 Revelation chapter 15. We'll read the chapter, all of it, all eight verses, and then we'll get into our study. Revelation chapter 15, beginning at verse 1, then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous. Seven angels having the seven last plagues were in them. The wrath of God is complete. 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. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, in 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. 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. After these things I looked and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. And out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues clothe in pure bright linen and having their chest girded with golden bands. Then 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. The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power. And no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed. Cheerful, isn't it? Americans. Americans live in fear of many things. I was thinking about that today and so I started Googling instant information, right? What are the things that Americans confess to being afraid of? And I found lists. What are the top 10 things? And there are a variety of things that people are afraid of. And I'm not going to give you all 10. I mean, there were various lists. Some of them were done by Barna groups and others like Barna that actually do some real scientific testing in terms of taking polls and all. But as I was looking at the things Americans confess to be afraid of, one of the things I did in this, for example, is one of the top fears is speaking in front of people. But there are various fears they confess to. There's the fear of natural disasters like earthquakes and tornadoes and hurricanes and flooding the belief in a global warming. There are people who are afraid of those kinds of things. I've shared with you how I've been teaching Bible studies here in the church, whether it was in the main sanctuary or in other places, when earthquakes have hit. And it's almost like the rapture happens. People get out of that building so fast. I mean, they're moving to get out of that. The earthquake hits. You know, and there are a lot of people who are afraid of earthquakes are concerned about that. I understand it, but I was born and raised in California. I've gone through thousands upon thousands of earthquakes over the years that I've lived here, and you get kind of used to it. And others respond differently. We had an earthquake and years ago now and my children were small. And I sleep on the assigned position of the bed that Marie gave to me when we got married. I sleep on the right side. And she sleeps on the left and the earthquake hits. A earthquake hits. And I feel the house being beginning to move. It's two, three in the morning, four in the morning, whatever. And I feel the blankets explode off of me. And something hurdles over me, hurdles over me and runs into the hallway. And the children are being pulled out of bed, put under the under the door. And I'm laying there in bed. And the earthquakes over and Marie comes and climbs back in the bed. And I say, uh, yeah, you forgot me. I said, you ran off to the kids. She said, you can take care of yourself. That. Marie moved quickly. We used to have a secretary here who was afraid of earthquakes. I mean, really afraid of earthquakes. And there was a wall that her desk was next to. And every once in a while, we'd go and hit it real son. Then, oh yeah, it was great. It was, we had a lot of fun with her. We scared her to death, but you had a good funeral. But there are people who are afraid of things, right? I mean, let's face it, earthquake, natural disaster. There are people who are, they'll, they'll confess my great fear is terrorism. And, and with the rise of ISIS and all and the various things you can understand the fear that sometimes people have, they're afraid of, of plagues. Uh, right now we're dealing with the Ebola virus. And there are quite a number of Americans who are very afraid. All the polls that are coming out right now is pointing that out. There are those who will confess to fear over the loss of a job. Some go through pressure with economic stress. One of the fears that people confess to is personal failure. Um, there are some who are afraid of insects. They're, they're afraid of animals. Um, they're afraid of confined spaces. So there's a variety of fears people have and, and many will admit to having a fear for the future. They're afraid of the future. Now concerning this fear of the future, what's going to happen? Though there are many Americans who confess to wondering about what is going to happen in the future. Um, few really consider what is actually awaiting them in the future. They have this, this nebulous fear of what may happen. But not that many actually fear what is actually going to happen. And because they don't have a concern about having a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, they fail to realize what is awaiting them. And Jesus said it like this when he spoke concerning fear in Matthew 10 28. He said, do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. He said, if you want to choose fear, fear God. That's what he was saying. And so these two chapters, chapters 15 and 16 actually reveal the final pouring out of the wrath of God, speaking of the future, what is going to happen? And this pouring out of the wrath of God occurs before the return of Jesus Christ. And this final outpouring is proceeding from the series of judgments that we've already seen from the seal and the trumpet judgments and, and this, this continuation through what is called the bowl judgments actually is proceeding from the trumpet judgments. And we've seen the trumpet judgments earlier in our study. And so what we're looking at is the bowl judgments in just a moment. Now I mentioned that chapter 15 is the shortest chapter in the book of Revelation. And so what it does is it contains a scene of heaven as preparation for the final judgments is finalized. And these are the chronologically ordered events that lead to the second coming of Jesus Christ that we'll see in chapter 19. So he says in verse one, I saw another sign in heaven, he says, great and marvelous. Now up to this point, two previous signs have been mentioned. Revelation 12 one speaks of the sign of the woman, which we know to be a picture of Israel. Chapter 12 verse three spoke of the sign of the dragon Satan and his control over world empires and governments. This