Prelude to the Bowl Judgments - Revelation 15:1-8

God committed to encouraging you to put God first won't even like the window in the Bible. Now, in honor of the one and only true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Let's join Wayne see Thomas for today's message. Will this week we are continuing our series in the great book of Revelation. Looking at the prelude to the bowl judgments in Revelation chapter 15 what we find is that this is actually the shortest chapter in the entire book. But we must not mistake the lack of size for lack of importance because we going to see three things here in this chapter. No one would want to see that it concludes the events revealed in chapters 10 through 15 concerning visions in heaven or conditions on the earth to the middle of the tribulation. Number two. It serves as an introduction to the great tribulation that is the latter half of the tribulation described in chapter 16 with the seven angels will pour out the bowls of God's wrath and then number three, it reveals important truths concerning the wrath of Almighty God before we go to the text.

Let us look to our Lord. For the word of prayer. Every father we thank you Lord Jesus for this day. We thank you Lord for your word. We asked to open our hearts and our minds to receive what it is you have for us. In today's message we pray Lord that all things are spoken there to be nothing but sound doctrine. May you be honored and glorified in all things in your name Jesus. A man so turn your Bibles with me to Revelation chapter 15 were going to begin with verse one then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues were in them the wrath of God is completes, we see that word. Another here the apostle John is relating back to two signs that were revealed in chapter 12 the sign of the woman which represented Israel and the red Dragon representing Satan. So here he's describing 1/3 Psalm he calls it great and marvelous which indicates to me that this is the most significant of all the signs thus far.

This is a sign revealing the final act of God's judgment upon the earth. In this age. Thus, it has great spiritual significance we seen God's judgment in history we saw it at the Tower of Babel. We saw it at the fluid and noise day. We saw it at Sodom and Gomorrah sought at Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and then the following dispersion for nearly 2000 years of the nation of Israel. So what would want to see here is that God's final judgment of this age. The result of his wrath being fueled up is going to take place that we also see the word sign there in verse one that word sign is found 77 times in the New Testament, it is important though that we do not interpret sign to me that Revelation is full of signs that are difficult for the average person to understand because John use this term and related words and predicting our Lord's death in John chapter 12 verse 32 through 33 and if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to myself. This, he said, signifying by what death he would die that word signify has signed as the root word so this is not a hitting sign, but a plain statement that Christ will be lifted up on the cross, we often times will sing that song to find lifted up.

We think about it is lifting up our Lord in praise and that is certainly something that we should always do. But this is talking about the fact that he would literally be lifted up on to the cross and then we see this again in John 1832 that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spoke, signifying by what death he would die in John 2119 and in reference to Christ prophecy of Peter's death. This he spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God and when he had spoken this he said to him, follow me. I will Lord Jesus referred to his own death, burial and resurrection as the sign of the prophet Jonah a period of three days and three nights. Just as Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. So we look at the book of Revelation. It is very important and it becomes so much more understandable when the word sign is recognized as a symbol of Revelation. In Revelation 13 is says blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it for the time is near. Revelation is a symbol of Revelation, the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Any special blessing is there for those who read and hear and keep the things which are written in it, and what were going to see in chapter 16 is that the sign of the seven angels that are going to results in the literal judgment from God upon the earth as his wrath becomes completes bringing the tribulation period to a close and that is why we see seven angels. That is why we see seven last plagues. They represent the completeness of God's wrath was seven is the number of perfection seven is the number of completion. It is the number of God and then in verse two and I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. This is likely the same see in Revelation 46 before the throne there was a sea of glass like Crystal and in the midst of the throne and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back.

If you ever looked out on a lake on a calm day when there's no we ended all the CERT is hitting it just writes it really looks like a sheet of glass and we see that is not disturbed by the win is not being disturbed by storms and that is what we see here we see the conveyance of stability in this very well could represent the word of God. What we see in Scripture is that the sea of glass in Solomon's Temple represented the word of God, and we often times see in Scripture as well.the term C refers to people and then we see here that there is far your mingled with this sea of glass.

This very well may indicate the trials of fire that were endured by the tribulation saints we see here believers in Christ, they have rejected the antichrist supported to understand that these are tribulation saints, not church age. Things the church a saints were enraptured before the tribulation.

