Well, I invite you this morning to turn to the book of Revelation chapter 15, Revelation chapter 15, as we're making our way through this book and making some good progress, probably if not very many sermons left, as there's only 22 chapters in the book. Today we're in chapter 15. Last book of the Bible, chapter 15, this is the word of the Lord, let's give our attention to it. 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. 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, And 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. 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. And there ends the reading of God's Word. The heart of this particular passage this morning that we are considering is really captured in verse 4 in the middle of the song here, which is the centerpiece of this section. The song in verse 4 poses a question that is just crucial to understanding what the whole thing is saying to us and it says who shall not fear o lord and glorify your name who is not who shall not fear you and give glory to you o lord you know revelation has so far been contrasting as we prayed about this morning and been thinking about especially from chapter 13 two kinds of loyalties one loyalty is we captured last time in the kingdom of seven that's the kingdom of righteousness that the lord is bringing in a kingdom of perfection where righteousness shall dwell forever in the new heavens and the new earth and its final reality we we've considered that second peter that describes all of that glory then there's this counterfeit kingdom that is in front of us, a kingdom of six, the number of the beast. And that was simply challenging us with having us think about whether we have accepted the lie, as Scripture calls it. They believe the lie, the lie of this world, the lie of what is in front of us. Romans says that, that people have either worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is forever blessed or you have in the course of your lives bowed to the true king of kings and lord of lords and that is expressed in your love for worship you love you love to do this this is in your heart this is what we're going to be doing revelation doesn't have a place of neutrality though it's not that if you say well i don't want to worship that you're not you're going out somewhere else and not worshiping you are worshiping you most certainly are no choice to come to jesus is a choice to align with satan's counterfeit system that's what the um the book has been teaching us all summarized with that great verse in the scriptures do not love the world or the things in the world if anyone loves the world the love of the father is not in him Why? Because the spirit of Antichrist, the spirit of the beast, holds sway over people, and they are taken captive by this system, believing that it offers a way of deliverance. But it's not as if, and this is where we're starting to move to chapter 15 now, it's not as if the Lord is going to let people get away with that. In other words, the Lord will show Him to be God and Lord over all, the King of kings. we've already been told that he's installed his king on Zion we've already been told that every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord everyone's going to end up there even when it's too late they're still going to bow anyway so anyone who makes the decision to reject Jesus in this life and follow the beast in his system his system will ultimately be brought to their knees. Now, the question at the heart of this then is so important, isn't it? Who shall not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name? Who's crazy enough to try that? That's the effect of that. Who's mad enough to turn away from this? Who's mad enough to play games with this? How foolish it would be. Why would anyone do that? Why would you do that? Revelation 15 is having people think through the consequences of making that choice. For anyone who does not fear the Lord and bow and worship and glorify Him, they need to think through the fact that they have aligned with a system that is under His judgment. They've aligned with the world that's under His judgment and that world is aimed at persecuting his church that's what we've been learning so that's what they're aligning with and the lord wants people to see how he's answering that in the world how he's dealing with that in the world and that's the intention of of chapter 15 it is to show you the madness the craziness of not worshiping the king and to say and make clear that God most certainly is just not letting this go. He's acting. He's confronting the world and the beast that is trying to hold people in bondage this way. He will have his people to be set free. If Satan's goal in everything that he is doing in the earth is to allure you to worship the beast and to destroy the woman's offspring, the Lord is showing himself in chapter 15 stronger by plaguing the earth by destroying the beast and by bringing full deliverance to the people of god so that's the way i want to um to approach chapter 15 this morning that the lord is fulfilling his wrath in the earth to show that he is the lord and that he is delivering in full his people so that they might celebrate his glory with him forever. This now is the sixth cycle already. Last time we were in chapter 14 and there was a small section there of what people have noticed is the fifth cycle and that fifth cycle was a brief consideration of the final judgment. You'll see that final statement of judgment that is made in the eternal state in verse 9 of the last chapter by the third angel and you'll notice that there if anyone worships the beast or his image or receives the mark on his forehead or on his hands he himself will drink of the wine of the wrath of god which is poured out in full strength into the cup of his indignation he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb