God Is Righteous In Judgment

Transcript

GR 1554
01/31/10
God Is Righteous in Judgment
Revelation 16:1-7
Gil Rugh

We're going to Revelation 16 in your Bibles. The Bible is a serious book. When it comes to the Word of God, it is serious material. You stop and consider how much of our Bible is focused on sin and judgment. There is hope and joy in the midst of all of that, but much of the Bible focuses on the sin of man and the judgment of God on sin. And that is certainly true for the book of Revelation as we move toward end times. It is interesting as we look at crises in the world, our own country struggles financially, and so on. Recently, how many commentators and people they interview say, we know we'll come through this. It may be a struggle for a year or two but in ten, twenty years, we're a strong people, we will rebound, we will survive. But you know when you read the last chapter, it's not bright. Now the final chapter of the final chapter for believers is wonderful. But for this sin-cursed world it is going to get worse than we can imagine. We look at a tragedy like Haiti that is occupying the news today; you multiply that worldwide and magnify it 100 times. I mean, that's where we are in the book of Revelation.

One of the reasons people find the Bible difficult and they are not interested in the Bible is because of the emphasis on sin and judgment and that comes true in the church. We come to the book of Revelation and you think, here is the last word from God. It might be encouraging and positive. There will be that, but really the last two chapters are focused on all that God has for us as His people for eternity. But the bulk of the book is about sin and God’s judgment.

Back up to II Timothy 4, just a reminder. You know what happens even in the church. With the passing of time people begin to look for things lighter, more enjoyable, more relaxing, more “interesting”, more positive. And that kind of interest turns them away from the Word of God. Paul exhorts Timothy in II Timothy 4, which is Paul's last letter before his execution, verse 1: I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing in His kingdom. I mean, this is a solemn charge, this is serious business. This is not just, Timothy here is what I would like you to do; here is my recommendation for you to have a successful ministry. I mean, I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead. That means you, too, Timothy. Preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction. Why? For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. Does this mean the pagan unbelieving world? No, they've never been interested in sound doctrine. But even those professing to be the people of God will not want to put up with sound teaching. Wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires. They'll turn away their ears from the truth and turn aside to myths. It happens subtly but clearly as we refocus our ministry to make it more popular. And the church is corrupted by that. This is not new. This has always been the characteristic of fallen people. They don't want to hear about their sin, they don't want to hear about judgment, they don't want to hear about God's wrath. Tell me about His love; tell me about His mercy; tell me about good things, positive things.

Turn back to Jeremiah and when we get into Revelation 16 you'll see some of this unfolding. Jeremiah 5. The prophet Jeremiah some 500 years before Christ and here is the condition. Verse 22, the question, do you not fear Me, declares the Lord. Do you not tremble in My presence? Verse 30, an appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land. The prophets prophesy falsely and the priests rule on their own authority. And my people love it so. Very similar to what Paul told Timothy, they will not endure sound teaching. They have heaped to themselves teachers who will scratch their itching ears, say what they like to hear. The prophets prophesy falsely, the priests rule on their own authority. And my people love to have it so. What a tragedy. But what will be the end of it?

Look at Jeremiah 6:10, behold the word of the Lord has become a reproach to them. They have no delight in it. This is to be the people of God and yet they are turned off by the word of God, it is not their delight. But I am full of the wrath of God. Come down to verse 13, for from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for gain. And from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely. They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially saying, peace, peace. But there is no peace. Don't tell me about sinners. You don't talk about sin; then you're not really dealing with the issue. You're telling people basically it's okay. Good things are coming. You can turn on the TV and hear the message. Don't be discouraged, God has good things in your future. Really? Not if you're not a believer in Jesus Christ, not if you haven't settled the issue of sin.

Look in Jeremiah 8:9, behold they have rejected the word of the Lord and what kind of wisdom do they have? So God will bring judgment on them. Verse 11, they heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially saying, peace, peace. But there is no peace. Were they ashamed because of the abomination they had done? They were not ashamed; they didn't even know how to blush any longer.

