Pour Them Out!

This morning and turn to Revelation chapter 16. Revelation chapter 16 before as you're turning there, I want to say two things I forgot to say earlier. The first is this afternoon I'm going to be reporting on the Mongolian trip. And so if you want to see what God is doing through you in another country, be here this afternoon. And then I didn't mention that choir is canceled this afternoon.

So many sick people, so I didn't mention that. Now let's get that distraction out of the way. We're now into the Word of God, Revelation chapter 16. Revelation chapter 16, I'll be reading the whole chapter you follow as I read. Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.

So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshipped its image. The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died that was in the sea. The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood.

And I heard the angel in charge of the water say, Just are you, O holy one, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve. And I heard the altar saying, Yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and just are your judgments. The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire.

They were scorched by the fierce heat and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory. The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.

The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east. And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet three unclean spirits like frogs For they are demonic spirits performing signs who go abroad to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed.

And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. 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. And there were 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.

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 and every island fled away and no mountains were to be found and great hailstones about 100 pounds each fell from heaven on people and they cursed God for the plague of the hail because the plague was so severe let's pray Father we are treading on sacred ground this morning we want to be careful with your word We want to understand it, but we want to understand it so we can live for you. I would ask that you would help us to grasp the significance of the text before us this morning so that we may live lives that do not compromise our faith, but lives of hope as we see the justice of God.

Give us that, we pray, so that we might glorify you in the dark age in which we live, that we might glorify you by our hope in you. Give us heaven's perspective again, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen. In the book Pilgrim's Progress, Christian starts on his journey and soon he falls into the swamp of despondency. It is that place where conviction of sin is so strong that one begins to doubt with such fears and apprehensions that he thinks that he is doomed, believing there is no hope for him.

Have you ever been in that swamp? I bet most of you would say to me yes I have been there Well that good because that going to help me as a pastor Because when you walk in with muddy clothes I know exactly where you been You say, oh, come on, that's so dumb. I've been there for sure, but that's a symbol in the book about what we face. Okay. Well, in that same book, Christian arrives at the cross and after his burden falls off and goes into the tomb, these shining creatures arrive and they hand him a scroll that is sealed.

Does every Christian possess that document? You say, well, yes, they do. Well, then, don't be surprised when I'm shaking your hands at the end if I say, hey, let me see your document. You're going to say, that's dumb. That's only a picture of the fact that every Christian is sealed by the Holy Spirit proving he has an inheritance in heaven. I don't have a sealed document.

I mean, I do, but it's not what you're thinking of. All right. All right. Let me try again. Another point in this story, Christian's walking along and he comes across these three guys named Simple, Sloth and Presumptuous. And they're in shackles.

Have you ever met those people? And you say, I've met them several times. I've met them several times. I've met, yes, I've met those people. Several times? Then why don't you take off their shackles?

This is so dumb. Yes, I've met those people, but those pictures that Bunyan paints are symbolic. They represent professed Christians who are trapped by their simplicity, their sloth, and their presumptuousness so that they don't make it to heaven. Yes, I've met those people, but they haven't been in shackles, and that certainly is not their names. You know what I'm driving at here?

Every one of us has experienced all those things. We can say, yes, I've been in the swamp of despondency. We can say, yes, I have that sealed scroll. Yes, I have met those people. That's absolutely true. All those things are true in my life. but those truths are symbolized They an allegory They portray truth in symbols They are absolutely true and yet those are pictures of truth So when we come to Revelation chapter 16 describing God bowls of wrath be careful how you read it alright Because they talking about absolute truth that we need to understand.

But don't look for people who have a mark on their forehead suddenly covered with boils. Alright? Don't look for bloody seas and dead fish washing up on the shore. Don't look for bloody rivers. Don't look for people with horrific, painful sunburns because they've been burned by the intense heat of the sun. And for goodness sake, don't be looking for 100 pound hailstones to destroy your vehicles, okay?

All of those things are symbols. Do they describe what happens? Absolutely. They're going to tell us truth that are absolutely true. But listen, they portray truth in symbols, not photographs. We always have to understand that when we read this book.

