Revelation chapter 16. Let's
read verse 1. Revelation 16 verse 1. John says
in this glorious vision that he's receiving of the Lord Jesus
Christ, that he hears a great voice. John had seen many, many
marvelous and glorious things. And he's heard some glorious
things. And he says, I heard a great
voice. the voice of the I am that I am, I heard a great voice
out of the temple. The temple is the dwelling place
of God, the throne of God, the sovereignty of God, saying to
the seven angels, the seven messengers of God, go your ways, God says,
pour out the vials of wrath, the wrath of God. Now, it's not
the wrath of man, not the wrath of the angels. the wrath of God,
and pour that out upon the earth, upon the land. So I'm taking
the title from that verse, and I'm calling the message, The
Vials of the Wrath of God Poured Out. Now this is a very sober,
serious, subject to think about and to consider. When we consider
and think about the wrath, the wrath of God, the wrath of God. A lot of people talking about
the love of God. There's nothing wrong with talking
about the sovereign love of God. God is love, but let us never
forget God is holy. God is holy. It's His holy love
and it's His holy wrath. His mercy is like His love. It's
holy mercy, holy love, holy wrath. But when we think about the wrath
of God and the judgment of God, it's somber, isn't it? Think
about that. The just wrath of God. Because God is holy and
just, He must punish sin. He must. He can't look upon sin
with favor. Notice as it says there in verse
5, I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art holy, righteous,
O Lord. And then again in verse 7, Even
so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
Now, God is holy, and because God is holy, God must, must punish
sin. Now, I remember reading years
ago, and I believe it was in Arthur Pink's book on the sovereignty
of God, and he gave this definition, and I wrote it down, and I put
it in my memory, and wrote it down somewhere, and I often refer
to it. The wrath of God, how do you
define the wrath of God? And he said this, the wrath of
God is the holiness of God stirred in activity against sin. I think
that's a good definition. The wrath of God is His holiness
stirred in activity against all sin. Therefore, because God is
holy and just, now listen to me, therefore every sin of every
sinner must be punished and dealt with. Either in Christ crucified
as our substitute who took the wrath of God for our sin and
he drank the cup of God's wrath dry for us as he bare our sin
in his own body on the tree. God is either going to punish
all my sin and my savior, my substitute, my sacrifice to the
Lord Jesus Christ, or he's going to punish all my sin forever
in me eternally, forever, and it will never satisfy the justice
of God. Or in the eternal punishment
of those who choose to stand before God in the merit of their
works, the works of their flesh, the deeds of the flesh, will
hear Him say, one day, depart from Me, you workers of iniquity,
I never knew you. Now turn over here, hold your
place there, and let's read that one more time. Matthew chapter
7. Turn over there. Matthew 7 and
begin reading at verse 21. Matthew 7 verse 21. Not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Now what
is that? What is the will of the Father?
Bow to the Lord Jesus Christ. For many will say unto me, In that day, Lord, Lord, have
we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out
devils, demons. And in thy name we have done
many wonderful works." Powerful. That word there, wonderful, is
the same word that's used in Romans 1, 16. Powerful. Then,
well, that sounds good, doesn't it? They weren't doing the will
of my Father. Because the will of my Father
is to bow to Christ. And then I will profess unto
them, I never knew you, I never loved you, depart from me, you
that work iniquity. Iniquity. You will notice as we look at
these plagues here in Revelation 16, you'll notice that these
seven last plagues have a similar reading to the ten plagues that
God brought upon the reprobates in Egypt, recorded in Exodus
7 through Exodus 11. You can go back and read that.
And they're very similar. They both come from the throne
of God. They're both upon the unbelieving, reprobate world.
They're typical, and they foreshadow the plagues of wrath to come
before the Lord's second coming. Now remember from our study in
Revelation chapter 8 through chapter 11, we studied about
the seven trumpets of judgment, warning of the wrath to come.
Now we see those who did not heed those warning trumpets,
there's nothing left but the holy wrath of God. Those who
wear the mark of the beast, those who are allies of Satan, those
who promote his lies, those who change the truth of God into
a lie, have nothing to look forward to but the holy wrath of God. Those who are anti-gospel, anti-Christ,
will certainly experience the vials of wrath. and will be eternally
condemned. There is nothing left for the
unbeliever and the rebel against God that reject the gospel of
Christ, but the wrath of God. For the wrath of God, we read
in Romans 1.18, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, of them who hold the
truth in unrighteousness. those who do not believe the
truth. I want you to turn and read this
with me. I quote this all the time, but let's turn and read
John chapter three. John chapter three. These are
the words of the prophet of God who says in John chapter three,
the father loves the son, verse 35, John three 35. You see that
the father The Father loves the Son, hath
given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. That's doing the will of God.