and the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever and they have no rest day or night who worship the beast and his image and whoever receives the mark of his name we call that hell that's hell that is um what jesus described often in the ministry that this is a place where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched to graphically capture the horrible place that you don't want to go you don't want to go hell is an eternal place God has prepared for the devil and his angels and all who have aligned with him. That's why Revelation is really helping us with alignments. The thing to note is that Revelation described that in chapter 14 as eternal. In Revelation 20, we are told that on the final judgment day, the sea will give up the dead that are in it. Death and Hades will be delivered up, will deliver up the dead who are in them, and they will be judged, each one according to his works. Then death and Hades are cast into the lake of fire. It is the place for the devil and his angels. That's the second death. Anyone not written in the book of life is cast into the lake of fire. That's the end. Now, we have studied this, And I'm hoping by now that much of this is sounding strangely familiar to you. We studied all of this stuff in Exodus. Think of now, if I can put the Bible stories together for you, think of how the Bible comes together into this one grand story here, that we studied this, you know this. Pharaoh was the beast in his kingdom. He demanded all worship. He had his false prophets right next to him, remember? He had the false Holy Spirit. He had, we looked at the counterfeit trinity. The dragon had given him his power. He wore the symbol of the serpent. He held the world in captivity at that time. And he has God's people right there. And what's he doing to them? Well, they're in Goshen and the Lord kept telling you, I'm going to protect you. I'm going to help you. You're going to all be delivered, every last one of you. Not one of you is going to be lost. He held them, didn't he? And he inflicted hard bondage on them. And he held them in slavery, and he afflicted them all those years. Are you seeing the same story again now in Revelation as he's describing things? With the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet? When they come out of Egypt by a great hand of deliverance, God brings them to the sea. and god passes them himself through the sea safely to the other side what a glorious scene of deliverance that was let me just read it again so you get a sense of it how wonderful of what happened and what happened to pharaoh at that moment the lord overthrew the egyptians in the midst of the sea then the waters returned and covered the chariots the horsemen and all the army of pharaoh that came into the sea after them not so much as one of them remained so the lord saved israel that day out of the hand of the egyptians and israel saw the egyptians dead on the seashore and believed the lord and his servant moses and then they um they sing this glorious song don't they one of my favorite songs as a kid horse and rider song i will sing unto the lord for he has triumphed gloriously the horse and the rider he's thrown into the sea oh man that's revelation isn't it i never knew that never knew i was singing about revelation it's right there that's exactly where we are in chapter 15 don't you see it um not so much as one of them remained this is the the central story of the old testament and the new testament the bible and what revelation is doing is taking that story of deliverance and applying it right to jesus so that that's really helpful isn't it notice what revelation 15 verse 2 says And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image, over his mark, over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass. Hear it? You beat the beast. You won. You won. That was a question in chapter 13, who can fight the beast, put it in terms of Pharaoh, you beat the beast. How did you beat the beast? We'll come back to that. This is the imagery of Israel after the defeat right here. It's what you have captured in chapter 15. They have passed through the water and the fire now of judgment. You see it? They've gone through the water and he combines fire because that's how the final judgment is characterized. You've passed through it all untouched this is this is a description of glory you've entered into heaven and passed through the lord's judgment untouched i mean what an awesome scene isn't it untouched we sing the song that israel sang this is let's picture it here on the other side in heaven in glory on the other side of the sea passing through the fire and you're singing the same truth the horse and rider song i'm getting a little bit ahead of myself i'm going to come back to that why is that so important to see i want you to see what john does in verse one though that was verse two let's back up 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 finished finished it is finished he just backed up so we looked at the end of the story and we looked at the sea event we've passed through the sea event just like israel we've been delivered, we've been saved, but verse 1 took us back for a minute. So it takes us back, shows us the end, and then it goes back. That's the structure of chapter 15. Revelation has talked of the final state, the final judgment, the unending sea judgment. That's coming, that's described, but now he takes a step back and it's as if he says, you need to remember dear christians what led up to the red sea event you got to think about that when israel was being beaten when israel was under all kinds of bondage when israel was being attacked by the beast when israel was being assaulted by the beast and their children were being assaulted and thrown into the Nile. Remember? You think God sat idle through all that? You think God was off on a vacation? I