The Jewish Final Solution to the World's Problem - Revelation - God's Ways are Just and True

[0:00] There is a really, really important dynamic that I want to consider with you before we go to our text that will be in Revelation chapter 15.

[0:13] And this is a concept that is so terribly important. It colors everything in our world, and I certainly want you to have a good appreciation for it, and it is this.

[0:24] There is a dynamic that I have often mentioned in the past, but only in passing. And today, I want to expand on it with a little more clarification, because it is so vital that we understand it.

[0:43] This dynamic has existed since the fall of man in Genesis 3. And we see it played out repeatedly in the actions and decisions of men all throughout history.

[0:58] But it does appear to be intensified during this period of tribulation coming upon the earth and described in the book of the Revelation.

[1:11] And the dynamic of which I speak is that of the warped mind all humans possess that allows them to reach false conclusions about nearly everything.

[1:30] In and of ourselves, we all reason with a skewed intellect. I know there are many, many people that do not understand that and do not believe it.

[1:47] I am totally satisfied that it is true. Well, it is true. We have our Einsteins and our other geniuses and our rocket scientists and such, and they are able in many respects to accomplish great things.

[2:01] But even they have an intellect that is flawed. Our intellect, our minds, our brains were all impacted by the fall of our first parents.

[2:19] Everything about them fell, including their ability to process and assess information. When the moral and spiritual fall of Adam and Eve took place, everything about them came crashing down and has forever altered all of the progeny that has come from them.

[2:44] We are of their same stripe and mold. And that which impacted them and took a toll on them in ways that many of us, including myself, still do not understand.

[3:00] But probably the greatest reality or the greatest obvious notion of that is this thing called a fallen nature that mankind is infected with.

[3:15] It is this disease that has impacted every one of us. It is systemic to the human race. It is. We are all infected with this disease called sin.

[3:30] And we are all terminal. And this is why we are going to die physically. But Jesus Christ has made provision for that which is the real person to not die.

[3:48] And the real person does not die. The real person is not your body. It is your spirit that dwells within. That is what is regenerated.

[4:00] Your physical body is not redeemed in reality. And it will not be redeemed until the rapture of the church takes place and this mortal is turned into immortality.

[4:15] And this physical is turned into a pure physical, the likes of which Adam and Eve had when God created them. And that will include our mortality or immortality.

[4:30] Our bodies are not yet redeemed. The price has been paid for their redemption because Christ made a full price payment when he said it is finished. But the application of redemption has been applied only to our immaterial part.

[4:47] This is the part of which Jesus was speaking when he said, He who lives and believes in me shall never die. Well, how can that be?

[4:59] It means exactly what he says. The real person who lives and believes in Christ will never die. Your body? Yes. It certainly is going to die. And it is awaiting the resurrection, the redemption, and the glorified body.

[5:12] But in this part of our being, our humanity, it is that which is impacted severely by the fall.

[5:23] And it doesn't make any difference how good a Christian you are. You are still infected by this thing. And that is the old Adamic nature that is common to all of us.

[5:34] So, let me continue. The death and dying capacity that Adam and Eve realized was not originally part of their being.

[5:45] God did not place that in them at creation. It entered their being after their disobedience, resulting in immediate spiritual death, which was separation from God that caused him to hide from God in the garden.

[6:00] And spiritual death and eventually physical death.

[6:12] It is as though, it is as though, and I don't know that this is true, and I'm not saying that it is, but I'm just saying that it speaks to me, it kind of communicates. It is as though a death gene, a death gene was now a part of their being.

[6:32] Aging began and continued to 930 years for Adam, and he died. And yes, I am totally convinced they were real years.

[6:45] They were not 930 months. They were 930 years living under an entirely different world and different atmosphere than we know anything about. But in all of Adam's offspring, this death gene was passed on as well as all of his other genes.

[7:03] And most people don't have any problem understanding that. At least Christians don't. We just refer to it as the old Adamic nature, the sin nature with which we are born. And part of that is our thinking and reasoning process.

[7:16] And what I'm saying, and I want you to understand, is when Adam and Eve fell, and that's the word we use to describe their moral and spiritual demise before the God who made them.

[7:31] When they did, everything about them fell. Everything. Including their reasoning and thinking powers.

[7:42] And if not, what, pray tell me, do you think is responsible for all the chaos in the world today? It's not a result of right thinking.

