgments are holy. So the totality of the sum and the substance of the second person of the godhead is equally holy with the father. And that the holiness of God means there is a profound difference between him and us.
And there is definitely a profound difference between God and the dwellers on earth during this time in human history.
It means that God is morally flawless and blameless in all his ways. He is the one who sets the standard. He is the one who says what is right and what is wrong. Not us.
It was never us.
See, that’s the first re reason to vindicate his holiness. But there’s a second reason back to Revelation 16:6 of God’s fierce wrath.
And remember, we’re in a we’re in a pause between the third bowl and then the fourth and fifth and the off to the seventh, which will not get that far today. But the second reason of God’s fierce wrath in verse number six of Revelation 16 is for they pour out the blood of the saints and prophets and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve it. See, the Lord pours out his wrath to grant the plea for justice.
The nations have murdered my people.
And and because I am fair and true and just, a just God, I will give them what they deserve.
The persecutor, the persecutors will have to drink the blood of the seas and rivers as repu, as rep retribution for the blood they shed.
If one rejects the offer of God’s mercy and grace over and over and over and over again, then look at the end of verse six. They deserve what they get.
They deserve what they get.
You see that it’s it’s quite final.
And that’s the sense we get here in the passage. It’s final. But there is there’s a principle here and it’s this.
One is punished by the very things by which one sins that no one will get away with not even one thing with the Lord.
And remember what Paul said when he was writing the epistle to the Romans. This is what he said. Listen. He says in in chapter 2 verse 5, “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his deeds. To those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality and eternal life. But for those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath, and indignation, that’s the only thing left. If you disobey God, and you want it your own way, there’s no other thing God can do except hold you under judgment because he’s a holy God and he must.
He’s not a a judge that can be corrupted or paid off.
He can’t be. That’s his nature.
So these things should frighten us to death, but at the same time, they’re quite encouraging and should cause us to run to him for his mercy and grace. But there’s another reason for God’s wrath.
In verse number seven of chapter 16, it says this. And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, O Lord God the Almighty.
True and righteous are your judgments.” Now, who are these that are speaking from the altar? These are the martyed saints. These are the saint the martyr saints who are being who are resting by the altar until all this stuff is done that God’s doing. So, in other words, God pours out his wrath to affirm that his righteous judgments have always been true and righteous. He’s not changed at all whatsoever. From the moment that he gave us Revelation in Genesis chapter 1 to the last verse of Revelation chapter 22, he is the same God.
So anybody who knows him already knows what he’s going to do.
And that’s what should cause us in a way not only to reverence God but to fear him because he will carry out these this judgment on the world. That as Isaiah told us that all flesh will know that I the Lord am your savior and your redeemer and the mighty one of Jacob. So all the earth at this time will know the true God and who’s doing these things.
So I see that this next one and we’re going back and looking at the fourth bowl.
I see this next one is true after all.
But the source of why it happens is not the carelessness of God’s people or or people on the earth. It is the source.
The source is God’s righteous judgment.
And what is the fourth bowl? Global warming.
I guess it is going to happen.
Notice in verse number eight it says, “And the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun and it was given to it to scorch men with fire. Men were scorched with fierce heat.” Verse number nine, the beginning of it. So these are the same men of verse two, of verse five, of verse six.
And yet the true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ will not suffer from this plague, but escape from it. Now just think for a moment. The sun is a great source of warmth and health benefits to all mankind and all life on the earth.
The normal lifegiving effect of the sun will be no more.
Even though onethird part of the sun was darkened in the trumpet judgments, that which is left will be powerful enough to scorch men with fierce heat.
The fierce intensity of the sun is to to really be turned up beyond what is normal and healthy. Burning people where their skin melts off.
It is a horrifying picture.
All the waterways turn to blood.
Unbearable heat makes life absolutely hellish.
There is no time in all of human history that this has happened yet.
This will be the worst of the worst.
And this is the severe warning to those on the earth who defy God.
