[0:00] I realize that Revelations is a part of the book that many people don't look at because they find it too difficult.!
[0:30] Jesus Christ. And we can say it is final because of what we read in the previous chapter, where we find that the last opportunity to repent was gone.
[0:45] The time of reaping has come. The earth's harvest is ripe. Why should people take a chance to risk hell and an eternal separation from God rather than take God seriously?
[1:02] But as we look to when Jesus himself was on earth, many people were not prepared to believe in him and lived through the pleasures of sin for a season.
[1:18] So what we have here before us is an example of the enduring patience of God. And it has finally come to an end.
[1:30] John is shown some terrible scenes at the end of time. The story of the earth is history. Now with John sharing in this book what he has seen.
[1:43] This should not make us want to put things right between ourselves and the Lord Jesus Christ while there is still time.
[1:54] That we too might be made right with God and fit for the kingdom. How will Jesus feel that day when he sees the millions being cast into hell because they chose not to follow him?
[2:08] They chose not to listen to his call when he called them. If you know in your heart of hearts tonight, and I don't know your hearts.
[2:22] Sometimes I wonder if I know my own. If you know in your heart of hearts tonight that you don't yet belong to Jesus Christ, do not neglect this renewed opportunity to come to him.
[2:39] Early on in my ministry, a friend called to ask how things were doing. And I said to him that I spent much of my time preparing from the word.
[2:52] To which he replied, Consider it all joy, my brother. The apostle James said, Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.
[3:07] And I don't think there's anyone here tonight who hasn't faced a trial of some kind. And one of the great trials of the believer, and particularly the pastor, the minister, is to see those who are careless about a future without Jesus.
[3:29] Oh, how we rejoice when we see someone coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But does our hearts not ache?
[3:39] Is it not a burden to us? We who have met with the Lord Jesus and live for him when family and friends have no word of a saviour.
[3:55] The day may come. The day may already have come when God has wiped or will wipe his hands off them.
[4:06] And I often think of that verse in John chapter 5 and verse 40. You refuse to come to me to have life. I think that's one of the most awful verses in the Bible.
[4:22] You refuse to come to me to have life. Oh, friends, let's not mess about with God when he's seeking to show his love in the Lord Jesus Christ.
[4:38] What John sees here in this vision is like a battlefield under fire. And we've heard much of horrendous battles in recent days.
[4:53] And even worse, because it's like soldiers fighting here with bows and arrows against a nuclear arsenal. And they've no chance whatsoever. The battle is already over.
[5:07] Nothing they can do. Nothing they do can now save them. This is what John saw. And he describes it as great and wonderful. But only for those who are protected through faith in Christ.
[5:25] Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels and seven plagues, which are the last. For with them the wrath of God is finished.
[5:41] You may wonder what led me to this kind of chapter or this kind of part of the Bible tonight.
[5:54] Well, I was watching the king's harpists playing and singing the song of Moses found in this chapter. Now, one of the king's harpists is the last tour leader we had in Israel.
[6:09] She was a wonderful lady. And she brought her harp with her as we were going around the sites and we sang psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. And she was quite amazed that this group from Scotland were singing the Psalms of David.
[6:25] It was a wonderful time. And that's what brought me to this chapter tonight. The harpists are a group of messianic followers of Jesus.
[6:38] They're Jewish people. They gather in Jerusalem and play and sing just at the southern steps there often. And if you want to you can see their videos on YouTube. Here in Revelations 15 we are shown the catastrophic effects of sin.
[6:56] ending with the Lord's judgment on sin and on sinners. The new heaven and the new earth are just moments away at this point.
[7:08] And I saw verse 2 what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire and also those who had conquered the beast in its image and the number of its name standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hand.
[7:23] As with much of the imagery we have in Revelations it reminds us of some of the Old Testament scenes. Exodus 14 tells us of the redemption of God's people Israel as they were about to cross the Red Sea and the sea became a wall of water and how the cloudy and fiery pillars protected them concealed them from the Egyptians who were chasing them.
[7:52] God had given freedom to the Israelites from the from the evils of Pharaoh and powerful though Pharaoh thought he was he was not a match for God the God of Israel our God.
