Revelation 16:1-21 (Bowls of Biblical Justice, Jeff Kliewer)

Worship Service Announcements and Congregational Updates

Good morning, Cornerstone. We're going to do things a little bit differently today because we're shorthanded. We don't have our beloved worship leader and admin who puts together the videos for us. Michael Stockland is on vacation.

So he'll be back. However, this week it's on me to put together the online worship.

Service.

And I don't know how to take segments from here and there and put them all together. So I'm just going to record one block. The announcements, prayer, and I'm going right into the sermon. And here's what I want you to do.

After the video cuts off, you just go to YouTube and put in some of your favorite songs and worship for some time there in your home. I would recommend a new song by Cody Karnes and Kerry Jobe called The Blessing.

It is a blessing to me. So I hope that you would enjoy it as well. The Lord bless you and keep you. Make his face shine upon you. The Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace. I think I got that right or somewhat right.

Anyway, go to the song. And it will sing that over you. Sing along to it. And draw close to the Lord through the word of scripture. Three announcements. Then I begin to preach. Number one, as the t-shirt model is demonstrating for you today, we have our to tell us thy shirts.

And of course, to tell us thy means cancel debt where bloody sweat finds soldier's bet and God declares the distance met. To tell us thy means it's finished. Jesus paid the debt in full. And so when we wear the shirt, we go out into the world proclaiming it is finished.

Somebody is going to ask you about it. And you have the opportunity to proclaim the finished work of Christ on the cross and his resurrection from the dead. If you didn't get a shirt, here's what I want you to do.

Email cornerstone at cornerstoneSJ .org. Cornerstone at cornerstoneSJ .org. We'll get back to you. We'll let you know how to come pick up the shirt. And you let us know your size. It is $10 to buy the shirt.

And you can just rock it all summer long. Use it as an evangelistic tool. We're trying to wear these once a week so that we have people from the church just all over town representing the finished work of Christ.

Announcement number two, there are going to be picnics in the field this Sunday, the 28th, and also July 5th. After the second service, we're going to have from 1130 till about 1230, maybe 1 o 'clock, just people hanging out there.

Bring your own lunch. You have to bring, you know, we're not going to do the potluck thing yet. We can't coordinate that at this particular point in time. But bring your own lunch, and people can shoot hoops, throw a Frisbee, spend time together, as long as you can endure the heat.

The second week, July 5th, we're doing a baptism in the field. So you'll really want to make sure you're part of that picnic, because we want the whole church to come back and witness the baptism of Arianna and Ben and anybody else that still can contact us that we would have time to work through to see if you're ready for baptism.

So let us know. Last announcement, we are going to two services this week. There will be a 9 AM outdoor service. So the outdoor service on Sundays is going to be earlier to beat the heat. And then we'll have a 1030 service in the building, air conditioned.

So there's an option there. Now, that is a higher risk service, because you're indoors. And we can't guarantee that everybody will wear a mask, because there's an exception for people who are concerned about health.

They have a health concern. Therefore, they may not be wearing a mask. That means that not everybody will have a mask on, and you need to recognize that that's a higher risk. So yeah, come to the 1030 indoor service or the 9 o 'clock outdoor service.

We're going to try to keep that going now into the summer this way.

Prayer for Help in Preaching Revelation 16

Let's pray.

Oh, gracious heavenly Father, we have some heavy lifting to do today. Revelation 16. God, I know I can't lift it. I'm not strong enough. But God, you are, and your word carries itself. So I pray in Jesus' name that your word would carry the day.

I pray it would transform thinking, utterly change the way many people think through the preaching of your word in Jesus' name.

Amen.

From LinkedIn Humor to Biblical Justice

So then, any of you use the online service called LinkedIn? LinkedIn is kind of like a social networking deal for employment. You're looking for jobs and stuff like that. Well, I have an account. I'm not looking for a different job because I love what the Lord has called me to do.

But I do go on there every couple of months to accept friend requests. If I don't accept your friend requests, don't be offended. I don't know why I didn't. Maybe I didn't even see it. But that's not my point.

