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[0:00] As it's already been said, today is Palm Sunday, so all throughout the world, many churches today are calling to mind Jesus entering into Jerusalem on a donkey.

[0:15] And as he was going in, people were throwing down palm branches and their cloaks, and as you can see in your bulletin, Mark 11, they were saying to him, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

[0:27] Blessed is the coming kingdom of our Father David. Hosanna in the highest. Have you ever wondered what Jesus was actually thinking during that time?

[0:42] What was going on in the mind of our Savior as he was riding that donkey into Jerusalem? Was he thinking about logistics? Where are they going to eat? Where are they going to stay?

[0:54] Where is he going to go and teach? Maybe he was thinking about the up-and-coming encounters with the high priest, Herod, Pilate. Maybe he was thinking about what he was about to suffer.

[1:05] Maybe he was focused on doing the will of his Father. We see that in Gethsemane. This morning, I want to ask you this question. Is it possible that Jesus had you in mind as he entered into Jerusalem?

[1:25] He was thinking of you. With all these things, he's thinking of you as well. And we've got to ask the question, why was he thinking about you as he entered into Jerusalem?

[1:40] Well, the reason why that Jesus was thinking of you is the reason why he was going into Jerusalem. And that has everything to do with the passage that we just heard Randy and Dana read.

[1:56] Revelation chapter 16. In Revelation chapter 16, we have this graphic description of the full and final wrath of God being poured out on the earth.

[2:09] Fierce and fair. Last week, Eric Tully preached. I'm so grateful for him. He brought us through chapter 15 where we see these angels in 15.1 gather together, given bowls.

[2:25] And they're given these plagues that are in these bowls. And we're told that they're the last of its kind. These are the last judgments. And with them, the wrath of God will be finished.

[2:39] Done. So up until this point, we have seen the seven seal judgments poured out on a quarter of the earth. We've seen the trumpet judgments poured out on a third of the earth.

[2:54] And now we see these judgments, the bowl judgments, and they're called plagues in 15.1, poured out on all the earth.

[3:07] This is it. With these, God's wrath is done. Poured out on all the earth. And if you look at 15.1, you say, I saw another sign and angels with seven plagues.

[3:21] And when you hear that word plague, you should be going back to the book of Exodus. Remember the ten plagues God poured out on Pharaoh in Egypt? And at the very beginning, I want to remind you of something about those plagues.

[3:34] All throughout those plagues. If you read Exodus 7, 8, 9. As you read through those, there's this refrain that gets said. God's speaking.

[3:45] God's speaking to his people. God's speaking to Pharaoh. God's speaking to Egypt. And he says things like, so that you may know there is none like me in all the earth.

[3:59] Plague. So that you know that I am the Lord. Plague. What we have going on here in Revelation 16 is the final and full outpourings of God's fierce and full wrath.

[4:17] And it is God saying, there's none like me. In chapter 16, at the end of 15, all of these angels are standing poised for action.

[4:35] And God acts. Chapter 16, verse 1. This voice from the temple tells these seven angels, go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.

[4:50] And then what you have in verses 2 through 21 is exactly that. Each angel in turn pours out his bowl with plague on the earth.

[5:01] And it builds. It's not like one plague is poured out, stops, and then another. One plague gets poured out, and on addition to that, another plague gets poured out.

[5:15] It's awful. The first four bowls are poured out on the earth and the sea, the rivers and springs, and on the sun. Just like the trumpet judgments.

[5:26] But like I said, these are on all the earth. The last three bowls are poured out on the throne of the beast, on the great river Euphrates.

[5:39] And finally, into the air, resulting in these massive hailstones coming down and crushing people. So that you may know that I am the Lord.

[5:55] Here we have before us God's full and final wrath poured out on earth.

[6:05] It is terrifying. So here's how we're going to proceed. I'm just going to walk us through the seven bowls, and then I'm going to summarize it all, because I want you to feel the weight of something.

[6:17] And then we're going to apply it to Palm Sunday. When we go through the bowls here, I'm going to draw out some. I just want you to notice, what is the bowl poured out on?

[6:31] What is its effect? And how is it responded to? So let's just walk through these bowls now. Starting in chapter 16, verse 2, the first bowl.

[6:41] So the first angel went out and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshipped its image. So what was this bowl poured out on?

[6:54] It was poured out on the earth. But very specifically, all those people who bore the mark of the beast. And remember, when we talked about the mark of the beast in past sermons, it's essentially saying property of the beast.

