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1:31And I heard the altar saying, Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments. The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given to it to scorch men with fire. Men were scorched with fierce heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues. And they did not repent so as to give him glory. Well, welcome back. We're here in Revelation chapters 15 and 16. It was an overview of the ministry, the seven bowl angels. It's really the very end of the end. This is the end of human history as we know it. God pouring out his wrath on the world system. In fact, in 11:15, you've already read these words, then the seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven saying, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever. So, over four and a half chapters ago, the trumpet sounded, and there were, that's where the announcement was, that the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ. And so, what we've been reading up these last four and a half chapters. Up until this point is preparing us for, giving us background information and introductory information to these seven bowls of wrath wherein them the wrath of God is complete. And so that is what we're looking at. If you remember, Revelation is sequentially broken down into seals, trumpets, and bowls. That's the sequential nature of it. Now, there's other things that happen in there that work in and around, but the timeline is graphically given to us in the seals, the trumpets, and the bowls. So we open up the first six seals, then we come to the seventh seal, and seven trumpets emerge. And then we come to the seventh trumpet, the seventh trumpet is blown, and then seven bowls appear. And so that is where we are today. We're starting with the first bowl. And that's where we're coming to. And but before I jump right into that first bowl, I want to talk to you a little bit about what a good government does. And let me just back this up so you're thinking about the outline of Revelation. What is a good government supposed to do? Well, two things.

4:33A good government guards the path of justice and it preserves the way of righteousness upon the earth. It guards the paths of justice. Proverbs 2, 8 makes this clear. And preserves the way of the righteous. So a good government is a guardian of justice and a protector of what is right. And so if you think about justice as a path and the path of justice, it involves laws that are given for the highest good of society and an impartial judging authority to make distinctions about those laws and who is in compliance and who is not. So if you think about the way of righteousness, we think about guarding the path of justice, but there's also the way of rightness or the way of righteousness. Well, that's going to involve instruction about what is right. It's going to involve mercy for those who want to get it right and walk in that way. And it's also going to involve punishment for those who do not. And ultimately, removal for those who do not want to walk in the way of righteousness. That's what a good government does. It guards the way that God is. The path of justice, and it preserves and protects the way of righteousness. That's what a good government is supposed to do, and that is exactly what God does. God's government is no different. Revelation is really a book about all of these elements. God governs for the highest good of the universe, which puts His glory on display. It is His wisdom, it is His glory, and He governs for that which is the highest good for all involved. That's how He operates. He is good, and He sets His glory on display, and He governs, and His laws are good, His judgment about His laws impartial, His instruction is sound, His mercy is unfathomable, and His punishment upon evildoers is just. It is thorough, it is complete, and it is absolutely sure to happen.

7:15Think here about kingdoms in conflict. There is the kingdom of this world, as we just mentioned earlier, and then there's the kingdom of God and His Christ. To which do you belong? Let me tell you why I preach. Let me tell you why, even though we're here in the middle of what is the end of the end, judgment of judgment, wrath of wrath, and I'm up here preaching today with the hopes that you will turn and put your faith and trust in Christ. This is given to us, not as your final farewell, but again, a desire of your loving heavenly Father to be in union with you. And so, even though we're in the midst of the wrath of the wrath, don't fail to mention that this is, again, God drawing near to you so that you will belong to his kingdom, that you would abandon the kingdom of the world. Listen, I have tasted and I have seen. God is good. He is good thoroughly. He is worthy to be appraised. He is worthy to be followed. And all I'm doing up here is saying, even as we go through this, I'm going to just keep making the appeal: get out of the world, get out of the system of the world, embrace the system of God and his Christ. It is eternal, it is good, and it is for you, and it is being offered today. And maybe you've been walking with Christ for a long time. I just hope that you will, as we go through this, be renewed in your strength and renewed in your commitment and your love for him and desire to serve him.

8:53And I haven't even started preaching yet. But it's exciting because his. Judgment is good, it's just, it's thorough, it's complete, and it's sure. But you know, in this text this morning, we meet a kind of people who cannot be saved. A kind of people who cannot be saved. And I want you to see why they cannot be saved, so that you will not be like them. This is again God drawing near as He gives us the end point of history and He gives us that final judgment and a window to understand the final judgment that is to come. It's given so that you can orient your life now, so that you can see what's ahead, so that you can understand what's truly worth pursuing and give your whole heart to it. And so we come to the bold judgments.