One more passage in Jeremiah, Jeremiah 14:13. But ah Lord God, I said. Look, the prophets are telling them you will not see the sword, nor will you have famine. But I will give you lasting peace in this place. The message of the false prophet. Then the Lord said to me, the prophets are prophesying falsely in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them, nor spoken to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility, the deception of their own minds. What a tragic situation that happened in Israel.

Warning in the New Testament for the church, God's people there to remain focused on His word, serious about His word.

Come back to Revelation. You know it's in the study of sin and judgment that we come to understand and appreciate the righteous character of God more clearly and fully. If you don't know something of sin, the horror of sin, the offense it is to a holy and righteous God, it's hard to understand and appreciate His true character, the awesome God that He is and the wonder of the salvation that He has provided. When you come to Revelation 16, you are moving through this 70th week of Daniel, that seven-year tribulation period. Starting in chapter 6 there have been unfolding a series of judgments, starting with seven seals. And out of the seventh seal came seven trumpets, and out of the seventh trumpet came seven bowls. We've had some interludes that have unfolded some of those things particularly that will be taking place over the last 3½ years of this seven-year period.

Now we come to this final series of judgments, the bowls. And if you've been here you'll note each of these sets of judgments gets more severe. The seals, we say they are the least severe, but you understand under the fourth seal one-quarter of the earth's population dies. So we are talking about something that is relative to the other judgments in the tribulation. We talk about the seals being the least severe of this series of judgments; they will be far more severe than anything the world has ever seen, when you have over a quarter of the earth's population dying under that first series of judgments. Then we move to the trumpets and they are more serious, more severe. In one of the trumpet judgments a third of the earth will die. And then you add the other judgments on top of that.

Now we come to the bowls and these are the final judgments. They are poured out in rapid succession through chapter 16. But you understand, I can't tell you how this will all unfold because they are just poured out one after another through this chapter. And you get the idea 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, done. But these could be spread out over the last half of the tribulation. And if each of these judgments impacted for six months you would cover 3½ years, for example. How that will all work out, I don't know. The devastation is overwhelming. Remember Jesus said if He did not intervene and bring this to an end after seven years, there wouldn't be anybody left alive on the face of the earth. There is nothing to compare this with that has happened that we could relate it to, but it will be a terrible period of time.

Two matters brought out in this chapter. First, the absolute righteousness of God in judgment. We talked about righteousness in Romans this morning. This chapter brings out God's absolute righteousness in judgment. We talked about the righteousness of God provided for man in Christ. He is a righteous God in all He does and the judgments of God are righteous as well. Look at verse 5, I heard the angel of the waters saying, righteous are you because you judged these things. We think, could a God who is characterized by mercy actually pour this out on the world? It is righteous of Him to do this to sinful people. We don't have an appreciation of how terrible sin is, what an offense it is to a holy God who created us. Look at verse 7, I heard the altar saying, yes, oh Lord God the Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments. So the righteousness of God is brought out in these judgments.

Also the corruption, the complete corruption of man is clearly evident. Because these are the worst judgments the world has ever experienced, and yet look at verse 9. Men were scorched with fierce heat. They blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory. Look at verse 11: they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and sores. They did not repent of their deeds. Look at verse 21: huge hailstones about 100 lbs each came down from heaven and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail. You see that in the midst of this? Man shaking his fist at God and cursing Him for bringing such devastation. Not on their faces in repentance, crying out for mercy and forgiveness. No, they are adamant in their opposition to God to the end.

