Thank you for that. Take your Bibles this morning and turn to Revelation chapter 15. Revelation chapter 15. Do you remember on March 19, 2003? Shock and awe. Do you remember that? President George W. Bush had amassed a large coalition, fighter jets and bombers, and they decided that they were going to bomb Baghdad in such a way that it would completely demoralize the Iraqi army. By April 5th, coalition troops had entered Baghdad, and by April 14th, they had declared victory. Shock and awe. Technically, it's known as rapid dominance. It's a military doctrine based on the use of overwhelming power and a spectacular display of force to paralyze the enemy's perception of the battlefield and to destroy its will to fight. And this is what they attempted even in Desert Storm. Remember how as soon as the American troops went in, one of the more feared armies in the world, they were waving the flag of surrender without hardly firing a shot. And when you've got a single-action rifle and tanks staring at you in the face, yeah, I'd be, in fact, I saw a picture of a guy waving a Chicago Bulls cap. They figured that that would get their attention, you know, or something. And so it is in our passage this morning, we're preparing, we're on the very eve of a shock and awe event, where the might and power of an almighty God will be on display for all the world. The devil himself, our greatest adversary, has no answer for this. and this really chapter fifteen is really preparatory for the final act the final judgment of human history as we know it let's go ahead and take a look we're going to look at the whole passage but there's only eight verses so revelation chapter fifteen and verse one And I saw another sign in heaven let's pause there for a moment another sign that indicates that there had been other signs in fact in Revelation chapter twelve and verse one and there appeared a great sign or wonder in heaven a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of twelve stars and that introduced introduced us to the people of God or Israel. in Revelation chapter twelve verse three and there appeared another sign in heaven or wonder in heaven behold a great red dragon. All right so that introduced us to our great foe the devil himself and now we're introduced to God's answer to that great red dragon and a comfort to his people. this third sign in heaven. It's great and marvelous. Seven angels having the seven last plagues. For in them is filled up the wrath of God. 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. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God. I don't think it's any accident that here the wrath of God is described as plagues when talking about that great deliverance that Moses saw in Egypt and the plagues that were poured out on Egypt, all preparatory for the last final great deliverance of mankind here in 15. So they sing the song of Moses the servant of God and they sing the song of the lamb saying great and marvelous are they works Lord God Almighty just and true are thy ways now king of saints or I think better translated thou king of the nations who shall not fear the 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. And after that I looked. 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 girls and one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials or bowls full of the wrath of God who live it forever and ever and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power and no man was able to enter into the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. And so it is in this passage we see now the final preparation for the final judgment on the world of mankind. A scene in heaven precedes these bold judgments, just like there had been a scene in heaven in Revelation chapters 4 and 5 before the seal judgments were opened. Just like there was a scene in heaven that preceded the trumpet judgments there in Revelation Chapter 11, chapter 8. Chapter 14 we've already looked at is really kind of even preparatory for chapter 15. We see the vindication and the victorious songs of God's people in both chapters. And then we see the final harvest being prepared for. And so it is that as we look at this passage, I wanted to think to ourselves, all right, how does this relate to us in the year 2016? Now, it may relate to us far more than we even imagine. Because it could be that this event is a mere seven years away from us. It could be that these events could happen in maybe the year 2023. or could be sometime soon after that but I submit to you this morning that as I read this passage and I focus on these words in verse one great and marvelous and I focus on these words in verse three great and marvelous are they works I come to this conclusion that we have an awe-inspiring God. We have an awe-inspiring God. Right now, these seven bowl judgments, if we want to call it that, are really the answer to the third woe. We saw the first woe introduced to us as the fifth trumpet in chapter 8, in verse 13. And that was where this hellish group of beings afflicts man for five months and then we saw the second wall where this Demonic army kills one-third of the human population on the planet but those pale