Well let us come then to this
short chapter, chapter 15, just eight verses here in Revelation. But this is the start of a new
vision. You can see that, I saw another
sign in heaven. So this is the start of something
new. This is the fifth vision of the seven visions of the book
of Revelation. There must be seven because seven
is the number by which God completes his triumphant kingdom. And chapters
15 and 16 belong together. They're, as I say, another vision,
another sign in heaven, another perspective. of the Book of Revelation. The standpoint here is the standpoint
of the final victory. As we've gone through, we've
seen the church in the world, we've seen the perspective from
the point of view of heaven, we've seen who controls all things,
the Lamb, the Lion of the tribe of Judah who is the Lamb as it
had been slain, the only one worthy to open the seals that
will complete the Kingdom of God. Why? Because He shed His
precious blood. to purchase the citizens for
that kingdom. Sinners made the righteousness
of God in him. And the visions go on, and we
saw in 12, 13, and 14 the vision of the church, the woman giving
birth to the child, which is Christ coming, and there being
war in heaven, and Satan being defeated. What defeated him?
The blood of the Lamb. that blood of the lamb, which
although he thought he was triumphant in it, it's shedding actually
put away the sins of his people. So that as Romans 8, 33 and 34
say, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Christ
has died. There is no charge left to answer.
Satan's accusations can bear no success. And we saw then how
he was furious, Satan was furious and cast out into the earth and
persecuted the woman, the church, in her wilderness separation
from this world. And he raises up that which he
tried in the days of Nimrod in Genesis 11, a worldwide global
unity against the kingdom of God, without the righteousness
of God, and he sets up that Kingdom of Antichrist that we see in
Revelation 13, that appalling kingdom where the people of God
are not allowed to buy and sell because we do not have the mark
of the beast. We don't have his mark in our
heads, in the things that we think. We don't think like this
world and we don't have his mark in our hands. We don't do the
works of this world and the kingdom of Satan. But then all the time
we're given that reassurance. Consider, here is wisdom right
at the end of chapter 13. Let him that has understanding
count the number of the beast. This terrifying, horrible kingdom
of Antichrist, it's just 666. It isn't 777. It's falling short,
falling short, falling short. And I looked, chapter 14, and
lo, a lamb, a lamb, the Lamb of God. Behold the Lamb of God,
said John the Baptist to his disciples. A lamb stood on the
Mount Zion. And with him a hundred and forty
and four thousand, having his father's name written in their
foreheads. These are the people of God in
the world at any one time, sealed with the ownership of God. You
are bought with a price. You are not your own. You're
bought with a price, says the epistle. You're bought with a
price. And here they are in this evil world, unable to trade with
it. nevertheless kept from the evil,
and the days being shortened for their sake, and all the time
in serenity. Because don't forget Psalm 2.
Why do the heathen nage, the nations rage, and the heathen
imagine a vain thing against the Lord and against His anointed?
His anointed is Christ. Why do they do it? Because it's
futile. The Lord that sits in the heavens shall laugh. The
Lord shall have them in derision, because He sits serenely. peacefully
triumphantly his kingdom will triumph and we see how in chapter
14 he pours out his judgments on this world and we see the
end of it by the end of chapter 14 the judgments of God have
fallen that's the end of that report of that perspective now
here's another perspective chapters 15 and 16 we're just going to
consider chapter 15 this morning that these belong together and
these give the perspective of heaven, of the final victory,
of the final destruction of the kingdom of Antichrist. Yet there's
more to come in chapters 17, 18, 19, 20, before we see the
picture of heaven actually accomplished. But all of these pictures give
us a perspective of the completion of the recovery of God's kingdom
from Satan, who usurped that kingdom from Adam in the fall,
in the Garden of Eden. And as we look at it, as we read
in Psalm 118, the response from the heart of a believer is great
and marvellous, are your works, O Lord God Almighty. Here is
a people we see in this other sign, and This sign is great
and marvellous. It's great and marvellous in
our eyes. For God's people, this prospect
is a truly awesome thing to observe. Don't shrink back from this.