The bowl judgments are similar to the plagues in Egypt, and I take it those plagues in Egypt that brought deliverance to God's people were a preview of these things. The trumpet judgments will be similar in character; they were similar in character as well. I mention the plagues in Egypt, we'll mention more about them but the plagues in Egypt accomplished three things—God was displaying His power, God was destroying His enemies and God was delivering His people. And those three things will be going on through these judgments in the tribulation as well. What the plagues in Egypt did, as God displayed His power and destroyed His enemies, He brought about the ultimate deliverance of His people. In those plagues in Egypt you see the same kind of reaction to the judgment of God by Pharaoh and the Egyptians. We constantly are told that Pharaoh hardened his heart. Ultimately the armies of Pharaoh suffer destruction in the Red Sea. Why? After all the plagues Pharaoh still is determined he will not submit to God and he will not let God's people go. He had that same manifestation in the fullness. We sometimes think if there were a clear display of God with miraculous power, the world would fall on their faces and repent. It didn't happen to Pharaoh and as we just saw a glimpse in chapter 16 the people of the world recognize the hand of God in this and rather than repent, they blasphemed Him.

Let's pick up with chapter 16 verse 1. Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God. This is the voice of God coming out of the temple. Remember no one is able to enter the temple; chapter 15 prepared the way for the unfolding of these last seven judgments. And so verse 8 of chapter 15 said the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from His power. No one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished. Now no one is able to enter and you hear this powerful great voice coming out of the temple. It's the voice of the sovereign God, giving command to the seven angels to commence the final judgments of pouring out His wrath on the earth.

Come back to Isaiah 66, This is an example of the hundreds of times the book of Revelation makes allusions and draws from the Old Testament without directly quoting. Isaiah 66:6, this is in the context of judgment, coming tribulation. A voice of uproar from the city, a voice from the temple. Now note this, voice from the temple. The voice of the Lord who is rendering recompense to His enemies. This is in the context of bringing judgment on His enemies and delivering His people. And as you go on it talks about the restoration of Israel and the establishing of Jerusalem. God will come in verse 15; the Lord will come in fire, His chariots with a whirlwind to render His anger with fury, His rebuke with flames of fire. He'll execute judgment by His sword on all flesh and those slain by the Lord will be many. This is in the context of restoring the nation Israel to the place that God has intended for them. So that voice coming out of the temple is identified as the voice of the Lord, verse 6, who is rendering recompense to His enemies. That is a fearful thing to be the enemy of God.

Come back to Revelation. So I heard a loud voice, megalace, a great voice. That word translated loud here or great through the chapter is used eleven times in this chapter. That's more times, the word great, than any other chapter in the Bible. So one commentator referred to this as the Great Chapter of the Bible because the word great is used here more than any other chapter. I heard a loud voice, a great voice. It's used down in verse 9: men were scorched with fierce heat, same word. Great heat, scorched with great heat. Verse 12, the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates. Verse 14, they are gathering the world together, the armies of the world for the war of the great day of God the Almighty. Down in verse 19, Babylon the great was remembered before God. Down in verse 21, we will have great hailstones, because the plague was extremely severe. And that's our word great again, was extremely great.

So we start out with the great voice, the awesome voice of God giving the command to the seven angels. Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God. And as each angel pours out his bowl God's wrath is dumped out, a different plague, a different judgment will come.

So verse 2, the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth and it became a loathsome and malignant sore on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image. This is similar to the sixth plague in Egypt. Come back to Exodus 9. In verse 8 Moses and Aaron are commanded to take handfuls of soot from the kiln and throw it into the sky in the sight of Pharaoh. Note verse 9, it will become fine dust over the land, all the land of Egypt and it will become boils breaking out with sores on man and beast through all the land of Egypt. So they took soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses threw it toward the sky. It became boils breaking out with sores on man and beast. The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils. The boils were on the magicians as well as on all the Egyptians.

Turn over to Deuteronomy 28:27. Here God tells Israel about the consequences of disobedience. The Lord will smite you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors and with the scab and itch from which you cannot be healed. Verse 35, the Lord will strike you on the knees and legs with sore boils for which you cannot be healed from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.

Turn over to Job 2. Job experienced something of this kind of affliction and suffering. Verse 7, then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. Verse 13, they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights, no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.

