Revelation 15, remember, set the stage for chapters 16 and 18 because 16 through 18 are horrifying.  These chapters unfold the final result upon a Jesus rejecting earth…the ultimate destination of sin.  Horror.

A fast scan of the next couple of chapters and you’ll see words like fear, weeping, wailing, violence, and pain.  The absolute opposite of God’s desire for His creation.  We never read of Adam and Eve encountering any of those things before they decided to sin.  God simply cared for them, He simply blessed them and dwelt among them. 

Even after sin entered the world and man was separated from that intimacy with God…even after that, God opened heaven, He opened His heart and He poured out His own righteousness upon sinful men.  He gave His Son.  Jesus came and because of His great love for us, horror came upon Him.  He endured the cross of Calvary and gave His righteousness freely to any man and to any woman and to any kiddo who would simply receive it…but there are many who reject Jesus and His righteousness goes “unpoured” (if you will) upon them…their sin remains and so we saw last time God’s righteousness again poured out onto the world…however pardon has been declined man…and now the consequence of sin is seen…

And God’s heart breaks as the final bowl judgments are pronounced upon the earth and He fills the temple in heaven such that everyone else is out…just Him, almost like He’s saying, I share in this horror…so much so that even the horror of Jesus upon the Cross compares and the angels look upon Him, and cry out, “Great and marvelous are you Lord, God, Almighty!  Just and true.  You alone are holy, You alone are righteous.”  A symphony breaks out in heaven as the host of heaven sees the final outcome of sin upon the earth and the final outcome of grief upon our God. 

This world is being torn apart, man.  These people, these families, these friends, these kids are being torn apart…why?  Sin man.  The rejection of God’s ways and the horror that we are seeing, no man would choose openly…but they have.  No man would desire…but they have and why!?  Because they lack wisdom!  They fail in weakness to think outside of the day…these people probably have life insurance policies…big deal!  That doesn’t even have the right name!  They should be called “death insurance policies!”  But then no one would buy them, why?  Because what about “life!”  Yes it’s good to leave money to your family so that they aren’t burdened but man do we have eternal life assurance policies?

That is what Jesus is selling to you and to me today through His word.  Through His wonderful wooing…calling us to Himself.  Pleading with us to trust Him, accept Him, let Him care for us, bless us, dwell among us…and the kicker…its free!  Won’t cost you a dime!  The only cost to you…sin.  Turn from it.  Pride.  Reject it.  Self.  Deny it and take up your cross and follow after Him.  Many would rather pay money.  It’s easier to pay.  Many would rather pay works, prayers, service, alms…it’s easier to pay.  Because truly to follow Jesus takes eternal strength, eternal courage…and it begins with faith.

Because you have no eternal strength, you have no eternal courage until you step towards Jesus in faith believing that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.  Hebrews 11:6.  These folks that are left at this time upon the earth, this time of Great Tribulation that was foretold by prophet after prophet, Jesus Himself and then apostle after apostle…these folks are faithless.  And we see that as we get into the text that even now, even in the midst of absolute horror, they do not repent, they do not turn to Truth.

Revelation Chapter 13 Verses 8 – 9

• And so some sort of supernova occurs and finally man-caused global warming is true!  And check this out…this is the fourth bowl right?  We’ve seen foul and loathsome sores, the sea becoming blood and every sea creature dying, the rivers and springs of water becoming blood and now the heat is turned up.  Man this place must stink!  The scene must be absolutely gross!  And this point is vital to understand because it answers the charges of those who say, “If God is a God of love, why wouldn’t He just punish sin for a year, a hundred years or a thousand…or even a million years?  Wouldn’t that be sufficient for mans’ sin and rebellion?  I mean be reasonable.  What kind of loving God would allow someone to burn in hell forever?”
• Hell is indeed eternal.  Jesus spoke of everlasting fire in Matthew 25 and Mark 9.  Hell is eternal, why?  Because indeed men are eternally unrepentant!  Do you see that?  How can a sin debt be paid when the sin debt is forever growing?  It can’t man!  The argument of limited consequence is illogical and unreasonable at its core.  And you know what else is unreasonable?  Questioning God’s love!  The truth is, Jesus is rejected.  They don’t believe and so the sacrifice of the Son of God means nothing to them…it means nothing to these folks either.  They curse God in their sweat!