The holy and almighty God of heaven and slander his name. actually persisting in their rejection only brings on the just judgment for their sin. So the question would be at this point how do the earth dwellers respond to God’s judgment at this time? Now you would think you would think that God’s design for judgment is to bring men to repentance.
Many times when God allows suffering to come into our life or that God is chastising us or disciplining us, he’s doing it to bring us to recognize certain behaviors and sins that are going on in our life that we’re not dealing with. And he does it to bring us to repentance.
So all these things that are happening in revelation is in God’s motive from from the beginning until this time is to bring men to jud to not only to judgment but to repentance.
And you would think by this time in these conditions these people would cry out for the mercy of God from the God of creation.
But that’s not the case. Look what happens in verse number nine. the middle of verse number nine. Instead, they know who God was and yet curse him. And look what it says. And they blaspheme the name of God who has the power over these plagues.
And then notice in verse number nine, instead of what they do, they they do not repent. They would not repent or give God glory. And they did not repent so as to give him glory.
They’re defiant against him when all these things are come upon them and all they have to do is turn to him.
But they don’t do that.
And we noticed back in chapter 14 verse number 7 to give God glory was signified or was equal to conversion.
So what is clear is that they know whom they are cursing.
The earth dwellers are acting like their father, the devil.
The antichrist was allowed to blaspheme God in the early parts of revelation and now his followers are doing the same.
And just like the Apostle Paul said in Romans chapter 1, for even though they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations and their foolish heart was what? Darkened.
It’s almost it almost seems ironic at this point that the next plague is darkness.
At the point at that point the people reject the God of light and they are left with the result of their own folly which is darkness. And if that is what men love, then let them have it because darkness will follow them into hell. Part of hell is darkness. Being separated from the God of mercy and grace and the God of goodness and left alone to yourself is a horrible thought.
It’s a horrible thought.
So look at the fifth bowl.
The fifth bowl is grave darkness.
But notice where the darkness is going to be loc it’s going to be focused on. It says the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast and his kingdom became darkened and they gnawed their tongues because of pain.
See, God pours darkness right over the headquarters of Antichrist, revealing the true nature of his evil, diabolical kingdom.
And this is the only place where the throne of Antichrist is even mentioned in scripture.
So what does God do? He shuts the lights off.
He pulls the power cord.
Darkness means many things in scripture and I think they mean all these things here. It means sin. It means ignorance.
It means danger. It means judgment. It means death. That darkness is spiritual as well as literal.
Ultimately the darkness is the suffering of the eternal punishment to come. And that is the eternal darkness of hell awaiting all those who reject God.
So from scorching heat to thick darkness, Antichrist evil religious system and economic system and government are brought to a screeching halt.
And again, how does the dwellers respond to God’s judgment?
Notice in verse number 11, it’s recorded, “And they blasphemed the God of heaven because their pains and their swords, and they did not repent of their deeds.” Actually the word for deeds here generally is is a Greek word that means any anything done or to be done work some work some action some some deed but in our context their deeds could be translated evil deeds.
I don’t know if some translations translate it that way. Why? Because what does it say in Revelation? They worship demons and idols. They murder God’s messengers. They’re involved with sorcer sorcery, immorality, stealing, disobedience, rebellion, and the list goes on and on and on.
So, their deeds were evil.
And evil deeds is another way of describing the sinful heart.
But sometimes you ask somebody, “What is sin?” The Bible answers answers that question actually in 1 John chapter 3:4.
It says, “Everyone who practices sin also pract practices lawlessness.” And sin is what? Lawlessness.
And the word sin makes no sense apart from God’s righteous law.
How can today’s sinners who are totally ignorant of God’s holy law and its demands upon them look at themselves as condemned sinners?
The idea of sin is strange because God’s law is foreign to their minds and normal evangelical practice is swiftly to run to the cross of Christ.
But the cross means nothing apart from the law.
On the cross, Jesus was satisfying the just demands of the law against sinners.
That’s what he was doing there. So until a sinner understands the law of God that they are guilty, the cross of Christ doesn’t mean much.
So that’s why giving them the cross of Christ first is the wrong thing to do.
