Let's read verse 4 of Revelation
16 to start off with. I concluded here that there's
the third angel, the messenger of God, pouring out his vial,
his bowl of wrath upon the rivers and fountains of waters, and
they became blood. And of course, as we said last
week, that reminds us of the of the plagues upon Egypt, one
of the plagues upon Egypt, before God delivered Moses and the children
of Israel out of Egypt, when the Nile River was turned into
blood. And that river represents life
for that nation. And what we're seeing here is
the life of the world is going to be shut out. It's going to
be quenched totally. That's what blood means. Blood
means death. When we think of the blood, what
do we think of? We think of the blood of Jesus
Christ, his death, in our place as our surety and substitute,
having our sins charged to him, and so that we sing those great
hymns about the blood. I think it was back in the late
70s and early 80s, there was kind of a movement amongst some,
quote, Christians, unquote, I'll say professing Christians, false
Christians, to remove any reference to the blood out of the hymns,
some of the famous hymns, because it was offensive. Offensive to
people. Well, the blood is not offensive.
The blood of Christ is certainly not offensive to a believer,
is it? No. We call it the precious blood
of Christ. Because without the shedding
of blood, there's no remission. But now the blood here represents
something That is the wrath of God upon those who stand before
him in the end without Christ, without being washed in his blood,
without being clothed in his righteousness. And so the fountains
of the waters, the rivers, they became blood, they became death.
The life of this world was shut out because the wages of sin
is death. And one thing you're going to
see emphasized, look here at verse five. He says, and I heard
the angel of the waters. Now this is the same angel. He's
called the angel of the waters. He's heard the angel of the waters
say, thou art righteous. God is just. Oh Lord, which art
and was and shall be the eternal infinite, unchangeable, everlasting
God is a just God and he says you're just because thou hast
judged thus. You know that if God, if God
saved one sinner without his law and justice being satisfied
in the death of Christ, God would be unjust to do so. If God, if God let one sinner
go free for whom Christ did not stand as surety and substitute,
God would be unjust. And this is, you know, Marcus
is what you talked about the last time you preached. That's
how God is known in judgment. That comes to the forefront of
the revelation of God of himself to man. God is a just God. Now, people today, they stress
the love of God apart from or in opposition to the justice
of God. And that's an idol. That's why
we talk about the main issue of the gospel is how can God
be just and justify the ungodly. That's the issue. That's what
the whole revelation of God from the beginning was about when
he revealed himself to Adam through the killing of an animal. He's
told Adam in the day that you eat thereof, you must surely
die. That's justice. And so what's
emphasized here is the fact that God always, as Paul wrote by
inspiration of the Spirit in Romans chapter two, God always
judges according to truth. When God brings wrath down upon
sinners who stand in themselves without a mediator, without Christ,
God does that which is right, which is just. He's not being
unfair. He's not being unjust. He's not being inequitable or
unrighteous. He's simply doing what God only
can do and what He alone can do. If God acted contrary to
His nature, He would not be God. He would not be God. And so understand,
that's what's being emphasized here. I've got printed in your
lesson, Deuteronomy 32 and verse 4, and this is where Moses, just
before entering Moab, prior to Israel's conquest of Canaan,
and Moses said, he said this about God. He says, he is the
rock, His work is perfect. Now really the connotation there
is God's work is complete, but it is a perfect work and it's
always right. For all His ways are judgment. In other words, it's justice.
