"The Super Bowls"

“The Super Bowls” – Revelation Ch. 16

INTRODUCTION: For those of you who don’t know it … TODAY is “Super Bowl Sunday”! To some, it doesn’t mean much. To others, it’s what you’ve been waiting for all year.

TODAY, I thought I would preach a message on “The Super Bowls”. BUT … I’m going to be talking about the REAL “Super Bowls” … the ones in the Book of Revelation.

God is a God of “love” (1 John 4:16). It’s important to know this ASPECT of God.

o LOVE sent Him to earth in the form of a man.

o LOVE sent Him to the cross of Calvary to die for you.

o LOVE is what held Him to the cross.

BUT … there is another ASPECT of God that we are going to take a look at this morning. God is ALSO a God of wrath and judgment. ONE DAY, in the Tribulation Period, God will pour out His wrath upon this wicked earth. He is going to cleanse it, to make it ready for His Millennial reign. If you are a born-again believer, you will be raptured out BEFORE this terrible day of wrath begins.

Revelation 16:1 – all turn. “vials” = “bowls”.

o Before this, there will be 7 Seals of Judgment … including: war, famine, death & disaster.

o Before this, there will be 7 Trumpets of Judgment … including: hail & fire, blood, awful creatures, earthquakes. Over 58% of those on earth will be killed … 2/3 of the Jews were killed.

o Before this, the image of the Anti-Christ will be set up in the Temple in Jerusalem. People will be commanded to worship it. The “Mark of the Beast” will be necessary before you could buy or sell anything. The False Prophet will make people fall down and worship the Beast.

NOW, we see 7 Bowl Judgments … to get the earth ready for the Battle of Armageddon … the coming of the Lord in His glory.

1.- BOWL #1 – 16:2

This Bowl of God’s judgment is poured out upon the followers of the Anti-Christ … those who received the “Mark of the Beast” – 666. See 14:9-10, 13:16-18.

16:2 – “sores” = ‘running & painful ulcers … bad odor’.

It’s not always best to follow the crowd. They might be going AWAY from God … and turn YOU away from God. Judgment is sure to follow.

2.- BOWL #2 – 16:3

The sea will become like “blood” … and everything in the sea will die … like “dead man’s blood”. Have you ever been around the “red tide”? When I lived in Clearwater, we used to experience it every year. The fish die, and are washed ashore. The beach became a stinking, filthy mess. This is just a small “taste” of what will happen during God’s judgment upon the earth.

BECAUSE they rejected the blood that brings forth LIFE (Jesus) … this blood brings forth DEATH. LESSON: Reject what the blood of Jesus gave to SAVE you … and you will PERISH for eternity.

3.- BOWL #3 – 16:4-7

There will be no fresh water to drink on the earth. We think of the value of OIL in the earth. Nations fight over it … wars are waged because of it. ONE DAY, fresh water to drink will be more valuable than OIL!

We take water for granted. BUT … in Hell, as hot as it is, there will be no water. Luke 16:23-24 – “And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. [24] And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.”

o ONE DAY, they will try to drink from a water fountain … and out will come BLOOD.

o ONE DAY, they will go into their refrigerator, thinking it’s a pitcher of tomato juice … but it will be water turned to blood.

o ONE DAY, they will think their ice cubes are red because of rust in the pipes of the ice machine … but it will be frozen blood.

WHY this awful judgment? BECAUSE, they spurned the “water of life”. John 4:14 – “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

They rejected those who preached, and offered them the “water of life”. They killed them … shed their blood – 16:5-6. NOW, God is going to judge them for it.

#4 – BOWL #4 – 16:8-9

The sun becomes very hot. We’ve seen some hot Summer days, here in Florida. BUT … nothing like this! Even a few minutes in the sun will get you sun-burned and blistered. BLISTERS … on top of your SORES (16:2). AND … no fresh water to drink to give you relief from the heat!