So when this angel back in Revelation 16:2 pours out his bowl, that judgment is these loathsome and malignant sores, open running sores, painful. My grandmother, when we lived in the Pittsburgh area, had ulcers on her ankles that never healed. They changed the bandages, and there were open sores, ugly, awful, painful. In those days they lanced them, today they just wrap them in gauze bandages. And people afflicted with sores and boils and open running sores that are extremely painful over their bodies. Now you think of this. These come on the people that have the mark of the beast and who worship his image. You know, it's like the plagues in Egypt; remember they did not afflict the Jews in the land of Goshen. This plague of the boils spread over Egypt but it didn’t afflict the people of God. Evidently that's true here. Most of the world will be afflicted. Back in Revelation 13:8, all who dwell in the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb. So you have the whole world worshiping him except believers. So it would seem that in this plague God spares those who are believers in Him. They are poured out on the people who have the mark of the beast, who worship his image.

We just saw a little glimpse of this in Egypt. The magicians couldn't come and stand in the presence of Pharaoh because of the sores and boils that covered them. What is the world going to be like? I mean, who is going to take care of these people? This is spread throughout the world, you have a catastrophe. Who are there to help? The doctors can't come and take care of them. Why? They are home in bed with their boils and sores. I mean, you see all of a sudden this is just one catastrophe. Where can I go-- can I go to the emergency room? Who is going to take care of the emergency room? Doctors and nurses covered with boils and sores? I mean, you see how something of this magnitude will affect the world. Hard for us to grasp, this poured out on the world, on the earth and on all those.

How does this work? Does it happen all at once? Is it spread out over weeks and months and just grow and spread? I don't know how it goes. There has to be some time in here for the impact of this to be felt. You don't get one bowl one day and the next bowl the next day, and these judgments are so quick you don't have the time to experience them. God's intention is that man experience the fullness of His wrath in the pouring out of these. You'll note, these are told in verse 1, the seven bowls of the wrath of God. This is not something to be fleeting and quickly pass, this is something dragged out. I mean, it's an awful thing.

So that's the first bowl. Verse 3, the second angel poured out his bowl into the sea and it became blood like that of a dead man and every living thing in the sea died. Now this is similar to the second trumpet judgment. Come back to chapter 8, except these judgments move it along with greater severity. In the second trumpet judgment, verse 8, the second angel sounded. Something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, a third of the sea became blood, a third of the creatures which were in the sea and have life died. A third of the ships were destroyed. Now we've moved on, we're going to take care of the rest of the sea and the creatures in the sea. It turns to blood like a dead man. Here is what one Greek commentator said, the sea becomes like the blood of a dead man that is coagulated and rotting. It begins to coagulate, and it's like a gel. It moves toward that kind of consistency. That's what the seas become. What kind of stench when you have all the sea life dying, being washed up on the shores and rotting away. Who is going to take care of this? People are trying to take care of their own physical condition with their boils and sores and now you have every living thing in the sea die.

Look at verse 4, the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water and they became blood. Now we've had the seas, salt waters turned to blood, now we turn to the fresh waters and they are turned to blood. The rivers, the springs of water. How does this all work? How long can you live without water? I don't know how this all is unfolded by God so that the impact is dragged out and felt in its fullness, but I know it will happen. The fresh water .is blood. Where do we go? What do we do? Can you imagine the panic and where do you turn? I mean, how do you cope?

If that's not bad enough, I have these running sores and the oceans have turned to blood and the fish life in the oceans dies and they are rotting on the beaches and everywhere. Now no fresh water, it is turned to blood. You know one thing this should do for us as believers is give us at least a little more appreciation of how awful sin is in the sight of God. Would a merciful God do this? Yes He would, because He is a just God; He is right. And if we have any doubt about it verses 5-7 declare how righteous God is in these kinds of judgments. And that is awesome.

Come back to Revelation 8, to show you the comparison with the third trumpet. We see a similarity but a moving on in judgment. Verse 10, the third angel sounded and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch and it fell on a third of the rivers. And the name of the star is called wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood. Many men died from the waters because they were made bitter. Now they are made blood. So we are moving on in the seriousness. This is like it was in Egypt in Exodus 7:20-21. Remember the Nile turned to blood, and the rivers. So the people were digging around trying to find water.

