WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?

Text: REVELATION 16

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INTRODUCTION:

1. People everywhere are wondering about the future. Millions of Americans – even many who profess to be Christian – are dabbling in the occult.
2. Confused and deluded, many are making contact with the world of demons through physics and soothsayers, fortune tellers and gurus, looking into crystal balls, tarot cards, and other forms of witchcraft expressly forbidden by the Bible.
3. But God has provided a better way for you and me to know the future, and everything we need to know is found in the Bible, God’s Word.
4. I have entitled today’s message: "WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?"

1. GOD IS GOING TO POUR OUT HIS WRATH UPON THE EARTH (REV.16:1).

1. The wrath of God is one of the great themes of the book of Revelation (cf. 6:12-17; 11:18; 14:9-11; 15:1,7; 16:1,19; 19:15).
2. Selfish and ungodly sinners refuse to believe that God will pour out His wrath upon this rebellious, Christ-rejecting world, but that is exactly what He is going to do (Rev.16:1).
3. King Charles II (called "The Merry Monarch") was the king of England from 1660-1685. He said, "God will never damn a man for allowing himself a little pleasure." He had at least 14 illegitimate children. He was brought up in a Protestant home but converted to Roman Catholicism for political expediency. And yet he had the nerve to say that God would never damn him for all of his wicked pleasures.
4. Today, after decades of insipid preaching from liberal pastors, the average church-goer is convinced that God is a God of love and therefore He would never disciple or punish anyone.
5. But the Bible is very clear: God is going to pour out His wrath upon this wicked, sin-loving, God-hating world (cf. II Thess.1:5-9).
6. Some Bible teachers believe that the first vial is germ warfare that God will use against those who accept the mark of the antichrist (Rev.16:2).
7. While we cannot be sure what is in this first vial, we can be sure that these putrifying sores will be far worse than leprosy or cancer or AIDS. Do not be surprised if they eventually discover a cure for AIDS. And do not be surprised if the next deadly disease is much worse.
8. This is the judgment of God (cf. Rom.1:26,27). These judgments reveal physically what man is morally – utterly disgusting and corrupt.
9. 3,500 years ago, Moses predicted that if people turn their backs on God, God would send them incurable diseases (Deut.28:15,27,35).
10. God already judged the Egyptians (Ex.9:8-12). America is not much worse than Egypt. And after the rapture, America will be worse than Egypt (cf. Psalm 9:17).
11. If you know the book of Revelation, you know that first comes the seven seal judgments, then the seven trumpets, and then the seven vials, which culminate with the battle of Armageddon (Rev.16:16,17).
12. However, the seven vial judgments are far more severe than the previous judgments. For example, when the angel sounded the second trumpet, one-third of the sea became blood (Rev.8:8,9). But, when the second angel pours out his vial upon the sea, "every living soul died in the sea" (Rev.16:3).
13. Keep in mind that most of our planet is covered with water and, the entire sea will become blood.
14. I like living close to the ocean and the salty air is refreshing. But there is a day coming when that cool sea breeze will bring a horrible stench from the carcasses floating on the surface of the bloody water and lining the shore.
15. Some of you know what it is like to have no water, but in your case it was only temporary. But there is coming a day when God is going to turn off all the water and it is not going to be just a temporary inconvenience (Rev.16:4-7).
16. Some here today might be wondering – when will these things happen? How much time is left? Only God knows, but I believe with all my heart that this world is ripe for judgment (cf. Rev.14:14-19).

2. MEN WILL REFUSE TO REPENT (REV.16:8-11).

1. Men refusing to repent is nothing new. All throughout the Bible, God calls man hardhearted, impudent, obstinate, stiff-necked, and so on.
2. The people of Noah’s day refused to repent; the people of Sodom and Gomorrah refused to repent. The Israelites refused to repent and so God allowed them to be conquered by the heathen nations.
3. Today we are seeing this same obstinacy like never before – the rock and roll crowd, the liberal politicians, the women’s libbers, the sodomites, the liberal churches, the education establishment, the media, and so on – these are wicked, stiff-necked people who are blaspheming God and they refuse to repent.
4. Our Lord predicted that "there shall be signs in the sun" during the Great Tribulation (Luke 21:25).
5. The Old Testament is filled with warnings about God burning people alive during the coming tribulation (cf. Deut.32:22-24; Isa.24:6; 42:25; Malachi 4:1).
6. It will be quite easy for God to accomplish this. He would just have to move this planet a few inches closer to the sun and men will feel the heat! But they will not repent (Rev.16:8-11).
7. The human heart is incurably wicked. God’s warnings have been mocked, ridiculed, and ignored. No amount of correction can straighten out this wicked world. All that is left for God to do is destroy it.
8. As the heat is turned up, it will grow darker and darker (Rev.16:10). Today, worldly people are laughing themselves silly but soon they will be gnawing their tongues for pain (Rev.16:10).
9. The intensity of their suffering will be unbearable, but they still will not repent (Rev.16:10,11; cf. 20,21; 9:20,21).

3. CHRIST WILL RETURN AT THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON

1. We have just seen the first five vials poured out – there are two more to go before the Lord returns (Rev.16:12-16).
2. The Euphrates River is mentioned over 25 times in the Bible. We first see it in the Garden of Eden (Gen.2:14). J. Vernon McGee said, "It was the cradle of man’s civilization and obviously will be the grave of man’s civilization."
3. The Euphrates River has always served as a border between the East and the West. It was the eastern border of the Roman Empire.
4. It is 1,800 miles long. During the tribulation, it will be miraculously dried up, thus erasing the border between east and west, so that "the kings of the east might be prepared" (Rev.16:12; cf. 9:14-16).
5. It has been estimated (Time magazine, May 21, 1965, p. 35) that the Red Chinese Army has 200,000,000 soldiers (Rev.9:16).
6. Rev.16:16 is the only occurrence of the word Armageddon in the Bible, although there are many references to it. It is a huge plain where many battles have been fought in the past. King Saul died there and so did King Josiah. Napoleon called it the ideal battleground.
7. Armageddon is the northern gateway to Palestine and is at the crossroads of three continents: Asia, Africa, and Europe.
8. It will be a bloody battle, with bloody bodies piled up to "the horse bridles," covering an area of about 200 miles, the entire length of Palestine (Rev.14:20).
9. Throughout history there have been many big battles: Bunker Hill, Valley Forge, Waterloo, the Alamo, Gettysburg, Iwo Jima, the Battle of the Bulge – but all of these will fade away into oblivion when the Battle of Armageddon begins.
10. There will be four major coalitions at Armageddon, all under the spell of devils (Rev.16:13-16).
11. The western coalition will be headed up by the antichrist. The northern confederacy will be headed up by Russia (Ezek.38). The southern forces will be a Pan-Arab alliance led by Egypt and other Muslim nations that hate Israel. The "kings of the east" refers to Red China (Rev.16:12; cf. Dan.11:36-45).
12. You may be wondering – "Where is America in all of this?" The Bible does not say but I know that if you are saved you will not be there, and neither will I.

CONCLUSION:

1. The seventh vial is the final judgment of God before the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, God says: "It is done" (Rev.16:17).
2. You may recall that this is the second time we have heard the Lord say this (cf. John 19:30). Nearly 2,000 years ago, our Lord uttered those words from the cross as He hung there dying for you and for me.
3. "It is finished" – there is nothing man can add to our Lord’s finished work on the cross. You either accept God’s free gift of salvation or you do not.
4. There is nothing man can contribute to his salvation. He either receives Christ and has eternal life or refuses Christ and faces His wrath.
5. What is your decision?