10:03First bowl. First bowl. Oh, wow, okay. So we've got sores. But let me even say, before we get to the first bore, before I put that ugly image up there, which is not half as bad as it could have been, by the way, look at what happens just before the first bore. Is poured out. The first angel receives his orders. Look at verse 16:1. Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God. The voice is clearly that of God. He is the one commanding them to go forth. But notice that the first angel receives his orders at the same time all the other ones do. The action is sequential. It's given to all seven at the same time. Y'all be going. I would say it. Y'all be going. Y'all be pouring out. But you be going out. And they go out in series.

11:12Each one isn't going to hear a separate command. There's not going to be an individual. Number one, you go. Okay. Number two, now you go. Number three, you go. No, it's not like that. He gives a command to all, and they all go out in series. And as you just saw in verse 8 of 15, the temple being filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power. No one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished. They go out, and they're going to be complete. One right after. They cannot be stopped.

11:49Look at verse 2. So the first angel went out and poured his bowl upon the earth, and it became a loathsome and malignant spirit. Sore on the people who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image. A loathsome sore. It's kind of hard to say, at least for me. Notice that this judgment is directly upon the people of the beast. People of the beast have made their distinction. They have put a mark and they have made a distinction between the people of God and the people who worship the beast.

12:27The beast made a distinction, and so does God. And so the first four bold judgments are going to be directly upon the people of the beast. The people of the beast. The next ones, the final three, are going to be upon the kingdom of the beast. We'll come to those next time. But this time, we're looking at that wrath that's being poured out upon people. And the first one directly impacts the people, those who have the brand or those who have the mark, the imprint of the beast upon them. Now they have a loathsome sore, or many loathsome sores all over the body. Now the sore called loathsome. It's bad. It's harmful. It's horrid to use the language. It's also malignant. You see that translation. It's very sickly. It's very, it also is a word that means painful. This is something that's very disgusting. Painful, disgusting, horrid, malignant. The picture we have up there is mild compared to what this is really describing. I wanted you guys to be able to go and still enjoy your lunch and didn't want to throw something up there that, but it gets you in the category. But this kind of sore has a precedent in Scripture. You remember when Job was tempted to curse God and die? You remember when Satan comes up against him and he says, Let me at him. Let me touch his body. And so God says, Go ahead. And in chapter 2 and verse 7, then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and he smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a pot shirt to scrape himself. That's kind of like an oozing, messy kind of thing. This is a messy type thing. And his wife said to him, Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die. Well, he doesn't. You remember the sixth plague on Egypt? As you're working through these bold judgments, your mind is easily transported back to Pharaoh and some of the plagues that he experienced and Egypt experienced. But let me just. Read to you an excerpt from Exodus 9, verse 8, dealing with the sixth plague. Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Take for yourselves handfuls of soot from a kiln, and let Moses throw it toward the sky in the sight of Pharaoh. It will become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and it will become boils breaking out with sores on man and beast through all the land of Egypt. So they took soot from a kiln and stood before Pharaoh, and Moses threw it toward the sky, and it became boils breaking out with sores on man and beast. And get this: the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils. For the boils were on the magicians as well as on all the Egyptians. The magicians, you can think about that. Yeah, you can think about these magicians and these officials coming. We can't stand before you, Moses. Now we'd like to come up and fight with you, but we got this problem. We got these boils all over us. They're really painful. They're unsightly. We have a problem. And so you get the sense that these boils are not just loathsome, but they're physically limiting. They couldn't stand before Moses because of these boils and sores. And so you see this first bold judgment being poured. Poured out, these sores are going to be upon all the people of the beast, which would certainly include his officials, his ministers, and his false prophets.

16:45But you know, another thing about these sores is that God promised that these sores would come upon the people of Israel if they would not keep his covenant. In Deuteronomy chapter 38, or 28, verse 35, the Lord will strike you on the knees and legs with sores, sores, boils from which you cannot be healed from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. Sores. And so this is the first bowl judgment directly upon the people of the beast. Then there's a second bowl judgment. Look at verse 3. The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like that of a dead man. And every living thing in the sea died. The sea turned into blood. This too is reminiscent of the first plague in Egypt. You remember when Pharaoh or when Moses struck the water in the Nile? And by the way, the word strike is the word for plague. When we're talking about these seven bowls, also referred to as seven plagues. The word for plague is strike or bowls. I mean, strike or blows.