[7:14] The one who dictates their actions. The one whom they follow in worship. It's being poured out on those people who bear the mark of the beast, not on those who have the name of the lamb and of God written on their foreheads.

[7:36] Sealed with the seal of God. And then you see the effect. It's poured out on these people, and harmful and painful sores arise.

[7:47] It's alluding to the sixth plague God poured out on Egypt, boils. Has anybody had a bed sore before? Or has anybody helped someone who's had a bed sore before?

[7:58] They are awful. Terrible. It's hard to heal from. These sores are awful. And if you haven't noticed, the punishment fits the crime.

[8:15] The sore matches the mark. God is pouring out His judgment to those who are marked by the beast with sores.

[8:30] It would have been extremely painful. But remember why God in Exodus poured out the plagues on Pharaoh in Egypt?

[8:40] So that they may know that God is the Lord. That there's none like Him in the midst of the earth. We don't see any kind of a response right here.

[8:54] So we don't see how those who've been afflicted with these boils and sores, how they respond. We're just left guessing. It would have been miserable. And what you can't deny is that this is an act of God of judgment upon them.

[9:09] But we go to a second bowl, which means they must not have repented of the first one. And so the second bowl we see in verse 3, notice it's poured out into the sea.

[9:24] Just as the first bowl was poured out on all the people bearing the mark of the beast. It's universal in that sense. So too here. The sea is all salt water.

[9:38] All oceans. God is devastating His creation to judge those who are not worshiping Him. And the effect is that the sea becomes like the blood of a corpse.

[9:55] Do you know what the blood of a corpse is like? It's thick. It congeals. It's dark.

[10:06] And it's toxic. And so what is to come to your mind when you hear about all the seas being turned to blood, this image, this picture that's being shown to us, is you should have in the back of your mind what God, the plague He poured out on the Nile.

[10:25] In Exodus chapter 7, the first plague, He turned the Nile into blood. And remember what happened to the fish, if you're familiar with that story? They all died. So that they may know that I am the Lord.

[10:40] So imagine all the creatures in the sea at this moment dying. It's universal. It's catastrophic.

[10:51] All the whales dying. All dolphins dying. Schools of fish. All schools of fish dying. All crustaceans dying. We thought bleached coral reefs is an issue.

[11:03] This is going to be blooded coral reefs. It's going to be awful. And what's the effect economically? Like, if you are surviving off the sea at this point, that means a sustenance is done.

[11:21] We haven't even talked about the stench. How do you think people at that time are going to explain stuff like this? That they may know that I am the Lord.

[11:33] We're not told the response of the people dwelling on the earth, those who bear the mark of the beast at this point. But there's another bowl judgment that follows, which means that they don't repent.

[11:48] They don't acknowledge God as the Lord. And so here we're left after the first two bowls, thinking that people are just covered with harmful, painful sores, and now they have a bloodbath of a sea to go to in the summertime.

[12:04] The third bowl we see in verses 4-7. We see that this bowl is poured out by a third angel in obedience to 16.1 into the rivers and springs of water.

[12:23] Fresh water. The source of drinking water. And the effect is that this bowl poured out, this plague poured out, is like the first plague of Egypt again.

[12:35] It turns fresh water into blood. And in Exodus 7, we read that the Egyptians could not drink from the Nile because it had been turned to blood.

[12:49] And the scope of this is not limited to the Nile River. The scope of this plague, this bowl, is on all the rivers and springs of the earth.

[13:02] It's catastrophic. It's universal. It's total in its scope. Where are they going to get their drinking water from? So think about it this way.

[13:15] If this picture is helping us think about what's to come, that changes the Mississippi. It changes the way you think about the Ohio River and the Missouri River, the Wisconsin River, the Fox River.

[13:32] And then what about Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes? And then what about the Pike River? Has anybody been to Petrifying Springs? Have you ever walked in that little hut where you get the water from?

[13:43] No. Is there going to come a day when that's pumping blood? It's interesting is we have a response now.

[13:58] There's a response to this plague in verse 5. And it's the response of the angel who has authority over the water. That angel says in verse 5, Just are you, O holy one, who is and who was.

[14:16] Just, right, in all your ways. Holy, there's none like you, who is and who was. Eternal, for you brought these judgments. God is behind these outpourings of wrath.

[14:29] You're right to do it, he says. And then we read this, verse 6, The explanation of why it's right.

[14:42] For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It's what they deserve. From an angel.