I've put some articles in the bulletin. Don't shrink back from
the final days of the kingdom of Antichrist. Even though there's
great tribulation to come, like may have never been experienced
before, don't shrink back from it because the triumph of the
ages is coming as God recovers his kingdom from Satan and pours
out the final judgments of his wrath on the sin of this world. Look there in verse 1, I saw
another sign in heaven. Great and marvellous, great and
marvellous are your works. Seven angels, and it's always
seven because seven is the number that completes the kingdom of
God. Seven angels. having the seven last plagues. We've seen seven seals, we've
seen seven trumpets, now these seven last plagues. For in them
is filled up the wrath of God. In them is filled up the wrath
of God. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire,
and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over
his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name,
stand, I saw them stand on this sea of glass, having the harps
of God. This is great and marvellous,
but it's great and marvellous for God's people. It's a truly
awesome prospect, it's a truly, we use that word glibly, but
it really is Something beyond anything we've ever experienced
in this life. Great and marvellous. For God's
people, a truly awesome prospect. Who are God's people? Who are
God's people? Let's think about this. Who are
God's people? You know, there's religion all
over the world that tells us that everybody is the child of
God. Well, in the respect that they're all created by God, I
suppose so, but not in the respect of being those that cry, Abba,
Father, Daddy, Father, Our Father which art in heaven. No, He's
true people. Who are they? Who are they? Look
in chapter 14 and verse 12. Here is the patience of the saints. They're the ones set apart by
God. Here are they that keep the commandments
of God and the faith of Jesus. They keep What does that mean?
They perfectly obey the Ten Commandments? No, no, no, no, no, no. In the
flesh we don't. We never do. We only ever sin
in the flesh. But they believe the gospel of
Christ. The commandments of God, the
law of God, it's summed up, it's the law of Christ, it's the gospel
of God, the gospel of Christ. They keep it, they cling to it,
and they have the faith of Jesus, the faith of Jesus. They trust
in Christ, they trust in what Christ has accomplished. These
are the people of God. How did they become the people
of God? Well, they were chosen in Christ
before the foundation of the world, but when they were born
they didn't know it, and as they grew they didn't know it, but
a day came in the purposes of God when they heard the gospel
of redemption from sin. God sent them a preacher, God
caused their path to cross the path of a preacher. It might
have been written words of a preacher. It might have been the preached
word. It might have been a recording of a sermon. But nevertheless,
it's one of God's servants, was anointed to present that message
of the gospel and they heard it. Are you a child of God? Do
you remember a day when Jing, the light came on, and you heard
the gospel of God's grace and redemption from sin, purchase
from sin, purchase back from the bondage, the imprisonment
of sin. And then having heard it, we're
given faith to believe it, to say, yeah, that's right, that's
right. And to see something of what
you are as a sinner before a holy God, and having seen what the
works of Christ has done to make you the righteousness of God
and acceptable in Him. and having heard and believed
and trusted, have committed to Christ. This isn't just a passing
whim, this is a lifetime commitment, a commitment to Christ. And you
have aspired to do, and you do aspire now, it goes on, to God's
kingdom. You have a hope of heaven. Remember
what Peter said, be always ready to give a reason to anyone that
asks you about the hope that is in you. What's the hope? It's
the hope of eternal glory, that this world is not it. that your
hopes, your ambitions, your treasures are in heaven where Christ is.
You're made a citizen of God's kingdom, but you're living now
in alien territory, the alien territory of Satan's kingdom
of Antichrist. And you're seeking, this is what
the people of God do, you're seeking to follow the Lamb, whithersoever
he goeth. It's in here somewhere, I've
just lost it for a moment, but it's in these two chapters somewhere.
You follow the Lamb, whithersoever he goeth. What does that mean?