18:13So the bowl judgments are God striking the earth in another way, but it's plagues. It's also translated a strike. And this is what happened when Moses struck the water in the Nile in the sight of Pharaoh. And all the water that was in the Nile turned to blood. And the fish that were in the Nile died. And the Nile became foul. So you get the same kind of imagery here, except Revelation goes much further. The description is much more intense. Notice that it's blood like that of a dead man. And what is blood like that of a dead man like?

19:08It's coagulated. It's congealed. Foul, an odor, like that of a dead man. And notice it has results. And every living thing in the sea died. Complete destruction of marine life. That's what's being expressed here. Think about how vast the oceans are. We're talking about the whole sea. We're not talking about some little part. We're talking about a global end of the sea. You remember the second trumpet? In Revelation 8:8, we read this. We went through this already, but the second angel sounded in Revelation 8:8, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood, and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life died. But you know, in the second trumpet, only a third of the creatures died. In the second bowl, all of the creatures die.

20:23What's happening here? The trumpet is signaling the bowl. The one who, the trumpet, when you see a third die, that's the trumpet. That's the awakening. That all, the one who kills a third is going to end up killing the whole. What is happening? He is wanting people to recognize him, turn to him, repent, and find life in him. He's saying, it's not good for you to keep going your way, and you cannot go your own way forever. I will put a stop to it.

20:59But God. God gives time. He alerts, and that's what the trumpet. You remember what the angel says in chapter 14, just before all these bold judgments are coming, what happens? An angel goes out with a loud voice preaching an eternal gospel, the good news. Even this late in the game, God is still proclaiming good news. And here's what he wants: Fear God, give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heaven and the earth and the sea.

21:36Who has authority over the sea? It is God, and he's going to demonstrate that. He's calling people to himself. It's the God. By the way, you say, well, that just sounds too far-fetched. Let me tell you something about the God of Genesis. He said, Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and it was so. The God revealed in Genesis is a God who is outside his creation. He is spirit, and he can speak into existence everything you see just simply by the word of his mouth. That is his power.

22:17And all things that we see have come into existence, including yourself, because of the word of his mouth, because he said, this is what I want, and therefore it was so. That's the power. The God who can create and fill the sea with all the living creatures can certainly speak the word, and it's over. I love the ocean. This is a horrifying picture. But you can see what's happening. This is the final chapters. Final chapter, the end of the end. We're not going to be able to do well on earth with the sea like this. But then there's a third bowl.

23:06The third bowl is unique. Let's just read it in verse 4. Then the third angel poured out his bowl onto the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. What's unique about the third bowl is that it is followed by two statements. First, we'll look at the bowl, but then there's a couple of statements that follow. But this judgment is clearly upon the fresh drinking water supplies. This is also a development, a further development of the third trumpet. You remember in Revelation 8:10, the third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star was called Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood. Wormwood, and many men died from the waters because they were made bitter. So, in the third trumpet, a third of the waters are made bitter. In the third bowl, all of the waters are made into blood, including the springs of water.

24:22There isn't any more fresh water supplies. You can see how God, when he is ready to bring this to an end, how quickly and easy he can do it. But then there are two statements that follow that declare the rightness of God's judgment. Look at the first statement in verse 5. And I heard the angel of the waters saying, Righteous are you who are and who were, O holy one, because you judged these things, for they poured out the blood of the saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. Notice how he says, Righteous are you who are and who were. You remember in Revelation 1:8, what is Christ? He is the one who was, who is, and who is to come. Guess what? Here he is the one who is and the one who was, because he has come.

25:29But notice. Who is this angel of the waters anyway? This is another angelic order. We had another evening. We could spend time looking at these angelic orders, but this is another angelic order. The angel of the waters. Very special kind of just what it says: an angel, some kind of steward over the waters. We've already met the four angel of the winds in chapter 7 and verse 1. We've already met the angel over the abyss in chapter 9 and 11. We've also met the angel over fire in 14:18. This is an angel like them, this category, clearly an angel who is in a position of stewardship over the sea, the rivers, the springs, and everything in them. And he makes this declaration about how God's judgment is right.