A God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He. Now he's
about to bring wrath down on Moab there. Oh, God, that would
be unfair. That would be unjust. No. No. Now, human judges can act and
do act in injustice many times, don't they? And don't we complain
about that? That's what the book of Proverbs
talks about when it talks about he that justifies the wicked
and he that, what's the word he uses? I can't remember. But
he that justifies the wicked and he that condemns the righteous
is an abomination to God. That's talking about human judges
in their erroneous judgments. And if God, listen, that poses
the question, how then can God be just and still save a sinner
like me? Because the only thing I deserve
and have earned is the wrath of God. So how can he do that? The answer, as you know, that
Christ, God chose a people in Christ before the foundation
of the world. He gave them to Christ. Christ
was set up in the everlasting covenant of grace to be their
surety. That means their debt was imputed,
charged, accounted to him, and he obligated himself to come to this world and take
into union with himself a perfect, sinless humanity, walk this earth,
keep the law perfect, and obey it unto death under the just
wrath of God as the substitute of his people. And that's where
righteousness comes from. That's how God can be just and
justifier. So here's the bottom line, and
it's emphasized throughout these bowls of wrath. Whenever God
saves a sinner, He does it in a just way. It's mercy, it's
grace, it's unconditional love, but he does it in a just way
through Christ. Whenever God condemns a sinner
to eternal damnation, it's just and it's right. Look at verse
6 now. He says, For they have shed the blood of saints, what
is a saint now? A saint is every sinner saved
by the grace of God in Christ. The word saint comes from the
word sanctified. It means one who has been set
apart. That's what it means. Doesn't
mean a super Christian or somebody who's holier than thou. Doesn't
mean somebody that the Pope has appointed to be a saint, because
that's false religion anyway. When it says, when we talk about
Saint John, you can just as well, if I'm a true believer, you can
talk about Saint Bill, you can talk about Saint Winston, you
can talk about all of them. If you're a believer in the Lord
Jesus Christ, you're a saint. And that's what it is. Set apart by God before the foundation
of the world, your name was written in the Lamb's book of life before
the world began. Set apart on the cross through
redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ as he died for your sins
and satisfied justice and sanctified by the Holy Spirit when you're
born again and brought to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
that's the same. Kept by the power of God. And
then he said they shed the blood of the prophets. Now the prophets,
that's talking about people like Samuel and Jeremiah and Isaiah
and all of that, but they're representing the word of God
being preached here. In other words, what he's talking
about is these whom God's wrath falls upon were those who hated
the word of God. Now understand this now, that
hatred comes in many forms. John 3, 19 is the definition
of it, where it says that when Christ said, this is the condemnation,
that light has come into the world and men loved darkness
rather than light, hated the light because their deeds were
evil. Even indifference to the gospel. It doesn't mean that every time
you preach the gospel to an unbeliever, they're going to pick up a rock
and throw at you or try to kick, but they may turn their back
on it. And that's hatred in God's sight. That's a hatred in God's
sight. Listen, if I'm preaching to you
the word of God, okay, and you turn your back on it, what are
you saying? You're saying I have no interest in what the one who
created me and gives me breath to breathe and provides for me
has to say to me. That's an insult to God. That's
a hatred. Christ said he that is not with
me is what? He is not for me, is against
me. So there's no middle ground here. There's no gray areas here. There's no saved loss and then
everybody in between. There's nobody in between. There's
no loving God and believing his word and then those who hate
God and disbelieve his word and then there's some kind of a class
of people who are in between that in God's sight now. So look,
they've shed the blood of saints, they've shed the blood of the
prophets, that would include the martyrs. He says, and thou
hast given them blood to drink. That means, what it simply means
is just a symbolic way of saying the punishment's gonna fit the
crime. Like an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, that's
what that means. It doesn't mean that we have a right to go out
and exact personal vengeance on anybody. It just means this,
that in God's justice system, however God intends or desires
or commands to enact that justice, it's always a matter of the punishment
fits the crime and he says it right here look at the last line
there he says for they are worthy getting what they deserve now what is our prayer for ourselves
Lord please do not give me what I deserve you see If God gives me what I deserve,
it's not going to be grace, is it? Grace is God giving sinners what
they don't deserve. Because he gave that to Christ
in their place because of sin imputed to him. And grace is God giving me what
I don't deserve in Christ. because of his righteousness
imputed to me. And that's what it is. In that, in your lesson there, I've quoted
Isaiah 49, 26. There's a break there. I don't
know what happened. There was something in the, so that's not
supposed to be there, that little break there. In verse six there,
But listen to this in Isaiah 49 verse 26, where the prophet
declares about God's judgment, he said, I will feed them that
oppress thee with their own flesh. In other words, they're gonna
die, that's what that means. And they shall be drunken with
their own blood, as with sweet wine, and all flesh shall know
that I, the Lord, am thy savior and thy redeemer, the mighty
one of Jacob. And John, when you think about
that, In God's judgment, the punishment always fits the crime,
but look at verse seven, he said, and I heard another out of the
altar say, even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous
are thy judgments. There it is again. Here's what it teaches us. That
any thought that God is unjust in anything that God does is
an abomination and blasphemy. Now think about that. Because
don't we by nature, you know, we always, you know, it's natural
to us when we see some horrific crime and we say, how can a just
or how can a good God do that? The Bible teaches us that it
is an amazing work of God's long-suffering. Let's stay biblically here. God's
long-suffering that this world is not already snuffed out and
damned forever. That's an amazing work of God's
long-suffering. He suffers long. But do you want
to know why God suffers long? Huh? For the elect's sake. Isn't that amazing? That sends chills up your spine,
doesn't it? The reason that this world has
not already been snuffed out and condemned forever is because
God has a people whom he chose before the foundation of the
world and he intends to bring them into his kingdom and they'll
live forever. And there's not but one way.