I go on to LinkedIn every once in a while to just check in. And I saw a button on there a couple of months ago that really cracked me up. I saw where it said employment opportunities. And it tries to match a person with an area of employment and a job that's free.

So I looked. I wonder what they're saying would work for me. And I was delighted to see that LinkedIn thinks that I should be a diversity and inclusion officer at a public library because of my skills in social justice.

Jeff Cleaver, the diversity inclusion officer, because of his skills in social justice. Now, if you know me, you get why that's a hoot. I talk about social justice a lot. And some of you are tired of hearing it.

I doubt that.

You guys are good sports. But good news. Today, I'm not going to talk about social justice. Because why would you want to hear about a counterfeit when we have a genuine? Today, I am going to talk about biblical justice.

Social justice says that justice should be understood in terms of diversity, inclusion, and equity. Today, we'll learn what actual biblical justice is. If I was a diversity inclusion equity officer at a public library, I would judge every person who walked through the door, imagine this, by the content of their character and be colorblind to the color of their skin, to their height, to their age, to any other thing, any outward thing.

And I would judge by the content of their character. But diversity as an end to which people pursue seeks the opposite of that. If I were a diversity inclusion equity officer, I would include that which is righteous.

And I would exclude that which is sinful and unrighteous and wicked, meaning drag queen story hour would get the boot from my public library. Inclusion is not a category of justice in and of itself. It depends on what's being included and what's being excluded.

If I were a diversity inclusion equity officer, then I would grant to people pay according to the contribution that they make to the library. It wouldn't be based on any other thing, but private property laws and the biblical ethic of just weights and scales, if I were a diversity inclusion equity officer.

Instead, I'm a preacher of the gospel. And so I'm going to bring with you and myself into Revelation 16 today to see what biblical justice is. Because if you understand biblical justice, you will appreciate the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We will see the gospel today when we get to verse 15. I call it the beautiful parenthetical. The beautiful parenthetical at verse 15. But first, six descriptions of biblical justice. And then a seventh after that, and we close quickly.

The First Bowl: Sores for Those Who Take the Mark of the Beast

Number one, biblical justice is to be given sores for taking the mark of the beast. We understand from the context of Revelation 13 and 14 and into 15 that the devil has been cast down to earth in the end times.

And as he's cast to the earth, the Antichrist rises from the sea and brings forth a worldwide empire, a global government. Also has a religious component to it, run by the false prophet who gives glory to the beast.

And there is a mark required of those who would buy or sell anything to be taken on the right hand of the forehead, without which no one can buy or sell. And it is given when a person swears allegiance to the beast, to the Antichrist.

We learn now that biblical justice is to give to those who ally themselves with evil marks, not just on the hand and the forehead, but all over the body. And these are painful sores. 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 worshiped its image. To follow the prince of the power of the air in the course of this world, to follow the mob mentality and the patterns of this world, Romans 12, 1 and 2, is to mark oneself for painful sores.

To be given what you deserve is biblical justice. Notice the connection there between marking one's body with the mark of the beast, which is an allegiance to the beast, and to be marked by God. There is a parallel there.

You see it again in coming judgments, coming bowls of wrath. The second one, in a similar way, the second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse. And every living thing died that was in the sea.

The issue here is that people were unthankful. They look at the sea and take it for granted. I went to the beach recently, and I saw the beauty of dolphins swimming across below the horizon. You can see their dorsal fins just rise and fall as they swim in a pod.

And the beautiful expanse of the sea and the horizon in the distance. And it just made me praise him and give glory to my God, who made such a thing as this. And it inspired in me a thankful spirit, gratitude for my God, who grants this common grace to us.

You know, if you enjoy eating seafood, it's a common grace of God that comes from the sea. And yet there's many people who have the sentiments of an enemy, as Matthew Henry describes. Matthew Henry, that great commentator on the Bible, in commenting on the book of Matthew, chapter 25, with the parable of the talents, describes the one unthankful steward who buried his talent.

And then coming as the master came to retrieve it, he took it out and gave to the master what he took. Here's what Matthew Henry said about this. It's the sentiments of an enemy. I knew thee that thou art a hard man.