26:40And he says it's right because they poured out the blood of the saints and the prophets. They poured that out. They delighted in blood, and you have given them blood to drink. Now, if anybody would think that God's judgment was unfair. Fair, it would be the steward over the waters. And he says they deserve it. And this is that principle of, probably heard it's lex talionis, the law of retribution. God says, I will repay. The eye for eye, the tooth for tooth, the idea that you will reap what you sow.

27:32And that is what has happened here. They have reaped what they have sown. They love blood. You can have lots of it. This is really the message of Obadiah. And Obadiah verse 15, it says, For the day of the Lord draws near on all nations. So don't gloat over Israel's fall. Don't gloat. This is what Obadiah is saying. Don't add to their calamity. Because, verse 15, for the day of the Lord draws near on all the nations, as you have done, it will be done to you. Your dealings will return on your own head.

28:23And this is what the angel is saying. Look, they love to shed blood. You gave them blood to drink. They deserve it. They are worthy of it. This is what they wanted. Since you loves blood so much, you can drink it. By the way, do you love blood? We live in a society that just loves to promote blood, has made an empire out of graphically portraying the shedding of blood up on the screen. I hope that that is not you. Being entertained by watching the lifeblood of people being splattered and lost. Do you love blood like that? Are you entertained by that?

29:14Please consider. Consider these thoughts. Listen, it's horrifying. Even if it's an act on the screen, see, someone's blood poured out. But these love blood, and so blood they will have to drink. That's God's judgment. Then there's, that's this testimony of, that's the statement from the angel of the waters. But then there's another statement. Look at verse 7. And I heard the altar saying, I didn't know an altar could speak, but the altar speaks here. Yes, O Lord, God, the Almighty, true, and righteous are your judgments.

30:09What's he saying? He hears from the altar. What's under the altar? If you will remember the martyrs. The martyrs. This is the voice of the martyrs crying out. And remember, chapter 6 and verse 9. When the lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and because of the testimony which they had maintained. And they cried out with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, will you refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth? That's the cry. How long, God, are you going to let this go on? You are holy and true. You're not going to let this go on, but how long are we going to continue to see this injustice done upon the earth to the spilling of the innocent blood upon the land? How long, Lord?

31:11And here in this statement, yes, Lord God, the Almighty, true, and righteous are your judgments. This is right. This is good. So you have the angel of the waters, you have the martyrs, and who is crying out. Both of them are. Affirming the goodness of God's judgment, his decision, his vengeance. And by the way, no one else in heaven is going to be able to affirm the rightness of this judgment more than the angel of the waters and the martyrs to whom the vengeance is due.

31:52It's right. And that's what Revelation is making sure we understand. And what's going to understand, when all is said and done, and we look back in retrospect, we see the history of the earth, we understand God's judgment and how he did. We'll say, Amen. It is right and it is good. Let me come to the fourth bowl. Verse 8. The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given to it to scorch men with fire.

32:30So this too is unique in the sense that first we're going to see the bowl, and then we're going to see how the people respond. Like the first bowl, this sores that directly impacted the bodies of the people, this bowl also directly impacts the bodies of the people. Poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given to it to scorch men with fire. And we could take this as, okay, we've had some hot weather here. And we could say, okay, let's just amp that up a few degrees, and we've got that here. No, the language is beyond that. It certainly may involve, yeah, a much hotter temperature, but it's like it is physically burning people. So it's like that. It's like a, could involve like a rain of something like solar flares, something like, but something that, or a combination of amped temperatures, and but something that is certainly creating a painful burning upon the people.

33:45Well, you'd think by now that they're ready to say, okay, I surrender white flag. We get it. Can't go on without this any longer. Look at how they respond in verse 9. Men were scorched with fierce heat, and they praised God. Is that what your Bible says? And they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give him glory. Interesting. They blasphemed. Notice that they know who they're dealing with here. They know, they name, they. Blaspheme the name of God who has power over these plagues. They know who has power over these plagues.

34:40And they know it's not the beast, the one who they worship. They know who they're dealing with, and yet they're accused, they're slandering God. They blaspheme God. They slander his name. God is evil for doing this. That's the idea. God, this is unjust. This is unrighteous you are evil. And it's like, did it ever occur to you? Maybe you're evil. That thought doesn't enter their mind. The problem is with God, not with themselves, not with their idolatries, not with their thefts, not with their murders. That's not where the problem is. We're not deserving, but God, you're just being mean.

