Skip to content Revelation 15-16: Anticipating the Lord's Return Dec 18 · 15 min ...more
Revelation 15-16: Anticipating the Lord's Return
December 18, 2025 · 15 min
Explore Revelation 15 and 16 and the path to God's final judgment and the battle of Armageddon.
Series Stand on the Word - Video On Demand Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Support this leader
Liking this video? Support this ministry.
Give
Support this leader Liking this video? Support this ministry.
93.9K followers
Family Research Council is serving in the kingdom of God by championing faith, family, & freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
93.9K followers
Comments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
Heavenly Vision and Prelude to Judgment 0:10 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Well, it looks like it's gonna be a beautiful day here in our nation's capital. As we turn now to Revelation chapters 15 and 16, we're coming close to the0:22 end of our 2 year journey through the bible. And, again, I just wanna commend those of you who have been on this journey from the very beginning. And and by the way, we'll have on the website, f r c dot o r g slash0:33 bible. We'll have some resources there for you, including a certificate that you can download if you've completed the entire journey. Alright. Today, we are going to look at the seventh bowl of the seventh0:45 trumpet of the seventh seal as the stage is being set for the Lord's return and his thousand year reign here on earth. Verse 16 of chapter 16, and they gathered them together to the place called,0:57 in Hebrew, Armageddon. Chapter 15 is kinda like a drum roll for the seventh trumpet. Alright? Building up that anticipation before the final judgment is poured out in these 71:09 bowls. Verse 1 chapter 15, then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, 7 angels having the 7 last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete. And I saw something like a1:21 sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps1:33 of God. They sing the song of Moses, a servant of God, in the song of the lamb, saying, great and marvelous are your works, God almighty. Just and true are your1:44 ways, oh king of the saints. Who shall not fear you, oh lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy, for all nations shall come and worship before you, for1:56 your judgments have been manifest. At this point in time, you can no longer deny the fact that there is a god because his judgments were poured forth on the nation.2:08 After these things, I looked and behold the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. So this is it. The timeline of of human history is coming to a close and the stage is being set for the final2:19 judgment of the antichrist and those who follow him. Now these terrifying judgments culminate in the battle of Armageddon. And by the way, you'll notice that these plagues are reminiscent of the2:31 plagues upon pharaoh and Egypt back in Exodus. Verse 1 chapter 16, then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the 7 angels, go and pour out the bowls of the2:43 wrath of God on the earth. Now the first 4 bowls were like the first 4 trumpets targeting the earth, the sea, rivers, and then theThe Bowls of Wrath and Unrepentant Defiance 2:54 sun. Now let me read of the fourth bowl. Verse 8, then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched3:06 with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues, and they did not repent and give him glory. Now could this be the3:18 very kind of global warming that the United Nations now calls code red for humanity? Could this be that that quote, unquote crisis pointing forward to the future described here in3:30 scripture? Notice something vital here. Right? The remedy the remedy that revelation presents is not technical innovation. It's not buying an electric vehicle. The3:42 Bible calls it repentance. That that that if men would repent, that's the reason God is drawing us back to him or to him. Yet, Revelation shows3:53 that, Revelation shows that humanity does the opposite. Instead of turning to God, and we'll see this 3 times in this chapter, they blasphemy they blaspheme God.4:05 Why? Because if people are repeatedly told that this crisis is by man, from man, and can be solved by man, then they will never see the hand of God in any of it until it's too late. You know,4:17 Revelation reveals judgments are that are unmistakably divine, yet those who are deceived by the antichrist and by the spirit of the antichrist already at work in this world cannot recognize4:30 what is plainly revealed as the hand of God. Like pharaoh of of all the nations will not humble themselves before God. They will harden their hearts, refuse to give him4:42 the glory that is due his name, and respond to his judgments, not with repentance, but with defiance. That is why their reaction is not worship, but4:53 blasphemy. Then like the ninth plague on pharaoh, the fifth plague on the antichrist and his followers is darkness. Verse 10. Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne5:05 of the beast and his kingdom became full of darkness and they gnawled their tongues because of the pain. They blasphemed, there it is the second time, the god of heaven because of their pains and their sores and did not5:17 repent of their deeds. Now those that loved darkness, remember, they didn't when Jesus came and brought light, men rejected the light because they love the darkness. Those that love darkness will be5:29 consumed by it. It appears to drive them mad as they are rendered powerless and hopeless as these plagues are stacked 1 upon another, but it's not over.5:41 Look at verse 12. Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. And I5:52 saw 3 unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. We again here see the6:04 unholy trinity, Satan's counterfeit. Alright? This is his counterfeit trinity. Satan, like the like God the father, the beast, like Jesus Christ, and the false prophet, like the Holy Spirit.6:16 You see, Satan simply repeats. He I mean, he makes copies of God's patents. He he puts out fakes. Alright? He's he's kinda like 1 of those sidewalk vendors in New York that,6:28 selling those knockoff Rolex watches for 25 dollars. But note that the beast, the antichrist, is the civil government ruler. The false prophet who points6:40 people to the antichrist is the religious leader. So there's this coming together of, church and state. And so in this, we find a principle seen seen elsewhere in scripture, but clearly illustrated6:52 here, why separation of church and state is a good thing. Yes. You heard me right. The separation of church and state is what we should be pursuing in this church age in which7:04 we live. Now let me define