in comparison to the third well and that's what is now being introduced to us because in chapter eleven and verse fourteen it says the second well was passed and behold the third well come with quickly and that is the seventh trumpet which opens up these seven bowl judgments and yet in the midst of great devastation of judgment, of righteous activity. of the good finally be exalted and wickedness finally put being put down in the midst of all of this. As the smoke clears if you will in our mind's eye what's left standing there is an awe inspiring God and this awe inspiring God is not just the God of Revelation chapters 15 16 17 18 etc. He is the God of 2016. And yes, he's an awe-inspiring God. But he also loves you with an everlasting love. His love will last as long as he does. And so this morning, I want us to focus on this particular truth found in chapter 15. The fact that our God is an awe-inspiring God. And to do that, I want to first consider his person. His person. We see here in this passage that the saints especially those that were martyred during this tribulation period because they would not take the mark of the beast in fact look at verse two. There this sea of glass mingled with fire. and then that had gotten and I like I love this part 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 they stand on the sea of glass having the harps of God and you say to yourself well wait a second they didn't win they lost they got killed oh no my friend no no no they won They would not yield to wickedness. They would not deny the awe-inspiring God. And my friend, whenever you take up your cause with the awe-inspiring God, it doesn't matter what the world does to you, you've won. It takes you and God to make a majority. Actually, it just takes God to be in a majority, and you just have to join His side. You may not win the political cause. You may not see the moral cause be justified or vindicated. You may feel like you're losing on every single front. But that's OK, as long as you're on God's side. You know, you're the victor. We are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us. Notice they're singing a song, verse 3, they sang the song of Moses, the servant of God. And they sang the song of the Lamb. I believe these are two separate songs here. Otherwise it would have been the song of Moses and of the land but it's the song of Moses and the song of the lamb and I think that's significant too because I see a distinction between Israel and the church here and yet I see a unifying theme and that is deliverance through the lamb we see the Passover lamb in Moses' song and we see the conquering lamb of the Song of the Lamb in Revelation chapter 15. For instance, Moses' song says in Exodus chapter 15 verse 11, You see, Moses understood back in Exodus chapter 15 that we have an awe-inspiring God. And so to glorify the name of God is to praise Him for all that He is, all that He has accomplished, and all that He will accomplish. So when we talk about glorifying the name of God, we're talking about praising Him for who He is, what He's accomplished, and what He will accomplish. Well, who is this awe-inspiring God? There are some descriptions of Him in this passage. Notice in verse 3, it calls Him the Lord God Almighty. The Lord God Almighty. In verse 8, it talks about His power. This awe-inspiring God is omnipotent. He is all powerful. Almighty, speaks of God's omnipotence. No wonder they're great and wonderful works, marvelous works. I was looking at something. I was kind of intrigued about this shock and awe thing. I remember many years ago that term being thrown out. And it kind of brought me back in my mind's eye to that time almost 13 years ago now, brought me back when I was much younger for Desert Storm. And I was thinking about that and I said, wow, why is it that the United States has such an ability, if they ever get their act together, you know, to be so dominant that way militarily? So I looked at their military spending. Wow, do you realize that the United States of America spends as much on military as the next nine countries combined? Think about that. throw China, and Russia, and Saudi Arabia, and Great Britain, and throw all those countries. The next nine highest spending countries, the United States spends as much as all of those nine combined. No wonder they have such power. But I'm here to tell you this morning, the United States of America is not almighty. Some people think we are. But we are not. There is only one who is all-powerful, all-mighty, omnipotent, and that is our awe-inspiring God. The four living beings that are right around the throne of God Chapter 4 and verse 8 had declared him to be almighty. The 24 elders sitting on their thrones around God described him the same way in chapter 11. The song from the altar in chapter 16 and verse 7, they all hit the same note. The Lord God is almighty. He is omnipotent. So what does that mean for me today? Do you recognize that there is nothing that God can't do for you? Well, then why doesn't he do it? Because he's also wise. And he knows what we need. That means that when we're going through horrific trials and circumstances, God could deliver us. Well, why