Gospel Dynamite with J. Allen Mashburn

The Judgment of the Babylonian Harlot | Revelation 17:1-18 | J. Allen Mashburn

In chapter 16 we witnessed the final judgment of God against this world. We saw God destroy this world through a series of powerful plagues. We also witnessed the defiance of fallen man. Even in the face of judgment, man refused to repent.
Of course, this shouldn’t surprise us; man refused to repent in the face of Law and man has refused to repent in this age of grace. Man is an incorrigible sinner, and apart, from the grace of God, mankind is hopelessly lost!
The last plague in Rev. 16:17-21 brought about a great earthquake that destroyed the cities of the world. This final, great quake devastated all the places that man had created. This earthquake destroyed everything that represented the greatest accomplishments of humanity. All of mankind’s centers of pleasure and profit are wiped out.
Since the dawn of time man has been in the business of trying to get by without God. Man rests on his power, his accomplishments, his ability to produce and his ability to enjoy pleasure. In that last great judgment, everything man trusts is taken away.
We are also told that “great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath,” Rev. 16:19. Babylon is a city, but it is also a system. Babylon represents everything mankind has accomplished apart from God. This system is judged in the seventh bowl judgment.
What we have in chapters 17 and 18 is another parenthetical passage. These two chapters give us the details of the destruction of the Babylonian system. In chapter 17 we will see the destruction of religious Babylon. In chapter 18 we will see the destruction of economic Babylon.

Final Judgment Concludes | Revelation 16:10-21 | J. Allen Mashburn

In Revelation chapter 5 the Lamb of God took a seven sealed book from the hand of His Father. This book represented the title deed to planet earth. Jesus owns this world because He created it out of nothing. He owns this world because He redeemed it when He died on the cross. When Jesus took that seven sealed book, He began to open the seals. When He did, the Tribulation Period began on the earth.
By the time we reach these verses, the world has been smiting under the wrath of a holy God for seven years. Now, the Tribulation is about to come to an end. 
As the final three seals are opened, God prepares to conclude His judgment of this world and its inhabitants.
When the events of these final three judgments are concluded, Jesus Christ, the King of Kings will return to the earth in glory and power. He will take possession of the throne of this world and He will rule in righteousness. These three last plagues set the stage and prepare the way for the coming of the Lord.
When Jesus returns, He will finally receive the glory and honor that He deserves. Here is what the Bible says about it, Phil. 2:5-11. Today, the Lord Jesus is rejected, maligned and hated by the world. That hatred is only going to intensify as the days go by and grow more and more evil.
In these verses the Lord God begins the process of final judgment upon the earth. In our last study we watched as Final Judgment Commenced. Today we will watch as Final Judgment Concludes.

The Final Judgments | Revelation 16:1-9 | J. Allen Mashburn

There is no denying the fact that the book of Revelation is a book of judgment. It was written to people in the first century who were smiting under the angry whip of Roman persecution. It was given to them to let them know that God has a plan for the judgment of all those who have rejected Him.
While there are passages that allow for rejoicing in the chapters of this book, it is, for the most part, a chronicle of God’s final judgment of sin, sinners and Satan. In Revelation there is a series of three judgments which are executed in seven stages each. There are the seven seal judgments, the seven trumpet judgments and finally the seven bowl judgments. 
As the judgments progress, the intensity and severity of the judgments increase.
We have arrived at the final set of judgments. In Rev. 15:7 shows one of the four beasts giving to seven angels seven bowls “full” of the wrath of God. Just as a reminder, the word “full” means “to swell”. It is the image of a dam, under pressure, nearing its bursting point. This is a good description of the wrath of God.
Ever since Adam sinned in Eden, the wrath of God against sin and sinners has been building. The grace and mercy of God have served as a powerful dam, which has held that wrath in check. In the judgments of the Revelation, the dam of God’s wrath bursts and a Christ rejecting world is swept away in the wave of judgment that issues forth.
Up to this point, God has always tempered His wrath. God has been faithful to honor the request of the prophet Habakkuk. In Hab. 3:2, the prophet prayed, “in wrath remember mercy.” But, now the time for judgment has come. There will be no mercy any longer. The wrath of God is about to be poured out. God is preparing to commence His final judgment of the earth.
In Rev. 14:10, John writes, “The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation.” In these verses, the world is about to experience the undiluted wrath of an offended God.
In verse 1 God issues the command for the angels to begin pouring out the bowls filled with His wrath upon the earth.

The Preparation for the Bowl Judgments | Revelation 15:1-8 | J. Allen Mashburn

As the book of the Revelation is a book of contrasts. As we move through the book, we are taken back and forth between Heaven and the earth. We are allowed to witness scenes of joy in the heavens and we are confronted with scenes of judgment on the earth. In the heavens you see scenes of worship. On the earth, you see scenes of wrath.
In this chapter we are once again taken into Heaven. In these eight verses, which comprise the shortest chapter in the Revelation, we are allowed to see a vision of Heaven as God prepares for His final judgment of the tribulation earth. There has already been great suffering as the judgment of God has been unleashed on the earth. When these judgments are poured out on the earth, they serve to increase the agony of the wicked.
We want to examine John’s vision today. We are given a glimpse of Heaven as it prepares for final judgment. Up to this point, God has mingled mercy and judgment. Up to this point God has been leaving the door to repentance ajar. Now humanity has made its final choice. The world has chosen Satan over God and judgment is coming. There will be no mercy. There will be no more opportunity. There will be no longsuffering or grace. There will only be judgment and the wrath of God for all those who have rejected Jesus Christ.
Let’s join John as he looks in on this scene of heavenly preparations.