sign is a sign of seven angels having the seven last plagues. Notice that is completing the wrath of God. This is speaking, in other words, of the conclusion of this seven year period called the tribulation. Now I mentioned to you earlier as we've gone through Revelation that the tribulation that which we refer to the tribulation is a seven year period where God is pouring out his wrath on on mankind that has rejected him rejected Messiah. There is the first three and a half years called the tribulation. The second half three and a half years is referred to Jesus spoke to of it as a great tribulation and combining the three and a half as it begins into the continuation and conclusion. It's a seven year period where God pours out his wrath against rebellious planet. And we see in Romans chapter one verse 18 how how Paul had said the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. So what we're looking at is the wrath of God that is being revealed or poured out in the book of Revelation. The word wrath is used 13 times and it's used in connection with this period called the tribulation in Revelation for example chapter six verses 16 and 17 it says they called to the mountains and the rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb for the great day of their wrath has come and who can stand in chapter 14 verse 10 it says he too will drink of the wine of God's fury which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath and so we're looking at wrath God pouring out his wrath on a Christ rejecting world. Now for the believer for us as Christians God's wrath has been fully satisfied through the what has been called the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. Jesus died for us the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ and the Bible makes that clear Hebrews chapter two verse 17 in all things he he had to be made like his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest and the things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people when it speaks of Jesus being the propitiation or making propitiation the word propitiation is just a it's a term a theological idea that speaks of satisfying God's wrath that's what propitiation is. It's a satisfaction of the wrath of God and the Bible says Jesus satisfied his father's wrath when he took upon himself our sins in Romans three twenty-five speaking of Jesus it says whom God set forth as a propitiation by his blood through faith to demonstrate his righteousness because in his forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed. Once again Jesus is the propitiation by his blood and another scripture first John chapter two verse two he himself is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the whole world the death of Christ satisfies God's wrath on behalf of of any who would embrace him by faith now the grounds of our relationship with God isn't by works which we have done there are those who try to get right with God because they try to do good works in order to get on his good side but the Bible teaches that doesn't happen the grounds for our relationship with God is based on Jesus's death for us he took our place and that way he satisfied his father's wrath the son of man came not to be ministered to but to minister and to give his life he says a ransom for many Matthew twenty verse twenty-eight and so Jesus Christ gave his life a ransom for us and thus he satisfied God's righteous indignation as his children we do not suffer his wrath that is now settled in heaven in first Thessalonians one ten Jesus delivered us from the wrath to come first Thessalonians five nine God has not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ Romans five nine being now justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him so believers are saved from wrath if you're a believer tonight God is satisfied because you received Christ as your savior his blood washed you cleansed you and God is fully satisfied because you embrace the offer of salvation but for a non-Christian God's full expression of his wrath his full expression of his wrath on earth occurs during this period called the tribulation now at this point God has already begun pouring out his wrath in two sets of judgments we saw the seal judgments and the trumpet judgments to God has given the world their chance to repent remember with me in chapter fourteen verses six and seven how how there was an angel that flew about and was preaching the everlasting gospel well now his wrath is coming to its conclusion and so he says in verse two of Revelation 15 I 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 and so I saw something like a sea of glass the sea of glass can represent the purity of God and that would be revealed by this crystal platform that is before his throne we saw that in chapter four already at verse six it says it's mingled with fire that may speak of the fire of God's judgment that is being poured out on earth but John sees people and he identifies them and that's what we'll look at for a moment here he identifies them as those who have the victory he says over the beast now who are these people well these would be what are called the tribulation saints these have been martyred because they did not take the mark of the beast they were redeemed during the tribulation you see them in chapter six verses nine through eleven chapter seven verses nine through seventeen you see them in chapter 12 verse 11 and 17 chapter 14 verses 1 through 5 and 12 and 13 these are tribulation saints remember in revelation 13 how it says in verse 15 he was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast so that it could speak and cause all who refuse to worship the image to be killed well these are those who refuse to worship the image and they have been martyred now what are they doing singing the blues no notice what they're doing verse three they they sing the song of moses the servant of god the song of the lamb and this is what they're saying great and marvelous are your works lord god almighty just and true are your ways oh king of the saints who shall not fear you oh 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 and so they're singing they're singing notice the song of moses and the song of the lamb it's interesting how he presents it that way they're singing the song of moses and the song of the lamb moses had a song he was also a songwriter amongst other things and the song that he he has penned in scripture is found in the book of of exodus in chapter 15 verses one