Thus his defense is his offense. Observe how confidently he speaks. I knew thee to be so. Matthew Henry asks, how could he know him to be so? Does not the whole world know the contrary? That he is so far from being a hard master that the earth is full of his goodness.

So far from reaping where he sowed not, that he sows a great deal where he reaps nothing. For he causes his sun to shine and his rain to fall upon the evil and the unthankful and fills their hearts with food and gladness, who say to the Almighty, depart from us.

This suggestion bespeaks the common reproach which wicked people cast upon God, as if all the blame of their sin and ruin lay at his door for denying them his grace. But if we perish, it is owing to ourselves.

Matthew Henry is absolutely right. There is a thankful spirit that should accompany grace. And by grace, I mean common grace. The fact that the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike. The fact that we eat from the produce of the earth that springs up and somehow makes it to our table.

And we clothe ourselves in fabrics from the earth. And we are warmed by the sun on a daily basis. That if it didn't rise even one time, the world would be lost. Everything spun out of control. You see, he turns the sea to blood because the world is populated by unthankful people.

People who despise his common grace. And it gets worse. The third angel, verse four, 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.

This is the issue of the text today. When you're studying a passage of scripture, you read the context and you follow the flow of the argument as the author unfolds an idea. Here, we'll see a recurrence of justice.

Just are you. And you see a recompense that's meat to the offense. So the taking of the mark is met with marks on the body. Here, just are you, O holy one, who is and who was for you brought these judgments.

This is justice. For they have shed the blood of the saints and prophets. Look at the recompense here. The recompense that's meat to the offense. They have shed the blood of saints and prophets and you have given them blood to drink.

It is what they deserve.

Biblical justice is to be given what you deserve. So the mother that, like a worshiper of Moloch, brings her child to an abortionist to be ripped limb from limb inside of the womb. And that abortionist who performs that murderous procedure.

And that politician who stands behind that murderous doctor, enabling him to do this by Roe versus Wade. And that voter who says, yeah, I'll vote for this politician who's part of the murder of 1 ,712 babies every day in this country.

That murderous shedding of blood will be recompensed in a way meat to the offense. I'll give them blood to drink. And I heard the altar saying, yes, Lord God, the Almighty. True and just are your judgments.

Biblical justice is based on truth. It is just the wicked are punished. Fourth. Fourth bowl of wrath. The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun. On the sun. So each thing, each bowl is poured out on something.

One is on the earth. Another is on the seas. Another is into rivers. It just, it goes upon that thing and it changes it. So an angel pours out a bowl of wrath on the sun.

And what does it do?

It's like kindling to the fire. It's like spraying some kerosene into the sun.

It just gets hotter.

And now what? 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.

Psalm 19 tells us that the heavens declare the glory of God. It goes on to explain how the heavenly bodies speak. There's a speech that comes from them. One of the things that speaks is the sun. It rises like a bridegroom in the morning.

It runs its course like a strong man. And day after day, it reminds the world that there is a God and you should worship him. He deserves glory because he's God. And every day that the sun runs its course, it says that.

But people ignore the message of the sun. And so God gives recompense to the world, the wicked world, that ignores the testimony of creation. This is general revelation. God gives this general revelation to all mankind.

And as the sun runs its course, the world ignores its message. And so he heats the sun until it's scorching the skin of the people of earth. This is justice. The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness.

People nod their tongues in anguish and curse the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds. There is no repentance. At this stage, they've taken the mark and they're sealed in their rebellion against God.

And this is the first taste of hell. The scorching sun is only a precursor to an eternal flame that will be hotter still. But now in this fifth bowl of wrath, it's not that God removes that punishment, but rather he takes away yet another layer of common grace that they were neglecting.

And that is the light of day. For even when the sun was scorching their skin, at least it was lighting the earth that they could see one another and see things. Now it's as if they're blind because the heat remains.

I'm sure it's still 120 degrees or something like that on earth. They can barely survive because of the heat. But now he's removed the light that goes with it. Darkness covers the earth because notice it says in that fifth seal, it was on the throne of the beast.

It's a worldwide throne, a worldwide kingdom that's plunged into darkness. So men go about, they're like orgs. They're just chewing their tongues. They're enraged. What will they do to take out their rage?

