SERMON MANUSCRIPT
The book of Revelation records words spoken by the glorified Christ to his servant, John. It begins by encouraging, affirming, and correcting the body of Christ, represented by seven first-century assemblies. To one particular church family, Jesus makes a wonderful promise: “Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth” (Rev 3:10).
This divine declaration of exemption would have been very comforting to this book’s original recipients because of what they knew this hour of testing was going to be like. The OT calls it terrible. [Isa 13:9; Zeph 1:14–18] Jesus taught the same. [Matt 24:21] So did Paul. [1 Thes 5:2–3] So did Peter. [2 Pet 3:7, 10] And John, in Revelation as we’ve seen, adds even more clarity to the coming carnage.
Throughout history, the holy God of the universe has, stayed his hand of retribution, being “patient toward [sinful humanity], not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Pet 3:9). But that doesn’t mean evil is forgotten. No, as Paul says, the unrepentant are “storing up wrath for [themselves] in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Rom 2:5).
Sin in this world is building up like water against a dam until, one day, God will unleash his just wrath so as to punish evil and prompt faith in his Son, two thing that Christians don’t need. We stand forgiven as new creatures in Christ, justified by grace through faith in Christ, passed from death to life through Christ, and are not destined for wrath because we belong to Christ. [John 5:24] No judgement for us because Christ took our judgment on the cross and we don’t need to be convinced to believe in Jesus because we already have. It’s for these reasons the church will be kept from the hour of testing. Praise God.
But it still must come as restoration comes through wrath and peace through punishment. As we come today to chapter 15 of this prophesy, we’re nearing its culmination, a finish line that prompts celebration in heaven and sends devastation onto earth; a wrath that reveals human corruption while providing needed exhortation.
The end is near with these plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished (15:1). Seals will open to trumpets that will announce bowls, after which the Almighty will declare, “It is done” (16:17). There will have been death and devastation, demonic armies and celestial anomalies, all coming from God, he who opens the temple of the tabernacle of testimony in heaven (15:5) and sends angels (15:6) to empty the cup of the wine of his fierce wrath (16:19).
These bowls are the climax of God’s wrath and, as they’re given out, God’s glory and power are dialled up to an 11, so that every thing in heaven must recoil as from a raging bonfire. While God’s not fatigued by what has happened so far, it almost seems he sees the finish line of the great day of God, the Almighty (16:14) and turns it up to bring conclusion.
CELEBRATION
And yet, the first thing we find in this passage is celebration, hope-filled worship in heaven. We’re told of tribulation martyrs gathered around God’s throne, those whose faith had conquered Satan’s efforts.
They play harps as they sing the song of Moses, the bond servant, and the song of the Lamb (15:3). This isn’t two songs but one, an eschatological update of a classic. In this heavenly scene, those around the throne are taking Exodus 15, the classic hymn Israel sang to celebrate divine deliverance from Egyptian bondage and updating it to celebrate the climatic divine deliverance from bondage.
The song itself contains words of praise for and declarations of faith in a God who’s in the process of judging the earth. [15:3] “God, you have the power and authority to do what you’re doing and you’re right in doing it.” [15:4] “This judgement is a means to an end. It’s through this holy wrath that peace will be established.”
Add to that, after the third bowl of judgement is emptied, [16:5–7]. Isn’t it great when the bad guy, the bully, the villain gets what’s coming to them? Yes! because it scratches our God-given itch for justice! Here we find God being celebrated for that justice.
“Do you feel the world is broken? (We do) Do you feel the shadows deepen? (We do) But do you know that all the dark won’t stop the light from getting through? (We do) Do you wish that you could see it all made new? (We do).”
Let’s make those lyrics more specific. Do we see the evil winning? (We do) Do we hear of the lies spreading? (We do) Do you read of bombs and terror, drugs and rape, murder and abuse? (We do) Do you ache to watch goodness win and justice come in too. (We do)
DEVASTATION
And, as this passage illustrates, it will. That’s worthy of celebration. But while that’s happening in heaven, devastation is happening on earth.
In chapter 16, the bowls of the wrath of God are poured out upon those in abject rebellion against God, mirroring, in many ways, the plagues God sent upon a hard-hearted Pharaoh before the Exodus.
The first bowl contains terrible sores on the bodies of those who had the mark of the beast and who worshipped his image. More justice: those who took the mark of Satan on their skin now have marks of judgment on their skin.
The second and third bowls are emptied into the sea, rivers, and springs, turning all water to blood and killing all life therein. As we already read, the angel recognizes the fittingness of this wrath. They want blood? God’ll give them blood.
Bowl number four hits the sun, not darkening it as before (6:12; 8:12) but turning it up so as to severely burn those on earth.
The fifth bowl of wrath hits the beast—Satan’s prime puppet of this tribulation. Reflecting the ninth plague in Egypt, the beasts’ kingdom is plunged into darkness, highlighting the agony of this time. [16:10b]
Bowl six is poured on the great river, the Euphrates, to dry it up. At first this seems relatively tame but, as we keep reading, we see its dramatic purpose. [16:12b–14, 16] God is sovereignty providing for and moving his enemies—with their representative heads: the dragon, beast, and false prophet—into checkmate.
The final bowl is then emptied into the air and the end is declared. [16:18–21a] This particular city, representing rebellious and self-righteous humanity is cracked like a stale saltine under God’s power, experiencing wrath in proportion to its wickedness.