We're reading symbols, not photographs. It's like Bunyan telling us these things and we say, yes, I can see that. And yet you've not met three people named Simple, Sloth, and Presumptuous in shackles. You have, but not literally, right? Do you see what I'm driving at? These are symbolic representations of truth that are absolutely true. now what are these incredible weird pictures intended to do to you the ones who read this what is this chapter intended to do for you this is what this chapter is about god intends by this text to give you hope and a reason to endure the persecutions and the seductions in a world dominated by the dragon the beast, the false prophet, and Babylon.

Let me say that again. God intends by this text to give you hope and a reason to endure the persecutions and the seductions in a world dominated by the dragon, the beast, the false prophet, and Babylon. Read this. If I preach this text the way it should be preached, then you need to leave here with hope and a reason for endurance and a reason not to compromise.

OK, now, as we do consider the seven churches of Asia, Asia, to which this was written, churches that are tempted to compromise the faith by submitting to worshiping the empire and giving in to sexual immorality in order to keep their jobs or even their lives, to compromise with the beast, the empire, with Babylon, the prosperous culture in which they live, in order so that they can live, in order that they don't lose their jobs, maybe even that they don't lose their lives. And so this is written to us as well, who face the same circumstances, As they did. And again, God gives you heaven's perspective on your persecutors and your seducers.

Before you give in to them. Before you give in to persecution. Before you are seduced, look at what God is doing to them. You see, that's the point. Don't compromise. Don't give in.

Because what we read here is what God is doing to the oppressors and the seducers. Look around, God says. and see from heaven's perspective, see God punishing your opponents and their followers for their persecution, their seductive ways, and their idolatry. God is not forgotten. God is not unjust. You can endure because your opponents, who appear to you to have the upper hand, actually are suffering at the hand of God's justice, alive and at work in the world today.

Okay? Now, there are three more considerations before we jump into this text. Wow, this is a long introduction. Yeah, I know it is, but we've got to do it. alright there are three considerations yet before we get into this chapter first of all remember the idea of recapitulation remember that in this book there's recapitulation going on that is to say this vision describes again what happens in this age between Jesus ascension and his return Like the seals and the trumpets they interpret what going on in the world as the providential judgments of God and the Lamb.

So as you look around and see all the things that are happening, that's what you see described in chapter 16. We saw it described in chapter 6. We saw it described in chapter 8 and 9. We see it now again described in chapter 16. Recapitulation. Like the seals and the trumpets, this describes what God is doing in this age, only describing it a little bit differently and from a different angle.

And note this. The first five bowls are what God is doing now. Bowls six and seven are what God is going to do in the final judgment. So bowls one through five are the already. Bowls six and seven are the not yet. OK, so one through five, which we're going to talk about today, are what God is doing in this age now versus six and seven, what he will do at the very end of the age when Jesus returns.

The second thing, as opposed to the seals and trumpets, which appear partial in their effect. Right. When we read about the trumpets, this is one third of the earth was affected this way. One third of the earth was affected that way and so forth. These appear to be universal in scope. That's because God's providential judgments sometimes have a universal effect.

All right? Sometimes they have a universal effect. Let me give you an example. What's been big in the last several months has been Greek's economy. That Greece is going down the tubes unless someone bails them out. That's kind of like a trumpet judgment, all right?

There's a partial effect of God's judgment. But what else are we seeing? What else is in the news? That the economy of the entire world is in trouble. That's kind of like a bold judgment. Now the perspective widens, and we get to see that oftentimes God's judgments don't just affect some, but they affect all.

And I think another reason why it's universal is because, as you note, most of these judgments are poured out on people who have given their allegiance to the beast, who love Babylon. And where do they live? all over the world Thus these judgments affect people all over the world Okay And the last thing is the bowls like the trumpets are based are founded on are kind of a retelling of the plagues of Egypt I don't know if you've noticed that, but when you read this, the thing that should have gone through your mind is, this sounds like the plagues that God delivered, that God put on the Egyptians before he delivered his people. It reminds us that like our forefathers in the faith, those of the Old Testament, God's judgment against our oppressors are signs of his coming deliverance.

