The Super Bowls Of God's Wrath Series

The Super Bowls of Wrath

Rev. 16

http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/SuperBowlsWrath.html

Tonite, two sides will do battle…

(In our text the 2 sides are Good & Evil)

There is going to be a Field of Battle:

(Valley of Megiddo)

There will be a game plan…a plan of attack.

An official will be on the scene (Jesus, the Righteous Judge)

There will be Spectators (The Vultures)

There will be a Winner and a Loser at this Battle

I have no idea who will win tonite’s Super Bowl. But, I do know who will win the Battle of Armageddon. The biggest question of this day is: Whose side are you on? There must be a choice. Either you are for God or you are against God!

Next event on God’s Prophetic Calendar:

The Rapture of the church

Soon after: The 7 year tribulation begins

It will be hell on earth (we don’t serve a half-baked God…yes, he’s a God of love, but also of wrath—“it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!”)

The Tribulation will be a horrific time:

4 horsemen--widespread violence / war / famine / starvation / will make the holocaust look like a baby shower / you will be afraid to leave your home, if you have one / will take a day’s wages to buy a loaf of bread!

7 trumpet judgments [Seals]—1/3rd of all earth’s vegetation destroyed / 1/3rd of marine life killed / 1/3rd of salt water turned to blood / 1/3rd of ocean-going vessels destroyed / 1/3rd of freshwater poisoned / 1/3rd of all sunlight diminished…these things result in economic chaos and ecological disaster!

Angel then sounded 3 woes:

An invasion from hell—demons turned loose on earth so vile and wicked they have been incarcerated since they fell from heaven / will torture mankind / sting like scorpions / and 1/4th of world’s population is now dead…

The flower of wickedness will be in full bloom!

Then we meet up w/ the antichrist, and his sinister minister the false prophet, and it all goes downhill from there, beginning in ch. 16 as the 7 Super bowls of God’s wrath are poured out!

And here in ch. 16 we find the most intense / frightening / horrifying info. in the Bible, apart from the verses on hell and eternal damnation.

This is not fun info. to consider, but it’s God’s truth and He’s led us here to it this day…and it’s God’s will that good come out of us considering much bad which is coming to this sinful world.

Joke—little boy said, dad, “I think I may have flunked my math test” / dad said, “do you have to be so negative?” / “ok, I’m positive I flunked my math test!”

Some things are positively negative…like Rev. 16! Here is the climax of the great tribulation…and for the saved it’s nothing but good news for us and motivation to reach others and to know the signs of the times.

Here is the pouring out of the 7 super bowls of wrath from the throne of God Himself!

For 6,000 years + God has been offering grace, mercy, and salvation, but not in that day!

Here in ch. 16 are God’s 7 final judgments on those who rejected Him…

v. 1 The 7 bowls are poured out upon the earth 1 by 1. Each angel has a specific target.

Bowl #1—

v. 2 Something like leprosy? Maybe not leprosy…it may be a sore that is “nuclear fallout” in nature…either way, it’s poured out upon the worshippers of antichrist. (since they bear the mark of the beast, they’re easy to locate!) [microchip?]

By the way, if you didn’t know what the Bible says, you’d be for all this mark! Think about it--no more kidnappings, bad checks…and most will go for it!

Those left on earth at this point have the mark, but now it’s not just the government that looks for them, but this first angel, and germ warfare happens in a way it’s never happened before [WMDs!]

Bowl #2—

v. 3 (“as blood”)

all the salt water is affected, and every single soul in them dies!

[earlier in the trib. 1/3rd of waters were affected…but it was just a warning…this is much worse!]

Imagine w/ me: picture the world’s shorelines lined and cluttered w/ decaying corpses of sea life / unbearable stench…so bad that when you breathe you’d gag…a person from Decatur would fondly remember the Staley and ADM factories as “heaven on earth!”

So, they’ve got these sores, and no relief, and constant nausea.

Since waters are contaminated, ocean-going vessels will come to a halt.

The world today doesn’t realize how dependant we are upon God…do we? The now-salty waters of the world are God’s cleansing agent for the filth of the world, but then no longer!