[7:55] It's not a result of godly thinking. Not a result of biblical thinking. It's a result of human thinking. With that skewed logic. The more immediate result of this flawed intellect was and is played out by man's reasonings, allowing him to reach false conclusions about all of life and its true realities.

[8:21] It has allowed him to engage even in the worship of idols, and worship and serve the creature rather than the creator. All of the bizarre societal activities we see today stem from this seriously flawed thinking.

[8:42] It sees as perfectly acceptable. Perfectly normal. Homosexuality. Homosexuality. Abortion on demand.

[8:54] Idolatry. Witchcraft. Same-sex marriages. Evolution. Transgender nonsense. All as perfectly acceptable in reasoning.

[9:05] Where does that come from? It comes from the skewed intellects that we're talking about. This is an infestation of the entirety of the human race.

[9:21] This is where we are. But, please understand, this is where we have always been. This is not new.

[9:34] This goes all the way back. It includes even the first murder that we call fratricide. Human race hadn't gotten very far underway at all until the first man born on the earth murdered his brother.

[9:54] Why did he do that? Well, there were all kinds of evil motivations and thinking. And may I say erroneous thinking?

[10:09] And flawed thinking? And skewed reasoning? What else do you think led to Cain's decision to kill his brother?

[10:21] And, of course, there is also the insertion and the dynamic in proportions that we do not know nor understand of the demonic or the satanic.

[10:34] And we're not always able to determine to what extent they are in play, but we know they are very much real. So, this is where we are and where we have always been.

[10:46] Today, we are experiencing an intensifying of this dynamic regarding human thinking being paramount and superior to anything found in the Bible.

[11:01] This is what we are dealing with in our society. And this, whether you realize it or not, is precisely what our Congressman Jim Jordan and his colleagues are dealing with in Congress today.

[11:15] We have 435 individuals who make up our House of Representatives and the Senate. And they are all operating with skewed logic. Now, somehow, that does not surprise you, does it?

[11:29] Seriously. Seriously. I mean, this is the predictable result of where and what we are. And we send off to a place like Congress those whom we consider to be the brightest among us, the most capable, the most able, etc.

[11:47] And what do we get? Well, you see what we get. And we elect to the Supreme Court those whom – or the president appoints those who are supposedly the most judicious and the most wise and the most this and the most that.

[12:04] And then the Supreme Court comes down with all kinds of screwball ideas like the Dred Scott decision back in the 1800s that the American Negro was not a full-fledged human being and he wasn't entitled to the benefits, etc.

[12:21] That the elevated superior white people are entitled to. Well, where did they get a screwball idea like that? Right here.

[12:34] Out of their own minds. Men are far more impressed with their own intellectual ability and thinking than they are with anything the Bible has to say.

[12:48] Understand that. How about now?

[13:24] Okay. We'll do that. We'll do that. So, it doesn't make any difference what level of government you're talking about. And I don't say this – I don't say this to put down the Supreme Court or the Congress or anything else.

[13:37] What I'm saying is they're just like all the rest of us. That's all. There's no difference in humanity. We just have different levels of comprehension. We have different levels of capability. But we all are infected with this thing that impacts our thinking and our ability to assess situations and to reach conclusions.

[13:58] Whose word and whose authority is to be trusted? That is the question. And that has always been the question.

[14:09] It goes all the way back to Eve. Eve, honey, who are you going to believe? Are you going to believe what your creator told you? Or are you going to believe what this dazzling, slimy individual suggested?

[14:25] Which is it? And she made the wrong choice, didn't she? And as a result, the human race is off and running.

[14:36] She recruited Adam, and he too made a wrong choice. So, something set in there that is still in motion to this day. Authority is the question.

[14:50] Always has been. It is the only question because all of life's issues are derived from this singular question of authority. Who do you believe?

[15:02] What is your base source? The epitome of the flawed thinking dynamic will occur during the tribulation.

[15:14] And we are seeing that as we make our way through the book of the Revelation. There is a hubris. There is a hubris and a defiance in this book of Revelation against the God of heaven.

[15:32] And the thing that is most stunning, most absolutely startling about it, is that the inhabitants of the earth will know, they will know, that it is the Almighty against whom they are contending.