[8:14] That's the kind of imagery we see here standing beside the sea are those who have been victorious they are the followers of Jesus Christ now safe on the other shore we think about crossing the Jordan and it is he oh it's the Lord Jesus who has brought them across no wonder John said it was wonderful when he when he sees them singing with melodious voices and accompanied by harps harps of God in their hands and they sing the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb saying great and amazing are your deeds Lord God almighty just and wonderful are your ways oh king of the nations who will not fear you oh God and glorify your name for you alone are holy all nations will come and worship you isn't that a wonderful scene for your righteous acts have been revealed notice it's not only called the song of
[9:25] Moses it's also called the song of the Lamb and no wonder because John sees that Jesus has triumphed over Satan to redeem his own and to deliver them into glory verse 5 says and after this I looked in heaven in the temple that is the tabernacle of the testimony was opened John had first seen into God's temple back in chapter 11 and now for a second time John sees into the heavenly temple that is into the very presence of God what a scene John saw the tabernacle was recognized as God's resident on earth and in comparison the earthly temple is a mere shadow the smoke of his glory was seen rising there by John and God's word confirms his glory his power his majesty again and again
[10:30] Isaiah chapter 6 and 4 when Isaiah saw the Lord we had the foundations of the threshold shook and the voice of him who called and the temple was filled with smoke oh these people back in the Old Testament days and indeed in the revelation saw some fearful and wonderful scenes back in Exodus 40 a cloud covered the tent of the meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle after this I looked and in heaven and in heaven the temple that is the tabernacle of the temple testimony was opened out of the sanctuary came seven angels with the seven plagues clothed in pure bright linen with golden sashes round their chests the bright linen and the golden sashes what does that speak of but their purity their purity and that nothing impure will ever be found in the presence of God in heaven in revelations five and eight
[11:42] John has seen the living creatures and the twenty-four elders holding golden bowls full of incense being the prayers of the saints your prayers my prayers and they sing a new song addressing the lamb and remember there's no time in heaven there's time on earth but there's no time there you are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you are slain there was only one who was worthy Jesus Christ and with your blood you redeemed men for God from every tribe and language and people and nations black white yellow whatever color whatever shade the sun has beset on the people they'll be there singing the song of the lamb and the fragrant smoke from the earlier scene were the rising prayers of God's people and we now find that smoke coming from bowls of wrath verse seven and one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues and the seven angels were finished oh can you imagine the pounding heart of John as he saw those scenes all this vision being played out before his mind and before his very eyes how could he stand it could we then chapter sixteen and one says then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels go pour out the seven bowls of
[13:53] God's wrath on the earth the voice from the temple in heaven was a voice of God which John along with the angels now heard and without delay the first angel did what he was asked and as do all the other six angels in quick succession the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land and ugly and painful souls broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshipped his image this is not reminiscent of the sixth plague in Egypt before the children of Israel were allowed to go and as you know today there are some things that affect only those prone to do things against the will of God while others are not affected I don't need to go into it in the eternal dimension of things sinners will always suffer in many ways that those who are following
[15:07] Christ cannot the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea and it turned into blood like that of a dead man and every living thing in the sea died the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water and they became blood everything is contaminated nothing can live in it no one can drink from it this too happened in Egypt during the first plagues there are still plagues of different magnitude in the world today some say that COVID may have been one of these I'm not going to go into that and then we have a brief pause in heaven to explain this condemnation verse 5 then I heard the angel in charge of the water say you are just in these judgments you who are and who you were the holy one because you have so judged for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve it's only right that
[16:39] God does this says the angels the wicked are receiving their just reward for the blood of the martyred they have blood on their hands truly eventually a man will reap what he sows Galatians 6 and 7 do not be deceived God cannot be mocked a man reaps what he sows the one sows to please the sinful nature from that nature will reap destruction the one who sows to please the spirit from that spirit will receive will reap eternal life what do we do what are we doing with our life on earth that will have a direct bearing on where we will spend eternity are you hearing the voice of