Believing the Son hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not
the Son shall not see life. But the, what's that word? Wrath of God. The wrath of God
abides on him. Now, there's nothing but judgment
for those who reject the gospel of Christ. Nothing left but judgment. Nothing left but a just judgment. Now, to the believer, in them
is filled up the wrath of God, it says in verse 1 of chapter
15. To the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, the believer of
the gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, there
are no vials of wrath to come. Only vials of mercy. The Lord
Jesus Christ has delivered us. He delivered us from the wrath
to come. It says that in 1 Thessalonians
chapter 1, where it talks about knowing, brethren, beloved, your
election is of God. For our gospel came not to you
in word only, but also in power. Verses 4 and 5. And then down
in verse 9, he says this, You have been turned to God from
your idols to serve the living and true God who had delivered
us from the wrath to come. We've been turned to God by His
grace. We turn to Him, and turning to
Him, or being turned, we turn away from everything else, looking
unto Him, who's the author and finisher of our faith, who had
delivered us from the wrath to come. He delivered us from the
wrath to come. And then in that same book, 1
Thessalonians 5 verse 9, it says this, "...for God hath not appointed
us unto wrath, but God hath appointed us to obtain..." There's that
word again, that's a good word, obtain. "...obtain salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ." Not appointed to wrath. Not His elect. The Lord Jesus put their sin
away. And He's given us eternal life. Now, who made you to differ
from another? I mean, it's the sovereign grace
of God who's made us to differ. We had it on the radio this morning.
Who made you to differ from another? What do you have that you don't
receive? If you received it now as a gift of God, why do you
glory in anything but the Lord Jesus Christ? You see, He made
us to differ. By nature, we're what? In Ephesians
2, it talks about by nature we're children of wrath, even as others.
And then the next verse said, But God, who is rich in mercy
for His great love, wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in sin, hath quickened us together with Christ Jesus. Now
by nature, we're children of God, but by His grace, He's made
us sons of God. Isn't that good news? He's given
us the victory, the victory, the complete victory over sin,
over death, over hell. Our Lord said, I am He that liveth
and was dead. Behold, I am alive forevermore.
He's given us the victory over the beast, over the law, over
sin. Believers are safe and secure
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Hiding in Him. We're safe and
secure. No man can pluck them out of
my Father's hand. I am my Father, we are one. That's
security. We stand in the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, turn back to Revelation
14 verse 1. And I looked, and lo, a lamb
stood on Mount Zion, and with him the hundred and forty-four
thousand, having his father's name written in their forehead.
They stand with the Lord, the elect of God. In Revelation 15,
look at verse 2, And I saw, as it were, a sea of glass mingled
with fire, them that had gotten the victory over the beast, over
his image, over his mark, over the number of his name, you remember
666? What's that number? Failure. Failure. Failure. God
number is seven. Complete. Perfect. And they stand
on the sea of glass, having the harps of God, and they sing the
song of Moses, Revelation 15, verse 3, 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 the saints. Okay. And I heard a great voice
out of the temple of God. Pour out the vials of wrath,
the measured wrath of God upon the earth. You remember, they're
called golden vials of wrath, the wrath of God. Look at Revelation
15 verse 7. One of the four beasts gave unto
the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God,
the wrath of God who lives forever and ever, ever and ever. Now,
as I've said before, these vials of wrath, at least the first
six vials of wrath being poured out, are not something future,
but something that's happening now. Happened in the past, and
it's happening now. And will continue to be poured
out, poured out, and poured out, until the Lord returns in that
great day of judgment, when that seventh vial is poured out, as
it says there in verse 17, The end. The great white throne
judgment when the Lord comes back. As he says there in verse
15 of Revelation 16, Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is
he that watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked,
and they see his shame. So the Lord is coming back. And
when He comes back, and that seventh vial is poured out, there
will be total destruction and total wrath of God. God is speaking
here with a clear, loud, great voice of absolute authority,
the great voice out of the temple, commanding the wrath and judgment
of God, being filled with holy anger and wrath against all that
will not bow and submit to the Lord Jesus Christ in total surrender. Lord, I'm yours. Take me, I'm
yours. As we shall see, the Lord will use all the elements of
His universe to punish the wicked, as he did in the days of Moses
in Egypt, when the Lord sent those ten plagues upon the ten
plagues of his wrath upon Pharaoh and upon the Egyptians, which
only hardened their heart against God. Now you think of all those
ten plagues that kept falling and falling and falling upon
those in Egypt, and Israel was spared, but it never brought
Pharaoh to true, lasting repentance, did it? It hardened his heart. He spoke evil against the Lord.