This is what we see in 12 to 16. They will attack Jerusalem to kill the remnant of the people of God. But the beautiful parenthetical at verse 15, 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. These demons are like frogs somehow. And there's three of them matching the unholy trinity, Satan, Antichrist, false prophet.

We talked about this in chapter 14. Coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, out of the mouth of the false prophet. And these demonic spirits, they perform signs. They go abroad through the kings of the earth to assemble them for battle on the great day of God, the almighty.

They're coming to Jerusalem. The river Euphrates, I don't know if it was spared the curse of blood or if it was like bloody water that got drained out. But in any case, now a way has opened for the people of the east to come by the millions to Jerusalem to overrun the remnant that's waiting outside of Jerusalem in the hills where they have fled to take refuge.

These orgs are coming with hatred in their hearts. They're gnawing their tongues. They're in the dark. They're coming to kill the beautiful parenthetical. Oh, this is glorious. Behold, I am coming like a thief.

Now, who's the I?

It's Jesus.

This is a reference, again, to Matthew 24. I believe it's verse 43, where Jesus warns that he would come like a thief in the night and come like a thief, as in to take a person unaware who's not expecting it into judgment.

Again, we see that reference in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5,.

Verse 2.

We see it in 2 Peter 3 .10, the thief in the night that comes to destroy the judgment, taking the owner of the house by surprise. He's not dressed for it. He's laying in bed. He has no weapon on him. And the thief is just there unexpected with sword to the throat, taking everything from the house and quite likely killing the occupants as well.

Steal, kill, destroy. But it's beautiful because of this word blessed, makarios, happy. Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed. You don't have to be that owner of the house who's naked when the house gets broken into, who has no covering, who has no protection, who's unprepared and not ready.

The good news of blessing is that you can be aware now. You can be clothed now. It's not a clothing in your own righteousness. It's not a matter of just stopping being wicked. No, it's to take on the righteousness of Christ.

Your clothes, your deeds, the things that you do are like filthy rags in the sight of God. Biblical justice means you are punished for them. But the good news of the gospel is that God is willing to clothe you in the righteousness of Christ, the robe of his righteousness covering you.

And you're declared righteous, spotless and clean. And you stand ready in him. And being justified, this picture of sanctification.

Is to be ready.

You're continuing on. You're looking for him. You're waiting for the return of Christ. You're looking to the skies and to the mountains from whence cometh your help. You're looking to Christ as you live for him.

You're ready and you're blessed. And so the beautiful parenthetical is that you don't have to be taken away in judgment. You don't have to be caught unaware when the thief comes in the night. There are two people in the world.

There is the blessed man and there is the wicked. The wicked will be judged. The wicked will get biblical justice. The blessed man will get mercy. Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

For his delight is on the law of the Lord and on his word he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in season. Whatever he does prospers. Not so the wicked.

He is like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the day of judgment nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous. But the way of the wicked will perish.

There are two men in the world. The first is the righteous man who stands not clothed in his own righteousness but clothed in the righteousness of Christ by faith in the Son of God, forgiven and covered and ready.

Meditating on the word, continuing in the word, and the wicked will be taken away in judgment and receive biblical justice. Lastly, 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.

So the seventh bowl is a giant earthquake that shakes the world. 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, that political and religious system, which we'll learn about in chapter 17 and 18, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.

So many people clamoring for justice. You don't want justice. You don't want justice because the biblical definition of justice is to drain a cup of wine of fury of wrath. Justice is for a sinner to receive what he deserves.

A true and just judgment from the holy and righteous one. You don't want that. Justice is to drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. And every island fled away and no mountains were to be found.

The islands sink under the sea. These pictures of glory, when you get to go to an island and see the beauty or when you get to climb a mountain and see the glory and splendor of creation. Now all these things are made flat.

God is withdrawing his common grace on earth because men did not worship him but despised him with unthankful hearts. They have one thing left. They have one another in their rebellion. They are part of a mob.

That hates the God of scripture. That hates the morality and the justice of the Bible. That hates the sexual parameters. That hates the gender distinctions that exist in the Bible. Even as genders, male and female, are equal before God.

