Worthy is the Lamb: Just and True are Your Ways

Several weeks ago one of our younger members made an interesting observation about the Book of Revelation. He said that he had enjoyed this series through the book, but that all of the emphasis on wrath and judgment seemed like overkill.

After reading about these last seven catastrophic, world-ending plagues it can seem that way. Do the sins of men — particularly those who follow the Beast and wear his mark — merit the severity of the wrath that is being poured out upon them? Do the unrepentant and unregenerate deserve everlasting hell and torment? Isn’t this overkill considering the worldwide average life expectancy is seventy years? Do seven decades of sin merit an eternity of judgment? A lot of folks struggle with that. So here are my answers ...

• No. God’s temporal and eternal wrath is not overkill.

• Yes. God’s temporal and eternal wrath is deserved.

• Yes, God takes sin a whole lot more seriously then do men.

Three times in this section of Scriptures we are told that God’s wrath is just and justified.

• The Saints say so,

• The Angels say so,

• The Altar says so,

A study through the Book of Revelation is not for the faint of heart simply because God’s judgment and wrath figure so prominently in the book. To neglect the doctrine of wrath and judgment simply because we don’t like talking about it is not wise. Why is God’s wrath just and justified?

I. GOD’S WRATH IS JUST AND JUSTIFIED BECAUSE HE ALONE IS HOLY

“Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”” (, NIV84)

1. chapter fifteen open with the Apostle witnessing another great sign in heaven

a. this is the third great sign of Revelation

1) the first great sign was a woman clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet

and a crown of twelve stars on her head

a) this is Israel from whom the Anointed One will come — He is Israel’s Messiah,

and the Savior of the World

2) the second great sign was an enormous red dragon with seven heads who

stands ready to devour God’s Anointed One

a) this is Satan who will do anything to keep Jesus from accomplishing God the

Father’s redemptive plan

2. this third sign consists of seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with

them the wrath of God is finished (vs. 1)

a. the terrible carnage predicted at the end of chapter 14 is about to commence

b. the outpouring of His wrath is God’s final attempt to make the worshipers of the

Beast bow before His sovereignty

1) by and large, they will refuse

3. but before this final wrath is poured out John sees a throng of saints worshiping

“And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name. They held harps given them by God” (, NIV84)

a. they are singing! they are singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the

song of the Lamb

1) they are songs of triumph which both the saints of the Old Testament and the

New Testament sing

2) they are songs of deliverance — as God delivered Israel from Egypt, even while

pouring out plagues on the Egyptians, so He has delivered the saints from worshiping the Beast, while pouring out his judgments on the Great Babylon; a world in rebellion against Him

b. this is not a song of redemption, but a song of acclamation — they are acclaiming

the might works of God which includes His judgments upon the world

4. in the second half of the first stanza, the saints proclaim, “Just and true are your ways,

O King of the nations!

a. God’s judgments are just and true BECAUSE For you alone are holy

A. GOD’S JUSTICE DEMANDS THAT SIN MUST BE JUDGED

1. the Book of Revelation surveys God’s solution to the crisis of history; how He will bring

about the long-promised world of peace and blessing He has promised

a. after centuries of patient waiting, and putting up with man’s might-is-right

arrogance, man’s hate, and greed, and the bloodshed that has characterized our earth for so long, God says ENOUGH! He is about to call a halt to the whole rotten business

2. because He is holy — because His holy character demands that sin be judged — God

will do so, and He will be perfectly just in doing so

II. GOD’S WRATH IS JUST AND JUSTIFIED BECAUSE EVIL MEN HAVE SHED THE

BLOOD OF HIS SAINTS

“Then I heard the angel in ch arge of the waters say: “You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were, the Holy One, because you have so judged; 6 for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.”” (, NIV84)

1. the multitude who are singing in chapter 15 are singing praise to God because He is

about to unleash justice

A. GOD’S JUSTICE DEMANDS THAT HIS CHILDREN BE VINDICATED

1. here in chapter 16 an angel of God concurs with the assessment of the saints that

God’s wrath is just and justified

a. the judgment of those who have martyred the saints is suited to the evil they have

done

b. we are God’s children, and the Father takes serious exception to the mistreatment

of His family

ILLUS. In the vernacular of our day, “You mess with God’s people and God will mess

you up!”