Don't lose hope. These are the plagues that come before God delivers you in the greater exodus that will happen when Jesus appears. Like the plagues, what else do they do? Did you see that? They harden the hearts of our enemies and our opponents. And lastly, they highlight the justice of God.

That his judgments are not capricious, that God doesn't just willy-nilly do things, that the things that you see around the world happening today are not the signs of God's absence, but the signs of God's presence in righteousness and in judgment. So it highlights the justice of God. So then, in this chapter, you find reasons for hope and fuel for endurance in the justice of God.

Okay? Alright, let's dive in. You'll allow me not to re-read the text. You look at it again as we look. First two verses. You see the justice.

You see God's justice inflicting misery. See God's justice inflicting misery. Seven angels have emerged from the tabernacle which now displays the glory of God as smoke billows out of that great tent. And as the angels come out of the tabernacle and walk into the courtyard, one of God's throne attendants, one of the four living creatures is there. And as each angel emerges, he hands him a golden bowl, each filled with the wrath of God.

And as they stand in the courtyard, hold each of them holding, each of those angels holding his particular bowl filled with the wrath of God, the voice of God now comes from the tabernacle and commands them to pour out the bowls of his wrath upon the earth. So the first angel steps up pours out his bowl of wrath upon the earth and it affects whom What does it say It affects those who bear the mark of the beast and worship his image These are the ones who follow the beast and give their allegiance to him Now, we've talked about the beast before. It's any political system that demands your allegiance that belongs only to God.

But I want you to remember something here, and this is important. Turn back to chapter 13, where we're introduced to the mark of the beast. In chapter 13, verses 16 and 17, it says this, Also it causes, that's the second beast, causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark that is the name of the beast or the number of its name.

One of the reasons for the allegiance to the beast is what? economic advantage. Unless you have the mark, then you will not be able to buy or sell. You will lose your job. You will not be able to make it economically. That's one of the reasons for giving your allegiance to the beast. And they have given their allegiance in heart and action.

Remember, the mark on the forehead means I follow the beast. I've given him my, if you will, I've given him my heart. I let his values dictate to me. He is the one that influences my thinking and the mark on the hand. He influences my actions as well. And when I do that, when I follow the beast, when his values are mine, when my actions serve him, there is an economic advantage.

That's one of the reasons how he gets allegiance, because without it, you're not going to make it. Remember the early churches. Remember what we saw as we were in Revelation 2 and 3. They were tempted to compromise by giving in to the guilds, by doing immoral things, by offering a sacrifice to the Caesar and declaring Caesar is Lord. Why? Because if they didn't do that, they would lose their jobs.

Unless they followed the beast, they would lose their jobs. They wouldn't be able to make a living. Well, here's what happens. Those who receive the mark of the beast receive a mark from God. You know what it is? festering sores, boils all over their bodies. That's what they get.

They get a mark from God. Painful, festering sores. The punishment fits. It's the crime. There's justice, you see. You've got the mark of the beast, here's the mark of God, festering sores all over your body.

You say, okay, now you've told us not to start looking for people with festering sores, okay? Well, then what are we talking about here? You know, I've never had a boil in my entire life, but I hear they're really bad. And some of you out there are going to say, oh, man, you just know the half of it. They are really bad. Okay, I'll take your word for it.

Here's the point, though. when you have a boil or like when I'm sick or in a lot of pain and things are not really good in my body I don't enjoy much of the good things of life okay I don't enjoy them in those moments they bring no pleasure at all you know how it is sometimes you say oh I feel like I'm getting sick oh good because now I won't go to work tomorrow and I can watch television all day and the next day you are puking your guts out and you feel like your body's falling apart and you're saying like i don't care about television just oh i just want to be done with this see that's the point here those who have the mark of the beast may have riches and they may have an economic advantage and the ability to get the good things in life but they can't enjoy them because they don't satisfy They can't enjoy it. They are still stricken with the pain of hopelessness and desperation and the fact that there's no meaning in life. Oh, yeah, they got everything.

