On November 13, 2009 the movie "2012" was released in theaters. The movie's premise was based on the prediction from the Mayan calendar that the world would end on December 21, 2012 and that it would be destroyed by a catastrophic worldwide flood. Since just before the release of this movie and after it... along with a History channel documentary, teenagers and inquisitive minds across America have wondered if the Mayans are right. Will the world end in 2012? If you watch the movie you'll notice that the world was destroyed by a flood and mankind survived only on modern day forms of Noah's Ark found in the Bible. While many cultures have a flood story, it was interesting to see that they used Noah's Ark as the model for mankind's only hope. But what DID God say in story of the great flood of Genesis? He said He would never again destroy the world with a flood, in fact that's why we were given the rainbow... to remind us of that promise. What was the source behind the Mayan calendar? Astrology. The Mayans made predictions based on the stars. But again, what does God say about this? Isaiah 47:13-15 says, “You are wearied with your many counsels; let them stand forth and save you, those who divide the heavens, who gaze at the stars, who at the new moons make known what shall come upon you. Behold, they are like stubble; the fire consumes them; they cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. No coal for warming oneself is this, no fire to sit before! Such to you are those with whom you have labored, who have done business with you from your youth; they wander about, each in his own direction; there is no one to save you." Maybe 2012 isn't the answer. But if it's not, what is? When will the world end? When will all the crazy people with signs that say, "THE END IS NEAR" ever be right? This is the question we ask. But is it the right question? I'm convinced the question is not WHEN the end will come, but WHAT will you do in the light of the fact that the end is certainly coming? THAT MUCH is a reality. The end will come. What I wanna do today is give you just a glimpse into the end of the world found in the Bible. Please prepare yourself though, because this is where the fun and games end. Turn with me if you would to the last book of the Bible, Revelation... Chapter 16, v.8-9. (REPEAT) (READ)
Now I need to catch you up to this point... God tells us a day will come when Jesus Christ takes His people from this earth to heaven. We call this the "rapture." We know this will happen because 1 Thess. 1:10 tells us, "...to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come." 1 Thess. 4:16-17 also says,"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord." You may or may not have heard of the Left Behind movies. They were produced by Christians and they've tried to dramatize what this event may look like if it happened in our day. I suggest you check them out. This event is what essentially begins the chain of major events that lead to the end. It will happen on a day when the world doesn't expect it. We know this because Jesus Himself has even said in Matt. 24:36, "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone."
After this rapture a 7 year period of trial the Bible calls the "Tribulation" will come. During this Tribulation there will be a span of judgments on the earth and those left in it. The world will be hit with plagues, famine, judgments on the earth and water supply, and whole fractions of the world population will be wiped out. These judgments come in the form of
(1) 7 Seals on a scroll that are broken
(2) 7 Trumpets that are sounded, and...
(3) finally in the second half of the Tribulation... 7 Bowls that are poured out.
Of these bowls, 3 of them are directed at the earth and animals and 4 of them are directed at people. 2 of those 4 are specifically against the worshipers of the beast (who is often called an evil world ruler or the "Antichrist"). God tells us his worshipers will not be saved. The 4th Bowl judgment here in v.8-9 and it's recipients are of those other 2 who have sinned, but aren't directly specified as being worshipers of the beast.
SO... picture the scene with me: The doors of the temple begin to open as the world squints their eyes in frightful anticipation of what's in store for them. Smoke pours out of the doorway. 7 men step out onto the smoke like a blanket. The men are dressed in gold and white. Their appearance of perfection and purity bring conviction to the eyes of those who see them. They're each given golden bowls that match their perfection, the contents of which are shrouded in horrific secrecy. A loud voice thunders from the temple and says in 16:1, "Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God." The FIRST bowl is poured out on the worshipers of the beast and became a malignant sore on their skin. The SECOND bowl is poured out on the sea and it's turned to blood. Every living creature in it does. The THIRD bowl is poured out upon the rivers and springs, turning them also to blood. But now the FOURTH bowl... this is what we're looking at this morning. Why this one you ask? Because the language of this judgment communicates a warning that none of the other bowl judgments can do as clearly as this one does. So let's look at it. I want you to see....
**GO SLOWLY
FIRST, that The Justice and Wrath of God are real. (v.8-9a)
Now, one of the earlier judgments actually darkened a third of the sun, but the sun was still hot enough to do what's happening in this scene. The surface of the sun is about 20 times hotter than the earth. Usually it's just 25% of the sun's radiation that makes it's way to the earth. Here the heat of the sun that people have so often enjoyed throughout their lifetime is now against them. The sun's radiation penetrates the normal balance and brings fire upon mankind. Fire has been a basic weapon of judgment throughout this book. When Christ comes to judge his eyes are "like blazing fire" (1:14, 2:18), three of the trumpet judgments involved fire (8:7, 8; 9:17-18), and the ultimate fate of those who reject Christ will be the "lake of fire."
APPLICATION:
As you read this I imagine many things are going through your head. God wouldn't do that! He's a God of love! He's not harsh like that and if that's who God is, then He's no God I want to believe in! If that's you today, I want you to think about how you came to that conviction. How did your perception of God develop? And why is it the way it is today? If I were to ask you how you felt about rape, the answer would be obvious wouldn't it? If I were to ask you how you felt about child pornography... same thing, right? You see we have a concept of justice built within us. We have a knowledge of right and wrong. That comes from God. We are made in His image and therefore we are a reflection of His justice. God is not only infinite love, but He's also infinite justice. God is not some Divine Teddy Bear in heaven waiting for us to cuddle with him. The angels sing to Him in Revelation, "holy! holy! holy! is the LORD God ALMIGHTY." So you may ask why God would do this, but you may also ask, why does it have to be so severe?! It would be too easy for me and unhelpful to you if I just said, "They sinned."