2. God’s judgments are not arbitrary and capricious, but are true and just, and He will

judge those who have persecuted and murdered His sons and daughters

• “now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?” (, NASB95)

• “After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; 2 BECAUSE HIS JUDGMENTS ARE TRUE AND RIGHTEOUS; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and HE HAS AVENGED THE BLOOD OF HIS BOND-SERVANTS ON HER.” 3 And a second time they said, “Hallelujah! HER SMOKE RISES UP FOREVER AND EVER.”” (, NASB95)

III. GOD’S WRATH IS JUST AND JUSTIFIED BECAUSE HIS GLORY DEMANDS IT

“Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”” (, NIV84)

1. God’s glory is revealed in His judgment of evil

a. “God’s wrath in the Bible is never the capricious, self-indulgent, irritable, morally

relative thing that human anger so often is.

b. It is, instead, a right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil” — J.I. Packer

1) in judging evil, in condemning evil, and in punishing evil God is glorified

2) when God’s righteous acts are revealed, men’s unrighteous acts become

glaringly obvious

2. vs. 4 is a rhetorical question frequently asked by the biblical writers

a. the answer is that, in the end all men will bring glory to His name

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (, NIV84)

b. at the end of the age two groups of men will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord

1) one group will be the penitent — sinners who confessed Father, in Christ be

merciful to me, a sinner. I have no righteous of my own to bring you.

2) another group will be the unrepentant — sinners who crowed Father, thank you

for not making me like other men, sinners vile and dirty. Please accept my goodness.

c. both groups will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father

1) the first group will be welcomed into God’s eternal kingdom

2) the other group will be cast into an eternal Lake of Fire with the Devil and his

angels

A. GOD’S JUSTICE DEMANDS THAT HIS GLORY BE MAGNIFIED

1. the Bible teaches us that God will be praised and glorified for having executed His

wrath upon wickedness and those who practice it

a. this is where believers have to sync their thoughts with God’s thoughts concerning

evil and wickedness

1) men read the Book of Revelation and say, “How could a good God do such

things?”

a) the Biblical answer is, “How can He not, and still remain a Holy God?”

2) we live in theologically mushy times where most Americans want to believe that

all people are basically good

ILLUS. Interestingly, the #MeToo movement has, in its own weird way, begun to

move the culture in a more theologically correct direction concerning human nature, but in a dangerously partisan way. The #MeToo movement is telling us that, when it comes to sexual assault allegations, men are essentially evil, always guilty, and their denials are not to be believed. The bible’s doctrine of sin tells us that, yes, men are essentially evil, guilty from conception, and that lying comes naturally them.

The dangerous part of the #MeToo movement is the assumption that women are essentially good, always innocent, and would never lie about sexual assault allegations. This is dangerous from a jurisprudence viewpoint, but more importantly from a theological viewpoint. The Bible does not give women a pass when it comes to depravity and evil behavior. Can you spell J-e-z-e-b-e-l? How ‘bout D-e-l-i-a-h? Or maybe P-o-t-i-p-h-a-r’s W-i-f-e?

b. man’s point of view of humanity is that we’re all basically good, though we may

occasionally do bad things, but we deserve God’s blessings and the good things in life

1) at the end of life, if our goodness outweighs our badness (and we all believe it

most certainly will) we go to heaven or whatever our view of eternity is

c. God’s point of view of humanity is that we’re all rebel sinners who are evil and

deserve nothing but judgment and eternal wrath

1) at the end of life, if we have received Christ, in whom our sins have been judged,

then heaven is our home, all others stand under God’s judgment and eternal wrath

2) this is the biblical view of humanity and God’s remedy for our sin issue

d. the problem is that most people prefer man’s point of view

1) and in man’s point of view the glory is always our own ... Look how good I am. ...