They got all that they want, but they're covered with boils. They can't enjoy it. It's impossible to enjoy those things. The good things of life that they believe they've acquired by their own efforts and they don't see it as gifts from God don't satisfy them. It doesn't satisfy them at all. they're like people afflicted with festering sores nothing satisfies you see God inflicts misery on those who trust the beast as their savior and protector now here's a reason for hope here's the reason for hope our savior never disappoints theirs does ours does not he fully satisfies.

Here too is a warning a reason for endurance Here a warning Misery awaits those who seek security in allegiance to the beast When you are tempted to give your allegiance to that which is evil, remember, there's no satisfaction in it. you give yourself up to the beast, you'll never enjoy life. You'll never enjoy it. That's a warning for us, isn't it? That's a reason to endure.

I will endure the afflictions of following Jesus now rather than reap the misery of giving my allegiance to the beast and to Babylon. Verse 3. she sees the justice of God in economic destruction the second angel now appears and pours out the wrath of God from the bowl entrusted to him he pours it out on the sea turning it into the blood of a corpse and all the fish die now we have seen this described for us already, you remember? maybe not in chapter 8 the trumpet, same thing talks about a third of the ocean turning to blood and killing the fish and so forth. What did we see talked about then?

This speaks of the destruction of commerce, the destruction, the famine that comes from the destruction of commerce. Remember in the day that John wrote this, Rome had an incredible commercial empire supplied in many ways by the navy, by the ships that plied the Mediterranean Sea and even further beyond that. And so it speaks of the destruction of commerce and the famine-like events that result.

Here's another reason. The sea in the book of Revelation will oftentimes refer to restless humanity, sinful humanity, but sometimes to commerce. We're going to see that in two more chapters. Turn over to chapter 18. Now we see a fuller explanation of the sea. Chapter 18, verse 11.

And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her. that Babylon since no one buys their cargo anymore Cargo of gold silver jewels pearls fine lemon purple cloth silk scarlet cloth all kinds of scented wood all kinds of articles of ivory all kinds of articles of costly wood bronze iron and marble cinnamon spice incense myrrh frankincense wine oil fine flour wheat cattle and sheep horses and chariots and slaves that is human souls in other words everything you can think of The fruit for which your soul longed is gone from you, and all your delicacies and your splendors are lost to you, never to be found again. The merchants of those wares who gained wealth from her will stand far off in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud. Alas, alas for the great city that was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, with jewels and with pearls.

For a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste. And all the shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning, what city was like the great city? And they threw dust on their heads as they wept and mourned, crying aloud, alas, alas for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth.

For a single hour she has been laid waste. So we see the symbol of the sea as a symbol of commerce. It's destroyed. It can't produce anymore. And notice, this is a global judgment. It has worldwide effects.

Consider the economic downturn we are experiencing. It is international in scope. Think about this. When God did judge the Babylon of John's day, what happened? The world, as they knew it, the entire world was cast into economic chaos. What's the point?

God destroys the beast-worshipping, idolatrous fat cats by crashing the earthly security of their riches. Those who prefer the security of Babylon and the allegiance to the beast that produces riches find their money fortresses often collapsing. Have you not seen this in your own lifetime? Have you not seen some people who have been incredibly rich, many people, have everything crash in a moment of time?

We're seeing that now. Right? We saw that a few years ago. All of us who have retirement, what happened? It evaporated, didn't it? It evaporated in a day So those who prefer the security of Babylon and all the riches are going to see that that whole economic system can collapse It collapses all the time.

By the way, that makes me think that all our efforts to keep the economy running all the time are fruitless. No matter what you do, whether it's a free market system, whether it's socialism, whatever the case may be, every economic system crashes. Another one comes up, it crashes. what's the point? The point is believer, hear the warning and gain a reason for hope.

To those like the churches of Asia who'd be tempted to compromise the faith for economic security should know that riches don't provide security. They don't provide security. Alright? Listen. you may be tempted to compromise your faith so that you will have security and money guess what this is telling us worldwide it can all collapse in a moment so don't put your hope in that and to those who believe that the fight is useless against such powerful well enriched oppressors should know that their enemies resources often disappear quickly.