There is a mob mentality that hates the justice of God. Yet they have each other. And in their agony, gnawing their tongues, at least they can see their comrade. Next to them. Until verse 21 comes. And great hailstones, about 100 pounds each, fell from heaven on people.

And they curse God for the plague of the hail because the plague was so severe. And now they are alone. As one by one, they travel to Jerusalem, enraged yet seeing everyone they know dropping dead. And they're scattered under the hail so that each one travels alone to their demise.

Alone to Armageddon. Alone to the plains of Megiddo. Where they will meet Jesus in Revelation 19. And they will find him to be a hard master. With a sword coming from his mouth and his robe dipped in blood.

And he will judge all that remain. But for the remnant that wait for him and look to him in faith. All of you who are listening to this sermon, I beg you to be God-centered in your approach to justice.

Man-centered pseudo-justice demands that people be given so-called rights of diversity, inclusion, and equity. But that's a fool's errand. God-centered justice would demand that every fallen son and daughter of Adam be given bowls of wrath to drink.

Therefore, let us be thankful for God's common grace in this world. And especially thankful for his saving grace. God controls 100 of everything that happens on earth. 100%. And yet, simultaneously as a secondary cause, we are responsible people who can control aspects of our lives.

But it's such a tiny, minuscule part of all that makes who we are. We cannot control the year in which we're born or the year in which we die, the continent on which we are born, or the country into which we are born.

We cannot control the family into which we are born that shapes so much of who we are. God controls all of these things. Our part is to thank God for the common grace every breath you take. I stand about six feet above the earth, but I deserve to be six feet beneath the earth.

And every step I take on this planet is grace. And every bite of food I'm given, everything that I have is grace. It's common grace from God. And he's giving it to all of us. Do not be among the thankless, the unthankful, I should say.

There are two persons in the world, the grievance person who says that God is hard and he buries his talent, and the thankful person that says that God is good. You can have D-I-E, diversity, inclusion, equity, or you can have biblical justice.

Thank God for his common grace, his saving grace. Clamor not for justice. Beat your chest. Say, Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner. Save me. And ask him, call upon the name of the Lord, and he will clothe you with the righteousness of Christ.

At the cross, the justice of God met the love of God. And perfect justice was fulfilled in Christ, and perfect love was poured out in Christ in that God punished the wickedness of men in the son of God lovingly so that we who turn to him in faith will not fall under biblical justice.

Instead, we will be saved.

Justice and love kiss at the cross. Let's pray. Father, we pray for all those who are hearing this message, that they would turn to the just and true God, being thankful for the common grace given to all of us.

So many blessings that we cannot number, things we've not even considered. We've been so unthankful for the sun that rises every day. God, we do not want to be a people scorched by the sun. We thank you, Lord, for the sea.

We don't want to see it turn to blood. We thank you for every drop of water that's touched our tongues. Let that not turn to blood. Instead, Lord, we thank you now for your common grace. And Lord, I pray for those who have not yet received your saving grace, that they would believe in Jesus Christ, the one that you have sent, that they will call on him, that they will do what the people of Revelation 16 refuse to do.

They refuse to repent. I pray, Lord, that you move in the hearts of the listeners of this message, that they will turn from wickedness, turn from unrighteousness as defined by your word, justly defined by your word.

I pray that they will turn, repenting of sin, turn to you in faith. Save them, Lord God. Save, Lord God. I pray, I beg of you. Open their eyes that they can see wonderful things in your word. It's in Jesus' name I pray, amen.

Closing Appeal for Mercy and Salvation

Thank you all for joining today. If you've never trusted Christ as Savior, the time is short. As you look at the signs of the times, the things that are happening, it could be any time, like a thief in the night, that judgment will come over this earth.

Turn to him before it's too late. He's reaching out in mercy. I'd be happy to meet with you. I'd be happy to sit and study the scripture with you, to get you a Bible, to help in any way that you would know him.

We desire mercy. That's the desire of my heart for you, that God would be merciful to you, and you would be spared the judgments that are to come, most certainly, according to the word of God. Thank you for joining today.

You're always welcome to come. Email me with questions. And again, we appreciate you and are praying for you.