think that's what we think about sometimes. He's just up there, you know, on a lounge chair. Revelation is saying your God is with you, and your God's doing things. I want you to think now again back to the plague study, Because I trust you all remember it so well. I don't even remember it that well, if that makes you feel better. This is what I remembered as I studied this week and went back and saw that I had forgotten. Listen to this. But the Lord said to Moses, now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. Insert the beast there. Now you're going to see what I'm going to do to this beast. those plagues were utterly awesome, weren't they? What did he do to them? What did he do to Pharaoh? Put that guy on his knee. He hit that nation so hard. Wham! All these judgments, and he kept hitting them. And it all led to the 10th plague, didn't it? In the death of the firstborn. And boom, as soon as that happened, they were set free by the blood of the Lamb. Well, Revelation 15 has put us right there. There's an entire anti-Christ system that has been described after you. You often can't even see what he's planning, what he's doing. It's holding you. It's attempting, chapter 14 said, to lead captivity and lead you into captivity. It's attempting to control your heart. It's contempting to control your loyalties. It's contempting to grab your children and lure them in with all those false voices that we talked about. That's the world. What did God do to Egypt? Well, He plagued them, didn't He? And He plagued them good. You know what God is doing right now before you're going to cross into the sea, into the fire, and be on the other side? The same thing. The same thing. He's plaguing the earth. Look at verse 7. You will notice there it says, No one is able to enter the temple. This is the heavenly temple until the seven plagues, this is the last plagues, the seven last plagues of the seven angels are finished. Same story. You're not going to cross over. Now God could have put an end to it quick, couldn't He? You're not going to cross over until He finishes the plagues. that that's that's the whole emphasis here you're not going to pass through the sea and the fire and be in glory singing till the plagues are done now what that tells you then as the people of the lord is its immense uh moment of comforting you and saying he is doing and accomplishing something he intends to accomplish before he passes you through he had kept his people through the plagues didn't he he covered them remember goshen you can think of goshen no matter all the hatred no matter all the opposition happening in our day god plagues now just like before and you'll notice then that we have the last round of plagues in chapter 16 now the bowls of wrath it started with remember seals and it went to trumpets which announce and now these things are poured out in full it's an escalation telling us of the intensity of the plagues before the end even though they encompass the entire time it is it is now full full pouring out of wrath so we have the seven seals back in chapter eight went to the trumpets now we're at bowls here we have the closest form of plagues that we know that hit uh egypt and they'll be described in that language in chapter 16 you'll have loathsome sores described you'll have a sea turned to blood you'll have darkness you'll have pain you'll have frogs which he calls deceptive spirits it's the same kind of phenomenons often spiritual that are being described now the question that we have to answer this morning is why did god not just put an end and pull them out right away well we know he has an evangelization plan a witness a great commission to the ends of the earth that's why this is not ended yet but there's another purpose that revelation captured and you can discern that from what the lord said to moses about why he was letting this time pass to finish the plagues listen to this here's what he told moses in exodus 7 i have made you like god to pharaoh and your brother aaron shall be your prophet you shall speak all that i command you and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. But I'm going to harden his heart. I'm going to harden Pharaoh's heart. And through that, I will multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. Pharaoh, even though I do that, will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them I'm going to separate them why did God plague through the plagues he would show did you hear it I am the lord think of the center of the song now who will not is not going to fear the lord who's crazy enough not to fear the lord the plagues are going to show he is the lord and as he delivered his people he had to deliver all of them because that's how he would show himself to be the lord by saving them so so here's the beast here's this powerful foe leading captivity look at all that's happening in the earth right now look at all the hatred going on in the earth i mean you you know we've rehearsed this you can't watch all this unfold and say there's a lot happening behind the scenes here of spiritual opposition the warfare that's going on the battle everything seems to be spinning out of control deception like never before and and guess what god's doing through all this right now well john describes these angels as having the plagues to do what finish the wrath of god no one is able to enter the temple until the wrath of god is finished on the world you know right now he's fulfilling his wrath i'm not talking about eternal right now i'm talking right now he's fulfilling his wrath that was the purpose of god in the plagues revelation 15 then becomes an answer to the careless mentality of people in this time um william hendrickson has been really helpful uh i still think his little book on revelation is just gold he he says things very well and seems to capture the heart of the meaning in