Revelation 15:1

Revelation 15:1

The Bible says in Revelation 15:1, "And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God." There is one other time in the Bible when plagues of this magnitude came from God to the earth. It was the time of Moses and Pharaoh. The will of God was revealed to Pharaoh through Moses, but Pharaoh resisted and refused to budge. Who is man to resist the will of God? Any who resist do so to their own destruction. It was true in the day of Moses, it is true today in the personal lives of everyone on the earth, and it will be true especially at the end of The Great Tribulation.

All sin can be traced to man’s rebellion against Jesus. The history of the human race is a history in which God has constantly found new ways to present His mercy and grace. God is a giver of second chances. But the day will come when the opportunities will come to an end. One thing that the Book of Revelation tells us clearly is that the age of grace will end one day, and it will be followed by the time of the wrath of God. It will be just like Jesus said. "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man." If you are outside of God’s favor and do not know Jesus as your Savior, you will not escape the great and terrible day of the wrath of the Almighty God.

But for those who have found refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ, there will be a glorious escape. After mentioning the wrath of God that will come against the world, Revelation 15:2-4 speaks of joy and singing and praises that will come from those who are saved from the wrath of God. It says, "And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest."

We are told that there is a new song that will be sung by those who are saved out of the Great Tribulation. Those who become saved during the Great Tribulation will have won the victory over the antichrist. The purpose of the devil will be to cause people to worship the antichrist and to turn away from Jesus. Most of humanity will be deceived, but a great and mighty victory will be for those who understand the truth of what is going on; and instead of worshipping the antichrist like most of the world, they will find the grace and wisdom of turning to believe in Jesus Christ.

Notice the content of this new song that will be sung. God is praised because "great and marvelous" are His works. God will destroy the antichrist and all of his legions. Those who are saved out of the Great Tribulation will see these great works. They will see the plagues that God will send against a wicked world. They will see the slaughter at the battle of Armageddon when God destroys the enemies of righteousness. The saints will sing the song, "Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty," because these saints will see the greatest and the mightiest of all the works that God has ever done. They will see Jesus trample out the grapes of wrath, and the blood will flow to the horses’ bridles.

God can do great and marvelous things because He is God Almighty. Some people look around and wonder where are the works of God. They see the natural phenomena taking place, but they do not perceive the works of God. That is because the works of God in the age of grace in which we live are largely spiritual in nature. Jesus said, "God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must do so in spirit and in truth." Other people try to manufacture the works of God through false claims and phony presentations. For example, some of the faith healers are lying when they grab someone by the forehead and push them backwards and claim to have healed them. They want to see the works of God so badly that they make false claims. In the age of grace in which we live, the greatest work of God is the work of salvation and a changed heart through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. When a poor, lost sinner who is headed for hell repents and finds a new destiny in heaven, one of the greatest miracles of all has taken place. But when the age of grace comes to an end, and when God decides that it is time for His wrath to come against a wicked world, great and marvelous works of an external nature shall be done.

It will be a great time to be a believer, this time of the end. After the battle of Armageddon and after the vials of the wrath of God are poured out; the hearts of the believers will be filled with praise and joy because the "King of the saints" will come to be the King of the entire world. That is talking about King Jesus. Notice that the end of Revelation 15:4 says that "all nations shall come and worship before" Him. It is understandable that God’s people would like to see a righteous nation with godly leaders. It is a good thing to hope for and to pray for and to work for, but it probably will not happen until Jesus returns and does one of His great and marvelous works to cause it to happen. What man cannot do, God will do when the time is right.

The believers will praise God and they will sing, "Just and true are thy ways." Truth and justice exist because God exists. They are eternal. They will not be kept down. They will come pouring into the world on the wings of the Spirit of God. The believers will be happy as never before, because what they had hoped for and longed for will be finally fulfilled. When it seems that no one is left to fight the battle, Jesusd Himself shall stand up to fight for truth and justice. All of the unjust liars who inhabit the earth shall be smashed forever. Who shall be able to stand before the mighty God when He determines to accomplish this?

The believers shall sing and shout for joy when it happens. They will sing, "Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name?" When the age of grace is over, all of this will happen. They can choose to accept or reject when they hear the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, many have chosen to reject Him and they live their lives alienated from God. In this life there are many who do not bow before God and who do not fear Him. But once the grapes of wrath are trodden out, and once the King of the saints presents Himself as King of the world, "Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father."

God will not stay silent forever. Jesus knows what is happening in the world. He sees. He is taking account, and the day will come as it says in Revelation 15:4 that His "judgments are made manifest." For the world and for the ungodly it will be a day of death and judgment that is truly deserved; but for the believers it will be a day of unspeakable joy and singing. We will sing and praise God for all that He is and for all that He has done. We will sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb. We will sing, "Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? For thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest." You also can be a part of those who are eternally blessed and happy, if you turn to Jesus before it is too late.

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