When the Judge of the Universe Judges | Revelation 14:14-20 | J. Allen Mashburn

Now as we enter this study, I must remind everyone again that the Book of Revelation is not written in chronological order. The first three chapters tell of our Lord’s letters to seven actual churches that existed in John’s day. Those chapters also paint a clear portrait of the church all the way from Pentecost to the Rapture. Chapters 4-11 tell us about the chronology of the Tribulation Period. They take us all the way from the beginning to the end of that terrible seven year period of time. In chapters 12-14, we are taken back to the beginning. These chapters give us the same time period from a different perspective. 
We are no longer talking about the chronology of the book, now we are confronted with the characters of the book. 
Through a series of seven visions, John takes us once again through the days of the Tribulation.
In our study of this book, we have arrived at the seventh of these visions. These verses close out the pause in the action we have been in since chapter 12 verse 1. When this chapter ends, we are going to be thrown back into the heat and the horrors of the final days of the Tribulation. Before we deal with those things, John gives us a vision of our Lord when He comes again in power and glory.
When Jesus came the first time, He came as a Savior. He came to give His life on the cross so that sin might be paid for and sinners might be set free. 
When He comes the second time, He is coming as a Judge. He is coming to destroy sin, Satan and all those who stand in defiance to God. 
When Jesus returns, He will come in power, glory and judgment and none will be able to withstand Him! There will be no cross for Jesus the next time He comes. There will be a crown! There will be no tree for Him to hang upon; but there will be a throne for Him to sit upon.
Let’s move through these verses and catch the vision John shares of the Lord Jesus Christ and the coming days of His terrible judgment.

What the Future Holds for the Saint of God | Revelation 14:12-13 | J. Allen Mashburn

As we studied verses 6-11, we listened as angels announced the fact that God had pronounced a sentence of damnation on this world system and all those who refuse to believe the Gospel message. Those verses tell us about a horrible place called Hell where the lost will suffer in the flames of God’s wrath for all eternity. That is a sad, horrible picture of the future that awaits every person who lives and dies outside of a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are not saved today, I challenge you to examine your life and where you are headed. Do you really want to go to Hell? Do you really want to spend eternity separated from God and from everything of beauty, purity and spirituality? You do not have to go to Hell! You can be saved if you will come to Jesus and call on Him by faith, Rom. 10:9, Acts 16:31.
What a contrast there is when we comes to verse 12! We leave the wrath and judgment of verses 6-11 and we are exposed to the sweet fragrance of God’s grace. Having declared His judgment against the wicked, God now demonstrates His grace toward the righteous. Having shown us the wicked, God now casts the spotlight on His faithful remnant. He says, “You have seen the wicked ones, now take a look at my children!”
These verses show us what will happen to the saints of God when they leave this world. We have seen the hellish side of death; now let’s examine the heavenly side of death. What waits on the sinner is ghoulish; what waits on the saint is glorious.

What the End Holds for the Sinner | Revelation 14:6-11 | J. Allen Mashburn

Revelation chapter 14 is an interesting chapter. In its verses, God takes care of some Tribulation housekeeping. In verses 1-5 the Lord shows us the fate of the 144,000. If you will remember, the 144,000 are saved Jewish preachers who travel the world preaching the Gospel of grace. These men are divinely sealed and protected as they carry out their ministry. When their time is completed, the Antichrist is allowed to take their lives and verses 1-5 picture them home, in Heaven, in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verses 14-20 speak about the horrific battle of Armageddon that will occur at the end of the Tribulation. We will consider that text in our next study. Today, we are going to focus our attention on verses 6-13. This passage speaks about the future that awaits two distinct classes of people. Verses 6-11 deal with the future of the lost sinner, while verses 12-13 speak to the future of the faithful saint.
While these verses speak about future events, they are still relevant to us today. Every person in this room will reach the end of your earthly journey someday. There will an end of the road for each of us! We do not like to think about it, but we need to know what is coming so that we can be properly prepared for that hour. When the end comes, you and I need to be ready! When the end comes, there will be no more time to prepare. When the end comes, how we leave this world will be how we enter eternity. In Eccl. 11:3, Solomon said, “…if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be.” The same is true about your life and mine. However the end finds us, whether saved or lost, is how eternity will preserve us. We must be ready!
Today, let’s consider these verses which clearly declare what the end holds for both the Tribulation sinner and the Tribulation saint.

After the Storms Have Past | Revelation 14:1-5 | J. Allen Mashburn

If you have been studying along with us as we have moved through this amazing book, you know that the last two chapters have been dark, depressing and discouraging. We have been talking about the devil, the Antichrist and the False Prophet. We have witnessed the depths of depravity as man abandons his Creator to worship the devil through his false Christ.
Now, the scene changes! Chapter 14 is like a glorious rainbow after and fierce storm. God takes the brush of His grace and repaints the landscape of the Revelation. He gives us a breath of heavenly air in these verses. Only God can do that! 
Only God can take that which is horrible beyond words and turn it into a thing of glory. That is just what He does in these verses.
In this passage we are allowed to get a little glimpse of heavenly glory. We are allowed to see the Lamb of God. He is the theme of the book and He is center stage in these verses. It would be a blessing if we could figure out how to keep Jesus at the center of everything we do in our lives as individuals and in the life of the church.
In these verses we meet again the 144,000 Jewish evangelists who were selected and sealed in chapter 7. These men have preached the Gospel of the Kingdom during the darkest days of the Tribulation. They were persecuted by the Antichrist, but they were preserved by God.