For more information about our teaching and preaching ministry, you can find us online at cornerstoneorlando.org. The following sermon has been brought to you by Cornerstone Orlando, making disciples for the glory of God. The title of our sermon this afternoon is Bowls of Wrath. Bowls of Wrath, Revelation chapter 15, verse five through Revelation 15, verse eight. So this afternoon now in our study of the book of Revelation, we begin the fifth cycle in this book. As we've stated before, and I call to your remembrance now, Revelation is a cyclical book, right? Made up of seven cycles. It's a cyclical book consisting of seven, panoramic views, if you will, of the last age in redemptive history. That age began with the first coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and it's an age that now ends with his return. Revelation gives us seven perspectives, if you will, on that age. As we've seen in our consideration of the first four cycles in this book, it's an age that is characterized by the ongoing conflict between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. It's the ongoing conflict between those identified with Satan and those identified with the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who carry the mark of the beast and how they think and how they act, and those sealed by God who follow the lamb wherever he goes. This age, because of that conflict, this age is a time of great tribulation for the church. She faces a fearsome and enraged enemy. He's come down to the earth with great wrath, knowing that his time is short. She's locked in an intense spiritual battle. She's besieged by an apostate and counterfeit church. The judgments of God are being rained down from heaven against the wicked, being rained down on those who dwell on the earth. The church serves the Lord in perilous times where evil men and imposters grow worse and worse. Don't we know it? It's a time in which God is pouring out his judgment upon the wicked in advance of that great day of his wrath, when God will consign his enemies to eternal suffering and raise his elect to eternal glory. This is the age in which we live, brothers and sisters. It's an age of great tribulation. It's the last age of redemptive history. It is the age that precedes the consummation of all things. Praise God. And we pray, don't we, his kingdom come, his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The concern of the Lord during this age, as he walks in the midst of the lampstands, supplying them with the oil of his spirit, the concern of the Lord is his preservation of a worshiping witness for the Lord Jesus Christ during this age. That's the responsibility of the church. Brothers and sisters, we are to be worshiping witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ. We are as lights that shine in the dark. You think about that vision or that image of the lampstands. Jesus Christ, the Lord of the church, walks in the midst of the lampstands, supplying the bowls of those lampstands with the oil of his spirit that they may shine. The lights atop those lamps are God's people, his saints, who shine as lights in the firmament, who shine as the stars forever. We are as lights that shine in a dark place. We are a city that is set on a hill. And His charge to us, His charge to us as worshiping witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ is to overcome, is to overcome, to persevere, to endure, to remain steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that our labor in the Lord is never in vain. Acts 1.1, we continue all that Jesus Christ began both to do and teach. We carry out his work, the work of the kingdom, in this dispensation of the church, in this age, we carry out the work of our Lord Jesus Christ with the gospel. And as we do so, we do so serving our Lord Jesus Christ in a fellowship of his suffering. Because of that conflict between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman, We serve under tribulation. We serve under duress. That's why the church is called in this age, the church militant. We serve embattled as it were. We are, as Paul says, being conformed to his death. We carry about in our own bodies, the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says, he carries the very marks of the crucifixion of Christ in his own body, in his own flesh. He was beaten and he carried the scars to prove it. We fill up in our own flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of his body, which is the church. And the Lord says, through the words of Paul, it is a gift of his grace on behalf of Jesus Christ, not only to believe in him, but it is a gift of his grace to also suffer for his name's sake. And we're not used to thinking about our suffering in those terms, but it is a gift of his grace. And if you've been through suffering long enough to have learned that lesson and you see the good that God gleans from it, the fruit that God gleans from it, it is a gift of his grace. May we rejoice with his disciples. May we rejoice to be counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. That means daily refusing to cease preaching and teaching that Jesus is the Christ. We are to be persevering, enduring, worshiping witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, The cycles in the book of Revelation are written in order to prepare us and equip us for that conflict. This book was written to prepare us, to equip us for that conflict and to encourage us in the midst of it. We're to be prepared. Where these cycles emphasize the judgment of God poured out upon the earth, where they depict the suffering of God's people and the persecution of the righteous, they inform us. and they warn us so that we know what to expect. God has told us beforehand what is about to happen so that we might not be made to stumble. Where each interlude in each one of