35:29And they slandered him. What kind of a God is this? That kind of blasphemy. They slander. They reviled the name of God. But notice what it says, and they did not repent. There's no change of mind. That's what the word means. They don't change their mind. They don't have a change of mind about God or themselves. They do not repent. They will not give him glory. There's no change of mind to the crimes that they have committed against God's people either. They've been party to slaughtering them, making people bow down and worship the beast.

36:24But it's interesting, as you're reading in Revelation 13, and the dragon is seen and remarked upon there. It's the dragon and the beast that are uttering blasphemies against God. But here it's the people. You see, they bear the mark of the beast for good reason. They have become just like the God they serve. And so will you, if you do not repent and serve the true God. Whatever pursuit it is, whatever idol in your life, if you pursue that, you will become just like it. And that's what happened to these people.

37:15There is no change of mind. The dragon doesn't change his mind. He hates God, is hostile to God to the very end of it all. And even after we'll keep reading. After a thousand years of being incarcerated, he is let out and he still shows no repentance, and it is then that he'll be consigned to the lake of fire forever. And God's people will say, ah, we get it. We understand the way of evil. This is good. The way of evil is questioning God, not submitting to him. That's the way of evil. And I'm not talking about questioning, like, God, help me understand this, but that questioning that challenges. Has God really said there's a way around his lordship, there's a way around his kingship, there's a way that you can do what you want. That is the way of evil. Are you in the kingdom of this world?

38:21Do you find a way around God's laws, God's morality? Do you find a way around it? Are you skilled in excusing yourself? I can say you need to change your mind about this. Because I can tell you where you're heading. Oh, yeah, this generation is steeled. This is a generation in the future, but I can tell you what, it's reflective. It's just the mature version of the kingdom of this world that is very much alive and well, right here in our midst.

38:56Yes, there'll be a future expression of it, and that's what we're looking at. But right now, I can tell you where the people in the kingdom of the world and where they're going to end up going to experience the wrath of God unless you have a change of mind and you fear God and you give Him glory and come under Him, worship Him, He's the one who made all this stuff, He's the one who made you, and He has right claims on your life, and He is good, and He knows what's good, and He is thoroughly good and wants to show you good, but your goodness is not going to be in you going your own way. That's the way of evil. You need to have a change of mind. Listen, God knew what He was doing when He put you where He put you and when He put you, so that He would be in a relationship with Him. And you need to come out of this world and be joined to Christ.

39:49Well, these people become just like the God they served. Blasphemy, slandering God. So, as we just think about this, retrospect: the wrath of God. Well, certainly in these verses, it's aimed at the people of the beast. And who are these people of the beast? Well, they're the people who hate God's people. Verses five and seven: make sure that we understand that they're the ones who have spilled the blood of the saints. Wrath of God is against the people of the beast who hate God's people. And who never will change.

40:34They will keep doing it. They will keep harming God's people. They will keep spilling innocent blood because there is no change of mind. And these have forced God to decide between the two. The wrath of God. They've pushed God. They will not submit to Him. They hate God's people. They are not going to change. And so they force God's hand. God, are you going to give the earth to us who hate your people, or are you going to give it to the saints? Well, guess what God's going to do? He's going to give it to the saints, and these bold judgments are what brings that about.

41:10Good does win because God is good. His people will inherit the earth. Why? Because he's Lord of the earth and he is good. And he's not going to give it to a bunch of murderers and idolaters who figure out a way not to come under his government. Let's talk about, real briefly, characteristics of those who cannot be saved. As we look at these people, we see people who cannot be saved. And let's just look at them. Let's make a few observations. Characteristics about them. Number one, they know that God rules over all, they know that.

42:01They know a lot about God. But you know what? They know enough about God to know that He rules over all, but they do not like God. And they are always looking for an excuse not to bow down to Him. Is that you? Are you always looking for a way around? Well, that's the very same characteristic that these do at the end of the age. Just in a more matured, desperate, overt fashion. They're looking for an excuse not to bow down to Him, and that's why they will prefer lies to truth, no matter how ridiculous or absurd. Yeah, you evolved from a monkey.