They often disappear quickly. All right? You know, I think about, for example, our brothers in Romania. All right? When the beast was alive and well in that country for two generations. All right?

You want to make it in Romania? What do you do? You give your allegiance to the state. All right? I remember one Romanian telling the story about the fact that he was a manager of a factory. He was a plant manager.

And when he became a Christian, you know what happened to him? He ended up working in the quarries from the top to the bottom. All right. From the mark of the beast to the mark of the lamb. Right. We've talked about this, haven't we?

The mark of the Lamb oftentimes means that we don't get it. Well, what's the point I'm trying to make? The point I'm trying to make is those Romanian brothers who I talk to now who talk about how much they suffered at the hands of these other guys, what happened to those people? Everything collapsed. Everything collapsed. Happened in a day, it seemed.

Right? All the people are well enriched. Don't lose hope. Don't lose hope. God is just. He's watching.

Get heaven's perspective. Here's what we need to be thinking. I hope this is what's going through your mind. When you see all these things happening around the world. You see systems collapsing, economies going down the tubes. Here's what you ought to be thinking.

God's justice. God is being just. He's bringing justice on those who oppress his people. All right. Now let's go on. Verses four through seven.

This becomes very clear in the third bowl. You see the justice of God producing bitter suffering. The third angel steps forward, pours out the third bowl of God's wrath, turning fresh waters into blood. The first was all the oceans turned to blood. Now the fresh waters turn to blood. The drinking water now turns to blood.

Now again, we've seen this before in the trumpet plagues. Do you remember? In the trumpet plagues, all the fresh waters, or a third of the fresh waters of the world, are turned bitter. And we saw that that symbolizes bitter suffering. Okay? Bitter, bitter suffering.

And when you read about this plague in the Old Testament, in the book of Exodus, the Nile is turned to blood. What happens? Oh, the Nile and all of the water in the jars, and pots are also turned to blood and so they become so desperate for drinking water that they start digging trenches alongside the Nile hoping to get fresh water to drink all right here all of that all of that is turned into blood and isn't it interesting that they're going to have to drink blood later on right look at what it says for you have shed the blood of saints and prophets and you you have given them, that is the persecutors, blood to drink.

So the fresh water is turned to blood This gives them blood to drink Now blood as we look at that term in the Bible doesn just mean death It means suffering It means suffering. It has a wider meaning than just death and martyrdom. It means all kinds of suffering up to and including death. So he's not just talking about you've killed these people, but you've brought suffering to them.

This blood, this bloody water is bitter suffering. And so what God says to them is this. You made my people suffer. You are going to suffer. You are going to drink the bitter brew. You are going to drink the bitterness of that bloody water.

And notice the bitter suffering they imposed on God's people, God will impose on them. Verse 6. for they have shed the blood of saints and prophets and you that is god have given them the persecutors blood to drink it is what they deserve now it's interesting literally that term for they have shed the blood of saints and prophets literally that says they have poured out they They have poured out the blood of saints and prophets. Isn't that interesting?

Because they have poured out the blood of God's people, God pours out his wrath on them. See, the punishment fits the crime. The punishment fits the crime. You've poured out their blood. I'm pouring out my wrath on you. and so they suffer what they cause believers to suffer they suffer the judgments of god for their persecution now think about this god inflicts bitter bitter suffering on them like they impose bitter suffering on his people do you remember your history what happened to the empire that persecuted the people of God, that impoverished them and killed them.

What happened? That empire was impoverished and experienced the same sort of things. That empire drank the blood. Think about things like Hitler, right? What happened to Hitler, the one who destroyed nations and killed people so violently What happened He drank the blood Drank the same blood What happened to his country Have you ever seen pictures of Germany after World War II Absolutely completely leveled All right?

Over and over you see that the oppressors of God's people suffer the same fate they imposed on the saints. It is what they deserve. The punishment fits the crime. It is what they deserve. And all of it. Now look, look at verse 5, and this is key to this whole chapter.