[17:45] God speaking to your heart not just not only just now but over a period of time are you turning to God in repentance are you asking him to forgive you from all of your sins and I heard the altar respond yes Lord God almighty true and just are your judgments this is an echo of the song of the lamb and the song of Moses just and true are your ways O king of the nations God is not going to make any mistakes on that day he will give to each one as they deserve he will give them their just deserve whatever it is to be joy eternal or everlasting doom you and
[18:49] I choose our own destiny in a sense by accepting Jesus as our saviour or refusing his offer of salvation and if you have heard the gospel once and refused have you any right to hear it a second time have I our God is merciful and many of us had to hear his gospel several times maybe hundreds of times before we bow the knee to king Jesus the fourth angel poured out his bowl and the sun and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire and they were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God who had control over the plagues but they refused to repent and glorify him there are those who subscribe to global warming and believe that they are in control of matters
[19:59] God's not in it nothing to do with him it's because we're polluting the world they say that the world is in danger of overheating in danger because of the melting ice at both ends of the earth and his flooding nations and so on they must save the world but do they care a jot for their eternal soul those whom John saw in the heaven didn't cry for protection why because they already had the protection of the lamb they had lived on this earth for Jesus and the people that are being scorched in the vision were cursing the name of God because they had handed themselves over to the power of
[21:07] Satan on earth and John is showing us all of this because of Jesus' great love for us Jesus wants no one not a soul to end up in this state but tragically that will be the end for some Jesus is letting us know this day of his great love for sinners and who will respond to that love verse 10 the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast and his kingdom was plunged into darkness men nod their tongues in agony and curse the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores but they refuse to repent of what they had done what a tragedy what tragedy their idolatry had brought upon them they worship the beast rather than worship the lamb who takes away sin
[22:08] Jesus the redeemer of sinners what darkness man can get himself in spiritually in these days millions have followed and idolized men over the centuries great men maybe in different ways but what are the idols that people follow in our day and in our generation the pop stars the footballers the TV personalities some who are filled with ego and self importance and by their lifestyle dragged others into the pit of hell with them oh be careful who you take as role models fashion your lives on the humanity of Jesus not on any man or woman in this earth and when we are tempted to point to a Christian who may not be walking with
[23:18] God as we think he should or she should be please be aware that this could be a ploy of Satan to take you and me away from Christ Christ the men here cursed God isn't it strange how people curse God when things are not going their way someone dies maybe tragically and they curse God and yet they had no time for God up to that very moment oh wonderful things have happened to people who have come up against tragedies and they have gone the other way and accepted Jesus as their saviour and maybe we know some of him the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates and his water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east the
[24:24] Euphrates is about 1700 miles long and very deep and very wide in places and it's going to dry up because of the sun's scorching heat the Euphrates runs through Turkey and Syria and Iraq and maybe other places as well as an area of great instability in our day and commentators wonder if what's happening in our day in these areas is the beginning of the end of time then I saw three evil spirits that look like frogs and they came out of the mouth of the dragon out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of a false prophet they are the spirits of demons performing miraculous signs and they go out to the kings of the whole world to gather them for battle on the great day of the
[25:24] Lord Almighty the frogs of the Egyptian plague in Exodus invaded all the homes the frogs here had found their way even into people's hearts deceives them from king to pauper but those who walk with God as followers of Jesus and who have come to him for for forgiveness are safe behold I come like a thief blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him and so that he may go so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed this is a similar instruction to the church in Laodicea in Revelation chapter 3 but the deceived gather for the final battle here verse 16 then they gathered the kings together in the place that in
[26:28] Hebrew is called Armageddon I have stood over the plain of Megiddo southwest of the sea of Galilee is a huge plain miles long it's a wide plain it's also known as the valley of Jezreel and numerous military conflicts have taken place there in the Old Testament the Israelites the Egyptians the Canaanites did battle on Megiddo the British army fought there as well they fought the Ottoman Turks in 1918 and is it any surprise that the battle on the great day of the Lord God Almighty will take in this place sometime in the future because the word of God speaks about it and it's here that the last battle on earth is to be fought the grand finale the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne saying it is done it's over that's it we have heard these words or similar words before from the cross as
