Synopsis: In Revelation 16, John sees seven bowls of God’s wrath poured out on the earth. Unlike the trumpets, which serve as warnings calling sinners to repentance, the bowls represent God’s judgment against those who repeatedly harden their hearts against Him. The same trials and catastrophes that soften one heart can harden another. Christians are reminded that Christ has already borne God’s wrath on their behalf, so their suffering is never punitive judgment. Instead, trials may come from living in a fallen world, persecution, discipline, or the effects of God’s dealings with nations. Ultimately, to an unbelieving world, the trumpet you ignore becomes the bowl you endure.

Text: Revelation 15-16
Date: June 7, 2026

Introduction

Opening Illustration – Ben Sasse: One of the most remarkable things I have seen recently is the testimony of Ben Sasse. Some of you may have remembered that name from a while ago. He was a US Senator from Nebraska from 2015-2023, and then served as the President of University of Floriday from 2023-2034. Ben Sasse is 55 now years old, and he was diagnosed with metastatic stage-four pancreatic cancer in December. Ben has young children, and suddenly finds himself facing death. He has given a handful of profound interviews. What is coming out of that man, is such a deep love of Christ, a humility about the fragility of life, a hunger for his children to walk deeply with God after he is gone. The cancer is the worst, and he doesn’t hold back on the emotional reality of it all. But there is a confidence and a directness about death, about the reality of his faith in Christ, and about the Lord’s provision. The cancer itself is not a blessing, its a consequence of creation growning underneath sin. But God has used that suffering as a means of grace in his life.

Others: Of course, there are many others who receive the exact same diagnosis and respond entirely diffrently. Instead of repentance and humility, often there is anger and hard-heartedness. Very often instead of turning towards God and discovering new spaces of grace, there is a shaking of the fist towards heaven. The suffering does not soften the heart. Rather, it hardens it. The difference is not the cancer; it’s the heart of the man.

Personal: This comparison is in some ways exactly what we discover in the book of Revelation. Throughout Revelation, two distinct people are clearly emerging from the pages. Those who follow the lamb, and those who follow the beast.

Context: Recall that we are studying the book of Revelation. The genre is Apocalyptic Literature, a specific genre of writing somewhat common in history past. One of the key distinctives of this genre is its hyper-use of symbols that must be interpreted to make sense of the passage. Throughout Revelation we have seen we do not want to read the symbols overly literally, otherwise we miss the point.

Setup: The setup for our passage is given in the second half of chapter 15 where we read:

Revelation 15:5–8 “After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes around their chests. And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever, and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.”

The picture here is quite clear. Seven angels are given “seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God.” It’s quite an image.

Seals / Trumpets / Bowls: If you’ve been following with us in Revelation, you will recognize that similar events have occurred on two separate occasions already. In chapter 6 we saw seven seals on the scroll that were opened by the Lord. And each time he opened a seal significant events happened on Earth. Then in chapters 8-9 we saw that seven angels were given seven trumpets, and each time a trumpet was blown, once again significant events happened on Earth.

The Difference: How did we interpret those events. We discussed how some people interpret all of Revelation as events that will happen in our future, around the end of the world. And what I have tried to show in this sermon series, is that while I have a great love and awareness of that position, it is not what I believe to be the proper interpretation of what is meant with Revelation.

Seals: What we saw with the seven seals, is that those seven seals described the real world events that we endure as Christians living in the Church age. The seven seals were not one time events that will happen in the future, but they are descriptions of the suffering and hardship that Christians throughout the church age, in many places and many generations, must endure as a result of their Christian faith.

Trumpets: Likewise we saw that the seven trumpets also described life in this Church Age, between the resurrection and Christ’s return. The trumpets are God’s warning shots across the bow. God uses cataclysmic events, from wars to hurricanes, to floods, and everything in between as warning signs to a non-believing world. They are meant to wake them up to their impending judgment.

Bowls of Wrath: In the same way, we will discover today that they seven bowls of wrath, do not simply speak of events in our future. Though indeed they may find their culmination in the events preceding Christ’s return. But primarily, they describe God’s judgment against sin, and more particularly God’s judgment against the hard-heartedness of sinners who refuse to repent after being given trumpet after trumpet and warning after warning, that plays out in this life.