What we see here are those who came to know and accept Jesus Christ after the rapture, those who were not born again, but became saved during the tribulation to know our Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and many commentators believe these people are are are standing here in the sea of glass, because they have been martyred by the beast by the antichrist for their faith in Jesus Christ, and it may appear to those on the earth. During this time into the antichrist that he is victorious because he's killing them what he's doing is actually sending them into eternal life. First Corinthians 1555 through 57 says oh death where is your sting go Hades, where is your victory.

The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, we have to keep perspective when we think about our lives. We have to be eternally minded. That is something that I am always stressing and as I mentioned before, I was talking to a friend of mine not too long ago who was a pastor in he mentioned that this covert, 19 pandemic has revealed how many people even within the church fear death, and I agree with him because you see such irrational thinking such irrational behavior where people are looking at it as saving their earthly life is the most important thing. There is folks, we were made to live for eternity. And when we leave this earth, we are going to be in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are going to inherit eternal life. That is, for those of us who have received him as Lord and Savior so we should not fear covert or anything else that could bring about death because we have eternity waiting for us in the presence of our great and Almighty Lord.

So these tribulation saints.

Here are going to receive the martyrs crown receipt represent James chapter 1 verse 12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation for when he has been approved you will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him. Revelation 210 do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation 10 days before a full and to death and I will give you the crown of life.

So these tribulation things are going to receive the crown of life and they're going to receive special positions during the millennial kingdom and likely for eternity and we see that they are playing harps, which is often referred to as the instrument of heaven. Then in verses three and four. They sing the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb, saying, great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty just and true are your ways, O King of the saints who shall not fear you will Lord, and glorify your name for you alone are holy.

For all nations shall come and worship before you, for your judgments have been manifested that if either they are singing the song of Moses does not mean that these are Israelites airfare will may be some Jews included in this group, but there singing the song of victory. The song of a victory that the Hebrew saying in the book of Exodus chapter 15. When the Hebrew slaves rejoiced when out of the clutches of Pharaoh in the parting and collapsing of the Red Sea, so likewise these tribulation saints there rejoicing when they are out of the clutches of the antichrist and the fact that these saints combined the song of Moses with the song of the Lamb can only mean one thing that Jesus Christ is God Almighty. There is no doubt to the deity of Jesus Christ. He is God in the flesh, God the son, who became one of us so that we could have eternal life. And then we see in these verses here in Revelation 15, three or four receive the characteristics that are attributed to our Lord.

We see the creation indicated in the statement great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty.

Then we see his justice just and true are your ways see him as the object of worship, O King of the saints who shall not fear you will Lord, and glorify your name and then we see his holiness for you alone are holy and then his omnipotence and eternity for all nations shall come and worship before you, for your judgments have been manifested so we see all these great characteristics of our great and wonderful Lord going to take a break for a brief announcement but don't go away. On the other side is going to come back looking more that the prelude to the bowl judgments don't go away you are tuned into God first program you're listening to Brian Thomas on God for more wine visit God not or the brown library. There you'll find articles and messages available as MP3 downloads on various topics such as salvation. There Anderson lesson is just to name a few. Also, sign up for our monthly newsletter and visit our web store visit God back to the program name is Brian Thomas and we are looking today at the prelude to the bowl judgments of Revelation chapter 15 and before the break we are looking at these great characteristics. These attributes of our great Lord and when I see the phrase great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty. So many things come to mind because I will Lord has done so many great things I will King Jesus created all things.

He created the entire universe. But when I look at our Lord God, I must say the greatest thing he's ever done was when he chose to become one of us when he chose to become a man and come to this earth to die for our sins so that we could have the opportunity for eternal life. No, I had a incidents a few months ago that I want to share with you in which I decided to relocate my homestudy my home office to a different room in the house so that things would flow better with the dynamics within our family, and the room that I chose is a room that is adjacent to the bonus room. The bonus room is where the kids spend the majority of their time and this adjacent room, though he did not have a a door simply had a doorway in opening. There was no way to close it off and so I wanted to be able to make the area private so so that I could focusing and concentrating block out the noise from the kids when I needed to and I researched and debated different ways to go about closing off this room man.

I settled on barn doors.

