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Introduction

Revelation 15:1-8 ESV  Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished.  (2)  And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands.  (3)  And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!  (4)  Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”  (5)  After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened,  (6)  and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes around their chests.  (7)  And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever,  (8)  and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.

• We are now being introduced to the final outpouring of God’s wrath.
  • This outpouring will include 7 specific Judgments that we will go over in the following weeks.
  • Similar to the Seven Seals, and the Seven Trumpets, we will have Seven Bowls of God’s Judgment, sometimes translated as seven vials.
  • We are told in verse one that this will be the last outpouring of God’s wrath.

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

• So that’s fairly relieving. We will learn about the outpouring of these 7 bowls in chapter 16, and then spend two chapters talking about the seventh bowl and Babylon the great. After that, there is no longer any mention of God’s wrath being poured out, except for one reference to the winepress of God’s wrath which we talked about last week.
• So, all that is to say, we are rounding the corner church! We have almost made it through all of the difficult parts of Revelation!
• But before we go there, before we get into the final wrath of God, we get to enjoy chapter 14 and one of the most beautiful things that is mentioned in the Bible…
  • And what do we see that is so beautiful in Chapter 14, what is so mighty and glorious, joyful, holy, and awesome?
  • Why it is the same thing that we find here, at CLC every Sunday morning and most Wednesday nights.
  • The same thing you will find around the world when you enter a Bible believing church.
  • It is of course, the Saints of God, worshiping and praising their just and holy King.
• Did you catch that in chapter 14, the overarching theme of worship and praise, because that is what we are going to talk about today.

• The song of victory.
  • Did you catch this in Revelation 15, when we read through it did you catch that half of the chapter was about a song of victory? Or did you, like me, gloss over that part to focus on the wrath of God.
    • Well, we will have plenty of time to talk about the wrath of God as we go through the seven bowls of God’s wrath, but today, let’s focus on the half of this chapter that is about Singing Victory!

Revelation 15:2-4 ESV  And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands.  (3)  And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!  (4)  Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

Point One – God Always Wins

• Point one this morning is that God always wins!
  • Not sometime, not most the time, but always!

Revelation 15:2 ESV  And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands.

• THE BEAST WILL BE CONQUERED!
  • The Beast loses and God wins!
  • The beast loses and the PEOPLE of God win!
    • Look what we see in this verse, standing beside the fiery glass sea, which must be a thing of beauty to behold, standing beside that sea are saints with their harps.
      • Not all of the saints, for the Rapture has not happened yet, remember the last chapter foreshadowed the rapture would happen, and it does happen in chapter 19, but some of the saints.
      • Which saints? Well none other than those who refused the mark of the beast and conquered him.
      • How did they conquer the beast? Almost certainly through their death and martyrdom, just like how Jesus conquered sin.
      • These saints refused the mark, and were either killed for their faith or starved to death.
    • So there is a special place in heaven for these end time martyrs…
      • You see the beast though that he had won, Satan thought that he had won. When all these saints died, the beast and the devil thought they had claimed victory.
        • But they are WRONG.
        • BECAUSE DEATH IS NOT THE END!
        • You can’t win a game at half time, Satan… you don’t win the marathon by being first to the 13^th mile!
          • It is the team with the highest score at the END of the game that wins.
          • It is the runner who crosses the FINISH LINE first that wins, the one who makes it to that 26.2 mile mark…
          • It doesn’t matter how fast you get halfway, if you don’t finish the job it doesn’t matter.
      • Satan thought he had won when he put Christ on the Cross.
        • But death is not the end!
      • The beast will think he has won when he kills the saints.
        • But death is not the end!
      • In the end, Jesus rises again… in the end, the saints rise again!
        • IN THE END GOD WINS!

1 Corinthians 15:55-58 ESV  “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”  (56)  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  (57)  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  (58)  Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

• Listen Saints, you need to understand this… GOD WINS!
  • ALL HE DOES IS WIN.
  • ALL HE HAS IS W’S! NO L’S! NO TIE’S! JUST W’S!
  • HE IS UNDEFEATED!
  • All God does is win, and His wins are spectacular, wonderful, awesome, and beautiful.
  • All God does is win!
    • Over your life! God wins!
    • Over your finances! God wins!
    • Over your health! God wins!
    • In your heartache, God wins!
    • In your mourning, God wins!
    • In your struggles, God wins!
    • In your battles, God wins!
    • Against your flesh, God wins!
    • Against your enemies, God wins!
    • Against sin, God wins!
    • Against hordes of demons, God wins!
    • Against the beasts of Revelation, God wins!
    • And certainly against the devil and all his false power, GOD WINS!
    • GOD ALWAYS WINS.
  • Now I am not saying that YOU always win, because you have to be on God’s side. But I am saying that GOD always wins, so it behooves you to always be on God’s side, amen?!
• Even when it doesn’t look like God is going to win, GOD WIN’S!
  • Listen, in a few weeks we are going to celebrate the Passover.
  • We do it every year, as God commanded… and why does God want us to remember the Passover? Because it is a story of God winning! The story of God freeing His people from slavery in Egypt.
    • Even when it looked like God wasn’t going to win, HE WON.
      • Even when it looked like Pharoh wasn’t going to let the people go, God won.
      • Even when it looked like Pharoh was only going to release the men, GOD WON.
      • Even when their backs where to the Red Sea and Pharoh’s army was closing in, when it looked like there was no escape, when it looked like death was certain, when it looked like defeat was certain… even then GOD WON!
        • God split the red sea so the Israelites could cross on dry ground, and when Pharoah’s army and chariots tried to chase after them God had the sea swallow them up. God won!
        • GOD ALWAYS WINS!
• AND WHEN GOD WINS WHAT ARE WE TO DO?! WELL WE OUGHT TO PRAISE HIM AND WE OUGHT WORSHIP HIM!
  • We ought write new songs, we ought play music on instruments, and we out sing, sing, sing!
    • And that is exactly what Moses did in Exodus and it is exactly what we see happening in Revelation 15!