Verse 5, Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments. And these judgments refers to all that's going to happen in this chapter. And what does it say? Look around at the bitter suffering in the world. Suffering on a global scale. What do you see?

Here's what the writer of Revelation says. You ought to see the justice of God. You ought to see God in His holiness. The angel who pours out this judgment declares for all to hear, the one in charge of that, he's the one who declares what? God, you are just and you are holy for pouring out these judgments on the world. And then verse 7.

What's going on in verse 7? The martyrs from chapter 6 chime in in agreement. You remember in chapter 6, there's the altar with the blood coming down the sides. And underneath are what? The souls of the martyrs who say, how long, oh God, will you not avenge our blood? This is God carrying out his justice.

And these same martyrs under the altar cry out, yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true and just are your judgments. They say that God is powerful, Lord Almighty. They say He is just. They say He is true to justice by inflicting such suffering. Listen, you know what that tells me? Simply this.

People look at the world and they see all the tragic things in this world and you know what they say to you? They say, you Christians, you have a stupid faith. Where is the God of love? Where is God with all these things happening? You know what your reply ought to be He in the middle of it This is his justice He is meeting out justice on the world That what going on God not absent and God not cruel God is holy and just and true You see, we have this view that a world filled with people with the mark of the beast deserve better.

They don't. Now don't forget, we find in other parts of scripture what? God pours out in his love good things on those people every day. Day after day after day. But when the system collapses, people are starving. We need to see the justice of God.

He is not cruel. He is being just. As I was meditating on this passage, I can think of people in my own family who have stood and said, I'll never forget this. Someone in my own family, my extended family, saying to me, Oh yeah, when I get to heaven, God's going to have a lot to answer for. He does not see the justice of God. And listen, these things are happening.

Why? Because the rich fat cats who run the world's economy hate the people of God. That's why. And God says, I'm bringing justice on you. This is what you deserve for what you do to my people. You poured out their blood.

I will pour out my wrath. It is the justice of God. So there's reason for hope here and warning against compromise. Don't become part of the system. Let's go on. The fourth bowl.

You see the justice of God inflicting hardship. The fourth angel steps out and pours out the bowl, causing the sun to intensify in its heat and to scorch people. Now, we've already seen this metaphor before in chapter 7. So if we want to understand it, we need to go back to chapter 7 because he's already talked about this. In chapter 7, you remember, it's the snapshot from the future. we're seeing the celebration and one of the things that the redeemed of God say we find in chapter 7 verses 15 through 17.

They are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple, and He who sits on the throne will shelter them with His presence. Okay? So you've got this idea of sheltering shade. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more. The sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Now what's he saying? He's talking about the redeemed people of God. They're under the sheltering presence of this shepherd who gives them shade against the scorching heat of what? The hardship imposed upon them by the enemies of God. No longer are they subject to the scorching heat of that oppressive hardship. They're in the shade of God and they have the Lamb leading them to these springs of waters and giving them relief.

We experience the wonderful shelter of God and the Lamb, the shelter from all the hardship and suffering of our oppressors, the green pastures of living water and eternal rest. But for those here who seek the security of Babylon and the privileges that come with serving the beast, what? they experience the heat of hardship. They experience the scorching heat of life in a world without God finding you security somewhere else.

They find no rest like those who have believed in Jesus and have taken upon Him themselves the yoke that He says will give them rest. Remember what Jesus said, Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my burden upon you because it is light and comfortable? They don't know that. They don't know that. They find no rest.

There is no peace in Babylon with all its riches. There is no peace in Babylon like the peace that comes from the Holy Spirit as He draws us into communion with the living Lord Jesus Christ. They don't know that. The advantages and comforts of Babylon turn out to be the searing, scorching, hard life of a sin-cursed world without the sheltering shade of the Good Shepherd who leads them who could lead them to springs of living water You would think that such a hard life would cause them to turn to the shepherd to find shelter and rest and peace, wouldn't you?

You would think that's what would happen, wouldn't you? But it doesn't happen. It doesn't happen. What does it say? They were scorched by the fierce heat of life without God and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give Him glory.

