Thursday, November 16, 2023
Then I heard
a mighty voice from the Temple say to the seven angels, “Go your ways and pour
out on the earth the seven bowls containing God’s wrath.” So the first angel left the Temple and
poured out his bowl on the earth, and horrible, malignant sores broke out on
everyone who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue. Then the second angel poured out his
bowl on the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse. And everything in the sea died. Then the third angel poured out his bowl
on the rivers and springs, and they became blood. And I
heard the angel who had authority over all water saying, “You are just, O Holy
One, who is and who always was, because you have sent these judgments. Since they shed the blood of your holy
people and your prophets, you have given them blood to drink. It is their just reward.” And I heard a voice from the
altar, saying, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, your judgments are true and
just.” Revelation 16:1-7
The last several days we’ve looked at
our hope in Jesus Christ. Hope, as a
noun or verb, is an expectation; we either expect something will
happen, or want it to happen. This is the perspective of our last three
devotions, hope anew, hope renewed,
and hope shared.
These are matters of faith, as we place our faith in Christ, have it
renewed through this life of trials and fears, and as we share faith’s hope
with others.
In today’s passage, we step from
faith in this life, to fulfillment of our hope, the consummation of God’s
promises, as He pours judgment on evil in the truest and most just of
recompense. Angels, in perfect obedience
to the Father, pour out the stored reprisal of every evil thought, or brutal
deed. Those who have rejected Christ and
God’s offer of forgiveness meet the horror of God’s wrath.
Those who mock God in this life
caricaturize any mention of Judgment Day, or sin, or any allusion to God’s
authority as “fairy tales” or a naïvely ignorant, preacher’s manipulation. But in that day, when the hope of the
faithful shall become sight, all will see His glory. Those who refuse to bend a knee now will have
no choice but to kneel then! Apostle
Paul wrote:
…for we shall all stand before the
judgment seat of Christ. For
it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every
tongue shall confess to God. So
then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Romans 14:10b-12(KJV)
In that day there will be no excuses,
for even those who, in their unbelief, mock and profane the name of God will
see Christ and His Father, who by the Holy Spirit unveils the glory of
Heaven…and they will fall to their knees and confess that He alone is God. Those who have chosen in this life to deny Jesus,
the hope of God’s glory, will in that day have their choice
granted…eternally…in the lake of fire. That
is a sad, but solemn part of our hope in Jesus Christ; he will right every
wrong against God, and reward every sacrificial service or suffering in the
name of Jesus. God will not do this
lightly or with any degree of spite or enjoyment. But the ultimate character of God is to be
holy, and entirely righteous. And in
that holy righteousness, God will judge sin. Those who have trusted in Christ will be
gathered like a hen gathers her chicks, or a mother bear protects her
cubs. Those who have trusted in
themselves, refusing Christ’s offer of forgiveness and eternal life, will
experience an eternal death without God.
For You Today
A preacher friend of mine once
summed-up God’s offer to be saved from our sinful wickedness. He said:
The wages of sin is death[1]
and those wages must be paid. We can let
Jesus’ death on the cross pay for our sin now, or we can pay for them later
when we stand before God at the judgment seat! My friend was telling it like it is. Trust God, place your faith in the secure
hope of Christ!
There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons
in the Rocky Road library.
Today’s title Image from Pixabay.com
Images without citation are in public domain or cited
via weblinks.
Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT©
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