He said to Moses, Who is the Lord that I should serve Him?
Well, you're going to find out. He knows now, God is God. But it never brought him to repentance,
did it? You see, it's the goodness and grace of God, the mercy of
God, that brings us to repentance. Okay, let's take a look at verse
2. Revelation 16 verse 2, And the first went, The first angel
was dispatched from the throne of God's sovereign will. And
he poured out, and poured out, and poured out the vial of wrath,
and wrath, and wrath upon the earth, upon the land. And out
of his vial, there was a fell, and there fell a noisome, a grievous
vexation, a horrible noisome, grievous sore upon men. which had the mark of the beast,
and upon them which worship his image. Now, when this wrath of God is poured
out upon the wicked, incurable diseases, plagues, fell upon
those that are followers of Satan, who worship the beast of false
religion, who had the mark of the beast in their right hand,
and had the mark of the beast in their forehead. For those
unbelievers, every sickness and every disease is sent by God
as a warning of judgment to come. And when sickness is final and
fatal, it brings to the wicked eternal wrath and condemnation. Now to the unbeliever. Let me
show an example of that. Turn over to the book of Acts.
You remember Herod in chapter 12. Turn to the book of Acts
chapter 12. Herod, there it says, He stretched,
Herod the king stretched forth his hand to vex the church and
he killed the brother of John, James, with a sword. And then
it says in Acts chapter 12 verse 21. Acts 12, 21. And Herod said
upon Herod was arrayed in his royal
apparel and sat upon his throne and made an oration. Thought
he was somebody. And the people gave a shout,
saying, It's the voice of a God, not man. And the angel, immediately
the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory,
and was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost. That's the vial
of God's wrath. That's some of that noisome,
grievous sore. Now, we see various sicknesses and diseases
upon men. Cancer. How about COVID? These things come from the throne
of Almighty God. And upon unbelievers there are
judgments of wrath." Now, you say, well, believers get sick.
Yes, they do. Listen to this. For the believer,
sickness and trials are not working against us. They're not vials
of wrath, but vials of mercy. They are working for our eternal
good. All things work together for
good to them who love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose. They're called precious trials,
more precious than gold. We may suffer the same sicknesses,
but not for the same reason. God's not punishing our sin.
It's not the wrath of God. It's His goodness toward us.
David says this in Psalm 119, It's good for me that I've been
afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes. It's good for me. I know, O Lord, that Thy judgments
are right, that Thou and Thy faithfulness has afflicted me."
Now, you think about that as a believer the next time you
get sick, the next time you're going through a trial. It's not
God's wrath, it's His longsuffering and His goodness toward you that's
working for your eternal good. Now, let me say this. The Lord,
out of love, does chasten His people, The chastisement upon
the elect are tokens of His love for our eternal good, but they're
not tokens of His wrath. They're tokens of His goodness.
He does chastise us and send us trials because He loves us.
He loves us. Now, look at verse 3. The second angel poured out his
vial upon the sea. And it became blood. You remember
in Egypt, that happened there in the plague. One of the plagues
was the waters of the Nile were turned to blood. And out of the
vial, out of his vial upon the sea, and it became death, blood,
as the blood of a dead man. And every living soul died under
the judgment of God. The second angel pours out more
of the wrath of God upon the seas and oceans. which are sometimes
used as vials of wrath and instruments of judgment against this wicked
world. We've seen that down through
the centuries, haven't we? By the disasters at sea, by hurricanes
and floods, many unbelievers are swept into eternal condemnation
under the waters of God's wrath being instruments of death to
them. Every living soul died. And that's what all of us deserve.
There are no exceptions to this rule when the wrath of God is
poured out upon the wicked. With effectual result, none will
escape the wrath of God, for the wage of sin is death. But,
preacher, don't believers sometimes die in floods and disasters? Yes, they do. We've experienced
that here recently, locally, haven't we? What is it? 39, 40, 41 people died in this
recent flooding back in July. Believers sometimes die in these
floods and disasters. Yes, they do. But not in wrath,
but rather in mercy. In mercy. And here's why I can
say that. Blessed are those, it says over
here in chapter 14 verse 13, you remember? Write, blessed
are the dead which die in the Lord. Sayeth the Lord from henceforth
that they may rest from their labors and their works to follow
them. That's a blessing to die in the
Lord. Blessed are those who die in
the Lord. But now listen to this. Death to the believer is not
the wrath of God. It's not even the judgment of
God. It's the blessing of God. It's the answer to the Lord's
prayer in John 17. Our Lord prayed this for us.