It means you're listening out for his voice, in his word, by
his spirit. And what he says to you, what
he says to you, child of God, Whether it's what you in your
flesh want to do, it probably isn't. But if you're his child
and you hear his voice and you hear what he's saying from his
word and his spirit applies it, you go where he goes. You follow
in his footsteps. You don't question it. You say,
Lord, give me the strength to follow. And so looking unto Jesus,
we follow. But though believers are taught,
you know Jesus taught in that Lord's Prayer as it's called,
it's actually the disciples prayer, Our Father which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come. We're taught to pray, thy
kingdom come, but do you know I think it's true, isn't it,
that for many who call themselves Christians, and let's be honest,
we're among them at times in this, we say, thy kingdom come,
but please Lord, not just yet. I've got too many other things
to do. I've got too many other things to acquire. I'm young.
I've got the world in front of me. I want to build a career.
I want to get some possessions. I want a family. I want all sorts
of things. And our hearts of flesh are still
strongly bound to this world. to the possessions we have and
that we covet, to the ambitions that we have, to the dreams,
oh, that's my dream such and such a thing, to the loved ones
that we have, to the aspirations. You know, I've said before, I
really don't like this term, the bucket list, you know, where
you've got this list of things that you've got to achieve in
this life. Really? Really? For a child of God, whose
hopes are on heaven, who is supposed to be praying from the heart,
Lord, thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as
it is in heaven. Thy kingdom, to have a bucket list of things
I read. Not yet, Lord, no, don't come just yet. Give me time to
tick off these things on my bucket list. It seems to me to be completely
contrary to the spirit of what the Lord was teaching. But anyway,
if God enables us to see this aright, what we see here in chapter
15, and to fill our hearts with longing for its realization,
for wrath revealed, you know, we read of wrath and you say,
oh gosh, that must be terrible. No, wrath, the wrath of God is
glorious. Why is it glorious? Because it's
the divine holiness of God. from which the angels shield
their faces. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. All the earth is full of his
glory. Wrath is God's divine holiness in relation to this
world of sin. The more we see who God is and
how holy God is, the more we see how sinful we are and how
sinful this world is. No, this is about this Kingdom
of God, this new order of God's kingdom glory coming in our experience
here in chapter 15. So let's break it down. We see
seven angels, and they have the seven last plagues. And the vials
are given to them, the vials of wrath later on. As I've said,
seven is the number of completion of God's triumphant kingdom. There were seven seals. Back
in chapter five, Revelation chapter 5 verse 1, I saw in the right
hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on
the backside sealed with seven seals. There were seven seals
of which, you know, the Lamb of God, the Lion of the tribe
of Judah, he alone was qualified to open those seals and he opens
them. And the history of this world
unfolds. The plan of God for the recovery of his usurped kingdom
from the grip of Satan is implemented. The white horse, the red horse,
the black horse, the pale horse of death, the cry for justice,
the things in creation coming to an end, this world coming
to an end. And the seventh one opens as seven trumpets. They're all happening to some
extent at the same time, contemporaneously, but they grow in intensity, and
so as the seals bring harm upon a quarter, the trumpets bring
harm upon a third. A third is bigger than a quarter.
It gets more intense toward the end. And of the seven trumpets
which were sounded in Revelation chapter 8, verses 1 and 2, when
he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about
the space of half an hour. and I saw the seven angels which
stood before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. That's
the seventh seal opening as seven trumpets. And then the seventh
of the trumpets, as they blow the same idea, greater and greater
intensity as we go towards the end of this space-time creation,
as God recovers his kingdom, the intensity of these things,
of God frustrating the kingdom of Satan, of God preventing the
kingdom of Satan coming to fruition, coming to success, As they progress,
as the seventh trumpet blows, it opens as seven vials of final
wrath, the wrath which is God's holiness in contrast to sin. These spell the final end of
Satan's kingdom. The final end. It's not the first
time we've seen it. We saw it in chapter 6, in the
second vision. In Revelation chapter 6 and verse
12, Revelation chapter 6 and verse 12, And I beheld, when
he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake,
and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became
as blood, and the stars of heaven fell to the earth, even as a
fig tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken. And
the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together, and
every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And
the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men,
and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman,
and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks
of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, fall
on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne,
and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath
is come, and who shall be able to stand? You see, that was that
picture of the end then. And then we get another picture.