through 18 it's a song of victory because god had given the nation of israel miraculous deliverance and and they had crossed over that red sea and and it had parted before them and and the waters were walled and when you have in your mind's eye a picture of the crossing of the red sea i don't know if anybody here thinks like i i did for a long time i i never really pictured this i have to be honest with you i never really i don't have that kind of an imagination that can really picture but i did see an artist's conception that gave to me some insight into how majestic this would have been because for some reason for me when i thought of the red sea i didn't think of the depth of it i just kind of i just kind of pictured it like a six foot high wall that's kind of what i pictured it at and they went across and there's like a wall and a wall here but somebody and when i was in israel i actually got this painting and brought it back painted it and the wall of the water that's up like a heat the scripture says is probably in that in that in that painting the artist at least his imagination was much greater than mine is probably 30 to 40 feet high on either side at least 30 to 40 feet high on either side and you see the armies of israel marching across it and then i thought well you know what that probably is yeah that's probably what happened this huge wall of water because when the lord allowed the water to come back it was able to just it wiped out the the most powerful army at that time in just the water itself it just drowned the mom their bodies were found on the shore and so moses saying the song of amazing victory because he saw what god can do and how awesome and powerful our god is so they sing the song of moses the one who sings concerning god delivering and they also sing the song of praise to the lamb because the lamb has saved them so notice what they they they they sing it in verses three and four they they sing concerning his power great and marvelous are your works they they sing concerning his ways just and true are your ways they sing concerning his holiness who shall not fear you oh lord and glorify your name you alone are holy and and they sing concerning his worthiness all nation shall come and worship before you for your judgments have been manifested and that's the song of praise that they sing to him a song of victory and a song of praise so there's a worship that is powerful and wonderful as they're thanking god for what he's done and that's by the way that's what auto motivate us as believers to the state when we sing songs to the lord it's supposed to come out isn't it it's supposed to come out of a a heart that is grateful because you have delivered us and you are our savior and that's why we worship the way that we do he goes on in verse five after these things i looked and behold the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was open and out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues clothed in pure bright linen having their chest girded with golden bands and one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of god who lives wherever and ever the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of god and from his power and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed the holy of holies in heaven is opened god's righteous judgment begins to pour forth the seven angels probably are the same angels that were mentioned throughout the book and they come out of the temple and why do they come out to execute the will of god and the clothing that is described here is something that represents righteousness as well as service the angels have seven golden bowls full of the wrath of god and what this is basically saying is the rejecters of christ are now having their fate sealed and so chapter 16 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 so the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image oozing sores strike those who have trusted the beast notice the target is those who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image and their bodies are attacked why because they had been looking to the beast for health and security so as they've been looking to him for health and security god deals with that it says in verse three the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea it became blood as of a dead man every living creature in the sea died now when we looked in chapter eight versus eight and nine a meteor crashed into the Mediterranean and remember with me that a third of the sea became blood and when a third of the sea became blood a third of the animals died well this plague destroys every living creature of the sea now think about that for a moment this is fantastic and it's beyond us i it's beyond me i i don't know do you guys like do you like do you guys like seashore do you like the beach some of you do some of you don't i you know i i do i i think it's beautiful i mean there's some you know i could go on and on about this because i really marine i really have a a fondness for the beauty some of the beaches that i've seen and you've seen amazing you go up the coast i mean i see have to be careful because i want to talk about this i mean i like the beach um i just don't go to it unless i have my speedo's but that's another story but you go up the beach you know and you can go i mean california beaches are gorgeous but they are and they're beautiful i love it up up in the Monterey area they're beautiful up there in big sir little sir all of that it's gorgeous if you have a chance if you haven't ever been there you can you can sit there and you can drink a cup of coffee and just say god you're too much if you have a chance if you haven't been before you go to hawaii some of the beaches in hawaii are so beautiful there's this particular beach on Maui that it has black sand it's just amazing there is a shoreline in the red sea in egypt that the sand is purple and the water is turquoise and i have never seen anything as beautiful as that contrast so beaches there are some beaches around the world we used to go to a place called tin can beach not that that beach was not pretty but there are a lot of a lot of beaches that are amazing and so think about it when it speaks concerning all the sea life dying which means that the the water putrifies with the decaying animals which means that the bodies of all of these animals name them their billions of them begin to fill the seashores of the whole world the stench and the pollution is the picture that we have here from