Father, I will, that they also whom Thou hast given me be with
me where I am, that they may behold my glory which Thou hast
given me before the foundation of the world. So when any believer
dies, it's not under the wrath of God, it's under the mercy
of God, the love of God. It's the Lord calling us unto
Himself in eternal glory. We are confident, Paul said,
I say, willing rather to be absent from the body than to be present
with the Lord. That's what happens when a believer
dies. He goes to be with the Lord. For me to live is Christ, to
die is gain. Now, that gets us down to verse
4, Revelation 16 verse 4, and the third angel, poured out his
vial upon the rivers and the fountains of waters, and they
became death, an instrument of death, an instrument of judgment.
And I heard the angel of the water say, thou art righteous,
O Lord, which art and was and shall be the eternal God, because
thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood
of the saints, and of the prophets, and thou has given them blood
to drink, death to drink, for they are worthy, worthy, they
are worthy of judgment. The third angel pours out his
vial of God's wrath on the rivers and waters, become into months
of death, holy wrath, and a just judgment against the wicked. Now, when I say the wicked, I
mean the wicked unbeliever, the ungodly unbeliever. The third angel of the waters
said, the Lord is righteous in His judgment. He is right in
His judgment of wrath. He ever lived to enforce His
judgment, whatever the Lord does is right, just, and holy. Remember
what Abraham said in Genesis 18, 25, Shall not the judge of
all the earth do right? And we say with that angel, believers
do. Thou art righteous, O Lord. Thou
art righteous, O Lord, because you have just judged this way. The saints of God also agree
with the judgments of God now and in that day. You know what? Turn over here to Revelation
19. Revelation 19, look at verse
1. And after these things I heard
a great voice of much people in heaven saying, Hallelujah,
salvation and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God,
true and righteous are His judgments, for He has judged the great whore.
False religion, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication,
hath avenged the blood of His servants on at her hand. And again they said, Hallelujah. And her smoke rose up forever
and ever, and the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell
down and worshipped God that sat on the throne saying, Amen. Hallelujah. And a voice came
out of the throne saying, Praise our God, all ye His servants,
and ye that fear Him, both small and great. I heard, as it were,
the voice of a great multitude, and the voice of many waters,
and the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Hallelujah, the Lord
God Omnipotent reigneth. When God eternally judges the
wicked, every believer is going to say, Amen. Just and right
are all the ways of God. I had a friend of mine one time
told me, and he was totally wrong in what he said, and I tried
to correct him out of love, but he said, you know, if I'm in
glory and the Lord doesn't save my son, I'm not going to enjoy
heaven. And I told him, I said, every
believer is going to say amen to your son's condemnation if
God doesn't save him by his grace. So, you see, that's not a good
statement. I'm not going to enjoy glory
if my wife's not with me or if my son's not with me. No, we're
going to say amen to their condemnation. We're going to say hallelujah
to the Lord God omnipotent reign. Now, that's not being hard. That's
just being true. That's just so. Look at verse 6. For they have
shed the blood of the saints. Every believer is a saint. They
have shed the blood of the prophets. Our Lord said, which of the prophets
have not you killed? And thou hast given them blood
to drink death. What do they deserve? Death.
The wage of sin is death. One reason judgment falls upon
the allies of Satan is the persecution of the saints because of the
grace of God in the Gospel of God. You remember back over here
in chapter 6? Turn back over there. I think
it's chapter 6 verse 9. And when He had opened the fifth
seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain
for the Word of God, for the testimony which they held. And
they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord? How
long? Holy and true, does that not judge and avenge our blood
on them that dwell on the earth? How long? Judgment's coming.
Payday's coming. Payday's coming. Now, they have
shed the blood of God's people, and God will take vengeance and
give them what they rightly deserve, for they are worthy, it says
there. We're not to avenge ourselves, but rather give place unto wrath,
for it is written, vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord, I will
repay. They deserve and they're worthy
of God's just wrath. Deuteronomy 32 said, to me belongeth
vengeance. and recompense, and their foot
shall slide in due time, for the day of their calamity is
at hand, and things that shall come upon them shall make haste."