We get another picture in chapter 11. In chapter 11 in the third
vision, I think it is. Yes, it is. It's the third vision.
Chapter 11 and verse 15. If you turn there, the seventh
angel sounded his trumpet, And there were great voices in heaven
saying, The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our
Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.
God is triumphant. There it is again, that's another
picture of it. And then the seventh trumpet final victory, lightnings,
voices, thunderings, earthquake, great hail. Then in chapter 14
that we were looking at last week, in verses 17 to 20, there's
the final harvest of this world. There's the harvest in which
the people of God, the believers, Those who trust in Christ are
taken out of this world, out of this world, before the final
judgments of God fall upon it. And we see, once they are taken
out of the way, then the winepress of God's wrath is applied to
the world that remains. We saw a picture of a winepress
and of blood 1,600 furlongs long. Talking about all of it, everything,
nothing will escape the judgment of God. There will be total destruction
of those who worship the beast and his image. And now we come
to seven vials of just retribution for sin against God. We just
read verses two and three. Verse two, I saw as it were a
sea of glass mingled with fire. That reminds us of chapter four,
where we got the first glimpse into heaven. When he gets to
the end of chapter three, which is a picture of Christ with his
church on earth, in this world. Then in chapter four, after this,
I looked and behold, a door was opened in heaven. And the first
voice which I heard was as it were a trumpet talking with me,
which said, come up hither, and I will show you things which
must be hereafter. And he goes up into heaven, and
in verse six, he sees a vision of God on his throne. His triumphant kingdom with him,
that's the picture in chapter 4. And in verse 6, before the
throne, there was a sea of glass, like unto crystal. And in the
midst of the throne and round about the throne were four beasts
full of eyes, before and behind. We've seen this sea of glass
before, there, it's in heaven, but it's mingled with fire. It
speaks of that which reflects the glory of God, but it's mingled
with the just judgment of God. Fire speaks of judgment, and
it's reminiscent You know, all of the scripture is for our learning.
The history of Israel is all for our learning, to teach us
how God recovers his kingdom from the kingdom of Satan. And
when God took the Israelite nation out of their bondage in Egypt,
That was such a picture of him taking the people whom he loved
with an everlasting love out of the bondage of sin in this
world into his everlasting kingdom. And he takes them out of Egypt
and in Exodus chapter 15 you see it where they're fleeing,
they've come out, there's been the Passover, the angel of death
has come through the land and the Egyptians have begged them
to leave because there's been such great grief and sorrow at
the death that was caused. And then they change their minds
and the Israelites have come to the shore of the Red Sea.
What on earth are they going to do? And Moses says to them,
stand still and see the salvation of God. And of course, you know
the story that God miraculously made a way through the Red Sea
on dry land. And the Egyptians came after
them to pursue them. And while they were in the middle
of the sea bed, on the dry sea bed, God brought the sea back
over them, and they were drowned. You see, it was salvation to
the Israelites, But it was destruction for Pharaoh and his forces. And
it's just like the Gospel is in this world. In 2 Corinthians
chapter 2 and verses 14 to 16, we read about the Gospel of salvation
The Gospel of Salvation being the savour, the flavour, the
taste, the taste of life unto life, or death unto death. To those who believe it, it's
the savour of life. To those who refuse it and reject
it, it's the savour of death. There's one way or the other. There's no middle way. You are
either one to whom the Gospel of Salvation is a savour of life
unto life, Or you're one who when you hear it, it's the savour
of death unto death and you want nothing to do with it. What is
gospel savour to you? Is it the savour of life unto
life? Oh that it would be. Or is it
the saver of death unto death? I want nothing to do with this.