You know what happens? The hardship of life that they seek to escape by seeking the comfort and the riches of Babylon by abandoning God and going after what's good in this life and going after the easy life. They find instead that life is hard And like the plagues in Egypt, what happens? This plague hardens their heart. Instead of fleeing to God for shelter and rest and peace, what do they do?

They curse his name. They blaspheme his name. The word there for curse is actually the word blaspheme. Blaspheme means to defame or to lie about somebody's character. And so they imitate their owner, the object of their worship, the beast, who in chapter 11 does what? He blasphemes the name of God.

They're just like him. And they deny that their sufferings are the afflictions of a God who is meeting out his justice. They deny that it comes from the hand of a sovereign God. They say instead, there is no God. There is no God. If God were alive, why would this be happening?

If these hardships come from God, then he's not worthy of worship. He's not just. Have you heard him say that? Have you heard those words? The hardship of life, instead of causing them to flee to Christ, causes them to curse God. It hardens their hearts and they do not repent.

And even though their anguish confirms the futility of looking to the beast for refuge, they remain immovable in their refusal to glorify God. And they get harder and harder. look around and see those scorched and suffering by the justice of God and you ask yourself this question where will I find true rest and refuge Babylon beckons and Babylon says this God stuff you want to suffer for Christ Forget that Come in. Come into Babylon.

Come in and find security. Come in and find riches. Come in and find possessions and you will have rest. and instead you end up being scorched. Where will you find true refuge and rest? You see? Don't listen to what Babylon says.

Don't listen to the beast. Don't listen. Now the fifth angel comes on the scene. It's interesting. At the same time that the sun intensifies, the darkness deepens. Isn't that interesting?

You see the justice of God inflicting darkness. Verses 10 and 11. The fifth angel now appears and pours out God's wrath on the throne of the beast. The very kingdom of the beast. On the very center of the beast's power. His throne.

And the result is that his kingdom is plunged into darkness. This is just like the plague in Egypt. When you read about this ninth plague in Egypt. It's the one before the last. you see that Egypt is plunged into darkness that is so dark that the Egyptians cannot even see one another. Can you imagine a darkness that deep? It says that brother couldn't see his brother.

They couldn't see each other. That's how deep the darkness was, except for in the land of Goshen, because there the people of God had light. Isn't that an interesting picture? You see, that's what's supposed to be going through your mind. The people of Egypt, the people of this world, the people who serve the beast, the Pharaoh, in this world today are in darkness so deep they can't even see through it.

But the people of God still have light. But they are plunged into darkness. And so the kingdom of the beast, those who bank their hopes and their idolatry, exist in the darkness of delusion and confusion. You see there confusion They have been deceived Remember as we read already in previous chapters they are deceived by both beasts by the threats of the one and the enticing words of the other Right They have been deceived And there is confusion in life They have the wrong values They have the wrong interpretations of life They have the wrong affections Everything is confused Everything is dark.

They're deluded by the dragon and his two beasts and the allurements of Babylon and they live in darkness with no explanations of life that satisfy. You ever notice this about people living in darkness? They're trying to make sense out of life and they can't do it without God. And so life is just hopeless. There's no purpose in life. Why do you get up every day and go to work and get up every day and go to work and get up every day and go to work and in the end you die?

What good is all that? You ever heard people talk like that? You ever seen the bumper sticker that says the one who has the most toys at the end wins? That's just whistling in the dark, folks. That's just a ridiculous joke to try to dispel the darkness that's around them. They go through life deluded and they have no purpose in life.

What good does it do? You just die in the end. Now that's true of us too, isn't it? But I have purpose. I serve God in my work and you do too. And you get up and you go at it every day.

Why? Because God's pleased with that. You get up and go to work every day because God says work is honorable. And it's offered as an act of worship to him. And when you die, what happens? You end up in heaven.

Now, there's purpose in our lives. But for them, there's hopelessness. The darkness of hopelessness. Their comforts and security. The persecution they leveled against the people of God. The idolatry of serving the beast are all in vain. instead of being enlightened, what happens?