[15:49] And that's what makes it so incredible. They will be sinning against the knowledge that it is the Most High. And they will align themselves by receiving the mark of ownership of the beast who has made promises to them that he will never be able to fulfill.

[16:11] But he makes it sound so good. And they buy into it. And they, of course, are going to be deceived. The Antichrist, who will be energized by Satan himself and the false prophet, are going to present attractive information, dangle whatever before them, and multitudes are going to buy it.

[16:32] And a lot of it will have to do with being able to provide for them the mere sustenance to stay alive. Because when you have that mark of the beast, you won't have any problem buying whatever you want or whatever you need.

[16:46] But if you don't have the mark, you're out in the cold. So those who have the mark will see life sustained in a way that those who do not, might be able to.

[16:57] So this is going to be a remarkable time. And we're going to see it. It's going to be intensified during this time of tribulation.

[17:08] Now, with those thoughts in mind, if you would please turn to Revelation 15, if you're not already there. And I have a few comments for you regarding that. God has been speaking to men throughout the Revelation in his wrath.

[17:23] And now, his wrath escalates to what Psalm 2.5 calls God's sore displeasure.

[17:35] The screws are going to be tightening during this seven-year period. An escalation of God's wrath is underway. We have already seen the six seal judgments that began back in chapter 6 and the effect upon the earth.

[17:54] And we noted that the seventh seal introduced the seven trumpet judgments. And they were worse than the seal judgments.

[18:04] The seventh trumpet judgment consists of the introduction of the bowl judgments. So we've got three packages, three segments of divine justice.

[18:19] And each one is going to be worse than the one before it. These bowl judgments, some translations in some Bibles render it vile, V-I-A-L.

[18:31] But bowl is probably a better word. And what John is going to witness in heaven and is told to record is these seven angels, as the text will reveal. Each will possess a bowl.

[18:43] And they are going to dump the bowl, empty the bowl. And this is a figurative expression that represents the wrath of God that is going to be poured out on this earth.

[18:56] John is seeing this as a symbol. And we've related to you in the past how that the revelation is filled with symbols. But never forget, the symbol always means something.

[19:09] It isn't a symbol just to be a symbol. It isn't a symbol to confuse or to mystify. It is a symbol that points to the reality of something. And in this case, the contents of these bowls are going to consist of the very wrath of God.

[19:26] Now, we don't think of it in terms of being poured out of a bowl. But that's the dynamic of the symbol. It gives John a visual picture, and he describes it. And it is as if what is coming upon the earth is as if God is just dumping a bowl of his anger and wrath upon the earth, and the earth is suffering the consequences thereof.

[19:49] And the bowl judgments will be the worst of all. They involve the very wrath of God himself. So, in chapter 15 of Revelation, here's what we read, beginning with verse 1.

[20:04] And this is the shortest chapter in all of the book. Only eight verses. And it says, John speaking, And I saw another sign in heaven.

[20:16] Great and marvelous. Seven angels. Seven angels. And we have seen these same seven angels surface before. These seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished.

[20:36] In other words, when these seven bowls have been dumped, that's it. God says, my wrath is over. It's finished.

[20:48] Man will have suffered the extent of God's wrath in an amazing, amazing way. Reading on. And I saw, as it were.

[20:59] We told you that John uses a lot of terminology like this, as it were, and like. He is not saying that this was a sea of glass. He's saying it is, as it were, a sea of glass.

[21:13] John doesn't know how to identify or describe something that he has never before in his life seen. He has no frame of reference for it.

[21:24] But he has seen glass. And he has seen fire. And he kind of puts these together. And he says, the closest I can come out of my reference box and describing what I'm looking at is, is as it were, it looks like a sea of glass mixed with fire.

[21:44] Fire. And of course, throughout the Bible, fire, especially fire from God, always speaks of judgment. And Hebrews reminds us that our God is a consuming fire.

[21:59] And those who had come off victorious from the beast and from his image and from the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God.

[22:14] These are those who were victorious, who survived, who refused the mark of the beast, and paid a very dear price for it.

[22:27] But the greatest incentive, the greatest incentive that will accompany receiving the mark of the beast is, you will be allowed to live.

[22:40] Your life will not be taken. If you will not receive the mark of the beast, you will be regarded as a rebel, as an obstructionist.

[22:52] You may even be labeled an enemy of mankind. And it may very well cost you your life. There will be multitudinous executions during this time.