What is the dividing line? What is the dividing line? Do
you know what the test is? Do you know what I think the test
is? Jesus asked the Pharisees. Jesus asked them when they were
trying to trick and question him in one of the Gospels. He
asked them, what think ye of Christ? What think ye? This is
it. This is the acid test. What do
you think of Christ? What is Christ to you? For if
Christ is, well you read it in Song of Solomon, what is your
beloved more than another beloved? Ah, the heart of the believer
is born away in ecstasy at the thought of Christ, of my beloved,
of my bridegroom, of my saviour, of the one who's loved me with
an everlasting love. Or what think ye of Christ? Oh,
I want nothing to do with him. I want nothing to do with him.
You know, I did tell you about that discussion group to which I was
invited, and I said to them, well, yes, okay, but the thing
is, you must bear in mind that whatever you discuss, if you
ask me my opinions, my opinions are always going to be determined
by the word of God, by the Bible. And I will always give you an
answer which, as far as I am able, accords with the Word of
God. And you know what they said? You know what the majority said?
They said, well, we don't want you to come. Because they don't
want to hear about it. They don't want to hear about
Christ. They don't want to hear about the truth of God. They
don't want to hear the gospel of His grace, because to them
it's a savour of death unto death. Well, who's here on this sea
of glass? Look, on the sea of glass, there's them that had
gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over
his mark, and over the number of his name, and they're standing
on this sea of glass, having harps of God, and they're singing
a song. They're singing the song of Moses,
the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, great and
marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are
thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord,
and glorify thy name? for thou alone art holy and all
the nations shall come and worship before thee for thy judgments
are made manifest. The people standing there on
this sea of glass in this vision that John is given of the final
pouring out of the just wrath of God, the balancing judgments
against sin of God, this is all the people of God. And the only
ones there on that sea of glass in God's kingdom are them that
had gotten the victory over the beast, over his image, over his
mark, and over his number. It's an innumerable multitude. An innumerable multitude that
we've seen elsewhere. We saw it in chapter 7. There was 144,000 on earth at
any one time. And then I looked, and a multitude
in heaven that no man could number of every tribe and tongue and
kindred. It's an innumerable multitude
chosen of God before the beginning of time, before time began, chosen
in Christ before the beginning of time. It's quite clear in
Scripture that that's the way it is. And these people called,
chosen in Christ, were called by the gospel in time, called
to faith and to trust and to repentance from their sinful
works, and called to commitment to the cause of God against this
evil world. And you look at the history of
it, you can read it in chapters like Hebrews chapter 11, the
faith gallery, right down from Abel through history. Abel, the
son of Adam and Eve, who was killed by his brother Cain. Abel
knew the gospel of God's grace, and Cain didn't. To Abel, it
was a savour of life unto life. To Cain, it was the saviour of
death unto death. He wanted nothing to do with
that blood redemption that would purchase salvation from sin. And all the way down through
history, you have people like Enoch. You know, you could read
of his battle against this world. If you read the little tiny epistle
to Jude, read what Enoch said about his battle with the world.
And Noah, how he built that ark on the instruction of God. And
you know what God did? To prevent the kingdom of Satan
from triumphing and succeeding in its objectives of a worldwide
kingdom without the righteousness of God. You know what God did?