Main Idea: The trumpet you ignore, becomes the bowl of wrath you endure.

EXPLICATION

Text: Let us read chapter 16.

Revelation 16 “Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” So the first angel went 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 worshiped its image. The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died that was in the sea. The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. And I heard the angel in charge of the waters say, “Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!” And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!” The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory. The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores. They did not repent of their deeds. The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. And 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, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. (“Behold, I am 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!”) And they assembled them at the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon. The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.”

THE SEVEN BOWLS

Now as we look at these, let us recall what these are. These are not trumpet warnings. Trumpets warn, and provoke, and ought to people to repentance. These vials are not trumpets, they are wrath. They represent what God does to a person whose heart has become diamond hard and refuse to repent after countless trumpet blasts.

First Angel (Sores): The first angel’s bowl of judgment is described as bringing “harmful and painful sores.” This describes harmful and painful and deathly sickness in all of its forms.

NonChristians: We notice that the sores only come upon those who have the mark of the beast. No Christian receives the judgment of God in this life or the next. Why? Because for the Christians, Christ has already abosrbed the full wrath of God on our behalf. But the non-Christian indeed often receives the wrath of God in this life.

Previous: Indeed, this principle is written across the entirety of Scripture.

Perhaps you recall King Jehoram in the Old Testament. A horrible wicked king of whom we read,

2 Chronicles 21:18 “And after all this the Lord struck him in his bowels with an incurable disease.”

Or you recall Herod, in Acts 12, who did not give God glory and we are told “he was eaten by worms.” Many commentators believe he died of a gut sickness common in that time that would result literally being eaten by the worms.

First vial of wrath, painful sores.

Second Angel (Sea): The second angel’s bowl of judgment impacts the sea. This represents whenever God uses the sea (hurricanes, storms, tsunamis, etc) to enact his judgment.

Compared Trumpet: You might recall that back in chapter 8, the second trumpet also impacted the sea and turned it red, and we read there that a third of the living things in the sea died. There are two things to note:

First, the very same hurricane that God uses as a trumpet for one person warning them of his coming judgment, and calling them to repent, can be used as a vial of wrath towards another person. We’ll speak more on that in a bit.

Second, the language of “everything in the sea dying,” I do not think is to be taken literally. This is Apocalyptic Literature, and therefore it is full of symbols and imagery that teach a principle. I think the principle here is that God’s judgment is fierce and complete.

Third Angel (Rivers): With these principles that we have already covered we can go a bit quickly through some of these. The third angel pours his bowl on the rivers and inland waterways. This describes when God pours his wrath out through things like local flooding, and all catastrophes related to rivers and lakes.

Fourth Angel (Sun): The fourth angel pours his vial out on the sun. This refers to all judgment that God brings through the heat of the sun. We can imagine sun-stroke, severe sun-burn, drought.

Fifth Angel (Throne of the Beast): The fifth is fascinating. We are told that it was “poured on the throne of the beast, and the beast’s kingdom was plunged into darkness.” Two weeks ago we studied Revelation 14, and if you recall the “beast that rose out of the sea” represented all antiChristian government, that Satan coopts to attempt to crush the church in one degree or another. Whether that be Rome under Nero and Domition, or England under Bloody Mary, or Germany under Hitler.

This Judgment: Whenever we see those antiChristian governments fall and lose their power and get plunged into darkness, it is this fifth vial being poured out.

When Assyria falls. Or Babylon falls. Or wicked Roman emperors fell. The fifth vial.

Tuesday May 18, 1945 ‘Victory in Europe Day’ when Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allied forces. The fifth vial.

Even in the modern west, we have many examples of political leaders, who have in degrees sought to undermine or suppress the church or the church’s voice to stand for righteousness and justice. When those political leaders are defeated, removed, and their spheres of influence plunged into darkness, you have the fifth vial.

Sixth Angel (Armageddon): The sixth angel certainly gets a lot of attention, because verse 16 mentions “Armageddon.” As we move to the sixth and seventh trumpet, a similar transition occurs. As with the sixth seal, John moved from describing events that echo throughout the Church Age, to one final climactic event. I believe here, we see the clearest description of events that will happen at the end of this age, when Satan and his beasts (antiChristian government and antiChristian religion) make their final stand against God and his Church.