[27:44] Jesus breathes his last it is finished it is finished Jesus had paid the price there on the cross for the redemption of sinners for the redemption of mankind and through his agony there in Gethsemane and the pain that he endured at Calvary the people would be able to come through and endure pain in the last days because he promises to take them through he promises to be with them then there came verse 18 flashes of lightning rumblings peals of thunder and a severe earthquake no earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth so tremendous was a quake the great city split into three parts and the cities of the nations collapsed
[28:49] God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup filled with wine with the wine of the fury of his wrath every island flew away fled away and the mountains could not be found from the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men and they cursed God on account of the plague of hail because the plague was so terrible or maybe we might be saying to ourselves that'll never happen but you have some niggling doubt in your mind is it going to happen you see that's what the enemy of our souls would want us to believe that this is never going to take place our God wouldn't do anything like that when the battle of
[29:56] Waterloo was being fought it is said that the people on this side of the channel were waiting anxiously for a signal to see how the battle was going the news of the men who were fighting there and the message came through from a ship in the English Channel it read Wellington defeated and apparently the fog came down at that moment later when the fog lifted again the message was read a second time and this time the message was clearer Wellington defeated the enemy you know and I know that the victory in Christ is already won no matter what the message the world the flesh and the devil are trying to give us
[30:56] Satan was absolutely and thoroughly defeated at Calvary now since Jesus Christ is king can you and I say this new song of the lamb and say it is done it is finished when this time comes upon the world we need Jesus to take us through the time of tribulation he alone is the way the truth and the life no one absolutely no one comes to the father except through him I cannot save you none of your family can save you I can only share what Jesus has laid on my heart for tonight and I know that he has done this not without reason will you come to
[32:07] Jesus will you come now while there is time I remember one time in Gardenston I can't remember what part of the Bible I was preaching from but it was one of those times that I could have sunk down through a hole in the pulpit I felt that there was such a barrier I didn't want to meet the people at the door and as I was going!
[32:40] as I was going out the aisle this man tugged on my jacket and he pointed to his daughter tears streaming from her face the battle I was having was a battle being fought in the heavenlies over the soul that was coming to Christ will you come now if you haven't already come while there is still time life at best is very brief we used to sing in Garnson like the falling of a leaf like the binding of a sheaf be in time fleeting days are telling fast that the die will soon be cast and the fatal line be past be in time oh those will be dreadful days for those who have the mark of the beast who sold their soul to
[33:53] Satan through disobedience but as we started the service with John seeing into heaven he said this then I saw another sign in heaven great and amazing seven angels with seven plagues which are the last for of them the wrath of God was finished great and marvelous for those who are in Christ for those who belong to Christ Moses said to his people to the people of God long ago know the word is very near you it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it see I have set you I have set before you today life and prosperity death and destruction this day I call heaven and earth witness against you and
[34:54] I have set before you life and death blessings and curses now choose life so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God listen to his voice and hold fast to him you know in our day God is still speaking very clearly to those who have ears to hear but when will his voice become silent we don't know amen and may the Lord bless to us these thoughts from his holy word oh father we thank you for your presence among us here in this place tonight we thank you
[35:55] Lord for the challenge of your word to our hearts and father we pray for any who have been battling the battle with Satan tonight over their own soul oh lord throw alongside them bring them through to the other side and lord help them to be able to cross the Jordan into your holy and nearer presence as they leave the scene of time hear our prayers in Jesus name amen let's sing again and sing psalms number 103 page 135 from verses 8 to verse 18 the lord is merciful and kind to anger slow and full of grace he will not constantly reprove or in his anger hide his face to god's praise the lord is merciful and kind to anger slow and full of grace he will not constantly reprove for in his anger hide his face he does not punish our mistakes or give our sins their just reward and great his love as high as heaven towards all those who fear the
[38:02] Lord towards all those who fear the Lord as far as he is from the west so far his love has borne away our many sins and trespasses and all the guilt that!
[38:34] us slay just as a father loves his child so God loves those who hear his name for he remembers we are dust and well he knows our feeble frame and well he knows our feeble frame each human life is like the grass and like a meadow flower it grows its place will never be recalled once over it the tempest blows but everlasting is
[39:38] God's love for those who fear him and their sin for those who keep his covenant hand and carefully his precept seed and carefully his precept seed and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with each one of you and with all whom you love this day and forever more Amen