42:53Yes, you evolve. You do not have a Creator who spoke you into existence. Yeah, contrary to all the data we can gather, yeah, things do not move towards a state of higher order. They move towards entropy, and we can measure that. We can see that. And yeah, let's go with that, even though we don't find the evidence for it. Let's go with that because we want a view of the world that means we do not have to be subject to God Almighty. And let's even believe the absurd, even if it goes contrary. To what we observe because we need a way to understand the universe without us having to be subject to a creator. And so we'll believe the ridiculous or the absurd. We'll believe anything if it gets us out of honoring God as God.

43:53And that's not just happening on the big world of academia. That's happening up on us on a very personal level. I will believe that slander about that person, or I will find a way, a loophole around this clear mandate in Scripture so that I can get, so that I can enjoy my form of entertainment, or so that I can take part in this unholy exercise. You just go down the line, and that is the nature of the people of the world. They're always looking for an excuse not to bow down to him, and they will find it, no matter how ridiculous or how absurd.

44:30Third characteristic: they're not open to changing their minds. Talk about closed-minded. Here they are. They're closed to one thought: that God is God, and He created the whole universe, and He is worthy to be feared, worshiped, and honored, and glorified. That possibility they're not open to. They're closed-minded. This is what repentance is about: having achieved. Of mind about God and about yourself, about sin, what is good and what is bad. And listen, we're going to be going through life repenting. It just starts by first acknowledging God, but it's a whole life of growing. It's a lot of repentance. It's a lot of turning. It's a lot of growing. But those who are married to the system of this world, they're not open to changing their minds about God or about themselves.

45:30Fourth characteristic of those who cannot be saved is that they're just like the one they worship. They become more and more. If you worship God's adversary, whatever form that takes, whatever little idol that that may take, if you are serving that idol, it's going to put you at odds with the true God. You'll become like them. You will be just like God's adversary. Oh, it won't be, it may not be as overt, but I can see it in teenagers. I can see it in little children. Listen, when you say to your, I have no interest in honoring you, Dad. I have no interest in honoring you, mom. Let me tell you who you're worshiping. You're worshiping yourself. And ultimately, you're going to become. Like the one who dangles that in front of you, an adversary of God. I see it in teenagers.

46:39I see it in men, women of all ages. Don't think that we're just that the kingdom of the world isn't real, and that we don't feel it's the tension between God's kingdom and His Christ and the kingdom of this world on a daily basis. It's just going to get a lot more overt at the end of the age. But it's very much going on now, and all these things going on now will culminate in one final expression, and that's what the book of Revelation is telling us about.

47:15Well, the fifth characteristic is that they will experience the fullness of God's wrath. They will experience it. So, our exhortation today: these are people who cannot be saved. Yes, they cannot be saved. They will not be saved because they will not, they cannot. They do not want to change. And so, because they will not, they cannot. And so. But that's given to us so that we will not be like them. We get to see the end of the age where Earth's rebellion finally culminates so that we can say, I don't want to be on that trajectory. I don't want to be on that train. I want to get off now. And I want to serve the true King. I know that my Creator created me for a reason, and it wasn't to go pursue every kind of self-serving idol. It wasn't to serve myself or to wreak havoc upon his earth, but to honor him.

48:23So do not be like them. They are like Pharaoh, who just kept hardening his heart and then experienced the hand of God upon him. But all this is an invitation for you and I to hear, to see, to perceive, to change, cry out, to welcome him, to grow in his kingdom. That's what he holds out. So even in this passage, it's a call. It's a good call from your loving heavenly Father into a closer relationship with him. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the truth that this reveals about the end of the age, and just as certain as Genesis told us about the beginning of human history, Father, we have in Revelation before us the end of human history and how you're going to deal with injustice and the fallenness of humanity, and that you have perpetuated. Father, that your name will be glorified as one who governs the universe for your glory, for the highest good, and for the exaltation of your name. Father, we know it is right that evil and the things that we see around us today that it be brought to a conclusion, and even the things we see in us. Father, for we have all too often been willful participants in serving ourselves and doing that and reviling your name. Father, thank you that even though we have reviled, Father, you hold out your loving invitation for us to come into a closer relationship with you today. So, Father, we call upon the name of Jesus. We ask your Holy Spirit to awaken, to illumine, to bring about wholeness of life and fulfillment in you. And only you can do that. In Jesus' name, amen.