[14:53] You're right in doing this, God. You're right in this devastation. Why? Because the ones this is being poured out on, they shed the blood of your people.

[15:09] The punishment fits the crime. They shed the blood of God's people, those whom he shed his blood for. And now those who shed this blood, they're going to drink the blood of the plague.

[15:28] Fierce. But it doesn't stop there. There's another voice that joins this response.

[15:39] In verse 7, and I heard the altar saying, it's not literally the altar. It's not the altar speaking. Chapter 6, verses 9, 10, 11.

[15:50] Do you remember what happened? Under the altar, seal 5, there were the martyrs. And you remember what they were saying? Oh, sovereign Lord, how long, how much longer until you judge and avenge the blood, our blood, spilled by the dwellers of the earth?

[16:10] And you know what they're saying? Yes. Yes, Lord, the Almighty. True and just are your judgments. God is vindicating his people here in graphic, graphic detail.

[16:30] The very ones who shed their blood are saying, yes, God, take vengeance on our behalf. They've waited. The response here is not from those who are bearing the mark of the beast.

[16:52] It's from an angel from heaven and then martyrs under the heavenly altar. And there is the sense of rejoicing in God's just wrath.

[17:03] It's vindicating. It's right. God's justice is finally coming down. And it's in stark contrast to those who've rejected God, the unrepentant, who are full of painful sores.

[17:17] They have a bloodbath of a sea and now their fresh water sources have been turned to blood. Bowl number four.

[17:28] Verses eight and nine. This bowl is poured out on the sun just like the fourth trumpet but instead of darkness this plague intensifies the heat of the sun resulting in the scorching of those who dwell on the earth with the mark of the beast.

[17:49] It's an added pain. The effect is this scorching have you ever been sunburned before?

[18:02] Severely this changes you going outside. And if those who are dwelling, those bearing the mark of the beast are being scorched like this which is just a foretaste of the lake of fire they're being scorched like this what does this mean for plants and animals on the planet?

[18:27] What we see going on throughout these plagues is God is acting very purposefully devastating incrementally his creation as a way of judging the unrepentant living on the planet.

[18:43] God is saying that you may know that there is no one like me. And in verse 9 we have the first explicit response of those who bear the mark of the beast experiencing these plagues.

[19:01] Let me read that for you. They were scorched by the fierce heat and they called out to God and said have mercy on us. And they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues.

[19:20] They did not repent and give him glory. That word curse is where we get blasphemy from. They blasphemed God. They did not repent.

[19:34] The heat that he is pouring out through this plague doesn't soften their heart. It hardens their hearts. They don't repent.

[19:46] They don't turn from worshiping the beast. They keep on worshiping the beast. It's as if God is saying through this I am the Lord there's none like me and those with the mark of the beast are saying we know that but we refuse to worship you.

[20:09] These are not innocent ignorant people. These are people who are consciously rejecting the God of the Bible.

[20:20] They refuse to give him glory. They refuse to worship him. There's this truism.

[20:35] You become like the one you worship. you take on the character and conduct of the one that controls your heart. And in 136 if you flip back to 136 we have kind of the beast in action.

[20:53] It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God blaspheming his name and his dwelling that is those who dwell in heaven. These dwellers of the earth bearing the mark of the beast they're just doing what their savior their false savior is doing.

[21:12] They're becoming like the one they worship. It's a settled state of spiritual rebellion. So the blasphemy would be going with something like this. You call yourself a loving God and you're scorching us.

[21:27] How can you do this to us? us. We knew it. All along God has been pouring out warning after warning and sealed judgments and trumpet judgments in his kindness calling all these people to repentance to turn from the worship of false gods and to turn to worship the one true God and they're not having it.

[21:50] They're blasping him. Refusing to repent and blaming God for their misery when they in fact have brought it on themselves.

[22:06] It's a stark contrast to what we just read in verses five and seven. There we have people rejoicing over the outpouring of God's wrath. His justice has come and here we have people blaspheming God because they think it's somehow an act of injustice.

[22:26] The fifth bowl. Bowls one through four fall on the created order and now bowls five, six, and seven, they fall and they fall hard.

[22:43] We read in the fifth bowl that God's plague, this bowl is poured out upon the throne of of the beast.

[22:58] The throne of the beast. That throne is symbolic of a domain. Chapters four and five, the throne of God in heaven, he's seated over all heaven rules, Daniel chapter four.