God swept them all away in the flood. And the only ones who
were saved and preserved were Noah and the seven with him in
the ark, and the animals, the air-breathing animals. And his
son Shem, that line went down through him, but through Ham
it didn't go. And it went down to Abraham,
and God called Abraham out from the idolatry of his people in
Ur of the Chaldees. And then right down as the children
of Israel go down into Egypt, in the time of Joseph. And then
Moses brings them out. And you go right down through
the history that we read in the Old Testament. Elijah, Daniel,
and many, many others. The apostles of the New Testament,
the martyrs, the reformers of a few hundred years ago. Right
down to those on earth at the peak of Antichrist's kingdom. at the peak of how it will be
when everything is like Revelation 13, very much like it is today,
and possibly only going to grow worse. Our flesh If we're honest,
even as God's people, our flesh shrinks back from Antichrist
tribulation, from the trouble that the people of God are going
to experience in this kingdom of Satan. Do you know we should
rather relish it? We should rather relish the honor
of God putting us into the front ranks of God's people, striving
for victory over the beast. You know, we have victory. Look
at verse 11 of chapter 12. They overcame him. How? by the blood of the Lamb,
and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives
unto death. Jesus said, he who shall save
his life shall lose it, but he who shall lose his life for my
sakes shall save it. These are the people of God sealed
with God's ownership, bought with a price, redeemed from the
earth. Look in chapter 14 and verse
3, they sung as it were a new song before the throne. It's
basically a different perspective of exactly the same thing. Before
the four beasts and the elders, and no man could learn that song
This is the same song of Moses and of the Lamb. Nobody could
learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand which
were redeemed from the earth. Oh little flock, redeemed from
the earth. The ones who refused the beast's
mark in their hands and in their heads, their works and their
thoughts, didn't think like this unbelieving rebellious world.
Confident of their triumph over the number of the beast, 666
because 777 is the number of God. Do you have this hope? Do you
have this confidence? Do you rest in the keeping power
of God? There is an innumerable multitude
here on this sea of glass, it's all the people of God. But in
Antichrist's kingdom, as we are here and now in our experience
in this world, we are always just the inner temple. You know
when John was told in Revelation 11, 1 and 2, to go and measure,
take a measuring rod and go and just measure the inner temple.
Who are the true people? Just the inner temple. Not the
outer court, not the wider Jerusalem, not the wider land. No, no, don't
measure them, leave them out. That's given to the Gentiles,
unbelievers, to trample it underfoot forty and two months. But no,
the little flock. Jesus said, fear not, little
flock. It is your father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom. These are the ones faithfully
keeping the truth of gospel grace and following the Lamb, whithersoever
he goeth. Though this world might ostracize
us, sideline us, put us to one side, persecute us, cut us off
from mainstream society, we're in wilderness separation from
this world. as it tells us in chapter 12,
in the place prepared of God to feed and nourish his people
there. Cut off from it in wilderness
separation, in God's prepared place, fed and nourished there. But here in Revelation 15 and
verse 2, look, I want you to get this point. Here we see the
people of God taken out of Satan's world and he's eternally safe
there before the final vials of the wrath of God fall on this
earth. Now take hold of that. Believers, take hold of that.
Yes, we may have great tribulation to go through. It says that in
Revelation. These are they that have come through great tribulation.
But listen, before the final seven vials of the wrath of God
fall on this unbelieving kingdom of Satan, His people are taken
out of it. Just as they were in Revelation
11 and verse 12. And they heard a great voice
from heaven saying unto them, this is the two witnesses, which
is the people of God on earth at any one time, come up hither.
And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies
beheld them. And then the final judgments
of God fell. And same in other references
in the book, but we won't for the sake of time look now. Now
look at their song. In verse 3, they sing the song
of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty, just
and true are thy ways. This is the song of salvation. This is the song of salvation
accomplished by Christ. There is nothing left to do.
He has accomplished salvation for his people. We who were justly
condemned to perish, think about this, we who were justly condemned
to perish in the Red Sea of God's justice, are saved and landed
safe in eternal glory. There they are. There you are.
