Delivered at Last to Stand

Revelation 15:1-8

World War II lasted 6 terrible years. 40-60 million people died and millions more injured. But what helped nations to press on was the hope that evil would be punished, nations liberated, and peace returned. And that happened with the atom bomb. This is the message of Revelation. The 7 churches were battle weary. But their trials would end with Christ’s second coming. What kept them going were visions of final justice and their liberation. God sent the 7 seal judgments on the wicked, but believers were sealed! God sent the greater 7 trumpet judgments, but the church was safe in heaven! The dragon terrorized the woman and killed the witnesses, but Christ’s sickle rescued his people and judged the wicked. Today, we see another vision - saints singing in heaven. That’s our hope! One day we’ll be delivered. And as we go through this vision, we’ll encounter repeated themes. But I want to relate them to us as a church. In 42 years, we’ve had many challenges. Satan once tried to destroy our witness and unity. But despite setbacks, God still preserved us. We can’t ignore his many blessings throughout the years. But make no mistake, there will be challenging times again. That’s why this vision gives us hope and instruction to press on. We want to see this hope in 3 points. Firstly, the means of that final deliverance; secondly, the source of that final deliverance; and thirdly, the response to that final deliverance.

Firstly, the means of that final deliverance. Verse 1- “And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.” Then God’s people in heaven sang the song of Moses and the Lamb - praising God for delivering them. As the atom bomb delivered the world, the plagues delivered God’s people. In fact, with these plagues, God’s wrath would be completed fulfilled. God’s enemies would be punished once and for all. But that means that until that final deliverance, God’s people will have challenges. That’s why God sent 7 trumpet judgments. He heard the cries of his people. But it wasn’t the first time. After 40 years of wandering, God’s people finally entered the Promised Land. But giants and fierce enemies would challenge them! So God delivered them by destroying Jericho with 7 trumpet blasts. Idolatrous Jericho fell and Israel inherited the Promised Land. Here also, with the 7 plagues; it showed their opposition wasn’t new. It happened at the first exodus. There, for nearly 400 years, Israel lived as slaves. They cried to God! And he delivered them by 10 devastating plagues. After 400 years of great challenge, they were liberated. So the point is this - until our final liberation, we’ll have many difficulties. Before the dropping of the atom bomb, the war raged for 6 years! So before the liberating final plagues, Christians will have great challenges. When we go through storms, there’s severe rocking; we may even lose a sail. But we’ll be delivered. What does this mean for us at our 42nd anniversary? Tough times won’t stop. They’ll continue. They may be even tougher - until Christ comes.

But when he comes, it’ll be an extraordinary deliverance. We see this in the word “sign” or wonder. It can also mean “omen.” Verse 1 - John saw a sign in heaven - 7 angels have the 7 plagues which will max out the wrath of God. Yes, there’ve been many visions and scenes, but Revelation specifically uses the word “sign in heaven” 3 times to refer to 3 things. These 3 signs describe what goes on behind the scenes. The first two were in chapter 12. There was the woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, wearing a crown of 12 stars. That’s the church. Then the Red Dragon or Satan - who sought to destroy the woman. “Aha! That’s why there’s suffering for Christians! Trials and temptations! That’s why there are church problems! The devil hates us.” But we shouldn’t fear! Why? There’s a third sign - 7 angels with 7 plagues. God’s not going to let Satan get away. And this sign is great and marvelous. The word “marvelous” speaks of something divinely wondrous and captivating. That’s why these plagues are described as maxing out or are full of the wrath of God. In the 7 seals, judgment affected 1/4 of the world; in the 7 trumpets, judgment affected 1/3; but 100% will feel these plagues. The atom bomb is nothing. Meaning, we’re assured that whatever challenges Satan throws at us, we’ll be delivered one day.

Secondly, we want to see the source of that final deliverance. Those final 7 atomic plagues are the means of the final exodus. But what’s the source? From where does it come? Verses 5-6 - “And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: and the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles.” What does this tell us? We learn that judgment would come from a holy God. These 7 angels came out of the temple - from God’s holy presence. That’s from where the plagues and the wrath would come. Again, these plagues complete the purpose of God’s wrath. But some may think how cruel and terrible they are. But they aren’t; they’re not cruel nor unjust; rather, they’re just and holy. Now, the atom bomb may have been cruel, but not these. Why? Because of their origin - they came from inside the tabernacle of testimony. And the word “testimony” was significant. It referred to the 10 commandments - these were called the two tablets of testimony. They showed God’s holiness and his exacting laws. But “testimony” also referred to the testimony of Jesus Christ (Revelation 12). Christ fulfilled these laws - he’s holy. So this pictured how judgment was based on God’s holiness. Furthermore, look at the angels - they’re clothed in pure white linen, with golden girdles or belts at the chests, holding up their long flowing garments. Even their clothing reflected their purity, dignity, and status. In fact, this is how Christ was described in Revelation 1 - clothed with a garment to his feet, and belted with a golden sash. It shows us this is holy judgment. It wouldn’t be cruel but just - and done to deliver the holy.

