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Welcome back to our look at Revelation chapter 16, day three today. We're going
to look at one more truth of these five truths that we're looking at this week,
a fourth of these five truths about who God is as judge. We can learn this from
the way that He judges in Revelation 16.

Revelation 16 teaches us that number one, God's judgments intensify. Number two,
in the parallels to the plagues of Egypt, we see that God is faithful in His
judgments. Number three, in the differences between the natural consequences of
our sin and the final judgment, we see that God is just in His judgments.

There's a fourth fact, a fourth occurrence that you see in Revelation chapter 16
that teaches us about our response to God's judgment. The fact is, right up
until the very end, men will battle God. Human beings will battle against God
and His judgments and His holiness and His perfection right up to the very end.

The battle that's been going on for centuries upon centuries and millennia upon
millennia, it will continue until the end. Let me read for you Revelation 16
verses 8 to 12. The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was
given power to scorch people with fire.

They were seared by the intense heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had
control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify Him. The
fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was
plunged into darkness. Men nod their tongues in agony and cursed the God of
heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of
what they had done.

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. As you read through
these verses, God's judgment is clear, and the response of those who refuse
God's judgments, refuse God's work, is also clear. They refuse to repent.

Undeniably caught up in judgment, they curse God instead of trusting the only
one who could save them. And so listen to what happens in verses 13 to 16. Verse
13 begins by saying, "Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs, and
they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out
of the mouth of the false prophet.

They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go to the kings
of the whole world and they gather them for battle on the great day of God
Almighty. Behold, I will come like a thief. Blessed is he who stays awake and
keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully
exposed.

Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called
Armageddon. " These miracle-working demons that we see here, they affect the
kings of the earth so that they will go for this final battle with God at a
place called Armageddon. Now as I read these verses, to me, they are one of
those verses that more than any other sets of verses in Revelation make me begin
to scratch my head.

First you have Armageddon, the beginning of it. There are dozens of theories
about who will be there and how this will happen. Remember when you see a lot of
theories about things, when you see a theory about Armageddon that changes with
every change in world government, you know that that is just a speculation.

It's okay to speculate, it's just a speculation. But the Revelation is this, it
will happen. And since it is the greatest battle that will ever be fought, don't
miss who will be on the two sides.

The kings of the earth, those who follow the ways of this world, who trust in
this world, are going to battle, try to battle against God. What a foolish
battle. And they are drawn into this battle by miracle-working demons who look
like frogs.

Now to me, that is one of the strangest pictures in the entire book of
Revelation. But as you remember the Old Testament, as you remember the pictures
here, it gets to be clear. What is this all about?

Well frogs, you might remember, are one of the creatures that Egyptians
worshiped, obviously not worthy of worship or trust, they still worship them.
And these creatures will appear as that which men worship, our pride, our
passions, our position. And the kings of the earth will follow them into the
battle against God.

Now notice that these three miracle-working demons come out of the mouths of
those three that we looked at just a few weeks ago together. They come out of
the mouths of the beast. And they come out of the mouth of the lieutenant of the
beast.

And they come out of the mouth of the one who is the false prophet of the beast.
So you have here two evil trinities. This is Satan trying to in some way pretend
to be God on this earth.

He won't pretend for long. He's Satan, he's the evil one. And these are these
demons that are going out to those who want to trust in themselves and causing
them to battle against God.

People will battle against God right up to the end thinking that they somehow
can win. Isn't that crazy? Have you ever battled against God?

I have. We think that we somehow can win. Even as believers we sometimes battle
against God in thinking that somehow we can make it work our way.

And of course it will never work because what we're battling against is the
greatest plan in the world. What we're battling against is perfection. What
we're battling against is holiness.

What we're battling against is eternity. But how are people responding
throughout these seals, these trumpets, these bowls, the people who do not yet
know God? For most, the same way that Pharaoh responded when Moses came and set
the people free.