So I called up a barn door maker and and requested a quote in when he got the dimensions. He suggested that we use to doors because is a very large space. So these had to be custom made standard door sizes would not fit because it again is a very wide space is very tall so he gave me the quote to and we proceeded to go forward with the order, and a couple weeks later, he sent a email to me to let me know that the doors were ready and that he would deliver them. So he gave me a date and time in which he would drop them off and I informed him that the time in which he chose. My wife was actually given a virtual sermon for women's conference and she had asked that I would watch the kids and keep everything quiet in the house so that no noise was picked up during the virtual zoom sermon that she was delivering and so I told him that I would not be able to answer the door but to just stand them on the front porch and I would come out and get them later. So when my wife was done that day. I did just that. I went out to the front porch to bring the doors in and I inspected the doors to have some weight to them because I knew they were real would, but as I went to lift the first door. The door did not budge. I mean it was heavy. It did not move at all.

So I took a deep breath and I bent my knees and I got down low. When I stood up and lifted the door and again let me tell you this door was heavy. I carry the door from the front porch around to the side door and into the house into this room that I'm I'm now making the study and again I was. I was exhausted. These doors are heavy and I was I was huffing and puffing, the heart is beating fast and I was I had my hands on my knees and I was trying to catch my breath and then I thought to myself, this a second door that I have to go out and get so once I caught my breath to look to a degree. I went out to get the second door and in general how would you lift something heavy you try to what real fast leads you can hear your bit and put it down. You know to reach the destination.

But you see these doors so big and bulky and heavy. I couldn't take big steps in taking these tiny little babies that were trying to go fast in order to get them into the house as I am buckling under the weight of these doors so the second doors on coming into the house. I actually lost my balance or so to stumble bid and the door started leaning towards me as if he was actually going to come down on top of me and thankfully I was able to plant my leg and get enough leverage to keep the door upright but I eventually got the second door into the house.

Now I don't claim to be the strongest man in the world but I don't think I'm a weakling, either in the Gaza deliver the doors.

It was two of them, but for me carrying those doors from that short distance from the front porch to the side of the house and into the house. I did that on a Saturday as of the following Wednesday. My muscles were still sore from carrying them just that short distance, so I stayed to doors therein. I was debating as to okay how my now going to go about mounting these doors because they're so big and so heavy and I never actually mounted barn doors before I was actually dreading it.

I will admit, dreading the process because again I knew it was going to be a task so the doors stood there for over a month for nearly 2 months. I was just putting it off and dreading it. So eventually I decided to contact a couple of contractors to see if they could actually install the doors for me because again I'm just thinking there's this job is over my head and I want to make sure these heavy door stay in place but neither of the contractors panned out and so one day I decided okay I will take the bull by the horns or have some some free time I was on vacation between Christmas and the new year so I decided I'm going to take on the job and do it. So I began to put these header boards up and again that that the length of these these behead aboard 7 1/2 feet each. So I was having some problems doing it alone, but through some starts and stops in trials and errors. I eventually got got it up and so to make a long story short, I did eventually get everything installed but as I got to the next-to-last step which was to actually hang the doors and if anyone is not familiar with the way these barn doors workings is that you you you mount these rollers to the top of the doors and then the doors actually roll on a track I had that done so I went and I lifted the barn doors up onto the track and then to test them. I gently moved them from side to side and you know as I did that I just chuckled to myself and I shook my head because I thought as heavy as those doors are these doors way close to 200 pounds each, but once I got him up on that track I could with one finger open and close those doors and as I stood there and I thought about our Lord Jesus, I thought about when Jesus was nailed to the cross seat when when our Lord was home on the cross.

CN was hung there with him. The weight of CN was only in our Lord Jesus. CN from eternity past and into eternity present for all mankind. Everyone CN who had ever lived.

Riverwood live was placed upon our Lord Jesus. And as I thought about it I thought to myself how amazing it is that the Lord took the weights of that sin. And just like when I lifted those born doors up and I could move from side to side with so much ease. That is how it is with our Lord Jesus when we give our CN to him. We become born again we accept him as Lord and Savior, because he already paid the price at Calvary by dying for our sins, he takes that burden upon himself and so he gives us freedom. We don't have that weight but I thought about how many people are going through life and their stumbling in there that buckling in and some are even being crushed to the point of death under the weight of CN because they're trying to carry themselves easy folks we can't carry CN Jesus though has the power in the strength to do so. So give your see into our Lord, let him carry that weight so you can have freedom so you can have eternal life. But you know the most beautiful thing about it is our Lord did not stay on the cross seat. He died but he got up on the third day when he got up he got up with all power. He is now seated at the right hand of the father Jesus Christ use the way by which we inherit eternal life. He is the foundation that carries the weight of our sin is so as I think about those born doors and how they are there hanging on that track and how a transfer to took place even a home those doors there. The weight was transferred into the studs and and down through the floor in and through the floor into the foundation and the foundation is carrying the weight of those doors in our Lord Jesus Christ.