what at one time we could imagine as pristine and beautiful everything is changing as god is bringing judgment in such a powerful way and the stench of dead and decaying bodies will be incredible you know god created every living thing in the waters and now all those living things that he had created will die in verse four continuing the third bowl judgment the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water they became blood and and i heard the angel of the water saying you are righteous oh lord the one who is and who was and who is to be because you have judged these things for they have shed the blood of saints and prophets you have given them blood to drink for it is their just do the third trumpet judgment resulted in the third of all water becoming polluted we saw that in chapter eight now all fresh water becomes blood and it reveals god's judgment on those who desire the natural water you can have and here's your spiritual application to that he who drinks the water that is natural will thirst again jesus said but he who drinks of the water that he said that i give you will never thirst again so the application is they thirsted for natural water and they will never be satisfied with it again but you and i we who have tasted of the living water will never have a spiritual thirst for any other water you see just to make that practical i came to christ and after coming to jesus i didn't look to see what buddha had to say and when i when i you know what i'm saying when i got saved i didn't go to see what muhammad had to say because i already have truth and my thirst was already quenched if it's natural water any water that you drink you will naturally thirst again right jesus said that but when you drink of the water he gives you you never thirst again so i have no spiritual thirst for anything other than the living water that jesus gives but those in the world while the water that they trusted in is now taken from them in verses eight and nine the fourth angel poured out the ball on the sun and power was given to him to scorch men with fire men were scorched with great heat so what do they do they blaspheme the name of god who has power over these plagues and they did not repent and give him glory so you would think that under this incredible suffering they would be repentant but they're not they're blasphemers they're they're suffering from intense heat and and with the heat there are going to be boils they don't have any drinking water they're in incredible agony yet instead of repenting they they utter he says blasphemies it's been said they have a taste of hell but they refuse to repent and their skin is literally blistering away by the sun and in the midst of all of that they do not repent and they do not give him glory verse 10 the fifth angel poured out of his bowl on the throne of the beast his kingdom became full of darkness they nod their tongues because of the pain and they blaspheme the god of heaven because of their pains and their source and did not repent of their deeds darkness falls over the kingdom of the beast it's a darkness that you can actually feel if you will a darkness that is as dark as anything could possibly be and what do they do they they nod their tongues in pain and yet again they refuse to repent and give glory to god listen they know where the judgments are coming from but they obstinately refuse to get right with god they would prefer to continue in their sin instead of repenting from it and this by the way is a picture of bondage i'm sure some of you have have seen or know people who have had tracheotomies because of throat cancer how many of you have anybody you know or have been around i'd like to know because i always assume everybody has and apparently not some of you have most of you have it i have and there are people who've gotten throat cancer because of their addiction to nicotine their smoke they got throat cancer there's a whole cut in their in their throat they have a little an insert there they speak through it and it's very it's very difficult for them and i have known of guys who had throat cancer because of smoking who removed that little plug to put the cigarette in it so they can take the hit from their cigarette that's bondage that that's bondage they know they know that they got cancer they know it because of their habit but they would rather smoke and die than be free from it that's bondage guys that's bondage and there are so many people in sins bondage i can't tell you and i'll be careful not to even try but i can't tell you how many times i have spoken to people who know to do right but refuse to they just won't give you one example lady who said came in to speak to me about does god forgive um adultery no a guy does god forgive adultery he called me it was lunch day me says i've got to talk to you pastor can i see you i said i'm sorry i'm preparing a minute i need to see you it's an emergency i'll i have to see you and i i felt well i better it's an emergency i'll talk to him this was 30 plus years ago now but he came and sat in my office he says i won't take too much of your time i know it that you're studying and it's my lunch time i have to get back to work i need to ask a question does god forgive the sin of adultery and i was a young pastor and i i said god forgives every sin he says even the sin of adultery i said there's not a sin that god cannot and will not forgive if it's not repented of he said thank you he left my office but he didn't what he didn't tell me was he was married and was planning to commit adultery so he went out and he came back to me later and started an affair with someone a co-worker because he had in his mind one of those little tickets get out of jail free because in his mind god forgives sins so i can go out and sin willfully and he's going to forgive me because i got permission from pastor so i learned my lesson at that time not to ever ever even give a sense that you can go out and get away with sin but i'm telling you bondage and people will argue i'll give you one more story lady comes in with her husband and says to me god has a permissive will and he has a perfect will his permissive will was for me to marry my husband but his perfect will is for me to be married to his best friend and so she divorced her husband so that she could be in the perfect will of god sin brings bondage brings bondage never forget that and even though they're going through this and it's beyond anything we can imagine they still refuse to repent even though they're gnawing