[23:07] And the revelation makes it quite clear that most of these executions will be by way of being beheaded. I don't know to what degree you want to tie that with some of the things going on today, but it is interesting to contemplate.

[23:27] And it's going to be on a massive scale. We cannot begin to identify with the French Revolution and the number of people who were led to the French guillotine, decapitated there, but that was nothing compared to what this is going to be.

[23:46] Verse 3 says, And they sang, these people who were redeemed, they sang the song of Moses, the bondservant of God, and the song of the Lamb.

[24:00] And here's what they said, Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty. Righteous and true are thy ways, thou King of the nations.

[24:12] Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For thou alone art holy, and all the nations will come and worship before thee, for thy righteous acts have been revealed.

[24:26] Moses experienced a miraculous deliverance leading the children of Israel through the intervention of God on numerous occasions. And it was reduced to music and to a song, and it's called The Song of Moses.

[24:44] And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and standing beside the sea those who had been victorious, and held hearts given them by God, and sang the song of the Lamb.

[24:56] And they see The Song of Moses, The Sermon of God, And the Song of the Lamb, Saying, Great, great and marvelous, All your words, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Almighty, Just and true, All your ways, O King of the saints, Who shall appear, Who shall appear, O Lord, And may sing The Song of Moses,

[25:59] The Sermon of God, And the Song of the Lamb, Lord, And may sing That you are all Владish, Great and harmonies, All your hearts, For the Voice, You know I need trust and truth, just so true.

[26:37] I am grateful, O King of the Son. You shall not live, O Lord.

[26:51] gloss, pye, and w ответ. Hallelujah, O God, hallelujah, we неп allí.

[27:18] Alleluia. So sweet.

[27:29] Alleluia. Alleluia.

[27:41] Alleluia. Alleluia.

[27:54] So sweet. Alleluia. So sweet. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.

[28:13] Alleluia. All right.

[28:44] All right.

[29:14] All right.

[29:44] All right. All right.

[30:18] All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right.

[30:30] All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right.

[30:42] All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right.

[30:54] All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right.

[31:06] All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right.

[31:18] even as it does today in everyday life. Nothing, nothing can combat the warped thinking of man, but the infusion of God's truth.

[31:34] We are born flawed and we exercise flawed thinking and reasoning. It is the entrance of God's word alone that gives man the light he needs and the ability to rise above his own flawed thinking and reasoning.

[31:51] And this is one of the principal reasons that God gave us his word. It is a gracious act on the part of God to provide us with his truth, even though we are a people who are saturated with human truth and human ideas.

[32:10] And the Bible is designed by God to give us the real scoop, if you will. It is God's viewpoint regarding everything that contradicts man's viewpoint regarding everything.

[32:24] The Proverbs tells us there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is the way of death. And this is why we just have to keep coming back to and harping on the Scriptures as our authority and what the Bible has to say.

[32:43] And I want to close out this chapter because, really, this chapter 15 is that which sets forth the righteousness of God and the justice of God in the midst of his pouring out these bowls of wrath.

[33:01] In other words, the tendency is to think that maybe this is too harsh. Maybe God is being unreasonable here. But the word that is set forth and the terms that are used stress the rightness and the righteousness of God in an absolute manner.

[33:19] And this is something that we really have to keep in mind. Because, I'll tell you, our flawed thinking tends to make God too severe.

[33:34] Tends to make us think, well, we're not that bad. Well, God isn't fair in doing that. That's overkill. That's too much.

[33:46] And this chapter is designed to affirm and to reaffirm that God not only is behind this, but he is fully, totally, completely righteous and justified in doing this.

[34:04] He is not being unfair. He is not being unrighteous. He is absolutely consistent in his meeting out of a perfect kind of justice.

[34:21] That's the kind of justice that has always escaped man as he attempts to apply law to one another. It's very difficult for us to arrive at justice.

[34:32] And the word that is used here in chapter 15 that refers to God as being holy is not even the word that is ordinarily used, which is hagios, but this is the word hosios.

[34:47] And it stresses the rightness and the righteousness of God in an absolute manner. It reveals a complete vindication on the part of God as regards the appropriateness of what he is about to pour out on mankind.

[35:04] If anything, God has been long-suffering in withholding. But he can be such no longer. Mankind, as it will exist during this period of time, mankind will have passed the limits of God's withholding, what they so deservedly have coming.