That’s why I believe parents should always be teaching the Ten Commandments.
That’s the first thing you should teach your kids until they realize they sinned against God.
And they realize that their sin comes from their heart, not from anybody else.
So if sinners are unaware of the ten commandment and the requirements for themselves, then they will see no personal significance in Christ’s broken body and shed blood.
Without knowledge, without knowledge, the condemnation of God’s holy law, the cross will draw sympathy from people, but not saving faith.
Because Paul again says in Romans, “Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight.
For through the law comes the knowledge of sin.” See, that’s when we’re in the right place to be saved. I know I’m a sinner, and I know I’m under God’s just condemnation for my sin.
And I can do either one or two things. I can stay in my sin and love it because we do love our sin.
Or I can say, Lord, you’re the only answer to taking away God’s wrath for my sin. So you run to Christ. You run to him for his mercy and for his grace. And you know what he says? Come unto me all you who are burdened and heavy laden and I will give you rest. I will save you.
And many of you here today have done that. and you have reached reap the benefits of God’s faithfulness and what he did on the cross that day. See, either wrath is going to come in this way and in hell or the wrath was poured out on Christ and was taken for you. So when people have been wounded by the law, then it is time for the bomb of the of gospel oil.
Well, William Tran Chantry said that he also said it is the sharp needle of the law that makes way for the scarlet thread of the gospel.
And that is true and that is the gospel.
So don’t tell people Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life until you give them the law first because it will make no sense. They will say, “Well, what’s the problem?” I don’t have no problem if you love me that way.
All right, back to Revelation and let me conclude here that these plagues, they do indeed show the earth dwellers that they are not in control of the forces of nature.
Rather, it is Yahweh.
Also, the antichrist is not in control of the world, its nations, its systems.
No, it’s Jesus Christ who is the creator of the heaven and earth, who sustains his creation, who redeems his children, who vindicates his saints and his prophets, and he will judge the world in righteousness.
One commentator said this. He said, ‘Let it be understood that when men reject the Lord, it is not because of philosophical doubts or unexplained answers to unanswered questions, but the hardness of heart and love for sin.
And that is very true.
So, brethren, how twisted and dark the human heart is.
That after all that has gone on, the people curse God and refuse to change from their evil ways and give glory and honor to the God to whom it’s due.
just showing the total depravity and stone cold hardness of the human heart.
They willfully reject the good God of mercy and grace for their own pleasurable sin.
But that’s who you and I are. Can’t just blame these people, right? That’s who we are.
So, will your response be when confronted with the holy justice of God?
Will it be humble trust in God’s solution to your sin?
receiving Jesus Christ who satisfied the law and the justice of God by absorbing the wrath for you, washing away your sin, putting his righteousness on your account, defeating Satan and death to give you eternal life. Are you going to humbly trust him or will you be settled in defiant unbelief?
Because some people are satisfied with that because they don’t think that there’s going to be a reckoning and that God will hold everybody responsible for every word, every thought, every deed that they committed.
See, how much we need Christ? We can’t get out of that one. Nobody can.
So that’s why we should love the Lord more than ever. We should give him glory and praise for all that he’s done because we could have never accomplished this salvation on our own. We wouldn’t even come up with it.
He’s done it all and I thank the Lord for it. Next time we’ll pick it up on the second part. Let’s pray. Lord, thank you again so much for such a book as this.
Lord, right here on the pages of scripture is what you’re going to do.
That’s amazing, Lord.
It’s amazing. It’s fearful, but Lord, it sure enlightens our mind.
And Lord, it puts us in a place where we realize the seriousness of life.
And I’d like to just reiterate what RC Sproul did say, right now counts forever. And I pray Lord we would take that to heart and we would be honest enough with oursel to examine oursel to say whether we are in the faith or are we just fooling oursel? And I pray Lord that our life from this day forward we would be more sober and serious than ever before because Lord life is so short and Lord we are not guaranteed tomorrow.
So we want to live for you today.
So allow these scriptures to transform our mind and make us ready for your return and be faithful to the end. And I pray this in Christ’s name. Amen.