THE REALITY OF GOD’S WRATH

1 I saw in heaven another great and marvelous

sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues

—last, because with them God’s wrath is

completed.

R E V E L A T I O N 1 5 : 1

God cannot be GOOD

if He is not JUST

—N. T. WRIGHT

“If God does not hate racial prejudice, he is neither good nor loving. If God is not wrathful at child abuse, he is neither good nor loving…”

—N. T. WRIGHT

“…If God is not utterly determined to root out from his creation, in an act of proper wrath and judgment, the arrogance that allows people to exploit, bomb, bully and enslave one another, he is neither loving, nor good, nor wise.”

“Santa Claus theology cannot cope with the reality of evil.”

—CRAIG KEENER

R E V E L A T I O N 1 5 : 3 B

3 …“Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord

God Almighty. Just and true are your ways,

King of the nations.

R E V E L A T I O N 1 6 : 7 B

7 …“Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are

your judgments.”

‣ Take truth and justice away from God and you are left

with little more than Santa Claus.

‣ Take truth and justice away from God and you are left

with little more than Santa Claus.

‣ Take righteous anger away from God and you are left

with little more than indifference and crankiness.

—BECKY PIPPERT

“God’s wrath is not a cranky explosion, but his settled opposition to the cancer…which is eating out the insides of the human race he loves with his whole being.”

—FLEMING RUTLEDGE

“All of us are capable of anger about something. God's anger, however, is pure. It does not have the maintenance of privilege as its object, but goes out on behalf of those who have no privileges…”

—FLEMING RUTLEDGE

“…The wrath of God is not an emotion that flares up from time to time, as though God had temper tantrums; it is a way of describing his absolute enmity against all wrong and his coming to set matters right.”

—JAMES PACKER

“Moral indifference would be an imperfection in God, not a perfection. And not to judge the world would be to show moral indifference.”

4 Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring

glory to your name? For you alone are holy…

R E V E L A T I O N 1 5 : 4 A

—DARRELL JOHNSON

“The bowls [judgment] are… the natural, automatic reflux of holiness.”

8 And the temple was filled with smoke from

the glory of God and from his power, and no

one could enter the temple until the seven

plagues of the seven angels were completed.

R E V E L A T I O N 1 5 : 8

God cannot be GOOD if he is not JUST

...but God’s MERCY always precedes his JUDGEMENTS

God cannot be GOOD if he is not JUST

‣ 7 Seals (Rev. 6–7)

‣ 7 Trumpets (Rev. 8–11)

‣ 7 Scenes (Rev. 12–15)

‣ 7 Bowls (Rev. 16)

The Seven Seals — ¼

The Seven Trumpets — ⅓

The Seven Bowls — No Fractions

R E V E L A T I O N 1 6 : 1 7

17 The seventh angel poured out his bowl into

the air, and out of the temple came a loud

voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!”

30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said,

“It is finished.” With that, he bowed his

head and gave up his spirit.

J O H N 1 9 : 3 0

‣ Jesus paid the price for mercy before pouring out his judgment.

‣ Jesus paid the price for mercy before pouring out his judgment.

‣ Mercy would be meaningless if there were no judgment.

‣ Jesus paid the price for mercy before pouring out his judgment.

‣ Mercy would be meaningless if there were no judgment.

‣ Meanwhile, God’s judgments are our warning signs.

4 Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring

glory to your name?…

R E V E L A T I O N 1 5 : 4 A

“[Many of the words about hell found in the Bible] are all straight from Jesus' lips. And they're a loving warning to us. The reason Jesus talked about hell is because he does not want people to go there…”

—TICO TICE (BRITISH EVANGELIST)

“…The reason Jesus died was so that people wouldn't have to go there. The only way to get to hell is to trample over the cross of Jesus.”

—TICO TICE (BRITISH EVANGELIST)

10 …you are looking forward to the coming of

God’s Son from heaven—Jesus, whom God

raised from the dead. He is the one who has

rescued us from the terrors of the coming

judgment.

1 T H E S S A L O N I A N S 1 : 1 0 B ( N L T )