Talk

Repent!

Louie Giglio
September 15, 2024

This Sunday, we were back in Revelation 15 and 16 as we unpacked the wrath of God, which is God’s holiness moving towards evil. Following Jesus is about turning away from everything but Him, and this is the invitation He is giving us today. The question is, what finished work of Jesus are we living under today?

Key Takeaway

Repentance is the key to the kingdom.

The moral fiber of God from The Ten Commandments in the Old Testament still exists today, and it will forever because that is the character and nature of God—to be Holy.

Many ask, "How can this loving, gracious, and merciful God be so full of wrath?"

The wrath of God, simply, is the holiness of God moving towards evil.

Leon Morris says that the wrath of God is "strong and settled opposition to all that is evil arising out of God's very nature."

We see mercy everywhere, but we also see wrath.

For those who have no covering in Christ, the wrath of God is coming (Romans 1:18).

The one thing we can count on is that everything that happens will be true and just.

We want justice on this earth. There is a moral standard, and God wants to call us up to that standard. All of us who are calling out for justice are echoing the fact that there is a just One.

Repentance—to change my way of life, thinking, and direction to glorify God.

When we read Revelation 9 and 16, we see that the people had time to repent, yet they refused to.

God calls us to repent in Matthew 4:17.

Becoming a Christian may have been reduced to saying a prayer, but it's not the end in that moment. We get to that prayer moment from Romans 10:9. This prayer must lead us fully to Jesus, turning away from everything that is not Jesus to follow Jesus.

This is the invitation He's giving us today: repent. Not just in that first prayer moment but in a lifestyle dedicated to Him.

Tetelestai—it is finished.

The only Gospel that mentions Jesus saying "it is finished" from the cross is John's, who in the Spirit on the Lord's day is called up into heaven.

Which one of the "it is finished" are you living under? The finished work of Jesus or the finished wrath of God?

It's God's desire that you have mercy. God isn't providing a way out but a way in—into the shelter that is Jesus.

"There is no refuge from the judging God, but there is refuge in the judging God." — Darrell Johnson

We're all objects of the righteous wrath of God. Repent before the final wrath comes. Repent now.

"Following Jesus is about turning away from everything but Jesus."
Louie Giglio

Discussion Questions

  1. How have you reconciled following a just yet kind and merciful God?
  2. "The wrath of God, simply, is the holiness of God moving towards evil." How has this quote helped your understanding of the wrath of God?
  3. Read Romans 1:18. What are your takeaways from this verse?
  4. How has the definition of repentance (changing my way of life, thinking, and direction to glorify God) altered how you see the act of repentance?
  5. Which one of the "it is finished" are you living under? The finished work of Jesus or the finished wrath of God?
  6. Have you been refusing to repent? Why?
  7. Do you love Jesus more than your sin?

Scripture References

Seven Angels With Seven Plagues

1I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed. 2And I saw what looked like a sea of glass glowing with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and its image and over the number of its name. They held harps given them by God 3and sang the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb:

“Great and marvelous are your deeds,

Lord God Almighty.

Just and true are your ways,

King of the nations.

4Who will not fear you, Lord,

and bring glory to your name?

For you alone are holy.

All nations will come

and worship before you,

for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

5After this I looked, and I saw in heaven the temple—that is, the tabernacle of the covenant law—and it was opened. 6Out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues. They were dressed in clean, shining linen and wore golden sashes around their chests. 7Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the wrath of God, who lives for ever and ever. 8And 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.

The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath

1Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.”

2The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly, festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image.

3The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead person, and every living thing in the sea died.

4The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say:

“You are just in these judgments, O Holy One,

you who are and who were;

6for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets,

and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.”

7And I heard the altar respond:

“Yes, Lord God Almighty,

true and just are your judgments.”

8The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire. 9They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.

10The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony 11and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.

12The 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. 13Then I saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.

15

“Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.”

16Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.

17The 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!” 18Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. 19The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. 21From the sky huge hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds, fell on people. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.

16For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
17For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
21These are the amounts of the materials used for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the covenant law, which were recorded at Moses’ command by the Levites under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest.
7Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the
Lord
would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp.
34Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the
Lord
filled the tabernacle.
35Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the
Lord
filled the tabernacle.
20The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk.
21Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.
9If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
17From that time on Jesus began to preach,
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
8But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.
4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
9not by works, so that no one can boast.
10For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
30When he had received the drink, Jesus said,
“It is finished.”
With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

1The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. 6During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.

7The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 11They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).

12The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.

13The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the four horns of the golden altar that is before God. 14It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” 15And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. 16The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number.

17The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. 18A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. 19The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury.

20The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. 21Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.


Louie Giglio
Louie Giglio
Louie Giglio is the Visionary Architect and Director of the Passion Movement, comprised of Passion Conferences, Passion City Church, Passion Publishing and sixstepsrecords, and the founder of Passion Institute.