Judgment's coming. Judgment's coming. The wrath
of God is coming. And it is now. Now, verse 7. And I heard another out of the
altar say, even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous
are thy judgments." Now, all the judgments of God are true
and righteous. When He judged the Lord Jesus Christ as our
substitute, bearing our sin, His judgment was right and true,
wasn't it? The Lord Jesus was guilty. as charged with our sin. And what did that bring? His
death. The Lord Jesus Christ took all the wrath of God due
our sin and put it away. He drank the cup of wrath dry
in our room and in our stead. And there is therefore now no
condemnation to those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me give you this, verse 8
and 9. The fourth angel poured out his
vial of the wrath of God. The fourth angel comes from the
throne of God, the sovereign throne of God, with his vial
full of the wrath of God. And he poured out his vial upon
the sun, and fire was given unto him to scorch men with fire. The fiery judgment of God. Our
God did consuming fire. The sun doesn't burn of itself.
The sun in our sky? What is the energy behind that? And the sustaining force behind
that? It is God who is light. It is God who controls all things.
And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun, and power
was given unto him to scorch men with fire. Fire is always
a symbol of judgment. And men were scorched. It says
burned. in the marginal reference, with
great heat. And they blasphemed the name
of God, which had power over these plagues, and they repented
not. They repented not. It didn't
change their mind. It did not change their mind.
The fourth angel pours out his vows of wrath of God, using the
sun to send down fire, like in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah.
In Genesis 19, verse 23 and 24, the fire and brimstone fell from
heaven and consumed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and all
in those cities, but Lot and his family. God delivered just
Lot. Like in the days of Korah and
his friends, who rebelled against God's servant Moses, the earth
opened them up and swallowed them, and then God sent fire
upon 250 of their friends and consumed them. Our God is a consuming
fire. Now what the Lord did in that
day, He will do again, even more so and totally, when this earth
and this world is destroyed with what? Fire. Turn over here to
2 Peter 3. 2 Peter 3. Now I know then our
environmental friends, our environmental friends who are trying to pass
laws and legislation to prevent global warming, they haven't
passed any laws or legislation yet to prevent global burning,
have they? God's going to burn this place
up. They're concerned about global warming, climate change they
call it. They're not concerned about global burning. They don't
know anything about the wrath of God that's coming. Look what
he says over here in 2 Peter 3. The day of the Lord will come
as a thief. That's what we read there in
Revelation 16, 15. The day of the Lord will come
as a thief in the night in which the heavens shall pass away with
a great noise and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.
The earth also and the works therein shall be burned up. It's
going to burn up. Seeing then that all these things
shall be dissolved. What manner of person ought ye
be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening
unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens, being
on fire, shall be dissolved with elements, the elements shall
melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless, we, according to
his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness." These severe judgments, notice,
did not bring the rebels to repentance. It only produced more rebellion
and anger against God. Judgment and wrath, now listen
to this statement, judgment and wrath alone will not change the
heart of a sinner. It will only serve to harden
him. It's only the grace of God, the
goodness of God, the mercy of God that brings us to faith,
brings us to Christ in faith and repentance toward God. Paul
writes about it in Romans 2. He says, the riches of his goodness
and longsuffering, knowing that the goodness of God leads us
to repentance. True repentance always believes
and loves the truth of God and glories in God. True repentance
always acknowledges and loves the truth of the gospel. And
true repentance is the gift of God. It's not due to the wrath
and judgment of God. It's due to the gift of God,
the grace of God. Paul said this, Be gentle. Servants of the Lord must not
strive, but be gentle unto all, able to teach, in meekness instructing
those that oppose themselves, if perventure God will give them
repentance to the acknowledging of the truth." You see, it's
the grace of God, the Gospel of God, that brings us to faith
in Christ and true repentance. True repentance, like faith,
are sovereign gifts of God. Him hath God exalted with His
right hand to be Prince and Savior, for to give repentance unto Israel."
And again in Acts chapter 11, when the Jews heard that God
had saved a bunch of Gentiles, they glorified God and said,
then, hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance? Repentance,
like faith, is a gift of God. Repentance, true repentance,
acknowledges that God is God. True faith acknowledges that
God is God. My friend, just consider, I'll
quit with this statement, just consider for a moment what we
deserve. Now we deserve the fiery wrath
and judgment of God. That's what we deserve. That's
what sin deserves. Nothing but judgment for our
sin against God. And we've all sinned. And then
consider what we have by His grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. He has blessed us with all spiritual
blessing in the heavenly in the Lord Jesus Christ. God who spared
not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall
not He with Him also freely give us all things? Who can lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who
is He that condemns? It is Christ who has died. Yea,
rather, is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God,
who also makes intercession for us. Therefore, nothing can separate
us from the love of God, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Every believer can say, I am
what I am. What? By the grace of God, by
the grace of God. Now we know, we know what we
deserve. Don't we? We know what we have,
what has been given to us freely by His grace in Christ Jesus.