This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

Hi, this is Pastor Tom and I want to welcome you to week 16, chapter 16 of our
look together through the book of Revelation, day one. We're going to focus this
week on what happens as the seven bowls of final judgment are poured out upon
the earth. Revelation chapter 16 verse 1 begins by saying, "Then I heard a loud
voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, 'Go, pour out the seven bowls
of God's wrath on the earth.

'" And as we walk through this chapter this week, we're going to see those bowls
poured out. As we see this happening, as we walk through this together this
week, we're going to look at five specific things that you and I can learn about
who God is and how God judges that help you and I to live the lives you've given
us to live today and to understand the love of God for us today, beginning with
today. The first thing we can understand from what we see in the seven bowls of
wrath that are poured out here in Revelation chapter 16, first thing that we
learn about judgment is number one, the way that God's judgments intensify.

Judgment tends to build on itself, to build on each other. First there is a
warning of judgment and then there is a partial judgment and then there is a
full judgment and then there is a final judgment. That's true many times in
life, that's true many times in history, it's certainly true.

We see that very clearly here in the book of Revelation. Let's walk through the
details of this. Now that we're seeing these seven bowls of final judgment,
seven bowls of wrath, this is the third set of threes.

Remember we've looked at the seven seals, we've looked at the seven trumpets,
and now we're looking at the seven bowls and they tend to build on each other.
Let's just walk through the details of this for just a moment. Sevens, the first
seal that we looked at several weeks ago was a white horse of conquest.

The first trumpet was one third of the earth being destroyed. The first bowl is
source coming upon all people. Now let's just walk through the details of this
and see how it intensifies.

When you get to the second seal, it's the red horse of war. The second trumpet
is one third of the sea being affected and destroyed. The second bowl of the
seven bowls is the sea, the entire sea being turned to blood.

So you see how it is increasing, it's even more clear with the third. The third
seal is a black horse of famine. The third trumpet is one third of the rivers
being affected, being made bitter.

And the third bowl is, we're going to see as we walk through this week, is all
of the rivers are turned to blood. The fourth seal, I know this is detailed, but
it helps you and I to get it. The fourth seal is the pale horse of death.

The fourth trumpet is one third of the lights in the sky are affected. And the
fourth bowl is fire from the sun. The fifth seal is martyrs.

The fifth trumpet is locusts. The fifth bowl is darkness. The sixth seal is
earthquakes.

The sixth trumpet is one third of the men being affected on earth, the
humankind. And the sixth bowl is the Euphrates River entirely drying up. And
then you remember the seventh seal is the seven trumpets, the seventh trumpet is
the seventh bowl.

And at the end of the seven bowls, you have a great earthquake and God's
statement, incredibly important statement we're going to see in the middle of
this week, his statement, it is done. Now walking through this, you see first
it's a part of the earth that's affected, then it's a third of the earth that's
affected, then it's all of the earth as these judgments are faced. First it's a
warning of judgment, then it's a partial judgment, then it's a full judgment,
then it is a final judgment.

God's judgments are intensifying. Why? Why does God do it this way?

One of the main reasons is to give people an opportunity to see him. The world
does not fall apart in a day. It's going to be evident as these judgments
increase that this world, as we've said a number of times as we've walked
through Revelation, is not something to cling to.

You don't want to put your hope in this world because it is falling apart. Yet
what will people do when it becomes evident that everything in this world is not
something to hold on to, is not something that is trustworthy? What will people
do when they realize that?

You might be surprised. We're going to see that in the midst of this week. As we
look at these intensifying judgments, there are a couple of very important
principles in this for us.

First, we sometimes have the picture of people facing God's judgment and saying,
"I had no idea. If only you'd let me know. If only you had given me a chance.

" That's not the picture at all. In the Old Testament, and here in Revelation,
God is a God who gives chance after chance after chance, opportunity after
opportunity. In the Old Testament, he loved the people of Israel, but they often
went away from him so they would face judgment.