doesn't he? because he must have something better. And that's where the love of God comes in. But he's all-powerful. He can deliver us. There's nothing impossible with him. And that's where you just have to trust. That's what Sharon was talking about today. We just have to trust the Lord. He's all-powerful. Nothing's impossible for him. Both in Revelation chapter 15 back in Exodus chapter 15 and in 2016 Frederick Maryland. But not only is he omnipotent he is holy. Notice again in verse 4 here's part of their song who shall not fear the O Lord and glorify they name for thou only art holy. This is by the way not the normal Greek word used for holy. The basic idea here is that of sacredness or being set apart as opposed to sinlessness or purity. Often has a sense of unapproachable majesty. In other words, God is so much higher than we are. God is so much more majestic. We don't even deserve to be in the same universe with him. That's how separate it is that he is in fact only God can be this kind of holy and that's why it's interesting to me when I read Hebrews chapter seven verse twenty six and it says for such in high priest became us speaking of Jesus who is holy and it uses that same Greek word. You know that tells me about Jesus he's God. Jesus, we got just a little bit of a glimpse of that majesty on the Mount of Transfiguration, when His glory kind of peaked out a little bit, and the disciples were kind of awed by that. But my friends, that's nothing compared to what we will see. It's nothing compared to what He truly is. Our God is holy. And that's why sometimes He allows us to go through what we're doing. He allows us to go into the fiery furnace, but He's there with us in the fiery furnace. And He allows that because He wants to refine us. He knows there's something we need. He's making us more like Him. He's also supreme notice here verse four as they continue to sing for only thou art holy for all nations shall come and worship before the it also tells us in verse three that he is king of nations. Some translations read king of the ages but he is king of kings and lord of lords but all nations shall come and worship before me this is one reason by the way I believe in a futurist interpretation of revelation when in human history has this been true that all nations have come and worshiped him this tells me this is not yet happened but it will happen he is supreme Psalm twenty two verse twenty eight for the kingdom is the Lord's and he is the governor or ruler over all nations Psalm 47 verse 2 for the Lord Most High is terrible he is a great king over all the earth and so it is that the Old Testament is full of prophecies and statements saying that our God is Lord of all the earth that all men are subservient to him. By the way, today all men are subservient to him. It's just that they don't recognize that, or they don't bow the knee to it. But one day they will. One day they will. He is supreme. You understand something? That the greatest foe we face, the devil himself, is nothing more than a created being. Oh, you see, his Lord is our Heavenly Father. He is also righteous. We see at the end of verse 4, for thy judgments are made manifest. We also saw in verse 3, true are thy ways, just and true are thy ways. And it's interesting too, Moses sang a song in Deuteronomy chapter 32. In verse 4, where he declares that God is the rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are judgment, a God of truth without iniquity, just and right is He. And so it is that all throughout human history, men who have taken the time to examine this awe-inspiring God come to the settled conclusion that He is just and He is right in everything He does. Just and true applies to the rectitude of God as judge. When we look at the judgments that are soon to follow, recognize something. God is just. God is doing what is right. He's not making decisions based on faulty information. He is a God of truth. Everything he does is based upon what's right, both morally and from a knowledge standpoint. God is true in keeping his promises of judgment against an unrepentant world. And that's why when God says something, you can bank on it. His promises are always true. His promises are always right. God always keeps his promises. In fact if you notice this is really why the nations do come and worship before him look at the wording again for all nations shall come and worship before the why because. God's a just God. Or could we put it this way God is a good. God he always keeps his promises. Nowhere in this song of the lamb is there any mention of the saints accomplishments. Notice in this song that they were singing, they weren't saying, and look how we stood up and wow, look at what we did. And this is not an after interview of some great sporting event. Heaven is a place where men forget themselves. They forget their own achievements and remember only God. When we consider His person, we see that we have an awe-inspiring God. But let's also consider His purpose. God always does what's perfect. God always does what's perfect. He's righteous and true in all of His ways. So what is it that He does that's always perfect? Well, God always delivers