Assemble for Battle (14): We see in verses 13-14 that Satan and his cohort proclaim false prophetic words and false signs, and the “assemble for battle.” This seems to communicated a last stand of sorts.

Christ’s Words (15): Additionally, Christ speaks in verse 15 that we are to stay awake, for this day will come quickly when we are not necessarily expecting it to come.

Armageddon: What do we do with that word “Armageddon?”

Megido: Historically, most theologians have associated the word “Armageddon” with the plain of Meggido. You can hear the connection and why scholars would think that. The word “Har” in Hebrew means Mountain. And so ‘Ar-Megeddon’ could easily be a translation ‘Har-Megiddo.’ This is the valley in the Old Testament where the judge named Deborah won her battle against Sisera in Judges, chapter 4. The problem with this translation, is that there is no mountain in Megido. In fact it is very flat with a slight hill towards the middle.

Jerusalem: I think the scholar Michael Heiser has made a compelling case (and I won’t have time to go through it here), that in fact ‘Har-Mageddon’ is a direct reference to Jerusalem. And so, for my futurists who have their eyes on the return of the Lord, Jerusalem may indeed be the sight of the Satan’s last stand.

Christian Optimism: What does this vial of judgment mean? Let me remind of something very important. My larger theological framework that I preach and teach from regularly is what I refer to as Christian Optimism. “Optimism” does not refer to my happiness, though all Christians should have a regular joy in the Lord. Rather, “optimism” refers to my belief, and what Revelation has laid out over and over again, is that though in this life we face all kinds of challenges and persecutions as Christians, the Christian is not a victim. We are optimistic because the Gospel is going forward, and we believe that Christ wins, not only at the end of history, but we go to battle now, because where we go we go in the name of King. No force will stand against us. This is why we built a classical Christian school in the city. We’re taking back ground that has been lost to the enemy, in the name of Jesus, and we believe that light triumphs over darkness. This, of course, is opposed to other views of Christianity that are what I call Christian Pessimism. Christian pessimism says that the forces of evil are too great and we should not expect to win down here on Earth. No, I believe Revelation says the opposite.

Yet: Yet, I also believe that as the time grows shorter, and as the end approaches, Satan will be a like a raibes ridden rotweiler in a corner. And I believe we can expect in the final days for a Satanic resistence unlike anything modern western Christians have ever.

The Seventh Bowl (the end): Lastly, the seventh bowl describes a cosmic upheaval. The seventh bowl describes Christ’s annihiliation of every force that ever dared stand against him. When Christ returns, his judgment will be complete. Satan’s Kingdom will be crushed. And those who have never placed their faith in the one true King, King Jesus, will face their ultimate judgment.

And so we have studied, the seven trumpets of the Lord’s judgment.

APPLICATION

I’d like to spend the few remaining minute we have applying this text into our life.

PROVIDENCE & JUDGMENT

The first application has to do with our understanding of the overlap God’s providence and God’s judment.

Natural Events: What we have seen in this passage today is that very often, God uses seemingly naturally occurring events as the means by which he enacts His judgment. A hurricane, for example, is a seemingly natural event (it’s a weather pattern that occurs in our fallen world). And yet, for both individuals, and for communities that hurricane can function as God’s judgment for sin. More often than not, this is God’s way in Scripture.

Noah: Even Noah’s flood, that great judgment that came over the world, occurred when “the fountains of the deep burst open.” If there were meteorogists during that day reporting the news, they would be reporting a global flood, and miss the reality that it was divine judgment.

Romans One: Or we think of Romans 1, which after describing how nonbelievers are immersed in sexual sin says that they

Romans 1:27 “… receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.”

I believe that is speaking direclty about phsyical illness and sickness, not to mention emotional and relational and occupational difficulties that come in life for such sexually depraved behavior. Indeed all of those “natural consequences” for sinful behavior can be and often are “God’s judgment” for sin.

Wrap Up: So from a biblical worldview, understands that God judges sin, not only in the world to come, but in this world and in this life as well. The Bible speaks about the men of Issachar.