We give our lives to him.

He takes on the weight of our seniors and that that that foundation that he is our Lord.

He carries that weight for us. But you see, was also beautiful about it is when we come to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior doesn't mean we won't have to do with CN anymore at all because things still want to throw some things in your way. When you're walking alone you look ahead and you CC and in front of you. All you have to do is just take one finger and move it to the side because you see you're not carrying the weight.

It is our Lord Jesus is carrying it for you and and you can just walk right on by. And then you can turn a look back at that that CMU to say thank you Lord Jesus for carrying my senior. Thank you for dying for me. Thank you for taking that burden off my shoulders so great and marvelous as our Lord's work. That is why the Lord is worthy to be praised. That is why he is worthy of all the honor and all the glory because he takes the weight of our seniors.

He died as the perfect sacrifice so I encourage everyone today. If you've never received them as Lord and Savior do so today.

Give it all to Jesus Christ that you can have freedom and not have to carry the weight and the beautiful thing about it. Also be is not only does Allah carry the weight of CN, but when you were suffering through grief from the loss of a loved one. We were suffering through sickness, give it to Jesus Christ. He'll give you a joy in peace even in the midst of it that surpasses all understanding, because our Lord can carry the weight so as we look at verse five.

After these things a look to behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. John sees the holy of holies the temple is referenced 15 times in Revelation, it refers to either the temple and heaven, or the absence of the temple in the new Jerusalem.

Here it refers to the tabernacle and the holy of holies, where the ark of the testimony was In the ark were tables of stone that both the tabernacle and tables of stone were duplicates of originals in heaven.

So the testimony date emanates from the tabernacle is seen in the ark of the covenant, our God always keeps his covenant with Israel. Anyone who enters into a covenant relationship with him, including the, the church who into the new covenant by the blood of Jesus Christ because our Lord's true level Lord is is faithful to his word and then as we move on to verse six and out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plays, clothed in pure bright linen having their chest girded with golden bands. This is the third time we see a group of seven angels at once. We saw seven angels, one each that were assigned to the seven churches in chapters 2 and three. Each of the seven angels were given trumpets in the trumpet judgments and so these angels come out of the temple so apparently they were given access to the presence of God.

The Old Testament tabernacle and temple work patterns or symbols of this true heavenly temple. If you remember in the earthly dwelling place of God.

No person was permitted except the high priests once per year to enter into the holy of holies, and only then it was after meticulous preparation. If you recall, that is why the high priest where bills on his robe and that is why they would tire of a rope around his his foot because if he went in there and he was not properly prepared to be in the presence of God, he would die and they couldn't going to get them where they would die as well so they would have to pull him out by the rope so we see the importance of being in the presence of our Lord and what we see in verse seven. Then 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. So, as each angels exes the temple, one of the four living creatures gives each a bowl full of the wrath of God and the wrath of these bowls will be revealed in chapter 16, then a final verse of the day the temple was filled with smoke and the glory of God and from his power, and no one was able to enter the temple to the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed. So the temple feels with smoke and no one is allowed to have into the temple into God's wrathful judgment is completed at the unit of the tribulation.

God is now dealing with mankind and judgment as opposed to mercy.

So as we look at this brief chapter in Revelation opens and closes with the wrath of God depicts the scene in heaven of God sending out his angels for judgment to perform his last act of bringing people to himself to have you receive our Lord Jesus today. If you have not.

I encourage you to do so because you don't have to be here to face this wrath can be taken away by way of the rapture because God says his wrath is not appointed to those who put their faith and trust in him, and encouraged today never received him just like I told you earlier about those barn doors give it to Jesus Christ. Give your life to him. Give him the scene you you know that you are buckling under the weight you are buckling under the ways of the world and you don't have true peace and true happiness give it to Jesus Christ you may have true freedom so that you may inherit eternal life where we are all out of time for this week I want to thank you for joining me, please come back next week as we continue to encourage you to put God first. While you alive through the window of the Bible until they remember to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, less God's great nation of Israel.

The only wise God be glory. Jesus Christ, forever. Amen. You can blame God for Ryan and I first was protected under our copyright website.org until next time great nation of Israel first