these cycles offers a glimpse of the church in her worship, in her witness, or in her beauty, when we are given a vision of our future estate, this book encourages us to press on. It encourages us to persevere to the end. In the sum of its parts, the book of Revelation is intended to equip the church, to prepare the church, to encourage the church, to overcome, to persevere in the time of her tribulation, to be faithful even until death. And he will give us the crown of life. Brothers and sisters, we're not promised a life of ease. We've been promised heaven, brothers and sisters. on a river of bloody seas. It is with much tribulation that we must enter the kingdom of God." We need to settle that in our hearts and minds. But God, God will deliver His people through the sea of His judgment to the glory of His name. That's part and parcel with the glory of God in the salvation of his people. He saves his people through judgment to his own glory. The church militant will soon be the church triumphant, sharing in the glory of our Lord. Now the cycle of bowls, this fifth cycle in the book, is no exception to that pattern. This cycle emphasizes the wrath of God. And in keeping with Romans chapter one, this cycle emphasizes the wrath of God as presently revealed This fifth cycle is reminiscent of Egypt. and God's judgment upon that nation as he delivers his people. His people in Egypt are suffering under hard and difficult bondage. He pours out the plagues of his wrath, the plagues of judgment upon those who oppress them and plague after plague of righteous retribution falls, culminating in death. When he delivers his people by the blood of the lamb and they walk through the sea of his judgment on dry land, rest swallowed up in the flood of his wrath. From that point on, think with me, from that point on, Egypt is understood as typological for how God delivers his people. Egypt and the Exodus becomes a pattern by which we are to understand how God delivers his own people. It's a picture. Egypt, the Exodus, is a symbol of how God saves his people through judgment to his own glory. He doesn't rapture the children of Israel from the camp of Egypt. He preserves them through those plagues and delivers them on the other side of the Red Sea, having walked through that Red Sea on dry land, and he swallows up the rest in the flood of his wrath. The fact that it is a series of plagues and not simply death, which would be righteous and just, the fact that it is a series of plagues emphasizes God's patience, emphasizes God's forbearance with the wicked. The wicked were given 120 years before the flood from the Old Testament. Methuselah, lived 969 years and died before the flood. It was a picture. Methuselah becomes a living example of God's patience before judgment falls. Do you see? God is patient. The church has endured now, brothers and sisters, for 2,000 years. a period of great tribulation. It's a great period of tribulation that precedes the great day of his wrath. And that is a testimony, that 2000 years, this 2000 years is a testimony to the goodness, the patience, the compassion, the forbearance of God, who is not willing that any of us should perish, but that all of us should come to repentance. It is a testimony to his patience, to his grace, to his forbearance. However, God is righteous and God is just. He is the righteous judge. And at the outpouring, the outpouring of his wrath, even now, the outpouring of his wrath is manifest evidence that one day soon, his patience will give way to justice. Commenting on this very fact, Paul commended the Thessalonians in 2 Thessalonians 1, turn there with me. Let's look at that briefly. 2 Thessalonians 1, And Paul makes this very point, and I want you to see how Paul words it here, beginning in verse four. He says in verse four that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience, your perseverance, your endurance, and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure. Now look at this comment. Those persecutions and tribulations that you endure are, verse five, manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which you also suffer. Since, verse six, it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you. It's as though the suffering of the church is a judicial act that condemns the wicked on that day. That God's righteous retribution will be poured out on the wicked and seem to be righteous for their persecution against the church. Verse seven, or verse six, it's a righteous thing with God to repay them with tribulation, those who trouble you. And verse seven, to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. It is righteous brothers and sisters for him at this time to give you rest. His saints are revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in the Lord Jesus Christ revealed there, in flaming fire, verse eight, taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power when he comes in that day to be glorified in his saints and to be admired among all those who believe because our testimony among you was believed. You see how God, delivers His people, saves His people through His judgment upon the wicked to the glory of His own name. You see? Therefore, verse 11, we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and you in Him according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. It's an interesting connection, isn't it? God saves his people through judgment for the glory of his own name. And with that, that concept in mind, that pattern in mind, John begins the cycle of bowls in Revelation 15, verse five. Look back there with me. In verse five, John says, after these things, I looked and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. Out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, clothed in pure bright linen and having their chest girded with golden bands. 