His people. We see that already in verses 2 and 3. These people are standing on a sea of glass mingled with fire revelation chapter four and verse six had introduced us to the throne room of God if you will in heaven. Remember in chapter four verse six it said and before the throne there was a sea of glass like on the crystal. And in the midst of the throne, around about the thrones, were the four living beasts, or the four beasts full of eyes before and behind. So before the throne, it's almost like, if you think of it in our way of thinking, whenever they have a monumental palace or monument, a lot of times they'll put a reflecting pool in front of it. And it magnifies, if you will, the grandeur or the greatness of it. This is not a pool of water though, this is a sea of glass. Think of it as like crystal. And in my mind's eye, and I'm not sure if this is the way it will be, is this literal fire? Or is it like a gemstone of rare beauty that catches the light from the glory of God and refracts it so that it looks like there's fire there. How impressive would that be? Have you ever seen an opal that is of such beauty, it catches the light, and it just looks like it's on fire, just sparkling? I think the fire, though, is very appropriate here, because fire is always used in the sense of judgment is coming. And so it is that these wonderful saints who have stood there Before the Lord, praising Him, they're standing there on that sea of glass. Now remember, our God is a consuming fire. I mean, even unsaved people understand the imagery of fire and judgment. Sadly, I was reading a little paper that Scott Stafford had gotten from Samaritan's Ministries. and in this a theologian my name Al Moller was talking about a friend of his David Gushy who had gone to seminary together and now David Gushy has come out as a proponent for the L.G.B.T. lifestyle. And he's warning in this article he's warning Christians. Conservative Bible believing Christians. that the volcano is smoking and is about to erupt, they better get on the right side of history. Otherwise, they're going to be burned in the lava. All the other things aside, it's kind of interesting you would use that imagery. You see, people understand the imagery of fire and judgment. Now, he's saying that Bible-believing Christians are going to be judged. And I don't know, we may face persecution and judgment for standing for what we believe God's words, what we know God's word says. And yet, there's a greater fire coming. There's an ultimate judgment coming. And so it is that these martyred people who look like they were losers in this life are really the ones who are the victors because they chose God's side. The vengeance for the blood that was spilt is about to take place. And it's interesting to me to read some of the martyrs from years gone by for instance many of you are familiar with perpetual a young Christian lady who had just given birth to a baby and she in the Roman Empire this is probably second century. A.D. second century. As she was being marched to the Coliseum to be killed. because of her Christian faith. This is what was written about that day as she marched forth to her death. The day of their victory dawned, and they walked from prison to the amphitheater as if they were walking to heaven, happy and serene in countenance. You see, as one commentator put it, the real victory is not to live in safety, to evade trouble cautiously and prudently, to preserve life. The real victory is to face the worst that evil can do, and if need be, to be faithful unto death. But you know what? God always delivers his people. You say, well, they died. No, no, no, no. No, they didn't die. No, they're alive forevermore. The other thing that God always does perfectly he always judges the wicked and it didn't it strike you as we read through this chapter how many times it talked about the seven angels having the seven plagues that happened four times once in chapter first one and then six seven and eight. These angels are prepared they're ready their judgment is certain you see it is appointed on demand wants to die. And after that. judgment there's no getting around that you know even when it seems like nothing is happening remember we have an awe-inspiring God who is high behind the scenes who is omnipotent and holy and supreme and righteous and eternal he is there And God always does what's perfect. And God always does what He plans. Always. He is Almighty. He is the King of the Nations. And therefore, God always prepares those He uses. God is always able to do what He plans because He always prepares those He uses. These seven angels play a significant role in the book of Revelation fact they're mentioned strangely enough seven times. The seven angels with the seven plagues are mentioned seven times. The seven are coming and where are they coming from. To me this is interesting and enlightening. Verse five and after that I looked and behold. the temple. Of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was open and the seven angels came out of the temple. All right this is a reference what is the tabernacle of temp of testimony that's the Holy of Holies. And in the Holy of Holies was