But it also showed that a holy God heard the cries of this people. In verses 7-8 one of the four living creatures gave to the 7 angels 7 golden bowls, full of the wrath of God. And the temple was filled with smoke, from his glory and power, and that no one was able to enter the temple until the 7 plagues were completed. Now, these beasts were elite angel, closest to God’s throne who administer justice. They were the ones who summoned the 4 horsemen in the seal judgments; and now, they gave a bowl each to the 7 angels. Each bowl was filled to the brim with the full expression of God’s wrath. Judgment. But why bowls? Now, this was not the first time we’ve seen 7 golden bowls. We saw them last in Revelation 5:8 - only there, they weren’t full of God’s wrath; they were full of the prayers of the suffering saints. In Revelation 6, they’d cried, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood?” And these prayers were poured on the altar in Revelation 8; and the smoke ascended up before God. So what’s the connection? Why are the bowls now filled with the wrath of God? Because God heard their prayers and was responding with anger. He responded with his own smoke. His glory and power like smoke filled the temple, and no one was able to enter. Now, this is also a familiar theme. In Isaiah 6, when the prophet saw God in his temple, smoke filled it - the earth was filled with his glory. In 2 Chronicles 7, when the temple was dedicated, God’s glory filled it that no priest could enter. At Sinai when God descended, the entire mountain was engulfed in smoke that the people couldn’t come near it. Same with the Mount of Transfiguration. But here, the fact that no one could enter the temple until the plagues were over showed that God heard his people, and would respond. No more mercy. Bowls full of prayers ascending like smoke to God; bowls full of wrath poured down from a glorious God. Dearly beloved, how does this apply to us? God hears and responds fully to the prayers of his holy people. Are we a praying people? It’s one thing to talk about our final deliverance from all the trials we have, but do we pray for deliverance? And are we striving to be holy? God was responding to the cries of his saints. It’s precisely because they lived a holy life that they were persecuted. That’s why this vision would’ve given them hope. God delivers with that final atomic judgment.

Thirdly, we see their response to that deliverance. We catch a glimpse of that response in verses 2-4. Now, I want to explain the structure. Why does verse 1 speaks about the 7 plagues, then 2-4 about the victory in heaven; and 5-8 about the plagues? This is like a dissertation. You have an abstract - a summary. Then you go into the details. Verses 1-4 is the abstract. Then verses 5-8 give more details. And chapters 16-18 which describe the bowl judgments; followed by 19, which describes the worshipful response of the liberated church. So we see a glimpse today. After the pouring out of the 7 bowls of plagues and wrath, we see the victory of the delivered. Verse 2 says, “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.” When we’re delivered, we’ll stand on that sea of glass - we have victory over the beast. We’re not suffering on earth anymore, but are in God’s very throne room. This sea of glass was last seen in chapter 4. It was a glass ceiling that separated God from all his creatures. But here, that glass was mixed with fire - red hot molten glass. And we’re on God’s side of it. God has judged. It was hot! But his people have passed through; we stand on the other side. All his 144,000 - those sealed by him, have been victorious over the beast, we haven’t worshiped his image nor been deceived by his world system. This gives us the picture of Israel when they crossed the Red Sea. They stood on one shore, unharmed. But Pharaoh and his riders, who were chasing them, who’d oppressed Israel for 400 years, who’d gone through the 10 plagues - their blood was spilled by the waters of the Red Sea. So this imagery tells us that God’s people are finally liberated. And what do freed people do? They sing.

We now hear the victory song of the delivered. Verses 3-4 - “And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.” All of God’s people - you and I - are stand on the molten sea singing the Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb. Now, these are not 2 songs, but one. The word “and” is an explanatory conjunction - the Song of Moses, even the Song of the Lamb. It’s been the same story all along. The first exodus prefigured the final exodus. Both had the same theme - God’s people delivered by blood - of a sacrificed lamb, and judged enemies. Now, what words were these? “Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty.” We will acknowledge God as the almighty - the omnipotent. That’s why his works are on one hand great and marvelous, but equally so, they are just and true. His judgment is not cruel. It’s right. Him casting the riders into the sea as Miriam and Moses sang, him pouring his wrathful bowls of plagues - these are right. His judgments are made manifest. He’s the king of saints. Only he’s holy. These judgments are holy. And what else did they say? How can anyone not fear and glorify your name? How can they not believe the gospel? How can they not worship you? All of God’s people from all nations will come to worship. Which means this dear brothers and sisters. As believers, we look forward to the final judgment and worship. This gives us hope. But if you find this judgment and praise cruel and unloving, if you find it hard and oppressive; then you’re not sufficiently Christian, or you don’t fully understand the struggles of God’s people at the hands of the devil. Because believers are not more politically correct than the angels. Believers have no weak sentimentalism.

Now, at our 42 anniversary, what does this mean to us? There are many challenges this year. I’ll speak about some at the anniversary celebrations later. But challenges are opportunities to reflect and obey. You see, the devil will continue to war against God’s people for a thousand two hundred and threescore days. That’s a fact. DnR was only one controversy. Scandal in the church? There’ll be more. Sin will continue. But what gives us hope to press on? God will deliver us one day. But what must we do? We must pray - to offer full bowls of prayer. We can’t overcome spiritual problems by good organization or good programs. We must humbly pray. Why would the God who answers prayer lead our church when we don’t pray but only work? We have many seats at the prayer meeting. And he’s the holy God who hears his holy people. We’re called saints. How must we react to challenges this year? In a holy way. Gossip, slander, airing of unhappiness, controversies, and complaints are sure ways to be Satan in the church. That’s why we need godly officers - who exemplify Christ, instruct us in holiness, can see Satan’s deception, and have the resolve to carry out loving discipline. This is a challenge. We must also grow in hopefulness. We expect challenging situations and people. But if we watch and pray, we can face them. That’s why we praise. Hopeful people praise! They’re not without problems, we cry and we praise. Why? Because God’s promises are great and marvelous, just and true. We’ve been delivered to stand. Let’s exemplify our victory even now.

1. The Means of that Final Deliverance

A. The continuous trouble before deliverance

B. The captivating deliverance from trouble

2. The Source of that Final Deliverance

A. The holy God

B. The hearing God

3. The Response to that Final Deliverance

A. The victory of the delivered

B. The victory song of the delivered