In chapter 19, John looks, I saw much people in heaven. There,
if you're a believer, I believe he saw you and me there. I believe
that's what he saw. We're there in heaven. We were
condemned to perish but were landed safe in eternal glory. And has God been unjust in doing
that? Because as Satan says, we're
sinners by nature. No, verse 3, just and true are
thy ways thou King of the saints. He's a just God and a Savior. He's a just God in that no sin
will go unpunished. Every sin will meet the just
wrath of God. for His people, that sin has
been met in the Lord Jesus Christ. When He who knew no sin was made
sin for us, that His people might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. He's a just God and a Saviour.
What a glorious experience God has in store for those He's called
and justified and glorified. This is a song, the song of Moses
and of the Lamb, the song of the Gospel in the Old Testament,
if you like, and the Gospel revealed explicitly in the New Testament,
of the Lamb. This is the song of the Gospel
of God's saving grace. Great and marvellous are your
works, that he caused the stone that the builders rejected to
become the head of the corner of his church, of his temple,
of his dwelling place. And God will dwell with them
and be their God, and they shall be his people. It's a song that
will be sung there by sight, no longer by faith. Today we
sing it by faith. We pray, God, show us your glory
by faith in our souls, but there we will look and it will be by
sight. There will be no more faith because
there, that's why love is the greatest gift. Now abideth faith,
hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love. Why? Because
there will be no need for hope. There will be no need for faith
because there will be realities before the people of God. but
there's a cost. You will stand in the heat of
the battle against Antichrist's kingdom. To a certain extent,
we're doing it already. And be aware that as we shall
see shortly in Revelation 17, that kingdom of Antichrist is
in large part what professes to be Christianity. A large proportion,
the majority of what professes to be Christianity in this world,
is in actual fact the kingdom of Satan, as we shall see. Beware,
and don't be fooled. Heed what the next chapter of
Revelation, following on from 17, chapter 18, verse 4 says. Come out of her, my people. Have
no part in her evil. So then, finally, quickly, in
verse 7, one of the four beasts gave to the seven angels golden
vials full of the wrath of God. The four beasts speak of this
creation, and I just want to refer you to Romans chapter 8
and verse 22. Romans chapter 8 and verse 22. Well, let's go back to verse
19. Rather than the word creature,
when you look at the interlinear Bible, the word really is creation. So verse 19 of Romans 8, For the creation was made subject
to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected
the same in hope. Because the creation itself also
shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious
liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation
groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. Even this
world, this creation, which is God's kingdom manifested physically,
is groaning to be released from the bondage of Satan and of sin. And one of the four beasts, which
represents creation, gives to the seven angels seven golden
vials, full vials are little pots, a vial with odours and
spices or whatever it is, but these are full of the wrath of
God. Now remember what I said, the
wrath of God is the holiness of God set against the evil that
is in this world, the sin. They're full of the wrath of
God who liveth forever and ever. These seven vials of God's holiness
balancing The sin of this world, with divine justice, cancelling
all sin, they are to be poured out. But don't forget, the people
of God have been taken out of this world, and they're standing
on that sea of glass, and they have the harps of God, and they're
singing this song of rejoicing and of glory. In chapter 16,
which goes with chapter 15, which we hope to look at next time,
we will see the seven vials poured out to end this kingdom of Satan. culminating in the battle of
Armageddon. And that will end it for all eternity. But that's
next time. But for now, for now, do you
believe God? Do you seek to follow Christ?
Do you aspire to his eternal kingdom? Lord, I want to be there.
I want to be there in your kingdom. Or are your hopes really bound
up here in this world? Do you see the great divide that
there is? And do you long to be confirmed
in God's kingdom? Do you aspire to be taken out
of this world before these vials of wrath are poured out? Because
believe me, they will be terrible. Well if you do, do what Jesus
said. Seek the Lord while he may be
found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake
his way and turn to me. He said, This is the will of
the Father, that all that he has given me shall come to me,
and whosoever comes to me I will in no wise cast out. What a wide-open
door! Come to the Lord Jesus Christ
now and he will save you. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. Amen.