Turn to Psalm 78:43. When Israel forgot what God had done for them in Egypt, verse 42, they did not remember His power, the day when He redeemed them from the adversary, when He performed His signs in Egypt, His marvels in the field of Zoan. He turned their rivers to blood and their streams they could not drink. So we have historical precedent for this. God did it 1600 years before Christ in the days of Moses and the deliverance of the people from Egypt on just a minor scale there in Egypt. Now we're seeing God's wrath poured out on a much greater scale.

Come back to Revelation 16:5. And I heard the angel of the waters saying, righteous are you who are and who were, oh holy one, because you judge these things, for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve it. And I heard the altar saying, yes, oh Lord God the Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments. This announcement by the angel starting in verse 5 is very similar to what we saw in chapter 15 in preparation for these events. Verse 3, they sang the song of Moses the bond servant of God and the song of the Lamb saying, great and marvelous are your works, oh Lord God the Almighty. Righteous and true are your ways, king of the nations. Who will not fear, oh Lord, and glorify your name, for you alone are holy. For all the nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed. So you see, pick up that same theme, God being referred to as the Almighty. His judgments are righteous and true, He is the One who is holy and so on. Now that is announced in the context of these judgments.

Interesting in verse 5 it says, I heard the angel of the waters saying. We get little windows into the spirit world in the Bible, but not a full development, not enough to satisfy our interest and curiosity. But here we're told about the angel of the waters. And this is evidently an angel who has authority over fresh water, and so became instrumental in this. And when the waters that have been under his authority are turned to blood, he says this is right, this is what ought to have been done, this is righteous for God to do this.

Look back in Revelation 14. Here we see another angel, the one who has power over fire. So evidently in the angelic realm there are angels not only who have authority over nations like we see in the book of Daniel, the prince of Persia and so on among the fallen angelic realm, but there are angels who act on God's behalf who have power and authority in different realms of what we call nature, God's creation: fire, water.

Back in Revelation 7:1, after this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth holding back the four winds of the earth so no wind could blow. Perhaps indicating angels who have power over wind, four angels with the four directions—north, south, east, west. Power over the wind to restrain the wind. You know the world talks about Mother Nature and the power of nature. But we get perhaps a glimpse of the sovereign activity of the Creator in using even His created beings, angels, to exercise authority and controlling these things.

So come back and see what this angel says in Revelation 16:5, I heard the angel of the waters saying, righteous are you. And the connection, because you judged these things. Righteous are you because you judged these things. The righteous, just character of God is revealed before all creation in His dealing with sin. So rather than thinking could God do this, here you see what the angel of the waters announces. This is righteous, this demonstrates your righteousness because you judged these things. If He didn't judge sin He would not be righteous. His very character as righteous requires and demands fit punishment for sin. That means His wrath is poured out in its fullness. We saw in anticipation of hell in chapter 14 when His wrath will be poured out in sentencing people to an eternal hell. And it will be unmixed in the cup of His wrath, mercy not mixed in. God has His own emotions, but they are not influenced by outside activity. They come from His very character. As the One who is righteous, He deals righteously with sin. That means pouring out His wrath. We think He'll be influenced, He'll change. You understand this comes from His character. He is righteous. We say, how could God do that and not relent? I don't understand all this, all I can say is this is what He says He will do. And the angels could announce that this is right. Our picture of sin is so trivial, we think sin is something we can play with and it's not. When it comes time for God to pour out His wrath on sin in these terrible ways, people will be suffering such horrible pain, agony.

And what does the angel say? You are righteous because you judged these things. We say, look at the pain of that. We think we're being merciful. We have to put it into perspective. One person put it this way, all caricatures of God which ignore His intense hatred of sin reveal more about man than about God. We say: “I don't want to think about a God of wrath, I don't think God would do that.” Well, you make your God, but here is the God who is.