Flee from the wrath to come. Where are you going to flee to?
Where are you going to flee and find safety, find shelter, find
protection, find peace, find salvation? Christ. His blood
and righteousness. And that's it. But you mark it
down. God will avenge His suffering
and persecuted saints, and heaven's going to praise Him for it. And
I'll tell you another thing this teaches us. The condemnation
of the wicked is never in the Bible described or represented
as God's failure. And you know that's what most
religionists believe today. I heard a, I think it was years
ago, it may have been back in the 60s, but I'm not sure, I
didn't hear it, I heard it on, I just read where a preacher
in Chicago made this statement. that hell is a colossal monument
to God's failure to save sinners. But you know that's what most
people really believe. Now they wouldn't say it that
way. Every time a preacher, let me tell you something, I've been
there and you've been there too, every time a preacher makes a
statement, whether it's an invitation or not, says God's done everything
he can do, now the rest is up to you, he's saying the same
thing. God failed. Christ is trying
to save you. Won't you let Him? Jesus is leaning over the
banister of heaven just hoping that you'll let Him save you. No, sir. He shall save His people
from their sins. Now any unbeliever, any unregenerate
person who takes the attitude and says, well, if that's the
case, then it doesn't matter what I do, is trying to play
God. I'm telling you right now, and
you all know this is true, here's the word of God. God's going
to bring damnation on this world and all of its inhabitants who
do not have that mark. We're going to see that in just,
we've seen it before. That mark, or not that mark,
that sign, you know, it's distinguished from a mark because the sign
and the, what is it on, let me turn back there so I'll get my
language right. In Revelation. I want to make sure I say this
right. I don't have it listed on your lesson. Yeah, when he's talking about
when the judgment of God from the seal, the seal, that's what
the word I was looking for, the seal. That's in Revelation 7,
those who have the seal on their foreheads. He said, a mark, the
mark of the beast is like just simply an identification. But a seal's more than that.
A seal means ownership. God owns His people, and it means
security. We're secure in Christ. So there's
the difference. So everyone who doesn't have
that seal, now what is that seal? That's the work of the Holy Spirit
in the new birth to bring a sinner to Christ and to love Christ
and to believe in Christ, to have that assurance in Christ.
Well, look at verse eight back here in Revelation 16. Now here's
the fourth angel. There's seven bowls of judgment.
Here's the fourth. The fourth angel poured out his
vial, his bow, upon the sun, and power was given unto him
to scorch men with fire. The sun, not all of us know the
importance and the vitalness of the physical sun to this world. It's what gives us warmth, it's
what gives us life, it's what the gravitational pull of the
sun holds this all in orbit, all of that. It's necessary. Back in Revelation 8 and verse
12, the fourth trumpet, remember the light of the sun and the
moon and the stars will be diminished by a third. But the fourth vial
of judgment here results in diminished light, not just in diminished
light, but in a massive intensification of the sun's heat. What's that
talking about? Spiritually speaking, it's talking
about our God is a consuming fire to those who are found without
Christ. And in verse nine, he says here,
men were scorched, men were burned with great heat. And notice this,
this is an amazing thing, you see, but it shows us the intensity
of the natural depravity and spiritual deadness of unregenerate
men and women. It says, and they blaspheme the
name of God. They're already against God,
but when this comes, When this great heat comes to scorch them,
then they don't turn to God and beg for mercy. They blaspheme
the name of God, the God which has power over these plagues.