1 Chronicles 12:32 “Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do…”

A wise Christian knows how to intepret the times. A wise Christian doesn’t simply see the world the way the average atheist does. Even the seeming natural events of weather, and horrifying events of war, and many other trials that occur in this world, are always wrapped up in God’s providence, and are being used by God often for a variety of purposes.

DISCIPLINE & JUDGMENT

That gives way to a bigger question. How can we know for what purposes God is using any particular event?

Ben Sasse: Recall the story of Ben Sasse, who is a follower of Christ. As a follower of Christ, all of the judgment for his sin has been paid for by Jesus Christ on the cross. The full amount, not one shred left. And so, if you are a follower of Christ, there is no judgment in this life that God will ever singularly direct at you, and no judgment remaining for you to pay for your sins in the next life. Christ bore it all through his death.

For the NonBeliever: For the nonbeliever, these events are one of two things. They are either trumpets, God’s way of shouting at you, “Wake up, sin is real, judgment is real, and unless you repent your final judgment is coming sooner than you realize.” Or, they are judgments, and if these trials you endure do not cause you to repent, but deepen your hard heartedness towards God, they very well may be bowls of wrath.

Trials: So then, how do we categorize all the challenges we face? It’s not always simple to discern exactly what is happening, primarily because we don’t have living prophets to speak for God on specific situations. But wisdom can often help discern what is happening, and what its purpose is.

1 Fallen World: Sometimes trials come on believer and non believer alike, simply because of living in a fallen world. Potholes ruin cars. Dogs bite. Roofs fall in. Hurricanes blow. Tumors grow. When believer experiences these aches of a fallen world, it should cause to long for heaven and rejoice in our salvation! Christ has secured us eternally.

2 Seals: Sometimes, for a believer, they are one of the seven seals from Revelation 6. We saw that those seals represent all kinds of troubles and persecution that will befall Christians as the gospel goes forward.

3 Discipline: Sometimes, it might be discipline. If you have repented of sin and trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you have been adopted into God’s family, and you are a Son and a Daughter of the King. And because he loves you as a Son, he will discipline you as a good father disciplines his child.

Hebrews 12:7 “It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons….”

If you want to know if a trial you are navigating is the discipline of the Lord, ask yourself if there is any ongoing habitual unrepentant sin. And if so, repent of it quickly. The Lord loves to restore his repentant children.

4 Collatoral Damage: There is another category. Collatoral Damage. When a war is fought between two oppositing armies, often those who are near to the fight experience some hardhsip simply due to proximity. There is a great example of this in William Wilberforce. Wilberforce, that wonderful man, in British Parliament who fought and gave his whole life to ending the British Slave Trade. His writings are wonderful. But he wrote about why he fought so hard for this. On the one hand, he spoke of the injustice of it according to God’s law. That was a primary driver. But there was another driver as well. He wrote this:

That the Almighty Creator of the Universe governs the world which he has made; that the sufferings of nations are to be regarded as the punishment of national crimes, and their decline and fall, as the execution of his sentence; are truths which I trust are still generally believed among us. Indeed to deny them, would be directly to contradict the express and repeated declarations of the Holy Scriptures.

And Wilberforce would go on to say, if that be the case, then if we do not turn course quickly, and reform this nation, then we ought to expect the blackest of judgments over our nation. God indeed judges nations, and communities. When sins are enshrined at the communal and national level, even the Christian living in that nation is impacted when God’s judgment comes.

So What: What does that mean? It means that we as Christians should have a passion to see God’s law, God’s morality, established as moral basis of law in the land, as the morality of the culture. We hate institutional sin like abortion, and pride month, because we love God, and we cherish his law. Not because we hate the people who participate. No! Quite the opposite. We love them so much we do not want them to experience the judgment of God. And because we love our city and our nation, and we don’t want the judgment of God to fall on them, and we be caught up in the collatoral damage.

Conclusion

The Point: Today’s text is a comfort to the believer. But it is a terror to the unbeliever. I encourage the unbeliever today to not miss a moment to be reconciled with God through Jesus Christ. Judgment will fall for sin. It will either fall on you, or it will fall on Christ on your behalf. The judgment we experience in this life is only part of the judgment that God has stored up for our sin. Later chapters will cover that material. But do not wait until it is too late. Because the trumpet you ignore, becomes the bowl you endure.