Look at verse 5, righteous are you, and note, who are and who were, emphasizing His eternality. Back in Revelation 11:17, we give thanks oh Lord God the Almighty who are and who were. You are the God who exists, who has always existed. He is the great I Am. Here stressing the fact He is the God who exists, He is the God who has always existed, the God who is and who was. An eternal God.

So back in Revelation 16, righteous are you eternal One, the God who exists and has always existed. Oh holy one, hoseos, not the normal word we think of for holiness that we get words like sanctify and sanctification from, agios. This is hoseos, seeing God's character as One who is holy. No defilement, no unrighteousness. So in these judgments they pour out bring such horrible and terrible suffering and pain on people. And people say, I wouldn't want to worship Him. We don't determine what God is and isn't by our own likes and dislikes. God reveals what He is like. We think sin is a trivial thing, for God it is something of eternal significance and must be dealt with, or He would not be manifesting righteousness. He is the holy One.

Up in Revelation 15:4 we saw this of God: who will not fear oh Lord and glorify your name, for you alone are holy. Same word Jesus referred to in Hebrews 7:26 as the Holy One of God using this word, His very character and nature as opposed to all that is unrighteous or polluted.

Look at Revelation 16:6 as this angel continues. Righteous are you because you have judged these things. Why? Verse 6, for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets and you have given them blood to drink. They are worthy, they deserve it, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Principle carried over. The judgment fits the crime. They have murdered God's people, they have shed their blood. How fitting it is, eternal God that is holy, that you would give them blood to drink. They are bloodthirsty as we would say, in the murdering and martyring of your people. So they give blood to drink. The angel declares that this is righteous of God. They deserve it. The word there means they are worthy.

Come back to Revelation 3, we'll see it in a different context totally. Here in a promise to believers in the church at Sardis, verse 4: but you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments. They will walk with Me in white for they are worthy. That's the expression we have over here now in Revelation 16. These getting blood to drink in their pain and agony, they are worthy. What a contrast, what a striking contrast.

Come back to Romans 1, where we have been studying. Verse 32, we'll see this word. Talks about the sinful practices of people who have rejected God, who suppress the truth that God has made known about Himself. They are unwilling to acknowledge God, to honor God. They continue to practice their sin in rebellion and disobedience to God, even though, verse 32, although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death. There's our word, they are worthy of death. This is what they deserve; this is what is fitting for them. They are worthy of death, they not only do the same but give hearty approval to others who do them. What is a righteous God to do? His righteousness, His holiness demand that the penalty be meted out. And this isn't just a foretaste; I mean, this is the suffering on this earth of horrible degrees and dimensions, but these people go from here to hell. I mean, this can only go from bad to worse. People like to say, I've been through hell. You don't have any idea. You don't even know what suffering in this life will be like, is going to be.

Come back to Revelation 16. And I heard the altar saying, and hear the altar saying. It could be the angel who is associated with the altar in chapter 14 verse 8, the angel at the altar. Or it could refer to the martyrs associated with the altar in connection with the prayers of the saints.

Come back to chapter 14 verse 18. Then another angel, the one who has power over fire came out from the altar. Some would associate that angel with that. I think more probably back in chapter 6 verse 9, when the Lamb broke the fifth seal I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain. So here martyred saints associated with the altar in heaven crying out to God, verse 10, saying how long oh Lord, holy and true, will you refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth. Then he says, wait a while. There are more of your fellow servants who are going to be martyred as well. Then I will avenge your blood.

Over in chapter 8 verse 3, another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censor and much incense was given to him so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense which was the prayers of the saints went up before God out of the angel's hand. And the angel took the censor and filled it. Here a response to the prayers of the saints.

I think when we come to chapter 16 the connection will finally be clear. These who have martyred God's servants are now given blood to drink themselves. We have answers to the prayers. In God's time the answers come, you just have to wait a while. There are more who will give their lives. And now God is ready to avenge the blood of His servants.