separation of church and state. And by the way, if you've not, taken my God and government course, which is on our app, the StanFirm app, I have a I I teach onDemonic Gathering and Final Victory at Armageddon 7:16 this extensively. And, you can find that Stanford, our god and government course. But let me define the separation of church and state. And and I because I'm not using it the way that the left uses it7:27 today. When you hear the secular crowd cry, separation of church and state, They're calling for a separation of God and government. Alright? This big distinction. And7:39 we can never, under any circumstance, agree with that because all authority has been given to Jesus on heaven and on earth, and that includes government.7:51 And as followers of Christ, we have been deputized to walk in that authority. So what does that mean? Well, to the the the church has a has a prophetic role in holding8:03 government accountable to the truth of god. Yes. Government is under the authority of god. So how do we do that? We preach and we teach the word of god. The pulpit should be proclaiming the word of8:15 God. We shouldn't expect politicians to take stands on moral and and and and ultimately spiritual issues that the pulpits won't preach about. You know, we should advocate for policies aligned8:27 with the word of of god. We should vote for those who will who are aligned with the principles of god's word, and we should run for and hold public office, making decisions based upon not8:38 polls, but the principles of god's word. But the church must be very careful, and and this this is something even this moment, this very moment. Be careful not to be8:50 co opted by civil government trading our prophetic voice of accountability for political access and power. In fact, I'm actually working on a book on this topic that I hope to have out next year. Alright. Verse9:02 14. For they are spirits of demons performing signs which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battle of that great day of god almighty. Now here are the9:14 battle lines are being drawn for this confrontation, the war that will end all wars that we'll see in chapter 19. Verse 15, behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who9:26 watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see ashamed. Be ready. Gotta be ready. As they gather them together to the place called Hebrew in Hebrew, Armageddon.9:37 Now believers will not be here at this moment. The church is gone. There will be those that come to Christ during this time, but very few. This is at the final judgment. The this is9:49 believed to be in the valley of Megiddo, the or Jezreel Valley where many many ancient battles have been fought. Verse 17, then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air and a10:01 loud voice came out of the temple of heaven from the throne saying, it is done. You know, on the cross, when Jesus secured our atonement, he said it is finished. It's done. Here,10:13 God on the throne declares it has come to pass. The day of the Lord has come. It is done. Verse 18, and these were and there were noises and thunderings and lightnings, and there10:25 was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as has not occurred since men were on the earth. This is significant. I mean, this is a shaking.10:37 This is, I mean, this is god's judgment upon the earth. Now the great city was divided into 3 parts and the cities of the nations fell and great Babylon was remembered before god to10:49 give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. Then every island fled away and the mountains were not found, and great hail from earth fell upon men men. Each11:00 hailstone about the weight of a talent is 100 pounds. It's big. Men blasphemed, there we are the third time, God because of the plagues of the hail since the plague was exceedingly great. So notice here 311:12 times here in Revelation 16, it says men blasphemed God instead of repenting. Now by the time the 7 seals, 7 trumpets, and 7 bowls had run their11:24 course, the world's deception and denial of God's existence finally gives way to the unmistakable revelation of his reality and power. Yet11:36 even then, even though after his judgments had manifested his presence and his power, rather than acknowledging God as God and turning in repentance, they accuse him of injustice.11:49 Their response is not humility, but willful rebellion, refusing, and rejecting God. And in rejecting the truth that they can no longer deny, they12:01 seal their own fate. Like Pharaoh, the heart of mankind will be so hard that final judgment, eternal judgment is all that is left. And12:12 and and folks, I'm gonna say it's not a place you wanna be. And so how do you keep from getting there? Well, repent and turn to the lord. And in fact, as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he said, behold now is12:24 the accepted time. Behold now is the day of salvation. Father, we thank you for your word, the power of your word. And and, lord, these are,12:38 just the the the description of what is coming. Lord, should make us sober, should should shaken us and and awaken us to the12:50 reality of of what is unfolding even today. And and may we make certain our relationship with you and may we proclaim the truth of the gospel13:02 so that, lord, those that we know, those that we work with, even those we don't, just out of compassion for mankind, may we proclaim from, lord, the housetops the hope that is found13:14 alone in Jesus Christ, the salvation, the forgiveness of sins, and or the abundant life, the eternal life that is found in Jesus Christ. Thank you for your word. Thank you for the warnings. Thank you for13:26 your compassion. Thank you for your long suffering. Thank you for your mercy. Thank you for Jesus. And even as we, are in this time of year where we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we thank you for our13:37 savior, our lord, Jesus Christ. For it's in his name we pray. Amen. Alright. Again, thanks for joining me this morning. Let me encourage you. Be thinking about who you can invite. We've got some resources13:50 available for you to even send an invitation, to others that might wanna join us on this journey. Simply text the word bible to 6 7 7 4 2. That's bible14:01 to 6 7 7 4 2 as we prepare to begin the next journey through the word of god coming January first. Until next time, keep standing on the word.14:14 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you14:26 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at f r c dot o r g slash bible.In this video 0:00 Heavenly Vision and Prelude to Judgment2:46 The Bowls of Wrath and Unrepentant Defiance7:06 Demonic Gathering and Final Victory at Armageddon
Comments
Keep it kind. Comments are public.