Boils, blood, and burns; draught, death, and darkness. There may be celebration in heaven, but there will be devastation on earth as God’s wrath arrives at its cumulative expression.
And if we find this scene offending our sensibilities, one—or both—of two things is likely true. First, our view of God is too low. Second, our view of humanity is too high. The only way that God judging evil can offend is if his holiness is minimized and our goodness exaggerated, two things the world is desperately trying to do and two things the church must actively avoid.
CORRUPTION
This text helps us keep things straight by magnifying God’s perfection, power, and justice, while highlighting humanity’s seemingly limitless capacity for rebellion. There’s celebration in heaven, devastation on earth, and there’s corruption in the human heart.
You’d think the chaos—the pain, the supernatural events, the evil of the dragon and his minions, the demonic activity—would prompt people to seek the shelter of the God sending it. But, instead we find the exact opposite. [16:9, 11, 21b]
Like Pharaoh when confronted by God’s power, they double-down on their hatred of God. When they could humble themselves to relief, they harden themselves to pain. While they could join the celebration above, they determine to endure the devastation below.
This is the corruption of the human heart. Left to ourselves, humanity is not good but rotten, rebellious, and idolatrous. “The intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Gen 8:21), “more deceitful than all else and … desperately sick” (Jer 17:9), leaving us “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph 2:1). All people have missed God’s standard of holiness and, thus, are deserved of wrath—this wrath, tribulation wrath, God’s wrath.
This is the corruption of the human heart. It’s bad news. But there’s good news too: God didn’t leave us in hopeless corruption. He sends help: creation, his prophets, his word, his Son, his Spirit, his church, his gospel, that which “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16).
Yes, my heart and your heart are fatally corrupted. But God sent his Son to die for that corruption, to pay the price for that rebellion. And he did on the cross and rose again defeating death and offers a new heart, an incorruptible heart, to all who place their faith in him.
Pharaoh had a choice. He could open his heart in obedience or hardened his heart in rebellion. He chose poorly. During the future day of the Lord, people will have a choice. They can open their heart in repentance or harden their heart in blasphemy. As we read, they will also choose poorly, refusing to glorify God.
We all have a choice as well. We can open our corrupt hearts in faith or harden our hearts in unbelief. We can trust that Jesus is the Son of God who died for our sins, rose from the dead, and offers eternal life to all who believe him for it, or we can blaspheme the one offering us shelter from the coming storm.
One thing is for sure from this passage: humanity has a great capacity for corruption. Praise God he has an even greater capacity for grace.
EXHORTATION
We’ve seen the celebration, devastation, and corruption. We now come to the exhortation Jesus parenthetically gives us in [16:15].
With the end of wrath and his second coming now near, the Lord Jesus calls his people to stay alert and stay clean!
He’s coming quickly and without warning. And because of that, Jesus pronounces a blessing on those who stay alert, who are watchful and who live their lives in light of his soon, any-moment return for his people. Blessed are those who wake up in the morning and wonder to themselves, “perhaps today!” and who put their heads on their pillows at night and pray, “perhaps tonight!” These are those who stay awake, stay ready, stay alert.
One part of alertness is doing laundry, keeping our clothing clean. The mention of clothing harkens back to the only other place it’s mentioned in Revelation: the letters and the throne room. [3:4, 5, 18; 4:4].
This is a call to righteousness. We receive garments of righteousness when we believe in Jesus and, one day, we will stand before Jesus totally righteous. [Phil 1:6] But between those two points, we’re called to pursue righteousness, to keep our clothes clean. [1 Tim 6:11] We don’t do this to maintain salvation but to avoid bringing shame to ourselves and to the Lord who saved us because of our hypocrisy. We stay clean to thank him, represent him, enjoy him, and anticipate him.
Stay alert and stay clean! Perhaps for you today that means being dressed in righteousness for the first time. Up until now you’ve been walking around dressed in the rags of your own morality and efforts, pretending they’re the latest and greatest fashion. You may fool others and fool yourself, but you don’t fool God. We’ve all been there, becoming aware (by God’s grace), that we need a wardrobe change that only God can provide. So, for you, to stay alert and stay clean means to believe the gospel today.
For others, you’ve done that, but you’re walking in sin. You’ve soiled the garments you’ve been given by the Lord. You’re apathetic to your faith, your rebelling against God, you’re rejecting parts of his word that offend the world in which we live, the world that hates God. It’s time to repent and come back. Get cleaned up. There’s always forgiveness and reconciliation waiting. You cannot out-sin God’s grace. For you, to stay alert and stay clean means to repent.
For still others, we need to grow in our ability to live in light of the soon return of Jesus. We’re worried about things in this world, stressed about things in this world, angry about things in this world, burdened by things in this world. Jesus is coming soon.
Yes, there will be devastation on earth and, yes, there even some of it now. Yes, there is corruption in the human heart. But, at the same time, the exhortation is clear: stay alert and stay clean, because the celebration does await.
Josiah has served the Oakridge Bible Chapel family as one of its elders and one of its pastoral staff members since September 2018, before which he ministered as an associate pastor to a local congregation in the Canadian prairies. Josiah's desire is to be used by God to help equip the church for ministry, both while gathered (edification) and while scattered (evangelization). He is married to Patricia, and together they have five children—Jonah, Henry, Nathaniel, Josephine, and Benjamin.