I heard the altar saying, yes, oh Lord God the Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments. Oh Lord God the Almighty. Up in chapter 15 verse 3 that song of Moses and of the Lamb, great and marvelous are your works, oh Lord God the Almighty. Righteous and true are your ways. Down in chapter 16 verse 7, yes oh Lord God the Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments. Now bringing before us again. Over in chapter 19 the response to the destruction of Babylon in chapters 17-18. Verse 1, after these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven saying, hallelujah. Salvation and glory and power belong to our God because His judgments are true and righteous. Why? For He has judged the great harlot, He has avenged the blood of His bond servants. So you see this is all righteous of God to do. The righteous God, the true God. Judgment is coming. Don't think that God will be moved with pity, and oh, these people are suffering too much, I can't let it go on. God's actions are not affected. His passions are not affected that way by outside activity. They come from His own character; they are always consistent with that character. Abraham said in his prayer to God in Genesis 18:25, shall not the judge of all the earth deal justly, righteously? Of course, He cannot do otherwise. He has to function consistent with His character.

Back to Revelation 16. What we've seen, and we're just taking these first three bowl judgments, terrible suffering inflicted upon the world. I don't know how we describe it. It is presented here simply rather quickly, but this won't be overnight. It will be dragged out, I believe, through the last half of the tribulation, spread out. You know the suffering just multiplies, multiplies. We see people in the small portion of the world overwhelmed with catastrophe and they're running bulldozers, scooping up bodies, putting them into graves to try to stop disease. Magnifying the tragedy. You just can't let dead bodies lie around. They decay, they become breeders of disease. So you watch it, here they are with bulldozers. What are they going to do in these days? I mean, you see the world is becoming unlivable. And Jesus' words were not an exaggeration. If He did not return in chapter 19, it's true the world would destroy itself, so to speak. It would be destroyed by God in the judgment, but the result of those judgments would be the world would be destroyed. As these plagues spread without the intervention of God, the destruction would become total and complete.

Here we see the righteousness of God in judgment. For those of you who were here this morning we studied in Romans 3:21ff the righteousness of God in salvation. What a contrast. It's God's righteousness, He is a righteous God. Today He offers His righteousness as a gift to be bestowed upon all who will believe in His Son. And so the Son who provided redemption by taking our place to pay our penalty, His action is credited to us when we believe in Him. And we are declared righteous, vindicated, not guilty in effect, because Christ has paid our penalty. But He is just as righteous in His judging the wicked and inflicting wrath and horrible suffering and pain on them in anticipation of eternal pain and suffering in hell, as He is in bringing salvation. We need to have a proper perspective of God. He is a righteous God, He is righteous in the salvation He has provided, He is righteous in the judgments that He will mete out. Because He is always righteous, He is always true and He is the Almighty. There is no successful opposition to Him. Men can blaspheme Him; men can refuse to repent. Men can't win. Nor can the angels who have rebelled against Him win. Ultimately all who oppose God will come under His judgment and the ultimate expression of that judgment will be the condemning to hell. Praise God that we have experienced His righteousness in salvation, so we have been spared coming judgment and coming wrath.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for a Savior who loved us and died for us. You are a righteous God, a holy God, the Almighty God, the eternal God. Lord, we have come to consider something of your righteousness manifested in your wrath on sinful beings. Lord, we are reminded of the time that we live in, a time of grace and mercy. You are a God who desires all to repent and come to the knowledge of the truth, to manifest in your patience because you do not desire to see men perish. But you are a righteous God and sin is an awful offense against you. It is an offense that must be punished and in your awesome plan you have provided your Son to bear the punishment for our offenses, for our iniquities. He bore our sins in His body on the tree that by believing in Him we could die to sin and live to righteousness. Thank you for the wonder of your salvation, thank you that we are privileged to share the message of the gospel, the righteousness that can come to those who experience forgiveness through faith in Christ, the One in whose name we pray. Amen.