[23:16] Here, this throne is on the earth and if you remember Pergamum, chapter two, verse 13, there dwelt the throne of Satan. And so the object of this plague is the satanic dominion on earth being carried out by the beast.

[23:35] What we see going on here is a definite counter-assault from God most high. And the effect is darkness.

[23:48] It reminds us of the ninth plague in Exodus chapter 10. And it's deeply ironic because the domain of the beast was established upon deception.

[24:03] The false prophet deceiving the nations into the worship of the beast. They're in the dark. And now what is going on here is God is pouring out darkness onto the throne, the domain of darkness.

[24:19] confusion, chaos, unraveling, disorder. What we have going on here is the unseating of the beast, the dethroning of sorts of the beast.

[24:34] That you may know that I alone am God. The response of the wicked, verses 10 and 11.

[24:46] yes, God, thank you. Thank you for delivering us from the throne of the beast, for transferring us from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of the beloved son.

[24:57] We don't see that. In verse 10, we read people nod their tongues in anguish. Under this darkness, Jesus warned of final judgment, being, people being cast into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth and apparently gnawing of tongues.

[25:25] And they continue the blasphemy in verse 11. And they cursed the God of heaven for their pains and sores. They did not repent of their deeds.

[25:36] They didn't repent. God is pouring out this plague so that they may know that he is the Lord of the earth.

[25:47] They do not repent. They persist in their following after the beast. The sixth bowl.

[25:58] Things get really interesting. In the sixth bowl, we learn that this bowl is poured out upon the Euphrates River.

[26:11] The great Euphrates. Verse 12. And you might be saying, well, what's up with that? Well, the Euphrates was a natural barrier for ancient Israel that protected ancient Israel from enemy invasion coming from the northeast.

[26:30] And so what we see going on here, the effect of this plague, is that the Euphrates is dried up. It's God's will that it was dried up. The Euphrates is dried up and it makes a way for the kings from the east to come and assemble against God the almighty.

[26:57] Really? Really? assemble against God almighty?

[27:09] How is it possible that a human being would entertain the very idea of drawing to a battlefield opposed to God the almighty?

[27:35] How is that possible? Well, we're told how it's possible. Not only are these human beings settled in their opposition to God, but we read in 13 and 14, I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, the anti-trinity.

[27:58] Out of their mouths three unclean spirits like frogs, demons, for they are demonic spirits performing signs who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, not just kings of the east, but they're going to assemble all kings from all the world to move towards God almighty and draw a battle line against him to fight him.

[28:24] They're not in their right minds because not only settled in their opposition to God, they're demonically deceived. Those frogs make you think about the second plague of Egypt in Exodus chapter 8.

[28:40] And if you remember that account, this was one of those plagues that Pharaoh's magicians were able to replicate. And so maybe a way to think about what's going on here is God is pouring out his plagues on earth and here's the anti-trinity kind of replicating a little plague.

[29:01] But they're all falling into God's grand plan because it's God who dried up the Euphrates and it's God who's waiting for them on the battlefield called Armageddon.

[29:15] Literally in verse 16 Armageddon means Mount Megiddo. And what you need to know, I'm not going to get into a lot of detail here, but what you need to know on that site, there was several battles fought and a couple of them in particular were fought against foreign kings.

[29:36] And so what we have here is a place where God engages foreign kings in a battle, epic battle of all, for all time.

[29:51] And they think that they're sneaking up on God. Euphrates dried up, resulting in foreign kings from all the world, drawing a battle line against God under demonic influence for the great day of battle of God the Almighty.

[30:09] Do we see any kind of a response here? We don't read the words they weren't willing to repent. We don't read the words cursing God.

[30:22] But when you see humankind gather in opposition to God on a battlefield, that is opposition to God pictured.

[30:35] These are people unwilling to repent, unwilling to give God the glory due his name. They are standing there and by virtue of, they're blaspheming him. We're not told how the battle goes here.

[30:52] We're told how the battle goes at Armageddon in Revelation 19, 11 through 21. We're given a clue here. Look at verse 15.

[31:04] It's kind of out of nowhere. Behold, I'm coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed.

[31:17] In the middle of this assembling, we have this promised coming of Jesus. And then that coming of Jesus is pictured in Revelation 19, 11 through 21.

[31:27] And in that passage, Jesus not only shows up as the warrior king who's going to rock the world, he actually invites birds to this battle because they're going to eat the flesh of all of these kings that he defeats.

[31:42] It's gruesome. That they may know that no one on earth is like God. What is obvious about this particular plague is that God is orchestrating it all.

