Hard to Believe That Things Are Going to Get Worse, But They Are!

Only through faith in Jesus Christ, can you escape the events that are coming in a 7 year period that is coming to the earth known as the Tribulation Period, that begins the moment God removes the church or the bride of Christ, from the earth.

Chapter 15 sets up the scene for what will happen in Chapter 16, which are known as the vial or bowl judgments of the Tribulation Period. We have already studied how only Jesus Christ was found worthy to take the scroll that was sealed with 7 seals from the hand of God and as each one was opened, judgments began to transpire upon the earth. When we get to the 7th seal, that begins the 7 Trumpet judgments. On the sounding of the 7th Trumpet, we begin the 7 vial or bowl Judgments. These are the worst of all, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. These are the last of God's Judgments during the 7 years known as the Tribulation before Jesus returns in His Second Coming.

Setting of the players is where we found ourselves today. They are getting ready for the final act of warfare and most scholars believe that these 7 bowls will be completed in a matter of months. Once they begin they move rapidly until at the last bowl judgment, Jesus Christ will return to the earth in the Second Coming.

Revelation 15:1-8 ~ "Then I saw another sign in heaven great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished. And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire - and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed." After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothes in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes around their chests. And one of the four living creatures gave to teh seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever, and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished."

These are the passages of Scripture that scare people when they simply open the Bible and read them. Kinda of like, Bible roulette. You don't jump to the end, by the time we get to this point in the Bible, the earth is ripe for God's wrath. God doesn't grade on a curve.

It's like those that celebrate Christmas, but don't celebrate Christ. If you aren't celebrating Christ at Christmas, stop saying it and celebrating it. Call it something else. People however, love the money that Christmas brings in, they simply wait for it all year, but their missing the point. Christmas isn't about presents and Santa, it's about Christ!

If you don't like all this judgment stuff and God's wrath coming upon the earth, do something about it! If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you won't experience any of this. Hell, remember, is not the same as God's wrath.

God always leaves a witness for man.

Revelation 15:1 ~ " Then I saw another sign in heaven great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished."

Notice the words, "another sign?" This is the third such sign God gave to John. The first two were found in Chapter 12 of Revelation.

Revelation 12:1 ~ " And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothes with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars."

We have studied this earlier in our walk through the Book of Revelation and know this refers to the nation of Israel. It must ask the questions, Is there a nation of Israel today? What role does Israel play in the past and the future of God's plan and what significance does it have to do with God?

God promises to deliver the church from that great and terrible time of God's wrath coming to the earth. What kind of groom would beat up his bride before marrying her? These Scriptures back up the fact that the Bride of Christ, the church will be spared from the Tribulation Period and the Wrath of God. He has always done so and will do it again.

1 Thessalonians 1:10 ~ "and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come."

1 Thessalonians 2:19 ~ "For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?"

1 Thessalonians 3:13 ~ "so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints."

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 ~ "For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord."

1 Thessalonians 5:9 ~ "For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,"

This does not have to be your future, waiting on God's wrath to be dispensed, you can choose Jesus Christ and have faith in Him, and miss out on this entire experience. You definitely want to miss this one!