these chapters well but he remember what he said last time that i quoted on the eve of judgment people are easygoing indifferent unconcerned listless careless isn't that just what we have the hardest time with in the church today i think i said last time if we believe that hell is real and eternal and judgment is against sin is a righteous judgment by god and is a place of actual eternal punishment if we really believe that's coming it would create in everyone a listening all the more to the way of escape wouldn't it it should but it doesn't people just continue to go about as they always have with the answer with the attitude of second peter 3 the world has always been here the world is always going to go on one generation comes another generation comes and one generation comes and leaves and so they live like it'll never ever happen well god doesn't just sit back as he has a church in the earth and publishes all these calls constantly over and over and over and over that he sends pastors to do come to jesus receive his his good news believe the gospel you can escape the wrath to come as all these listless careless people don't take that seriously and don't take his worship seriously and just yawn through all these calls you think god is inactive just like he hit pharaoh He's hitting the world. What happened in Egypt? He plagued. What did Pharaoh do? Hardened his heart. Hendrickson again. When the wicked, often warned by the trumpets of judgment, continue to harden their hearts, death finally plunges them into the hands of an angry God. But even if they die, they may have crossed the deadline, the line between God's patience and His wrath. Why is that so important? Well, it addresses one of the most common problems we have of people who say, I'm going to get right with God later. I'm going to deal with my sin problem later. I'm going to live it up now in the present and worry about this later. And that keeps people from bowing the knee, doesn't it? They know the truth. They've been taught the truth. Truth be told, they love their independence. uh the um the prospect of making some kind of commitment to jesus is so unattractive to them because it just seems so restrictive in the earth that what are they going to have to stop doing what are they going to have to give up we they love too much of the world how much of a problem has that been for us how much of a problem is it in our own hearts we know this this is this is a serious, very serious sermon, isn't it? That's why this section is important. It's saying to us, you don't want to play with unbelief. You don't want to play with it. For if you're refusing Jesus, you're refusing some very important things. I think if you can look now at this section and see a few things that are actually woven in here, it's really remarkable what he's doing here. But Revelation 15 says you in this life have to be covered like Israel was covered. How did Israel escape the plagues and get out of Egypt? The blood of the land that was shed. I mean, you know that story. This is exactly what is being emphasized here with certain things that are happening. You'll notice here in verse 9 of the next chapter that people don't take that message seriously. So what do they say in verse 11 actually? Well, they did not repent and give Him glory. They blasphemed God because of their pains and their sores and they did not repent. God has been through His judgments and gospel proclamation calling people, giving people opportunities to repent. The heart has been so calcified. God is now pictured as, in this section, fulfilling His wrath as He pours out bold judgments on the earth. And it leads people in all of this. The shocking statement should be, they harden their hearts and calcify their hearts to Him. Now this is what's hard about this particular section. I know what you're thinking right now. I was thinking about this this week. as i'm preaching this right now the largest hurricane on recorded history is happening right this minute right now as i'm preaching and everyone's taking opportunity to try to read god's providence on this i guess that's why i did the reading of the law this morning a certain way um we don't ever want to look at something and say god did this because such such and such people are such bad sinners that that's what preachers have done and that just wrecks the whole thing doesn't it it'd be easy for us to look at the bransons and these people who are missing the whole point of this and hardening their hearts and wanting to shoot at the thing and say those things but make no mistake about it we have to answer in the way that the scriptures describe these things the bible tells us that there is a final judgment coming and that god is judging the world now he's showing his power now and he shows it through all kinds of phenomenons in nature showing that he's king over it and what should be the response everyone's asking the question right now where's this coming from everyone's thinking about that well it should lead everyone to bow the knee and recognize him they should see his existence that's what romans 1 says uh that all this going on even the creation what is it is the effect they should be able to see his eternal power and godhead they should see it they should see his greatness they should see that there's a king and we should consider our guilt we should consider our apathy our lack of bowing the knee to him we should believe in his provision to uh to flee the wrath to come as paul said knowing the terror of God, we persuade men. We should see the salvation of the Lord. And that's what's woven in here this morning. One of you walked up to me last Sunday and said, you know, it's interesting in all this judgment here, I keep seeing what Jesus did. And I said, you know, it is fascinating, isn't it, that you have a cup mentioned, you have outside the city mentioned, and that