the Ark of the Covenant. And in the Ark of the Covenant was the what. The Ten Commandments. You see, there's a world of mankind that have been totally rejecting and rebelling against these Ten Commandments. and that's where the very presence of God is the ark the mercy seat to the covering seat the cherubim there the wings and so forth so the very presence of God symbolized in that tabernacle of testimony where the Ten Commandments is where the presence of God is these angels come right out of that what we could say the very presence of God they have justification for what they're doing because man has totally broken and violated the covenant with God, the Ten Commandments. You know, we will never be able to use by God if we've not spent time first in His presence. Our service for Him must always be an outflow of an inner vitality that is stoked by the fuel from our passion for Him. I'm very concerned today for so many Christians that may be doing a lot of good things. They're very active, very involved. But their personal relationship with Christ is not there. They've not been strengthened in the inner man. They don't have that vital relationship with Christ. They're not growing in grace. They're too busy to be growing in grace and in the knowledge of their Lord and Savior. I'm also very concerned about our young people today. who are so busy and so distracted that they don't have the time or make the time to get into the very presence of God. And that may explain why we have fewer and fewer who are surrendering for full-time Christian ministry. Because you cannot go forth and accomplish God's will unless you've spent time in the presence of God. Oh, that we might have young people, young people here in this auditorium that would say, you know what? I'm going to promise God that I'm going to get to know Him. I'm going to spend time in His presence every day. I'm going to make an impact in this world, because God is worthy. God is worthy. He is an awe-inspiring God. He has prepared these servants. God always prepares those he uses. But God always finishes what he starts and so it is in verse eight and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power and no man was able to enter into the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. And this picks up the theme we saw introduced in verse one for them is filled up it's the same Greek word fulfilled God always finishes what he starts. God doesn't just make empty promises, go halfway, partway, and in the end kind of lose track, get distracted. No. God says, this is what I'm going to do. He always does what he says. He always finishes what he starts. One commentator put it this way regarding verse 8. Perhaps there's a double meaning here. Perhaps the idea that the plans and purposes of God will often necessarily be clouded and obscure to men for no man can see the mind of God because notice here the temple as God performs his plans gets done and gets active in the work there of judgment no man was able to enter the temple because it was filled with smoke from the glory and power of God. And there's also the idea here that perhaps the holiness and the glory of God are such that man in his own right and in his own merit can never approach God. My friend, let me ask you a question this morning. Do you have a personal relationship with this awe-inspiring God? Say, I don't know. I don't know that I want to get too close to somebody like that. I mean, I'll probably just be burned to a crisp. No, my friend. That's only what his enemies see. Are you his child? He's a heavenly father. He's a daddy, an Abba, if you will. He so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him, Jesus Christ, should not perish but have everlasting life. In fact, to have Jesus Christ is to have life because Jesus Christ himself is eternal life. If you're here this morning and you're not 100% sure that when you die your sins are forgiven and that you have eternal life, oh, you can get that matter settled today. You can know beyond a shadow of a doubt. In fact, you might be one of these victors. Well, you won't die during the tribulation, but you'll be certainly a victor there in heaven, praising your God forevermore. When we consider his person and his purpose, we must come to the conclusion that he is an awe-inspiring God. He's omnipotent, holy, supreme, righteous. He's eternal. He lives forevermore. And he purposes to always do what's perfect. And he purposes to always do what he plans. He always delivers his people. He always destroys the wicked. He always prepares those he uses and he always finishes what he starts. You know, it's a privilege to serve an awe-inspiring God. And it's a marvel that an awe-inspiring God wants to have a relationship with me. With you. It's a warning that such an awe-inspiring God means business about sin. He hates sin because sin destroys the object of his affection, me, you. And it's a comfort that an awe-inspiring God loves his own with an unconditional love. I don't understand that. I'm certainly not worth it. I'm not worth his time or attention. but he so loved me he was willing to die in my place. That, my friend, is an awe-inspiring God. Let's pray. Father,