Point Two – When God Wins, Worship and Praise Him!

Revelation 15:2-3 ESV  And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands.  (3)  And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!

• You see that, they sang a song… was it a new song? Not this time, in fact it is called the song of Moses and the Lamb…
  • What song is that? Well it is the song that Moses sang after God parted the Red Sea for them and then closed it up over Pharoh army!

Exodus 15:1-2 ESV  Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, “I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.  (2)  The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

• See you didn’t know Passover was prophetically a part of the end times, did you, but all those times you celebrated the seder you were also learning about end time prophecy, specifically that GOD ALWAYS WINS and the saints sing to Him Moses’ song!
  • BTW, Get signed up for Passover, pull out your phone go to the church app and sign up!
• Look at this verses in Exodus again:

Exodus 15:1 ESV  Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, “I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.

• Moses said “I will sing to the Lord, for He has TRIUMPHED GLORIOUSLY!”… SOMEONE SAY “GLORIOUS TRIUMPH!” Come on now, somebody testify “GLORIOUS TRIUMPH!”
  • It wasn’t just any old triumph, it wasn’t just any ole’ victory, it was GLORIOUS TRIUMPH it was AWESOME VICTORY!
  • When God delivered his people from Egypt by the blood of the Passover lamb! GLORIOUS TRIUMPH!
  • When God deliver his people by the blood of the pure spotless lamb, Jesus: GLORIUS TRIUMPH!
  • When God throws the horse and the rider into the sea: GLORIOUS TRIUMPH!
  • When God throws the beasts and his mark into the sea of fire: GLORIOUS TRIUMPH!
  • And because of this Glorious Triumph we are going to sing!

Exodus 15:2 ESV  The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

• We as Christians need a bit more of some things in our life…
  • We need more Bible, for sure, that is evident by the state of our Nation.
  • We need to open our Bible, read it, and do what it says… not just on Sundays, but every day!
    • But not just that, y’all know I am passionate about that!
  • But I think we could do with some more prayer… more prayer for the nations, more prayer of God’s glory, more prayers of thanksgiving, more prayers for miracles, more prayers for victory…
  • And not only that, but I think the American Christian is quite starved of praise and worship.
  • WE COULD DO WITH A GOOD DEAL MORE OF PRAISE AND WORSHIP.

Colossians 3:16 ESV  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Psalms 95:1-3 ESV  Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!  (2)  Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!  (3)  For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

Psalms 100:1-2 ESV  A Psalm for giving thanks. Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!  (2)  Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!

Psalms 100:4 ESV  Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!

Psalms 150:1-6 ESV  Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!  (2)  Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!  (3)  Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!  (4)  Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!  (5)  Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!  (6)  Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!

• Listen, ALL GOD DOES IS WIN! And we should praise Him for that! We should sing new songs, we should sing old songs, our hearts, our lives, and even voices should cry out praise!
• ALL GOD DOES IS WIN. And when God wins, we should worship and praise Him.
• And if God is always winning, that means that we should always be worshiping and always be praising.

Hebrews 13:15 ESV  Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

• It is not enough to sing to God on Sunday mornings and some Wednesday evenings… does God only win twice a week? NO! GOD IS ALWAYS WINNING! ALL GOD DOES IS WIN.
• Let me challenge you with something you can do that I think will change your spiritual life…
  • It’s a real challenge.
  • Most of you listen to music often. Be it in the car, in the shower, while doing chores, whatever.
    • So here is my challenge, set aside today that you are done listening to secular music.
    • No more classic rock… no more swanky jazz… no more oldies… no more top 40’s… no more emo indy rock bleh…
      •  whatever you listen too that is not Christ centered… I challenge you to replace that with Christian music… but not just any Christian music, worship and praise music.
        • Now I don’t put this on you as a command, not as a legalistic law that MUST be followed. But instead as an encouragement.
      • Your life will be so much fuller, freer, joy filled… if you would take the time you normally listen to music, and change that to worship and praise time.
  • Y’all I made this change when I was about 17 years old, and I have never looked back.
    • Again, not a legalistic law… every once in a while I will listen to Everything is Awesome from the Lego movie, or maybe some hits from the Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff… but it is few and far in between. I spend my music listening time worshiping God.
    • Even recently I have cut back on Christian music… not that Christian music is bad, certainly not… but I have cut back on Christian music that is Christian in nature but not explicitly focused on worshiping and praising God.
    • Because I WANT TO PRAISE MORE.
  • And if you would do that, you will have a much closer relationship with God. A more intimate relationship with God… why, because God inhabits the praises of His people…

Psalm 22:3 KJV  But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. 

• God inhabits the praises of Israel, in other words, God inhabits the praises of His People.
  • If you are born again, that’s you! You are a part of Israel, you are grafted into the vine, you are heirs of Abrahams promises, you are in covenant with God with the mark of Circumcision on you heart!
  • So praise God in every area of your life and He will inhabit every area of your life… it truly is life changing!

Conclusion

• Let’s conclude with this…

Revelation 15:4-8 ESV  Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”  (5)  After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened,  (6)  and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes around their chests.  (7)  And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever,  (8)  and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.

• There are two sets of people described in this passage, those praising God and those God is about to pour out wrath onto… which would you rather be?!
  • As for me and my house, we will praise the Lord! We will serve Him, undoubtably, but we will also PRAISE AND WORSHIP HIM!

*Praise Song*

• Gospel Call During Praise Song