[35:29] So, here it comes. And God's righteousness is not compromised in any way. So, chapter 15 in the Revelation is the law before the storm.

[35:46] Chapter 15 is saying God is about to do it. And the world has it coming. And God is absolutely righteous in what he is going to provide.

[36:00] All of the plagues of the bowls are introduced here in chapter 15. And they will follow with a brief interlude. It will be the last interlude.

[36:13] And the final but brief law before the awful storms to follow. And this is as bad as it can be.

[36:23] You know, one almost gets the impression that in the seal judgments with which the Revelation begins in chapter 6, and they are bad and they are intense, but it is almost as if they represent what mankind is able to do to his fellow man.

[36:43] And it's pretty bad. It's pretty brutal. But then the trumpet judgments that follow represent an escalation from that. And one gets the impression that it is what Satan and demonic activity can do to man.

[37:01] And that involves the loosing of these incredible creatures, these demonic-filled hordes that are indwelling the Tartarus now and will be released at that time.

[37:13] And we have seen how that plays out, and that is incredible. We just cannot imagine what that is going to be like. But this, this is not what man does to man.

[37:26] And this is not what demonic powers do to man. This is God doing his thing. And it is the worst of all.

[37:39] It begins in chapter 16 and continues on through to 19 and the second coming of Christ, and it is going to be absolutely awful.

[37:52] The Antichrist no doubt thought himself victorious over the saints. After all, he succeeded in killing them, thus eliminating them as obstacles to his plans.

[38:04] Yet, these are they who instead loved not their own lives unto death. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb.

[38:15] And they are those who he has mentioned here in chapter 15 as well. So, in the declaration, in the declaration of God's righteousness, it is affirmed that in the Most High, there are no unrighteous deeds, no unrighteous motives, and no unrighteous attitudes.

[38:37] But, unrighteousness or righteousness, according to what standard? Now, think of that.

[38:48] Who sets the standard for what is righteous or unrighteous? Who determines right and wrong? And this can only mean that God is utterly consistent with the standards he himself has set regarding righteousness and wrong, what is righteous and what is not.

[39:09] And I want to close with this thought because there's something very sobering, and we ought to keep it in mind. And that is this. And you've heard me say this before. I think it is probably the best illustration we can give about the character of God and his righteousness.

[39:23] God does not do what is right. What God does is right.

[39:34] He himself is the standard for righteousness. God has no rule or dictum that he has to follow so as to comply with righteousness.

[39:49] We do. We do. But God does not. Because God, in his very character, is upright and righteous and truthful and honorable in every way.

[40:05] He himself is the standard. So, God does not do what is right. But what God does is right because he is the standard.

[40:18] And this is to inform us when we read chapter 15 and chapter 16 and all of these awful things. I mean, indescribably awful things that are going to be poured out on humanity.

[40:33] There is something within the humanity of each of us that wants to rise up and say, Oh, God, hold it. This isn't right. This is too much.

[40:44] This is overkill. Surely they don't deserve this. But yes, they do. Yes, they do. And God is absolutely righteous in all that he does.

[40:56] Would you stand, please, for a word of prayer? Father, we are once again in awe of what the word reveals.

[41:09] We cannot contemplate in our wildest imagination what these things are going to be like. And we are so grateful that you've been pleased to reveal the truth.

[41:20] And we believe that every truth you have revealed is provided so that we can provide a response to that.

[41:32] And our response to this is, you are to be praised. You are to be honored. You are to be worshipped. For all your ways are right.

[41:42] There are times when we do not understand them. But that should not in any way diminish the reality of them in our own minds and hearts. Thank you that the Lord Jesus Christ, in a way that we cannot begin to imagine, compensated for our fallen nature, for our sin, and being made sin himself, and paying that ultimate price for us.

[42:06] We don't understand that. Can't comprehend that kind of love. But we can gratefully receive it. And for anyone here who perhaps has not already done so, we pray that they'll find no peace and no rest until they find it in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.

[42:23] In his name we pray. Remain standing, if you would, for just a moment. What I would like to do now is suggest that those who are involved with the food preparation that will be served shortly, you may dismiss yourselves right now, if you will, please.

[42:38] Care for that item. And thank you so much. And... Thank you.