The more pressure that came upon him, the more he hardened his heart. And the
same thing is happening here up to the very end. We saw it in these verses.

In verse 9, they cursed the name of God, they refused to repent and glorify him.
In verse 11, they cursed the God of heaven, they refused to repent of what they
had done. In Revelation, God is telling those who are believers that although
men battle God, evil will not win out in the end.

They might battle, but they're not going to win. He's also telling those who
battle God that evil doesn't have to win out in their lives. He cares about us.

God doesn't want you to hurt. He wants us to be with him forever where there's
no more pain, no more crying. These verses are telling us that in this battle
that men have right up to the end, they're allowing sin to become the ruling
force in their lives and they're going to suffer because of that.

And God doesn't want that. God offers healing and restoration to every one of
us. We've all gotten burned by sin, every one of us.

It's like touching the hot stove in many ways. There are so many who touch the
hot stove and it burns. And God says, "Don't touch that hot stove.

" And they say back to God, "Who are you to tell me what to do with my life? I
will too touch the hot stove. " And they touch it again and it burns again.

And God says, "Don't. I warn you, don't touch the hot stove. " And they say
stubbornly, rebelliously, "I'll do what I want to do.

I will run my life the way I want to run it. It is my life. " So they put their
hand on the stove and they leave it there.

And they're saying, "I'm in control. This is my life. Not thy will be done, but
my will be done.

Not thy kingdom come, but my kingdom come. " The book of Revelation in chapter
16 is picturing for us one of the greatest tragedies in all of human history.
God says that right up to the end, there will be those with their hand on that
stove saying stubbornly to God, "My way.

" And what does it take? All of these tragedies, all of these bowls, all of this
wrath that's poured out from God upon this world, if people don't listen to
that, what does it take? It takes a cross.

That's what brings people to God. The cross of Jesus Christ. You look at the
cross.

You focus on it. There you see the love of God and the justice of God in the
judgment of God. The most significant event in human history is there, the cross
of Christ, that and the resurrection of Christ.

That is the hinge point of all human history. And that needs to be the hinge
point of my history, of your history. What you do about the cross changes what
happens at the end of time.

Either it will be my will be done or thy will be done. Either it will be wrath
or an incredible awesome experience of the grace of God throughout all eternity.
If you and I aren't one by the grace of God at the cross in Jesus Christ, we
won't be one by anything.

We aren't brought to God by judgment. We're brought to God by His love. So don't
wait to the end thinking that somehow some judgment of God is going to bring you
to Him.

But said to Jesus Christ, I'm so grateful you gave your life for me. I'm so
grateful that you have died on the cross so that I can be forgiven. Say it to
Him today.

Just say, Jesus Christ, thank you that because of what you did for me on the
cross, I can be forgiven. Thank you for your forgiveness in my life. And then as
we all pray together for a moment, just say, just take a moment to pray to God
and say, God, it may seem small, but I have some unfair things happening in my
life right now.

Lord, I'm almost embarrassed to talk to you about them as I'm reading through
these chapters in Revelation. But they're real to me. They're hurtful to me.

So I bring them to you right now, Father. I set them before you and I realize
that although life isn't fair, the truth is not finished. One day you have a
hope for me, which I cannot describe.

One day you have a song that I'm going to sing. One day you have a victory and
I'm going to overcome. And so I refresh my hope in you right now.

I don't put my hope in this world. It's passing away. It's not giving me any
hope right now and it's passing away.

I put my hope in you. I put my trust in you. Even with this situation I'm facing
right now where I don't understand, it doesn't seem fair, it doesn't seem right.

I put my hope and trust in you even there because God, I know that you are
bigger, you are greater and that your plan is bigger and greater than even that.
I'm looking forward to the day when I'm going to see you face to face. Help me
not to give up.

I pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Join us tomorrow. We're going to take a closer
look at one verse, one very personal verse that you might have noticed in the
verses we just read.

In chapter 16 verse 15, tomorrow.