[32:04] Bringing about this final battle that will happen at Armageddon in which God wins the victory. The seventh bowl.

[32:21] Verses 17 through 21. The final angel throws his bowl, the contents of which, into the air, we read.

[32:34] Ephesians 2.2, we read that Satan is the prince of the power of the air. All that is below heaven. All under his domain.

[32:49] And immediately, the effect that we read is in verse 17, that there is this voice from heaven, from the temple, and it cries out, it is done.

[33:03] It is done. With the pouring out of this last bowl, God's wrath is finished. And then, then we're shown what it is.

[33:18] Verse 18, this, it is done, this pronouncement, it is immediately followed by flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and the greatest earthquake the earth has ever known.

[33:32] Here's how you need to think about those. Think about those as natural exclamation points on those three words, it is done. It is done! Exclamation point, lightning.

[33:45] It is done! Exclamation point number two, rumbling. It is done! Exclamation point number three, peals of thunder. It is done! The biggest exclamation point of them all is the greatest earthquake that has ever been experienced.

[34:02] It's the same earthquake referenced in Revelation chapter 6, and the unveiling of the sixth seal. That earthquake. And this earthquake, verse 19, breaks the great city Babylon into three parts.

[34:24] It's destroyed. Not just Babylon, all the cities of the nations connected to Babylon. Babylon is the embodied, peopled rebellion against God.

[34:42] And Babylon shares her drunken immorality with all the nations of the world that they oppose God. It's the whole global system opposing God, and it crumbles with this it is done, with this earthquake.

[35:01] All of it becomes undone. And you don't read about Babylon drinking down the cup of the fury of God's wrath.

[35:13] You don't read about it in full until you get to chapter 18. It's gruesome. And in verse 20, again, there's an echo from Revelation chapter 6.

[35:28] Islands fleeing, mountains moving. It's geologic devastation before God on His great day. God is undoing the old heavens and the earth and making way for the new heavens and the earth.

[35:43] And in verse 21, hailstones, seventh plague of Egypt, Exodus chapter 9. the hundred pound hailstones falling down and crushing people. Not just crushing people, crushing anything.

[35:58] That you may know that there's none like me in all the earth. And the impression you get here is shocking.

[36:12] The response is like, am I reading that right? these hundred pound hailstones are falling in this complete geologic devastation and they cursed God for the plague of hail because the plague was so severe.

[36:28] It's like this. You're watching hail fall and those on the earth who oppose God are giving God the finger. They're unrepentant to the end.

[36:45] it's done. It's done. In 15.1 we read with these plagues which are the last for with them the wrath of God is finished.

[37:09] Verse 17 it's done. It's done. God has poured out his justice. He's poured out his wrath. Okay we've walked through these seven bowls.

[37:23] Let me just kind of bring them to a summary. The first thing that you need to know about this wrath you've already sensed it. It's incredibly fierce. It's terrible.

[37:34] Pain, death, thirst, scorch, gnawing, tongues, slaughter, crushing, mountains moving, islands fleeing. God's unrestrained wrath poured out on earth is awful.

[37:47] It's terrible. But it's not just fierce. It's fair. God's wrath is fair. In verse six do you remember what the angel said?

[38:01] They deserved it. They deserve it. Just and true are your judgments. what we see here is unrepentant rebellion.

[38:14] Men and women unwilling to give God the glory and they go all the way to their deaths saying no way, no way, no way. Again and again they would not, did not, care not to repent and give glory to God.

[38:32] It's fair. There's no one innocent, no one ignorant on that day. Three, not only is it fair, it is full.

[38:45] Ultimate in scope. On that day if you're outside of Christ you will not escape this wrath. In the first bowl all those who bear the mark of the beast are given sores.

[38:55] In the second bowl all living creatures die. Third bowl all fresh waters turn to blood. Fourth bowl all are scorched by the sun. Fifth bowl all plunged into darkness.

[39:09] Sixth bowl all the kings are slaughtered at Armageddon. Seventh bowl all of creation wiped clean. Every island, every mountain leveled.

[39:21] All are crushed. No escape. Complete. Full. Full. Do you remember back in Revelation 6 when we have this picture of God's wrath being poured out in 614 and those unrepentant on the earth they call out who's able to stand on that day?

[39:49] Only those who belong to the lamb. We will find safe haven with our God on that day. Because we have been delivered.

[40:01] It's full and it's final. this is the last of a sequence. The seals were poured out on a quarter of the earth incomplete. The trumpet judgments poured out on a third of the earth incomplete.