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. The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power. And no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed. Now this cycle, the fifth cycle in the book, begins with John's vision of the temple opened in heaven. The word for temple there in verse five is the word naos. It's a word used in the Old Testament of the most holy place. And if you remember from the Old Testament layout, if you will, of the temple mount, you had the courts, the outer courts. You had the court of the Jews and then you had the most holy place, that cube, if you will, at the very center of the temple complex. And that's where there was the great curtain, the veil that separated the most holy place from the outer courts, separated the most holy place from the people. The only one that could enter the most holy place was the high priest and that once per year with blood. It was even said that they sewed bells into the hem of the priest's garment so that if he ever went into the holy place in an unworthy manner and was killed there, the bells would stop ringing and they would know to drag him out by his feet. It was a most holy place that only the high priest could go into once per year. In Jesus Christ, brothers and sisters, the veil of the temple has been torn. torn in two, from top to bottom. And Jesus Christ has made a way for you and I to enter the most holy place by the blood of Jesus Christ. God's people are now through the work, the person in the work of Jesus Christ, they are those who worship at the Naos. They worship in the very presence of God as he dwells there between the cherubim. They worship in the most holy place. So here, Having the temple, seeing the temple opened in heaven is a way of admitting John, as it were, and admitting all of us into the very throne room of God, where God is seated there between the cherubim, ruling and reigning over the affairs of history. This is a way of allowing us to see, as it were, into the throne room of God, where these decrees and judgments are coming from. When we read of the judgments, in the cycle of bulls when we read of the judgments in the cycle of trumpets or the cycle of seals we're reading of decrees not that are made by satan or his minions we're reading of decrees that come from the throne of god and have been decreed by god for those who dwell on the earth if you remember in revelation chapter 4 verse 1 John sees a door standing open in heaven where he sees the Ancient of Days seated on the throne with a scroll in his right hand. He's given a vision of the very throne room, the Naos of God. That scroll written inside and out has been sealed with seven seals. We saw how that was a reference to the scroll in Daniel chapter 12. It was sealed up until the time of the end. It's a scroll that contains decrees for the judgments poured out during this age. And with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into that throne room in Revelation chapter 5, after his bodily ascent into heaven, he takes the scroll from the right hand of him who is seated on the throne, and he begins to loose the seals, unleashing the judgments decreed by God for this age. That is paradigmatic, if you will, for what is happening during this age. God is pouring out the judgments, his judgments decreed. He's pouring out those judgments upon the earth and upon those who dwell there. Those judgments, the point of that statement at the beginning of verse five, those judgments come from the very throne of God. They come as it were from the right hand of God himself. And we see that language. repeated in chapter 11, also, if you remember, where the temple of God is open in heaven, and John sees there the Ark of the Covenant. It's very interesting there, the Ark of the Covenant was a symbol of God's faithfulness to his word, if you remember in the Ark. There was the tablets of testimony, the tablets of the covenant, the 10 words written on stone replaced in the ark of the covenant. There was a jar of manna, God's faithfulness to the children of Israel in the wilderness as he fed them out of heaven. And then Aaron's rod that budded. So the Ark of the Covenant was representative of God's faithfulness, God's faithfulness to his word. It was also representative of covenant blessings and covenant curses. The children of Israel kept the words of that covenant, they'd be blessed. They failed to keep the words of that covenant, they would be cursed. It was a picture, if you will, or a symbol of God's faithfulness and the terms of the covenant. It was also an indication of God's righteousness, God's justice. The children of Israel often, carried the Ark of the Covenant into battle because it was a testimony of God's justice. Now they began treating it like a good luck charm in battle and that got them into trouble, but it was meant to be a testimony of God's faithfulness, God's righteousness, God's justice, God's holiness. It became a picture of God's mercy because it was upon the Ark of the Covenant that God was said to dwell. The Ark of the Covenant is where the priests would spread the blood when they entered the most holy place once per year. So here in chapter 15, God's temple, God's sanctuary, for you guys studying the Greek, it's appositional. God's sanctuary is the tabernacle of testimony. It is the tabernacle of testimony. It is, in saying it's the tabernacle of testimony, John means to say that it's the heavenly model for the old covenant tent where the Ark of the Covenant was kept in the wilderness. Right? The Lord told Moses on the mountain to make a copy of those things, which he saw in the heavens. So this tabernacle, the tent of meeting was a copy of the heavenly sanctuary. So this, by mentioning the tabernacle of the testimony, he's referring to that heavenly model. When John sees it there, it's the heavenly reality that gave rise to the model in the old covenant or the old covenant, that picture of the tabernacle in the wilderness that contained the Ark of the Covenant. The word for testimony here is very interesting. The Hebrew word was often used in referring to the testimony of the law. God's law was said to be the tablets of testimony. A testimony was a word often referred to the law. However, The Greek word used here for testimony, the Greek word used for testimony in the New Testament, the Greek word used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament is the word martyrian, where we get our word martyr. It's a reference to the atoning work of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is now, this is the tabernacle, if you will, that sanctuary in heaven, is the tabernacle of the testimony of the atoning work of the martyr, our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, it's a testimony, it's a witness. What is it witnessing to? It's witnessing to the blood that redeems, the blood that saves. It's a witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. So again, this statement, verse 5, is a reminder of the Exodus. It's a reminder of God's mercy. It's a reminder of God's righteousness and justice. It's where the blood was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement. It's a reminder of God's covenant promises, God's covenant curses. It's a reminder that God is uncompromisingly faithful to his word. He is not slack concerning his promises. And it's a reminder, it's a picture of how that deliverance of God was secured in the person and work of God's own son, our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the tabernacle of testimony. What does it testify? It testifies to the work of our Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation of undeserving sinners. So as John, as these, angels prepared to pour out the bowls of God's wrath. What does John see? He sees the tabernacle sanctuary opened in heaven. And there, the tabernacle of testimony, which is a picture of the work, the person and work of our savior. We're gonna see the same language again in Revelation 19. And it's from there, from the heavenly sanctuary, that Jesus Christ comes in righteousness and in justice to make war. Again, it's an indication that the decrees and the judgments that are being poured out are an indication of God's righteousness, God's holiness. Jesus Christ comes from that place in righteousness and in justice to make war. Out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he should strike the nations. So the language, this language here, the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was open. This language precedes the revelation of God's wrath and it precedes the revelation of God's wrath in righteousness, the revelation of God's wrath in justice. And it communicates to John, it should communicate to us that these judgments being poured out on earth are the decreed will of a righteous God. What we're going to see, is retributive justice. Lex talionis, an eye for an eye. The justice that suits the crimes against him. These represent fitting judgments, suitable judgments. What does that say about our sin? While God's glory is manifest in the preaching of the gospel, God's glory during this age is also manifest in his judgments against the wicked. God glorifies himself in both ways. If you remember, God's glory is depicted in the Exodus and delivering his people from the Egyptians. But didn't Paul also say in Romans chapter nine, that for this very reason, God raised up Pharaoh, that the greatness and the power of God's own name might be declared in all the earth. In other words, that God would be glorified in his judgment upon Pharaoh and his judgment upon Egypt. So God rules from the throne and Jesus Christ is executing the decrees that are written on the scroll. Those determinations are coming from the very throne of God. And then we see in verse six, angels emerge from the temple, verse six. And out of the temple came the seven angels having or responsible for the seven plagues. These are the seven angels who are given responsibility for these seven plagues. They are, verse six, clothed in pure bright linen and having their chests girded with golden bands. These are the seven angels who've been commissioned to execute these bold judgments. They're gonna receive the bowls in verse seven. They're gonna begin to pour out the plagues contained in those bowls in chapter 16. For now, notice verse six, they're dressed like priests. This is an interesting point. They're dressed like priests. In chapter one, Jesus Christ himself was clothed with a robe of pure bright linen. He was clothed with a golden band around his chest. Jesus Christ was clothed as a priest. He was clothed as our great high priest. That's the garment. Those are the garments of the priesthood. These angels who come forward now are dressed like Jesus Christ was described in chapter one. In other words, what does that communicate to us? That communicates to us that they're identified with him. They're identified with him. These decrees are coming from the one who has given all authority to execute these decrees upon the earth, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. These angels now who come are identified with the Lord Jesus Christ in his priestly session as the great high priest of his people. They're dressed like priests. Now, first, this speaks to the righteousness of God. that God in these judgments is righteous. Look at chapter 16, drop down there, and look at verse five. This is in response, a response of the angel to the judgment of God. 16 verse five, and I heard the angel of the water saying, you are righteous, O Lord, the one who is and who was and who is to be. Why? Because you have judged these things. It is a righteous thing for God to judge wickedness, for God to judge the wicked. Verse six, for they have shed the blood of saints and prophets and you have given them blood to drink for it is their just due. This is retributive justice. This is, this is getting what is coming to you, right? This is getting what you deserve. Verse seven, and I heard another from the altar saying, even so, you notice the language of the altar. This is a priestly service, if you will. We'll explain that in a moment. Another from the altar saying, even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments. So these angels, even in what they're wearing, dressed as priests, depict the righteousness, holiness, and justice of God associated with these very severe judgments. Joel Beeking, his commentary on Revelation, mentions that we might be inclined to ask when we read a text like Revelation 16, what sin could possibly be so great as to make these severe judgments righteous? You ever thought that before? Like what sin could be so great as to warrant an eternity of suffering in hell? You ever thought that before? That thought ever crossed your mind? Everywhere we look in scripture, the Bible turns that question around. And it asks it this way, since these severe judgments are absolutely righteous, Since an eternity of suffering in hell is absolutely righteous, and they are sent from the throne of a perfectly just and thrice holy God, how great must be the sin of men and women in his eyes. How great must be our sin. God's judgments, are entirely consistent with the righteousness of God's own character. Do you see? God's judgments are righteous. God's judgments are entirely consistent with the unrighteousness of the wicked. His judgments are entirely fitting. They are appropriate. They are suitable. His judgments therefore are true and righteous altogether. Righteous in that they uphold his perfect character. They uphold his glory and true because they are a fitting penalty. Do our sin against them. God is true and righteous altogether. God's judgments are perfectly matched to the sin committed against him. It's retributive justice. In yet another reference to the wilderness people of God after the Exodus, all of this we'll see, as we saw in the cycle of trumpets, much of the cycle of bowls refers back to the Exodus. And in another reference to the wilderness people of God after the Exodus, the only other place where the language of chapter 15, verse six, and those seven plagues, the only other place where that language is used is in reference to the curses in Leviticus 26. In the Greek or in the Hebrew, the only place it's mentioned is in Leviticus 26. Turn there with me. Hang in there with me here. Leviticus 26, In Leviticus 26, God is saying what he will do when the children of Israel break the covenant. In Revelation 15 and 16, in particular in the text we're looking at, God references this language because it's depicting God's faithfulness to these covenant curses, right? God's faithfulness to his own righteousness, to his own justice in pouring out these judgments upon the earth. This is God, in other words, this is God fulfilling his word. This is retributive justice, justice that appropriately suits the crime. Look at Leviticus 26 verse 21. Then, If you walk contrary to me and are not willing to obey me, then I will bring on you seven times more plagues according to your sins. Now, remember in our study of revelation, numbers are symbolic. There may be an immediate referent that the numbers point to, but the numbers being used have a spiritual referent as well. And the number seven is a number of completion. It is derived from seven days of creation. All right. The seven days complete the week in which God created the heavens and the earth and all things that are in them and rested on the seventh day. It's a word that in the old Testament and new Testament became associated with completion, right? Or fulfillment here. This is, symbolic of God giving a complete, fulfilled, and righteous judgment in response to their sin against Him. Judgments that are according to or suitable to their sin. He says that in verse 21, according to your sins. Verse 22, I will also send wild beasts among you. These are the judgments that God sends, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number, and your highways shall be desolate. And if by these things you are not reformed by me, but walk contrary to me, then I also will walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins. I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant. When you are gathered together within your cities, I will send pestilence among you. You shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. When I have, verse 26, when I have cut off your supply of bread, 10 women shall bake bread in one oven, they shall bring back your bread by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied. And after all this, if you do not obey me, but walk contrary to me, then I also will walk contrary to you in fury, and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. And notice all of this, all of these judgments, comprise the seven plagues that God pours out in verse 21. I will bring on you seven times more plagues according to your sin. Well, in the bowl judgments, we see the seven plagues of God poured out against the wicked. Verse 29, you shall eat the flesh of your sons. You shall eat the flesh of your daughters. I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you. How serious is our sin? How serious is our sin? If you go back to Revelation chapter 15, look at verse five. John says, after these things, I looked and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. Out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, clothed in pure bright linen, having their chest girded with golden bands. In other words, chapter 15 is a fulfillment, if you will, of this typological, these typological judgments pronounced in Leviticus 26. God is faithful to execute his judgment, judgments to their full. Second, the priest, these angels dressed as priests, communicate the righteousness of God in his judgments. Second, their priestly garments in chapter 15, verse six, identify these angels with Jesus Christ in his session as our great high priest. Now think with me, Christ as priest, having atoned for our sins in his own death on the tree, is now seated at the right hand of God, always living to make intercession for us. He's seated there, always living, his very presence in heaven interceding for us, And his mediatorial work as our great priest now continues in his session. It's not that Jesus Christ atoned for our sins on the cross and his work as high priest ended. No, his work as our great high priest continues in his session as he lives to make intercession for us. So it's as though then in Revelation 15, it's as though these angels identified with Jesus Christ in his session represent not only the righteousness of His judgments upon the wicked, but the righteousness of his judgments upon the wicked in vindication of his people, in the preservation of his people, in care for his people, in his mediatorial work as their great high priest." In other words, he comes to their rescue on their behalf. He comes to judge the wicked to deliver his people. He comes on their behalf. Why did God judge Egypt? Because God's people were there and they would not let his son go. They wouldn't let his firstborn son go, so he took their firstborn sons. You see, God in retributive justice, judging the oppressors of his people. What is God doing right now? And is God's wrath being poured out, being presently revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of man? What is God doing right now? God is judging those who oppress his people. He's going to deliver his people from their judgments, from their persecutions, from their attacks and assaults. This is part of the mediatorial work, if you will, of Jesus Christ. Back to that passage in 2 Thessalonians 1.4, listen to that passage, right? 2 Thessalonians 1.4, Paul says, we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith and all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure. Those tribulations and persecutions are manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God In other words, God is pouring out his judgment upon the wicked, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom for which you also suffer, since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you. In other words, it is righteous, it is good, it is just for God to judge those who oppress his people. We see that throughout the Bible. I'm reminded of the Exodus when the children of Israel were coming out of Egypt. and they were coming out weakened by hard bondage. And there were those that straggled at the back of the camp of Israel because they were weak or because they were aged. And what did that wicked Amalek do? He began picking off the weak and the elderly from the back of the camp, which was despicable in God's sight. And God, what did God say? I'm gonna wipe Amalek off the face of the earth, which is what God did. God judges those who oppress his people. He comes to our defense. He comes for our vindication. He comes for our rescue, for our deliverance from the hands of His and our enemies. We're united together as one with Him with a common enemy. Do you see? They're not just His enemies, they're our enemies and God delivers us from their hands. It is a righteous thing for God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These judgments are what we would call a theodicy. A theodicy is a vindication of God. They are manifest evidence of the righteousness of God and all that he does. All his righteous judgments certainly have in view the sin of the wicked, but they also have in view the deliverance of his people. It's as though these angels dressed as priests are doing the work of Jesus Christ in executing these judgments that are poured out on the earth. They're bringing about, brothers and sisters, they're bringing about our deliverance. They are bringing about, point to our deliverance. God judged Egypt to deliver his people. They were in his army, drowned in the sea. Same picture is being drawn here in Revelation 15, where these angels in priestly garb point us to the session of Jesus Christ on our behalf. We're gonna see that more in just a moment, if you'll hang in there with me. The wrath of God presently being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of man is manifest evidence of his determination to save his people through faith in his son. It's evidence of God's determination to save his people. When you see, as we do, right? turn on the TV, read a paper. Well, those things don't exist anymore. Read, read online papers. When you see the obvious judgment of God that has befallen our country with the people that we have ruling over us, those who have been appointed and elected by the people to rule over us. When you see the governments that presume to rule over us, you see our country guilty of the unabated murder of 60 million babies in the womb. What a disgusting place this is, right? That's sin, just an abhorrent abomination in our sight and in God's sight. God's, that is God's wrath. The rise of homosexuality in our culture, the rise of transgenderism in our culture is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God. It is manifest evidence that God's judgment is falling upon our country and this world. You can't escape it, can you? It's clear to us that the judgment of God is falling. What does that tell us? That tells us, that is manifest evidence, in the words of scripture, that is manifest evidence to us that He is on His way to deliver us. That God will continue pouring out His judgments until the great day of His wrath. where the wicked will be consigned to an eternity of suffering, and his people will be ushered into eternal glory. It is manifest evidence of God's salvation. Philippians chapter one, verse 27, Paul says, only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or I'm absent, I may hear of your affairs that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel, and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you a proof of salvation and that from God, for it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake, having the same conflict, which you saw in me and now here is in me. These angels come to execute the judgments decreed by God. It's an indication of God's final judgment and indication of God's deliverance of his people. Bible says in verse seven, then that one of the four living creatures, then gave to the seven angels, seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever. The temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power. No one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed." Once again, the language and imagery of bowls is derived entirely from the Old Testament. Bowls are, referenced roughly 25 times in the Old Testament and always in the context of priestly service at the altar in the temple. That's where there are said to be golden bowls. We see that reference in verse seven, golden bowls. Again, a reference to priestly service in the temple. What is going on now in reference to the altar in heaven is a priestly service. And we're gonna look at that more in detail next week, the Lord allows. God is faithful to his word, amen. And God executes his word in righteousness. And as God executes his word, brothers and sisters, it has been determined, granted to us as a grace of God, that we would suffer through that tribulation for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why is that a grace? Why is it a, why is it a grace that we would suffer for his sake? It's a grace because He suffered for us. And it's a means, brothers and sisters, through which we enter into fellowship with Him. I know that if you're a Christian, new heart beating in your chest and a new spirit indwelling you, I know, I know that you long for fellowship with Jesus Christ. Everything else fades, pales in comparison. I wanna be with the Lord Jesus Christ. We have fellowship with him in his suffering. Paul said in Philippians chapter three, he counts everything else as rubbish. Rubbish. That he may attain, if you will, to fellowship in his sufferings and the resurrection from the dead. That fellowship with Christ in his suffering. We have this opportunity in this life to have fellowship with Christ in His suffering, to fellowship with Him in a way that He loved us and died for us, gave Himself for us. We have an opportunity in this life only to fellowship with Him in that way. I would encourage us as the church to lean into that, to rejoice. I think that's why the disciples, Acts chapter five, why the disciples rejoiced to be counted worthy to suffer for his name, because they understood they were entering into a fellowship with Jesus Christ that is enjoyed in suffering alongside him. Jesus Christ suffered for me. Jesus Christ suffered for you. This is our opportunity to suffer in this life for him. And it is an honor and a privilege, amen. that we count the reproach of Christ more riches than all the riches in Egypt. We would go therefore outside the camp, bearing his reproach gladly. I guess we're in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. With that, we can lean into the difficulty knowing not only that the judgments of God are righteous, but these are manifest evidence that God is delivering his people and will deliver his people. Amen. Pray with me. Father in heaven, Or thank you, Lord, again, for the encouragement that these texts are to your church, they are to us. Thank you, Lord, that... Thank you, Lord, for allowing us to a glimpse of your plans and purposes for this age, that we might not be made to stumble, but also, Lord, that we might put our own tribulation in its proper perspective. Jesus Christ voluntarily laid down his life for us and having laid down, having not spared his own son, Jesus Christ, having laid down his own life for us, how much more, him having died for us, how much more shall we be saved through his life? How much more will God freely give us all things? We rejoice in those promises. We rejoice, exult in the truth of them. Lord, help us in light of those promises. I lean in to our own suffering in this age, rejoicing to be counted worthy to suffer for his name, rejoicing that as a gift of your grace, you've appointed that we should not only believe in him, but suffer for his name. Rejoice that we've been counted worthy. We're grateful, Lord, for that identification with our Lord and Savior, for that identification with our elder brother. Long for the day when we will be raised with him and united with him in eternity, worshiping and praising you. Thank you, Lord, for our union with Jesus Christ. Thank you for the immeasurable grace and mercy that it is that we should be identified. with the God-man. I pray that it would be through everlasting praise. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Hello, and thanks for listening. My name is Mark Brashear, and I have the blessed privilege of serving with the saints at Cornerstone Church near Orlando, Florida. We're so grateful that you've connected with us through the sermon that you've just heard. For more information, visit us at cornerstoneorlando.org. Or better yet, come and see us on the Lord's Day at 3370 Snow Hill Road in Oviedo, Florida. We're just east of Orlando and about 15 minutes from the campus at UCF. It would be a joy to have you worship with us.