And they repented not to give him glory. Now, what does that show you? Well, it shows you how powerful.
The darkness, the ignorance, the self-righteousness, the rebellion,
the effects of sin upon the human heart. The deceptions, I've got here
the deceptions of the beast, the deceptions of the false prophet
has so thoroughly deluded men that they continue to curse God
even while his judgment is being poured out. And now this sort
of indicates now that that we're coming closer to the end, all
right? But it's not the total finality
yet because men and women by nature still think they can fix
this thing. And that's why they don't turn
to the Lord. The power of God to bring sinners to believe the
gospel is a power all to himself. And the Bible says the goodness
of God leads to repentance. But now, you know, people will
look at things like that and you say, well, now how in the
world can this happen? Here's all these manifestations
of God's wrath and people still don't turn to the Lord. Well,
think back to Israel coming out of Egypt. Think about those whom
Moses led out of Egypt. Think of what they saw The ten
plagues? Think about that. And here they
are standing on the shores of the Red Sea. And they look back
and they see Pharaoh's army. And God has been protecting them
with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
And they're standing there. And what do they do? Do they
express confidence, hope, assurance in the God who had performed
all these great miracles? Here's the way we think by nature.
Well, if we could just show people miracles like that today, they'd
all come to church. Did they? No, they murmured. They complained. They went after
God's preacher, His prophet Moses. And then God opened up the Red
Sea and they walked over dry shod, the scripture says. What'd
they do on the other side? Well, because things weren't
going according to their timetable, Moses had been up on the mount
too long now, according to man. So what'd they do? Well, we'll
make a golden calf and we'll worship it. So don't think that,
well, if we could just show people miracles, you know. These faith
healers today, they're false prophets. That does not get sinners
to come to Christ. Understand remember what Christ
said in the in that parable the rich man and Lazarus when when
Lazarus looked up from his torment He said send father Abraham back
to tell my brother so that they won't end up where I am Because
if they see one risen from the dead, they'll believe and remember
what what was it? Oh, no, though the one be risen
from the dead. They will not believe that's
what we're seeing in its essence here It's only by the preaching of
the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit that sinners are
brought to faith in Christ and repentance of dead works. Look
at it again, look at, he says in verse 10, he says, and the
fifth angel, here's the fifth angel, the fifth bow. The fifth
angel poured out his file, his bow, upon the seed of the beast."
Now the seed of the beast, that's his kingdom, that's his throne,
that's Babylon, place of the Antichrist. And his kingdom was
full of darkness. Remember, their light is darkness.
It's the darkness of false religion, false philosophies, man thinking
that he can fix this problem, he can save the world, he can
save himself. You know what's going on today
and all this junk that we're having? That's what the problem
is. Man thinking he can fix it with
a vote. Now, don't get me wrong, yes,
vote, and we're to be responsible citizens, but realize it's really
not gonna fix the problem, is it? Do you think it is? Maybe
it'll give us a little reprieve. I don't know what the Lord has
in mind. But man can't fix this thing. Now again, I emphasize,
that doesn't mean we're supposed to be irresponsible and all that. I think it's irresponsible not
to vote, to be honest with you. We have that freedom and devote
responsibly. But we're not going to be able
to fix this thing. It's God's business. And so it's full of
darkness and it says, they gnawed their tongues for pain. This
is the torment that's coming. That's what that's descriptive
of. And verse 11, and blaspheme the God of heaven because of
their pains and their sores and repentant not of their deeds. That's what I'm talking about.
Man's in trouble. He's hurting. And instead of
turning to the God of all grace and running to Christ to flee
from the wrath to come, he thinks that his deeds can work on this
thing and save him. And he won't repent of his deeds.
He's still looking for a way out. Here's the bottom line.
As long as people imagine any other way of salvation, of fixing
this, other than Christ and Him crucified and raised from the
dead, they're in darkness. Isn't that right? And they'll
stay in darkness. All right.