[40:15] The bowl judgments are poured out on all the earth. It's complete. It's just. Think number seven. And with these last plagues the wrath of God is finished.

[40:30] It's done. no more wrath to be poured out on earth. It's done. Revelation 16 is a picture God gives us to see what will happen when he pours out his full and final wrath that is fierce and fair on all the earth.

[40:55] Why is he doing this? So that you may know that there is none like God in all the earth. That you know that.

[41:08] So how do you respond to this? Well in the text we see three responses. We see people rejoicing in God's wrath not fearing God's wrath and that's designed to encourage suffering saints to press on justice is coming.

[41:25] And then we see people who reject God in experience God's wrath. They are the unrepentant to the end. And so this serves as a warning. If you're not a follower of Jesus be warned today's the day to repent.

[41:41] You have time to repent. Call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Today act on it.

[41:53] A third response comes in verse 15. Be ready. Be ready at the coming of Christ. It's a call to be vigilant. It's in the midst of the spiritual conflict of cosmic proportions.

[42:08] We are to be awake. It's a wake up call. Don't be lulled to sleep by the false prophet or beast. Be vigilant. But I told you at the beginning of the sermon I want to apply this to Palm Sunday.

[42:26] How does that work? Well remember what I asked you at the beginning of the sermon? When Jesus entered Jerusalem what was he thinking? Is it possible that he was thinking about you?

[42:37] And if he was thinking about you why was he thinking about you? Well when Jesus rode that donkey into Jerusalem he went into Jerusalem resolved to deliver you from the wrath to come.

[42:54] He knew full well what was going to happen to him in five days time. He had an appointment on a hill outside of Jerusalem called Calvary in which God's wrath would be poured out on him.

[43:13] Do you remember Gethsemane? If possible he's praying to his father if possible let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless as not as I will but your will be done.

[43:27] What cup is that? The cup of God's wrath. Fierce, fair, full, and final.

[43:39] Jesus knew it and he knew it going into Jerusalem and he had you in mind as he's entering Jerusalem amidst all the palm branches and cloaks. People singing Hosanna, glory to God in the highest.

[43:52] He's like I'm coming for Mike, coming for you to deliver you, to bear God's wrath on your behalf. God has made a way.

[44:06] God has made a way. The fierce wrath that we see in Revelation 16 was poured out on Jesus, the beloved one of the Father.

[44:18] He knew God's favor, not his wrath, but he endured God's fury for those of us who were rebels.

[44:33] And not just his fierce wrath, his fair wrath. Jesus bore God's wrath but he was innocent. We were the guilty ones.

[44:43] That first good Friday, Jesus bore God's just wrath for sinners. And it was a full wrath unrestrained on Jesus for all who would one day believe.

[45:01] And it was final. Do you remember what Jesus says in John 19, 30? He's been hanging on the cross for hours. He's about to give up his spirit and the last thing he says according to John is, it's finished.

[45:19] It's done. Wrath of God satisfied for all who would put their faith in me. God has made a way for you to escape the wrath to come.

[45:33] That's why Jesus was thinking about you when he was entering Jerusalem. Jesus paid it all. all of it. All of it.

[45:44] So that he could say it is finished. So we can say it's done. That's what he was thinking about when he entered Jerusalem with you in mind.

[45:59] To offer you a way of escape that's only through him. that's why if you are a Christian you don't need to fear Revelation 16.

[46:11] Jesus already endured God's wrath for you. It's been paid in full. But let me tell you something. When you see the cross through the lens of God's wrath being poured out and it's being met by the love of God in Christ Jesus, do you know what effect that should have on you?

[46:31] hear the declaration. Hear what God is saying. At that moment it is a plague poured out on Jesus and God is saying there's no one like me in all the earth to provide a deliverance and a salvation like that.

[46:52] What a God. What a salvation. What a Savior. What a Savior. Let's pray. God in heaven, thank you so much.

[47:07] We are uncomfortable praising you for your just wrath. But when we see it in light of the cross, we are so grateful that you would deliver the likes of us who were worthy of death and of punishment.

[47:25] that you would love us so much to deliver us from the wrath of God to come by taking on that wrath 2,000 years ago.

[47:39] God, we're so grateful that that work that Jesus did on the cross, it is as powerful as ever. God, would you deliver now?

[47:51]  Would you comfort now? Would you discomfort now? In the name of Jesus, amen.