their tongues in pain they still do not repent they prefer to continue in sin instead of repentance in verse 12 then the six angel poured out his bowl on the great river euphrates and its waters was dried up so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared i saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet for they are spirits of demons performing signs which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battle of that great day of god almighty behold i am coming as a thief blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments lest he walk naked and they see a shame they gathered together in the place called in hebrew armageddon and so the preparation begins for this battle the kings of the east are moving their armies to the middle east these would be armies that are in what we today would refer to as the orient and they're coming to fight the war of armageddon the battle of armageddon and they're on the way and it's going to move towards the city of jerusalem in zekariah 12 1 through 3 it says this is the word of the lord concerning israel the lord who stretches out the heavens who lays the foundations of the earth who forms the spirit of man within him declares i am going to make jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding people's reeling judo will be besieged as well as jerusalem on that day when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her i will make her i will make jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations all who try to move it will injure themselves he says in chapter 14 of zekariah 1 and 2 a day of the lord is coming when you when your plunder will be divided among you i will gather all the nations to jerusalem to fight against it the city will be captured the houses ransacked the women raped half of the city will go into exile but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city this is speaking concerning armageddon what is taking place just before the return of the lord jesus christ and so these oriental armies are going to be marching towards jerusalem now when in history would people have ever thought that's a possibility i mean you have to understand that some of the theology is called eschatology last days that is the last days some of that a much of what was held fast to be truth concerning the last days was written prior to the the rebirth of the nation of israel and so the commentators that you'll read very often will speak concerning the church and they'll say that the church has replaced israel in the plans of god prophetically because there was no nation is real and so the commentators are going to thought they could see at that time and for them it was out of them it was just not possible for this nation that that no longer existed this nation called israel that no longer existed it's just not possible that these prophecies could relate to a nation that doesn't exist and so what happened over time is that theologians as wise as they are began to say there has to be another meaning that perhaps we're missing and so they created what was called there's a school of thought that is called replacement theology where they say well the church has replaced israel in the promises of god and so the things that what at one time literally seem to apply to israel are now applying to the church it's called replacement theology well that's because there was no nation of israel so imagine in 1948 when that nation was rebirthed and now you begin to say now wait a minute for almost 2 000 years there was no nation and now it's back maybe we need to see what god's word actually has to say and then you begin to look at those who who in the 1800s and times before that said no no god still has a plan for israel look at romans chapters 9 10 and 11 it's very clear right there and there have always been a remnant of those who said no this is literal there's going to something's going to take place and it's going to surround israel and lo and behold every day you hear something about israel every day you hear something about jerusalem every day you hear that why is that because we're living in the last days we're watching this take place did you know that many years ago now that there's a road that has been built from china that goes through the himalayas through kashmir to pakistan so armies already can use this road that has been built and the armies of the east will be marching against israel and they're going to be gathering in a place to have the battle of armageddon now when he said in verses 13 through 16 there were three unclean spirits like frogs these are deceiving spirits they're the ones that inspire the evil world leaders of the tribulation period they have false signs and in through the false signs they muster the west to oppose these oriental kings but what's happening is they're being prepared for the final destruction when jesus returns and we'll see that as a matter of fact i'm considering giving you a study just on armageddon because um i'll give you more information when we get there in chapter 19 armageddon has been translated the hill of slaughter it's an enormous valley we've been there many times it separates the north galilee from a region called samaria um it's really geographically not large enough to contain all the armies of the world but it is the central focus of the invasion and there are going to be battles that are going on throughout all of israel we'll look at that closer in chapter 19 he says in verse 17 the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven from the throne saying it is done there were noises thunderings lightnings there was a great earthquake such a mighty and great earthquake has had not occurred since men were on the earth the great city was divided into three parts the cities of the nation's fell great bablin was remembered before god to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath every island fled away the mountains were not found great hail from heaven fell upon men every hailstone about the weight of a talent around 75 pounds hailstone 75 pounds and what was the result men blasphemed god because of the plague of the hill since that plague was exceedingly great blasphemy god's wrath completed upon the earth this incredible earthquake the capitals of the world destroyed every island fleeing away mountains leveled hail from heaven weighing 75 pounds falling on men and instead of repenting they braised their puny little fists and shake their little fists in the face of god the hardness of man's heart