Look at the benevolent things I’ve done. ... Look how hard I’ve worked, and provided for my family. ... Look how well I’ve treated my neighbor. ... Look how faithful I’ve been at church. Look at ME, God!

“ I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another ... .” (, NIV84)

ILLUS. Recall the incident of the waters of Meribah (). After the people of Israel quarreled with Moses about the lack of water, God commanded Moses to take his staff and with Aaron to “tell the rock before their eyes to yield water” (v.8). Instead, Moses rashly scolded the people and said, “Shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” (v.10). Instead Moses struck the rock with his staff. Moses disobeyed God by not giving Him the glory, so God disallowed Moses from entering the Promised Land (v.12).

2) failing to glorify God is serious business

2. men are the crowning glory of the creation of God and yet, because of the fall, all

men are hostile against God, and engage in evil deeds — by nature we love darkness rather than light

a. truth be known, every morning when you wake up you need to be asking yourself

this question: “Why on earth did a sovereign, and holy, and righteous God, who knows what I did, and thought, and said on yesterday, not smite me in my sleep last night?”

b. until you ask that question, you think there are some individuals, in and of

themselves, who deserve something other than the wrath of almighty God

3. at the final judgement the redeemed will glorify God for dealing perfect justice

a. and our praises will be exalted higher still upon the visual realization of what we

have been spared from

IV. APPLICATION: Six Things You Need to Know About God’s Wrath

1. many in the history of the church has been embarrassed by God’s wrath and have

wanted to revise this biblical truth

a. yet, this theme of the wrath of God toward sin and sinners is clearly and widely

taught in the Bible

b. this truth is so interwoven with the hope of our peace with one another and with God

that if we lose our grasp on the one, we lose our hope of the other

2. simply put, the wrath of God is, His steady, unrelenting, unremitting, uncompromising

antagonism to evil in all its forms and manifestations

3. in closing let me tell you six things you need to know about God’s wrath

A. THE ANGER OF GOD IS NOT LIKE OUR ANGER

1. when we speak about the wrath of God, remember that it is the wrath of God

a. everything we know about God — that He is just, He is love, and He is good —

needs to be poured into our understanding of his wrath

2. unfortunately, the words “anger” and “wrath” make us think about our experience.

a. you may have suffered because of someone who is habitually angry, loses his or

her temper, or flies into a rage

b. our anger can often be unpredictable, petty, and disproportionate

3. God’s wrath is never unpredictable, petty or disproportionate

1) God’s wrath is the just and measured response of his holiness toward evil

B. GOD’S WRATH IS PROVOKED

1. the wrath of God is not something that resides in Him by nature; it is His response to

evil

a. God’s anger is provoked when men rebel against His will, and His word

2. the Bible says, “God is love” — that is his nature — you don’t have to provoke God’s

love

a. He does not love us because He sees some wisdom, beauty, or goodness in us

b. He loves you because he loves you, and you can never get beyond that

3. but God’s wrath is different — it is His holy response to the intrusion of evil into his

world

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,” (, NASB95)

a. if there was no sin in the world, there would be no wrath in God

C. GOD IS SLOW TO ANGER

1. why does God allow evil to continue in the world?

a. why does he not wipe it out?

b. to wipe out evil means that God would have to wipe out multitudes of people!

ILLUS. Most of us might say, “Fine pastor, that means all the child molesters are

gone!” And I’d be hard-pressed not to disagree with you. But what about you when you tell your boss your sick, when you’re not and only want a day off? We assume that God only hates “the big sins” — those are the evils that God really hates. Jesus makes it pretty clear that all sin is a moral offence to the Father, all sins are evil.