you have it is finished mentioned huh all the language here is the same uh it was jesus who said i must drink the cup of the wrath of god it was jesus who was crucified outside the city it is jesus who said as he was dying finishing the wrath of god it is finished it's the same language here well that's a that's a remarkable that's a remarkable thing to think about that verse 10 speaks of the full extent the judgment being that drinking the wine of the wrath of god is poured out in full strength and the cup of his indignation is just what jesus did when jesus received the sour wine what did he say it's finished and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit you know why he did that so that you never have to face it you see what's being described here if you don't have him you have to face it you have to face the cup you're going to be outside of the heavenly city forever and you are going to in this life experience a measure of wrath that fills up so that it can be said god finishes his wrath in this life too that's how god's proved himself in the earth the way everyone is going to on the last day see him as the lord god almighty is going to be when they look at a people redeemed by his power and his wonderful son that he did that for you and so this beautiful scene then is set in front of us um when he says i looked and i saw a sea of glass with fire and those who have the victory over the beast and they overcame him how so by the blood of the lamb that's exactly what john would say this is the victory that overcomes the world our faith we're tied to jesus we overcome we believe we beat the beast and what are we singing same song we're singing the song of moses and the song of the lamb in other words it's the same story that you've ever studied in the bible right now fulfilled we're saying to the lord great and Marvelous are your works. Lord God Almighty, just and true are your ways. O King of the saints, who shall not fear you, O Lord, and magnify your name? For you alone are holy. For all the nations shall come and worship before you, for your judgments have been manifested. It is finished goes two ways, though. It is finished goes two ways. Everything that we've ever studied about our Lord, this is what I want to close with today, is now being raised that those who have made the choice to follow the beast, the entire system of the world, and believe its lie and refuse to believe are presented in these chapters as having to face what Jesus faced. A cup for the wrath poured out in full measure is the eternal punishment that awaits. Whoever does not believe goes outside the city. And the whole effect of this is to say, take it seriously today. People go about their life thinking this is never going to happen. Many people think, I mean, I've just been to too many funerals. People who have lived completely unbelieving lives who are preached right into heaven. I don't know there are too many people today who really believe even in hell. So that means that when they die, they believe. They're headed right up on into heaven. How many Hollywood stars say it? They got another star today. It's a terrible place. And the particular warning of chapter 15 is to say, take the Lord and His salvation seriously. Why would anyone want to face this when Jesus is saying, I've done it, and I'm offering freely to give my life to you? Why? What a deadly game to play with your life. What a deadly game to play with your life. God is sending the climax of judgments now. And a people who choose this, who choose to reject His Son, His anger is going to be brought to the same point of when Jesus said, it's finished. He pours out His judgments completed on a world that walks this path. And then what follows is eternal. And you see why I said the heart of this section then is verse 4? Who is not going to fear the Lord? Who's not going to believe? Who's not going to trust Him? What madness would make people want to face the cup of His wrath? Why would people want to be outside the city? Come to the Savior. Trust Him. And you'll know it's going to be the delight of your heart hearing this great story that you're going to sing about forever in glory. He took the cup for me. He said, it's finished for me. he went outside the city for me so i don't have to ever face any of those things and that's why i passed through the sea and the fire untouched saved you see you know this story he has brought me through to glory and he has shown himself and proved himself to be lord because he saved me he showed his great power in the earth he delivered every last one of his people who shall not fear you oh lord and glorify your name you alone are holy all nations bow to you for your judgments have been seen and we are saved praise god it is finished should mean everything to you today as you worship the lord let's pray heavenly father we thank you for your word to us today we know it will accomplish what you have determined in a very serious message and sobering message of what is to come we also are mindful that jesus paid the price and just like israel was brought out passed through the sea because of the blood of the lamb so too we are and we sing a wonderful song today we have so much to be thankful for but give us all to fear the lord in reverence and awe to be a thankful people to worship the king and believe in the lord jesus christ for we know that it is there as john said by faith is faith that overcomes the world as we have received a savior thank you for proving your power and help us lord to always live uh in humble recognition that you are king and see the joy now that you've given to us you don't desire that we live with moping moaning uh lives but thankful for so great a salvation and desiring that everyone would come and enter the kingdom and be saved from the wrath to come. In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen.