The End of Gospel Opportunity: The Outpouring of the Seventh Bowl of Wrath - Glorious Hope | Studies in Revelation

I wonder what is the worst weather condition you've ever had

to experience?

For some of you as fishermen, you have survived some of the worst

storms at sea.

For those of us firmly rooted on the soil, the we may have had

to embrace some of the hurricanes that have hit this island

in our lifetime.

I remember as a child of around six or seven, Hurricane Gilbert,

if anybody remembers, Hurricane Gilbert, caused severe

damage down the whole east coast of Ireland and flooding.

And it's still one that my father decided to drive through to

Dublin, of all places.

And so we remember that one frequently.

Now, if I told you that in Ireland we get earthquakes, you might

be a little bit surprised because Ireland isn't known for its

earthquakes.

But if you go on to the Irish National Seismic Network, then you

will discover that Ireland is prone to small earthquakes.

Now, most of these happen in the sea off the coast, but nonetheless,

there are some that are felt on land, particularly in Donegal.

Now, there may have been a slight against Donegal people this

morning and not being able to understand them, but now they're

redeemed because we have sympathy, because out of all the

places in Ireland, they get earthquakes.

So much so that roads have been damaged in County Donegal because

of earthquakes, only measuring anywhere between 0.5 and 1.2 in magnitude,

if that means anything to you.

Well, I've never experienced an earthquake.

I don't think I have.

But I was flying into Belfast City Airport one May evening in 2007

from Doncaster, and I experienced the worst turbulence

ever.

It wasn't until the next morning that I discovered in the

staff room of the school that I was teaching at at the time, that

there had been a tornado crossing Belfast Lock, the exact

time that we were making our descent to to land into the airport,

and it moved across Belfast Lock, through our airplane and up

to Carrickfergus, where it took the roof off three houses.

Now, you've never had perhaps an earthquake, maybe you've never

even had a tornado.

But I think particularly in the last couple of years, we all

know what it's like to experience adverse weather.

It's not pleasant.

I think we all like to enjoy calm weather, pleasant temperature,

not too hot, not too cold, with calmness in the air.

We're generally not people who go after the extremes of weather,

because in the extremes of weather you find fear.

I dare anyone to be in the midst of an earthquake and not feel

fear.

I even dare you.

Being on an airplane with a tornado going through it and not

feeling fear.

My knuckles were quite literally white, gripping the seat.

I don't even know what anyone else was doing around me, because

I was just focusing on breathing.

I dare you not to be fearful in extreme weather, even in the storms

that we have had.

And the reason why I talk about this is because as we come

to the seventh bowl of wrath that is poured out by the seventh

angel of the this wrath of God, it's poured out on humanity.

We see weather and different things of creation being used as

the means of punishment.

We see John in his vision, seeing these extreme weather conditions

as well as seismic activity of the earth to reveal what we're to

understand by God's punishment on rebellious humanity.

And actually we see this right from verse 17, the first verse we

read this evening, as the seventh bowl is introduced to us.

The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud

voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, it is done.

Now the seven bowls of wrath tell us what the times just at the

end of human history will be like.

Each of the angels given the bowls have been instructed in verse

one of this chapter to go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls

of the wrath of God.

This has been their instruction.

This voice comes from the temple, and it is the voice of the

Lord God instructing his angels.

And each angel has been faithful, as this chapter has told

us, to the task.

None of them has faltered in the pouring out of these judgments.

And as the wrath of God is poured out, the cry we hear from

rebellious humanity is that the punishment is unfair and it doesn't

fit the crime.

They believe they've simply lived like humanity has always lived,

and therefore shouldn't receive any punishment.

And so, rather than turning to God in repentance, they become more

entrenched in their rebellion and in their opposition to Him.

So they simply continue as they've been doing all their lives,

rejecting Him.

But the seventh bowl is different.

The seventh bowl is poured out into the air, meaning that its impact

is known universally.

Other bowls were poured out on specific natural parts of the earth,

the sea, the rivers, the kingdoms of the beast, and the river

Euphrates.

But no one bowl of earth other than the fourth, which was poured

out on the sun, has universal impact.

That the air does it is what we breathe wherever we are, be it

in the middle of the sea or the ocean, or be it in the driest

of deserts, be it in the cities or in the field, out on the

farm, or we all breathe the air that's all around us, and it's

the same air here as it is everywhere else in the World, it's

what we breathe.

And so the punishment that is poured out in this seventh bowl of

wrath cannot be ignored by humanity.

And so when the seventh angel pours his bowl into the air, a voice

from the temple, God's throne, declares that everything is accomplished.

The end has arrived.

And verse one tells us that the voice says, it is done.

Now, I wonder, does that sound familiar to you?

You see, for John's readers, much like ourselves, there has already

been one person who has made this cry, because when Jesus died

on the cross, he exclaimed, it is finished in John chapter 19 and

John 19 · chapter mention

verse 30.

So there's a great sense of the finality of all things.

In fact, the voice from the throne may even be that of the risen

Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that what has been achieved on Calvary's

cross was complete, it is finished.

And so now it is done in both the salvation of the redeemed and

the judgment of the rebellious.

See, whenever you look at what the original languages say, it is

done and it is finished aren't too far apart.

And so we have this sense of completeness as we reach the end

of human history.

Verse 18 moves on to tell us what John witnesses at this moment

in history.

And he sees that there are flashes of lightning, rumblings,

peals of thunder, and a great earthquake, such as there had never

been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake.

And what we're reading here has been manifested in Revelation

already, in what John sees and what he hears.

But as we hear that the end has come, this massive thunderstorm

breaks out.

At the same time, an earthquake, unparalleled in its magnitude

takes place, something foretold by the prophets Daniel and

Joel and spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 24.

And we've seen in Revelation that thunder, lightning, and earthquake

tell us of the arrival of the end.

These extreme weather conditions that we just spoke about,

that what do they do for us?

They cause us fear.

And so that's what John's readers are expected to understand,

that whenever these extreme weather events happen, well, there

is fear because it is the end.

But these extreme weather events tell us also of God's awesome

holiness and what is the terror of entering his presence,

especially for those not forgiven of their sins.

But what humanity is witnessing has never been experienced

before, setting the scene for the final judgment that God will

bring.

And we see the beginning of this in verse 19.

The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the

nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the Great to make

her drain the cup of the wine.

Of the fury of his wrath.

Now the great city here stands for the city of man, identified as

Babylon, the great enemy of God's people.

Now, Babylon itself was a city state.

In other words, it started off life as a city, but as it grew, the

city couldn't contain it.

And so some planning was done, and eventually small little places

around it grew up.

And so it became a city state, a city that ruled other towns that

became cities themselves.

But by the time of Jesus and by the time of John's writing, it

had become a small settlement in Mesopotamia.

It wasn't anything like it had been in Daniel's day.

It had no army and had no power to influence anything in the

world.

It was defeated as a nation.

And throughout the latter part of the Old Testament and into the

New Testament, it is used as a term to describe the sinful world

in which people live, given us as that compare and contrast of any

good GCSE paper.

The people of God versus the people of Babylon, the people of

the covenant versus the people of sin.

See, Babylon was a world that rejected God.

And Babylon still for us today is a term that references the world

that rejects God and Jesus Christ and wants to live by its own

standard.

And don't we see it all around us?

Don't we see it in the cities?

Don't we see it in the times?

Do we even see it in our own village?

Babylon is amongst us because we live in a world that rejects and

continues to reject God, even though it is a world that has been

told of his coming judgment.

So the city of Babylon that John sees is a city that is split

into three.

And what this is telling us is it's signifying its disintegration,

its fragmentation.

And John sees a city and a world that has lost its supremacy.

And the end is at hand.

The great cities or the great structures, the great systems that

have set themselves up against God, are finally reaping what they

deserve, punishment.

No longer will they be on their pedestals of power or their

perceived power.

They will be brought down and they will be punished for their rebellion.

Now, the verse goes on to speak of cities in the plural, but

this plural shouldn't be distinguished from the singular city,

because John's point is that the cities of man are all Babylon.

They've all strayed from the ways of God, and God has now remembered

his promises, because the judgment of Babylon is about to commence.

A theme that will be elaborated as we move into chapter

17 through to 19.

And what we now see in verse 19 is God exhibiting His justice

by making Babylon drink the cup of his wrath.

And at the same time, he saves his people from the city of man,

or from the city of man that is oppressing them.

So, as we've seen with revelation before, with judgment,

and with punishment also comes salvation, because there's only one

or the other.

The judgment of the rebellious will lead to the saving of the redeemed

for all eternity.

And the salvation of the redeemed must mean that there's now

eternal punishment for those who have gone against God.

And so this is what Babylon is now forced to drink, this cup of

wrath for her rebellion.

And as we continue into verse 20, the scene shifts from the city,

and John sees islands and mountains, telling us that all the

islands flee away and no mountains can be found.

And what John sees here is the world as we know it vanishing, much

like we saw in Egypt with the plagues of Egypt.

God uses unnatural ways to punish the Egyptians.

He goes against his own created order.

And we see that here that creation is now vanishing.

Creation was given for our good and our blessing, and now it's

been taken away.

And John Regley signals that the end has come by portraying displacement

in the natural order.

The natural order is God's way, but now it's vanishing.

So we know that God is at work, and soon we will have the new

heaven and the new earth.

And we see this clearly in a number of key moments in Revelation.

We read, for example, in Revelation 6, verse 14, the sixth

Revelation 6:14

seal of judgment, that the sky vanished like a scroll that has been

rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

When God judges on the great white throne.

In Revelation 20, verse 11, we're told, Then I saw a great white

Revelation 20:11

throne, and him who was seated on it fell from his presence.

Earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them.

When the new creation dawns, the first heaven and the first earth

had passed away, and the sea was no more.

Revelation 21, verse 1.

Revelation 21:1

And so here is a pattern that is going throughout Revelation, and

we're right in the middle of it, that the end is near whenever

God reverses what is the natural created order of things.

And so as the islands flee away and as no mountains can be found,

we must know that God is bringing in his new heaven and new

earth.

But the sad reality of all of this is seen as we read on in verse

21.

And great hailstones, about 100 pounds each, fell from heaven

on people, and they cursed God for the plague of the heel, because

the plague was so severe the final judgment has already been described

in terms of a thunderstorm and an earthquake.

Now John sees it in the form of a hailstorm, one of the plagues

that devastated Egypt in Exodus chapter 9 and verses 13 to

Exodus 9 · chapter mention

26.

And as usual, we see language here that is apocalyptic.

It's end times language.

The world is imploding as hailstones of about a hundred pounds

each are wreaking havoc on humanity.

And as strange as it might seem, even in judgment, there is

one more chance for mercy.

But instead of repenting and turning to God, people curse, and

they revile him in their great suffering, continuing to be convinced

that they do not deserve the punishment that they're facing.

Instead of acknowledging their sin, they continue to be infuriated

with God.

And once again, we see a verification of the rightness of

the punishment they receive.

They are deserving everything they get.

They have opportunity to repent, and rather than receiving

it, they ignore it and become more entrenched against God.

Ultimately, what's witnessed here in this seventh bowl of God's

wrath is the end of gospel opportunity.

This is it.

There are no more opportunities after this bowl is

poured out, because these five verses tell us that at the return

of Christ, we will see the end of the world, the end of worldly

society, and the end of sin.

That's what these verses tell us, an end of the world, the end

of worldly society, and the end of sin.

And for believers, this is good news.

This is great news because it means that we're ready to go truly

home.

And there's something wonderful about him that we sometimes

sing called Almost Home.

Don't drop a single anchor.

You're almost home with the course.

Almost home, Almost home.

That sense of knowing there's a place that's beyond this world,

beyond the heartache, beyond the strife, beyond the pain.

And there's a day here, given to us in Revelation, when there will

be the end of the world, the end of worldly society, the end of

sin.

But it's also a day when it will be the end of gospel opportunity.

And for believers, as much as we're looking forward to our heavenly

home, there has to be a tinge of sadness knowing that the time

is finally done.

It is done, comes that voice from the throne of heaven, because

there is no more opportunity to know God's salvation.

This is the hardest reality of all, to accept that the age of responding

to the gospel will end.

But hasn't the writer of Hebrews told us this already in Hebrews

Hebrews 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9 and verses 27 to 28.

And just as it is appointed for man to die once and after that

comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear

the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin,

but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

What the writer of Hebrews is doing here in Hebrews 9, 27 and 28

is stating that Christ's first coming that culminates with his atoning

death for sin on the cross establishes a present opportunity

for salvation through faith in him.

And during this age, sinners who die without believing in Jesus

fear the immediate prospect of divine judgment.

Then, when Christ returns at the end of the age, the opportunity

of salvation is no longer offered.

Instead, Jesus delivers those who have been waiting for him, even

as he brings a destructive end to all those who have rebelled against

him.

Those who have been waiting will be taken to heaven, and those

who have rebelled will face that destructive punishment.

And so John's vision shows that even as the terrible judgment

falls on the last day, Christ enemies cursed God for this severe

plague.

And this reaction to God's just punishment confirms their complete

enmity, which is a word we read right at the beginning of Scripture,

their complete enmity towards God.

And as unrepentant enemies and sinners, they are smitten to the

ground by these great hailstones.

Hailstones of the colossal size described here would easily

have enough force to slay all those beneath them, utterly silencing

the lips that curse their God.

Craig Keener is not someone who I would ordinarily read.

He's described as a Baptist.

Pentecostal.

A Baptist, apparently.

Who knew there was such a thing?

But he did say this.

The world dies in its sin, unwilling to repent.

Isn't that sad?

Isn't that striking?

Isn't that confronting?

Let's add another word in there.

The world is willing to die in its sin because it is unwilling to

repent.

This judgment of the seventh bowl of wrath shows the need for

the renewing grace of the Holy Spirit through the ministry of God's

Word.

Not even the cataclysms of the end of the age can motivate.

Let's describe them as Satan's minions to repent and give God the

glory he deserves, even as the last seconds of gospel opportunity

flee away from history forever.

There's a story told of a man who miraculously survived an air

crash.

It's said of him he always expected people who were dying to

cry out to God for mercy in their final moments, but noted that

he heard many respond with cursing following the habit they

had spent their life developing.

You know that last year, and I've told you of a tornado going

through our airplane, however many years ago, 2007.

Well, you'll know because I told you we were the last flight

to land into Belfast because of one of the storms in October,

the British Airways flight that came in after us had to abort

its landing and be diverted.

And someone that heard me say this in church came to me and said,

I guarantee you there wasn't any.

There was no atheists on that plane in that moment.

And that might have been very true.

There were no atheists.

But much like this man who survived a plane crash, I didn't

hear very many people calling out to God for fear.

Yes, true, there was no atheist.

But Christians were either praying or those who were rebellious

were continuing to curse him as they'd always done all their lives.

And you see, if you're someone who the Bible describes as a sinner,

someone who hasn't come to Jesus for repentance, do you understand

what the habit of the lifetime now is for you?

Your natural instinct is to curse God.

Now, you may not use profanities as the world understands

cursing, but in your heart you are against Him.

That's what cursing is.

You're against the God who offers you salvation.

And just like those words that Craig Keener comes out with, you

are willingly dying in your sin because you're unwilling to repent.

There's no middle ground.

There's no goodness of ourselves.

There's no good works.

You're willingly dying in sin because you're unwilling to repent.

You see, the example given here of this plane crash should help

persuade us that now is the time to repent before your heart

is so hardened in sin and unbelief that you no longer are able

to repent.

Repent while the day is still now, because there will be a day

when the gospel age will end and you will not have the opportunity

to repent.

And how will you be found?

You'll be found continuing to curse God just as you've done all

your life.

You see, the call tonight is urgent.

If you angrily rise against God in response to minor trials and

judgments that you've already experienced.

Matthew Henry writes, to be hardened in sin and enmity against

God by his righteous judgments is a certain token of utter destruction.

We only become more hard of heart as we rebel against God.

But there is the opportunity for joy and peace while there is

still time.

We each must turn to the Savior to trust him and to live for

Him.

These are the two responses to the Gospel.

Often we can say we have turned to him, and maybe we point

back to a moment in our history whenever we'll say I gave

my life to the Lord.

But you've never lived like it.

You're simply relying on a date and a moment, and you can't

do that.

You have to live for Him.

You have to love him every day.

You have to speak of Him.

Because the second part is that we have to demonstrate that

our faith is indeed well placed in Jesus.

Yes, we need that miracle of a moment of salvation, but we must

live it to demonstrate whose we are.

And so, as we conclude the seventh bowl of God's wrath, the

warning is to flee the sin that hardens our hearts.

And we are to turn to Jesus because the writer of Hebrews assures

us again of God's steadfast love towards us in Hebrews 8, verse

Hebrews 8:12

12.

For I will be merciful toward their iniquities and and I will remember

their sins no more.

This is the good news that we have in this gospel age, that while

there is still time we can repent each of us, but we can each

forgive one another for the wrongs that have been done.

We can truly live as Christ's men and women, so that we will demonstrate

the faith that we have.

You see, the glorious hope that we have is Jesus.

The next number of chapters are going to show how this world

will be dismantled and face its punishment.

But we have glorious hope this night that whoever we are, he is

the One who will hold us fast because he is the One who has given

us his all, that he will never turn us away when we come to Him.

For some of you, your hearts may be hard.

Maybe you wouldn't say that.

Maybe you say you believe in Jesus, but even the devil believes

in Jesus.

There's a difference in believing and knowing him as your

Savior.

But there's also a difference in saying that you are Christ's and

yet not living like it, choosing to be angry, choosing to

hold grudges, choosing to be unforgiving.

You see, we are called this night to be truly his, because this

bowl of wrath that is poured out in the air is one that will be

seen by all.

The weather conditions that are presented here are extreme and

they bring with them fear.

But for God's people, His perfect love and peace drives out

fear.

But yet we must truly know him as Savior so that we will know this

truth deep within our hearts.

See, that's why we sung that song before we came to God's.

Word because of the chorus stead or fixed or resting upon Jehovah.

What happens?

Our hearts are fully blessed because we find, as he promised,

perfect peace and rest.

Will you find that this evening as you look to Jesus and

trust in him?

Let's pray.

Our Father God, we thank you for your word that assures us of

who you are.

You are the God of judgment, and that is absolutely right and

fair and just.

But you're also the God of salvation, and both go hand in hand.

For as you redeem your people unto glory, so you will punish.

But as you punish rebellious people, so that means it is the moment

for when you will bring your home.

There is no middle ground and we cannot sit on the fence.

So Father, make us wake up to the reality of who we truly are and

to the Christ and Savior we truly need.

Lord, may indeed this night be one of true glorious hope for us

that as we study this last book of the Bible, this great book,

so Christ will be revealed to us and we will understand the urgency

of what it means to know him as Savior, to flee from our sin and

to live for him.

For the day is coming when he will return.

So Father, help us to respond well to your word this night.

In Jesus name, amen.