They end up in darkness. They're not enlightened at all. They end up in darkness. Listen, don't ever, ever be intimidated by the wisdom of the world. You know, I'm so tired of Christians today who think, oh man, these people are so enlightened and they start adopting their philosophies and their ways of approaching life and their ways of handling problems and everything else. and they think there's so much enlightenment out there.

They're just incorporating darkness into their worldview. The world is lost in this hopeless darkness of vain existence where nothing makes sense. That's what he's talking about here. You give your allegiance to the beast, you give in to the allurements of Babylon, and what happens? You end up in hopelessness. And what does he say happens?

They have this disorienting anguish. They gnaw their tongues in anguish. They blaspheme God. It goes on to say, and they blaspheme God. They curse God for their pain and their sores. They don't see a sovereign God. they don't see a God who sent his son in order to bring light.

Ah! They don't want that. And they harden their hearts again. Do you see that? And they did not repent of their deeds. Instead of repenting of their deeds, they remain in this intractable lifestyle of sin.

This same writer, John, wrote in another book, the gospel that guilty people love their darkness because it gives them a cover for their evil deeds they love their darkness why because they can do what they want and no one can see it you know what as distressing they're in anguish as distressing as the confusion and the alienation of this darkness are these hardened rebels prefer their pain to the humbling exposure of the liberating light of God's Son. They prefer their pain. They prefer to stay in the darkness.

Instead of the darkness driving them to repentance, it drives them deeper into the darkness. They would rather have their sin and anguish than to humble themselves and step into the liberating light of the Son of God And so defiant toward God they stagger in the darkness toward destruction That is God's justice. You want darkness, you'll have darkness. and it's only by the sovereign mercy of God that he breaks through any darkness and reaches anyone you see God's justice and presents to you both reason for hope and warning against compromise listen folks John has written this book to people who live in the midst of Babylon who are being allured by Babylon and saying to them, go that route.

Find comfort and abandon God and find comfort in your own way and go to Babylon all you want. And if you do, you will end up in the hopelessness of darkness. That's why he writes this. And so I say to you, in this culture in which we live that has all these things that beckon you, compromise and have more money, he says you end up in darkness. Don't do it.

And that gives us reason for hope. Gives us reason for hope because we have the one. We have the one who gives us light. Look around. Here's what the text says to you. Look around today.

Do you see the economic hardship the desperation the darkness and the misery of this world Do you see it Do you see it If you do then you are seeing the justice of God Do not accuse God of cruelty but praise Him for His justice Don't accuse God of being cruel. Worship Him. why just are you oh holy one who is and who was for you brought these judgments you're holy you're just you're powerful you're true why because you pour out these judgments if you see the justice of God then you have warnings against compromise the comfort of Babylon is no comfort at all The security of the beasts lead to destruction. But there's reason for hope in the justice of God.

The rich oppressors do not have it all. They don't have it all. They taste in this life, through the justice of God, they are tasting the justice of God, what they will experience to the deepest levels for eternity when Jesus returns. What we see going on around us, folks, the misery that you see going on in this world today is just a taste of what hell is like.

You think about that. You think it's bad now. It's going to be worse for those who refuse to repent. there is justice in this world don ever say this again where is there justice God says I meeting out justice It's going to come in greater measure someday, but right now you look around, and I'm meeting out justice. Get heaven's perspective. Justice of God gives us reason to hope and fuel for endurance.

Father, thank You for Your Word. Lord we do see injustices in this world there's no doubt about that and yet your justice is not absent the economic collapses that we see the calamities that happen around us the darkness, the misery, the desperation are all evidence that you are a just God that those who oppress the people of God are not unscathed Father, although this text does not say it, we pray for hearts of compassion. There are people lost in darkness.

There are still those in darkness who bear the mark of the Lamb. Help us to find them. Father, give us a heart that sees the justice of God, not just in the calamities of this world, but in the cross of Jesus, so that we will go out and we will rescue those from the ultimate justice of God by showing them the justice of God and the death of Jesus. Now help us, Father, to live with hope.

You are not absent and you are not cruel. You are just. Help us to recall that, that we might have hope and that we might endure. Lord, we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.