The question isn't just about their sins, it's about who they were against. If you lie to a child there is little consequence. If you lie to a friend you could damage or lose that friendship. If you lie to your husband or wife you'll be sleeping on the couch. If you lie to the government there are legal and financial ramifications, but... if when you lie, your lie is against the God who says "You shall not lie" your problem is not horizontal it's vertical. When you sin against an eternal holy God it only makes sense that the punishment would be consistent with who you've sinned against.
If you still feel this is wrong and unfair... I want you to see that as you continue to reject God and all the warnings He's given us in the 65 books of the Bible leading up to this one... as you do that, you are the same as recipients of this judgment. You see, what makes this scene so horrific is that the sun could have consumed these people without them feeling a thing. it was hot enough to do that. But it didn't... because they were still... able... to respond to God. How did they respond to God? That brings us to the 2nd half of v.9. Not only do we see that The Justice and Wrath of God are real, but also...
SECOND, that The Rebellion of Man is real. (v.9b)
As they felt the heat of the wrath of God on their backs...
They weren't doubting if God existed.
They weren't questioning whether Jesus really walked on water or if the tide was just low.
They weren't wondering why there were so many religions in the world.
They weren't asking about the origin of evil.
They weren't trying to defend Evolution.
These things didn't seem to matter anymore, did they? There was no more time to be a skeptic. All their objections were thrown to the fire. What mattered now is that their lives were slipping away from them and they were powerless to stop it. What were their last words? What would you say in such a situation? What could you say? What would be worth saying? Well, with their dying breath they chose to blaspheme God. The text says they blasphemed "the name of God" and this is commonly used as a synonym for God as a whole.
APPLICATION:
"Blasphemy"
To blaspheme is to take God's name in vain. When you do something in vain you remove the content or value from what's being done. But isn't it interesting that we take God's name in vain. We don't take Adolf Hitler's name in vain. We don't take the President's name in vain. But we use God's name is if it were just another cuss word. At community college one day I found myself getting gas across the street. A woman next to me had returned to her car with a fountain drink that had to be less than a dollar. As she tried to shut the door the lid of the drink lost it's grip and she spilled some. She threw out a cuss word in frustration. But her situation escalated as she tried to solve the problem and only made it worse. She lost control of the drink and it busted all over the pavement. At that point she felt it necessary to take God's name in vain... over a fountain drink! Now I imagine the people in our text weren't new to blaspheming God. We're not told this, but we do know this wasn't their first sin. God is in the midst of judging them. And yet their reaction is not one of pleading for mercy, but instead it comes most natural to them to curse God in blasphemy. We're not given a list of their sins as we are sometimes with others in Revelation, but we do know their primary sin was their rejection of God's grace. If they would have received God's grace years ago they would have been taken up to heaven before all this happened.
CONCLUSION:
But what's the point of this 4th Bowl Judgment? Why was it given to us? Was it given to teach us about what would happen at the end of the world as we know it? Yes, the Bible is clear and specific about the major events that will happen and gives us a detailed account of that. But this judgment communicates a clearer warning to us than the others. Notice the 5th bowl judgment says the people also blasphemed and didn't repent. The 7th bowl judgment just says they blasphemed. But the 4th judgment says they blasphemed "the name of the God who has the power over these plagues."
This is very important... now don't we know God has the power and authority over these plagues? If you've read the book of Revelation all the way up to this point and you don't think God has power and authority over all this... you've been reading with your eyes closed. But why was this written. Would it help those who were being judged at all? No! They also know God has the power over these judgments. It's happening before their very eyes! We also read these people didn't "repent so as to give Him glory." But again we have to ask, did they repent? Would they have repented? No! God doesn't judge those who repent and are saved! Again... this wouldn't help these people to know... that their repentance would give save them and give God glory. I believe they already knew it. It has been preached for a long time. That's why I say this passage was given as a clear warning. A warning to those who are now rejecting God's offer of grace. And that warning is this...
BIG IDEA:
In light of the reality of the end, you must respond to God's grace while you still can. We aren't to be concerned with WHEN the end will come, but rather WHAT we will do because the end is coming!
The Bible doesn't speculate about when the end will happen. It just tells us clearly what the end will look like. The question is... how will you respond to it? This is the question of the 4th Bowl Judgment and ultimately the question of the entire book of Revelation. Have you ever taken God's name in vain? Have you made a god to suit yourself? A god that's only a god of love and not justice? If you have, that god is an idol... no better than a lifeless statue. If you've done these things as I did once, then you deserve the justice of God in a literal Hell, a lake of fire.
But there's hope... Rev. 7:16 tells us something about those who receive God's offer of grace and enter into heaven with Him, "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat." You see 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ came to this earth the FIRST time so that He could die on that cross, take your sin upon Himself and rise from the dead. God says you must turn your back on sin and put your trust in Him. So I say to you today, please don't wait to find out if these verses are talking about you. We don't know who these people are. Their names aren't given to us. May that wake you up today.
There will be people up front to talk to you about these things as the service closes. Please bring us any questions you may have. Let's pray...
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