He told them that they would. But he would give them opportunity after
opportunity to come back to him, and they would continually reject him. Here in
Revelation, we've seen it so many times already.

God is giving another opportunity. Here's another opportunity to see me. You
have to choose to walk away from the love of God.

This idea that somehow you accidentally slip into the judgment of God, no, it is
a choice. We don't see that clearly now, but at the end of time, we will see
that clearly. That's one principle that's very clear here.

There's another principle. That's the principle about our lives today, your life
today. The principle of God's judgments intensifying, it's applicable in the way
that he disciplines our personal lives as well as followers, as people who want
to have faith.

If you are a follower of Jesus Christ and you're tempted to sin, and maybe you
even fall into that sin, your first thought might be, "Something terrible is
going to happen to me. Lightning is going to fall from the sky. I'm immediately
going to be judged.

" But then you look around and the lightning doesn't fall. You're not
immediately judged. God is patient with you in that moment.

And if you're not careful in that moment, you can fool yourself, just like the
people in the book of Revelation are fooling themselves into thinking, "Well,
maybe God wasn't watching. Maybe God didn't notice. Or maybe somehow this was
okay.

" That's not it at all. It's the principle of how God works. He disciplines us
in love and in patience and in grace.

God is incredibly patient with us. So do not mistake His patience for acceptance
of that sin in your life. You may have been down the road on this one in your
life, and you've seen that sin that you allowed yourself to begin to be tempted
towards, and then you allowed into your life.

And you thought at first, "Well, it's not affecting my life at all. " You began
eventually to see that God judges all sin. You saw the judgment of the natural
consequences in your life of that sin, how it affected your relationships, how
it affected your health potentially, how it affected your finances, how it
affected your heart towards God.

You saw the intensifying judgment of sin. So the truth of the matter is, when
you and I think about sin in our lives, we can be tempted, just as the people in
the book of Revelation were tempted, to think that, "Well, nothing bad happened
immediately, so maybe God thinks it's okay. " And then if you allow yourself to
go down that road, when something eventually bad happens, you think, "God, why
are you doing this to me?

You didn't let anything bad happen in the first place. Why are you doing this to
me now? It's not fair, God.

" When the truth of the matter is, if you're seeing it from God's heart, God's
perspective towards you, it's a heart of love. It's a heart of patience. And God
is saying to us, "I was patient with you in the beginning, giving you time to
come back to me.

Now that I've allowed more consequences at this point, I'm still giving you the
opportunity to come back to me. That's what it's all about, my relationship with
you. " That's what all these judgments are about in the book of Revelation, our
relationship with God being right.

That's what it's about in my daily life. Now as we pray today, we could easily
pray about them and what's going to happen at the end of time and people who are
not going to respond to God's judgments, but it's better to pray about me.
Instead of judging others, God's the judge, I'm not.

It's better to look at my life. It's better for you and I to look at our hearts.
Let's take a few minutes to do that.

Jesus, show me places where I'm taking your grace for granted. I'm allowing some
temptation to be accepted in my life, thinking that because everything didn't
fall apart immediately, maybe it'll be okay. When Lord, in ways I don't even
know, it's affecting my heart towards you, my heart towards others, it's
affecting my life.

Lord, I trust you and I trust your love for me and I trust your patience towards
me. Thank you that you are patient. But I pray that instead of seeing your
patience as an excuse to continue to sin in some area of my life, I would see
your patience as a reason to fall, to fall before you in grateful praise and to
say, God, give me the strength, help me to follow you, help me to bring the
people into my life, your word into my life, the strength I need in my life so
that I can not live, not live for that sin, but I can live my life in a fresh
new way for your grace, for your power, for your glory.

I pray this in the name of Jesus, amen. Join us tomorrow. We're going to see
what we can continue to learn from chapter 16 about the judgment of God.