2. God is slow to anger, and holds out the offer of grace and forgiveness in Jesus Christ

a. people are coming to him in faith and repentance every day, and God patiently

holds open the door of grace

b. the Book of Revelation tells us that one day that door of grace will close, and God’s

wrath will come

c. but God is not in a hurry to bring it

D. GOD’S WRATH IS BEING IMPLEMENTED NOW

1. we don’t have to wait until the Tribulation to see God pouring out His wrath up the

unrepentant and disobedient

2. it’s happening now

a. how does God reveal his wrath against sinners right now?

b. when lost people reject Christ, they reject God’s truth about their lives, and God

simply allows them to live the lives they’ve chosen to live

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ... 24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. 28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,” (, NASB95)

3. even now God is judging sinners for their vice and decadence, by simply turning

them over to the depravity of their minds and the lusts of their bodies

a. their greed, envy, strife, deceit, violence and faithlessness IS God’s wrath

E. GOD’S WRATH IS STORED UP

1. the whole Bible story leads to a day when God will deal with all evil fully, finally, and

forever

2. this day of wrath, is the Day of the Lord, when God will recompense every evil and

bring to judgment every sin

3. God will do this in perfect justice

a. the punishment for every sin will match the crime

b. when the judgment is done, every mouth will be stopped because everyone will

know that God judged in righteousness and justice

F. GOD’S WRATH IS ON SINNERS

“He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”” (, NASB95)

1. we need to be ever so careful when we utter the Evangelical cliche’ “God hates the

sin, but loves the sinner”

a. that’s a partial truth

1) sinners don’t just wear sin like an suit of cloths that can be taken off — it’s a

fundamental part of our character

2) sin is the enmity of the sinner’s mind, and affections, and will that hate the things

of God, and constantly move the sinner away from God

3) you really can’t separate a sinner’s sin form the sinner

b. as well as numerous other biblical passages makes it clear that the wrath

of God rests on unrepentant sinners

c. by nature we are the children of wrath according to

1) it is the state into which we were born

2. at the core of the human problem is that we are sinners under the judgment of God,

and the divine wrath hangs over us unless and until it is taken away

a. what we need to tell people is “God hates sin, and is angry with sinners, but will

love and forgive them if they turn to Christ”

G. GOD’S WRATH IS SATISFIED IN CHRIST

1. the Bible speaks about God’s wrath being poured out at the cross: “I will soon pour out

my wrath upon you, and spend my anger against you” ()

a. this takes us to the heart of what happened at the cross: The divine wrath toward

sin was poured out on Jesus

1) as horrible as was the physical suffering, it was the Father’s wrath poured out

upon Him that was our Lord’s true cause of suffering

b. in suffering the wrath of the Father, Jesus became the “propitiation” for our sins

()

1) propitiation is a word which means the act of appeasing a deity, thus incurring

divine favor or avoiding divine retribution

2. don’t ever get the idea that God loves you because Christ died for you

a. it’s the other way round

3. Christ died for you because God loved you!

a. He loved you even when you were the object of his wrath!

b. God so loved the objects of his wrath that he poured out His wrath on His Son on

the cross

4. the outpouring of God’s wrath upon His own Son at Calvary was the greatest act of

love this world has ever seen

“Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from

God’s wrath through Him!” ()

a. if you are in Christ the wrath of God against you has been quenched

The hope for sinners is that between us and the wrath of God stands the cross of Jesus. Sin was laid on Jesus and the Divine wrath toward it was poured out, spent, and exhausted in the darkness of Calvary. And when it was done, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “It is finished!” The wrath of God that will one day be poured out on all sin was spent at the cross with regard to all who are in Christ.

Then Christ rose from the dead, and he stands before you today, a living Savior! He offers to you the priceless gift of peace with God. He is ready to forgive your sins and fill you with his Spirit. He is able to save you from the wrath and reconcile you to the Father. He has opened the door of heaven, and he is able to bring you in.

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