Revelation Chapter 16 Verses 10 – 11

• The throne of the Beast is Babylon.  We’ve discussed that as we’ve studied through Revelation and we’ll see that again as Babylon is finally cast down in Chapter 18.  And it’s interesting because they gnawed their tongues.  It was at Babylon, the Tower of Babel that tongues were divided, remember?  Where the people, as one, used their tongues to proclaim, “We don’t need God.  We’ll build a tower to heaven.  We will be our own god.”  And so God divided their tongues and scattered the people and now we see those same tongues getting gnawed on...
• And that is so interesting to me.  So many times, actually most often, it’s our tongues that get us into trouble…and then what do we do, we turn to our tongues for comfort…we continue to talk and to plead our case, why?  Same reason as stated here…verse 10…because of the pain…because of the pain we have brought on ourselves…but get this…our tongues don’t help.  The only ointment for the sting of sin…is humility.  Period.  Not defense.  That doesn’t help!  Silence yourself man…quit fighting and pleading and defending and reasoning and talking and take a knee…
• These folks gnaw their tongues for comfort yet they find none…and so they curse God…again.

Revelation Chapter 16 Verse 12

• The river Euphrates is significant in the Bible.  It is mentioned 25 times and serves as one of the original borders of the land promised to Abraham and here we see it dried up so that the way of the kings from the east, or literally, the kings of the land of the rising sun, might be prepared.  Prepared for what?  For them to come man…For the eastern countries like Japan and China to bring their million man armies to fight against the Lord at the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.  We’ll see that in just a moment.

Revelation Chapter 16 Verses 13 – 14

• John says these demons look like frogs…odd.  Why not make them something a little more practical, right?  I suggest to you that Satan’s ways are a surprise to some folks.  He can use money, jobs, opportunity, frogs…(take-it, take-the-mark – sounds like ribbit!)…frogs, ridiculous thoughts and things to carry out his ridiculous will…and so how on earth could one be prepared to know that these frogs are spirits of demons?  The Word of God man…like a shield.  Like the armor it is.  Like night vision man…in a very dark world…study the Word of God, you see it all!
• And what do these frogs do?  They go throughout the world, performing signs and calling the kings of the earth to gather at the Valley of Meggido.

Revelation Chapter 16 Verse 15

• Weird, odd…why would Jesus refer to Himself as a thief?  Seems strange.  But it’s not.  He’s encouraging us.  Us tonight, right now, reading His Word, seeing all of this horror and destruction.  He’s reminding us that at this point the church is long gone.  Gone all the way back in chapter 4 at the rapture prior to the start of the time of Great Tribulation upon the earth. 
• How can I know for sure?  Where do I get that conclusion from?  1 Thessalonians 5:4 tells the church that this day will not come upon it, you and I, as a thief.  Yet here Jesus says, “I come as a thief.”  Why?  Seems odd.  Not really.  1 Thessalonians 5:9 says that if you are sons and daughters of the light, if you are His, have chosen Him, then God has not reserved His wrath for you but rather salvation through Jesus Christ.
• And so here, these folks left upon the earth, He comes as a thief.  They don’t expect Him.  They don’t fear Him.  They aren’t prepared for Him but even so there is a remnant.  A people that has not taken the mark.  Folks that have seen the signs, read the Word, remembered the testimony of their long disappeared friends, listened to the two witnesses, considered the cry of the angels that were flying around a few chapters back and they have turned to Jesus. 
• He says to them, “Take hope.  Even though armies are marching, I’m coming.  And My coming is not only imminent, it’s immediate!”

Revelation Chapter 16 Verses 16 – 21

• “It is done,” the voice from the temple.  Who’s voice?  What does that mean?  Literally in the Greek this means, “It has happened.”  What has happened?  The result of sin has come to pass.  Thousands of years prior, similar words were spoken by Jesus upon the cross as He prepared to breathe His last.  He said, “it is finished.”  A different word and a different thought but a similar statement.
• Sin was finished there.  Demolished.  Abolished.  Wiped away with all of its power and penalty to anyone who would simply become partakers of the cross of Christ, placing their trust in Him…but now…this similar statement as the seven bowls filled with the complete righteousness and wrath of God are poured out on a sin loving global society, “it has happened.”  I don’t believe there is anything but grief in this statement from the throne of God…grief and faithfulness that is…as God (as always) is doing exactly what He said would happen…
• And for the third and final time…three times, John hears the men of the earth curse God.  This time because of the plague of hail which is interesting because the Old Testament punishment for blasphemy was stoning…and here this exceedingly great hail falling upon men from heaven…