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Well, thank you to the celebration band.

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We are grateful for your music tonight.

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We'll have to have them again, Paul.

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Soon.

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Be fun and do a whole thing.

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Would you like that?

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I want to invite you to open your Bible this evening to the book of the Revelation.

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Thank you.

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We are looking at chapters 15 and 16 this evening, where we pick up pace once again.

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In the past, we have, in the past few weeks, we have been looking at some chapters that

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did not advance the chronology of the book.

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But this evening, we come back to the chronology, having filled in some of the details of the

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book in chapters 12 through 14.

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And now we are ready to see some things happen in heaven that will affect what happens on

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earth.

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In fact, you notice the outline.

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Did you all get a copy of the outline as you came in?

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One of the bowls, the bowls of wrath in heaven, chapter 15, and then the pouring out of the

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bowls on the earth in chapter 16.

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Now to put this into a context so that you will be able to kind of catch up with us,

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if you have not been here for our study, give me a second to get us in focus.

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Here is where we started in the book with the messages to the seven churches in chapters

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1, 2, and 3.

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In chapter 4 and 5, those songs that we saw in heaven, the worship of God, the unfolding

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of the seals that were on that scroll.

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We looked at those which were followed by the trumpets.

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And now we are at this point, chapter 15, we are going to begin looking at the bowls

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of wrath.

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You notice that these are sequential, at least as we understand the book of Revelation.

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There are some who see them as overlapping and kind of repetitive.

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But if you compare what each of the seven judgments in these series contains, it seems

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to me better to understand them as sequential.

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And so the three and a half year point or the halfway point in the tribulation period

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is somewhere about there.

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As we come now to the bowls of God's wrath that are poured out upon the earth, we are

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definitely in the last part of the period, the seven year period of the tribulation.

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And soon will come the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Let me blow this up just a little bigger so that you can see we are here in chapter 15

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and verse 5 as it says, and the seven bowls.

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Chapters 15 and 16 deal with these matters of the seven bowls being poured out upon the

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earth.

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Chapters 17 and 18 deal with the harlot and the beast and the fall of Babylon.

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And those two chapters sort of fill in details of what takes place here.

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Chapter 19 is the great event in the book of Revelation in the return of the Lord Jesus

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Christ.

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And then the book plays out with eternity beginning again.

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So we've got some great things in store for us as we continue our study in the book of

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the Revelation.

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Chapter 15 talks about the preparation of these bowls as they are called or some translations

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put at the vials of judgment.

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In chapter 15 verses 1 and 2 we have a picture again of the sea of glass that is before the

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throne of God.

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We saw this earlier in the book in chapters 4 and 5.

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John says, I saw another sign in heaven great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven

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last plagues.

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For in them the wrath of God is complete.

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Changes were coming to the end and God's wrath is going to be fully poured out now.

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He says, I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire.

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Now here is an addition to what we saw earlier in the book.

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This vast plain called a sea as it were of glass in which is set the throne of God now

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is mingled with fire.

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There seems to be fire that is flashing through this glass.

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That seems to signify the fact that God is on his throne and is about to pour out his

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judgment.

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This is a holy sea before him.

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And it says those who have victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and

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over the number of his name were standing on the sea of glass having harps of God.

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And so here in John's primary focus are people who have been delivered out of the tribulation

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period.

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They are martyrs for the most part, but they have had victory over the beast, the antichrist,

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and over the image of the beast and the mark that as we saw was forced upon, I shouldn't

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say forced upon, was given to those who are the followers of the beast.

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They had no part of that.

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And they are standing on this sea having harps of God.

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And there is a song that is being sung.

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It is called the Song of Moses, the servant of God and the Song of the Lamb.

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I don't know who arranged the songs that we heard here tonight by the celebration band,

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but there is a heavenly arranger who is going to put together a couple of songs.

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The Song of Moses and the Song of the Lamb we brought together.

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Here we have the law of Moses, the grace and truth in Jesus Christ.

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They are not opposites.

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They are not contradictory.

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They come together.

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And there is a song and the words are these.

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And you will recognize one of the fine more contemporary anthems for choirs out of these

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words.

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The marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty.

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Just and true are your ways, O King of the Saints or King of the Ages.

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Who shall not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name?

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For you alone are holy.

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For all nations shall come and worship before you, and your judgments have been manifested.

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A marvelous song of praise to God given to him on this sea of glass before his throne.

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And then it says, after these things I looked and behold the temple that could read the

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sanctuary of the tabernacle or the inner shrine.

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Literally it's what it says.

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The inner shrine of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven.

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It was open and you say what in the world is that?

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Well you remember that Moses was given a pattern from which to build the tabernacle in the

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wilderness.

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That tabernacle was a copy of the true tabernacle which is in heaven.

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And so that is what is spoken of here.

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And you remember in that tabernacle that Moses and the people constructed there was an inner

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sanctuary called the Holy of Holies.

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And so what John sees here now is the original temple or sanctuary in heaven is opened up.

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And out of that temple, out of that inner shrine, out of the very presence of God in

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the Holy of Holies came seven angels having the seven plagues.

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He sees them clothed in pure white linen and having their chests girded with golden bands.

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And one of the four living creatures, remember these are those unique cherubim-like creatures

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that encircle the throne of God and declare his holiness and praise.

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We were introduced to them earlier in the book.

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One of these four living creatures came to the seven angels and the seven golden bowls

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full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever.

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And the temple, I should say he gave to the seven angels the seven golden bowls full of

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the wrath of God who lives forever and ever.

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And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power and no

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one was able to enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.

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So apparently the inference is that there is some access to this heavenly temple normally

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for the people of God.

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But now as the end times are here and God's plagues are about to be poured out, access

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is barred.

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And the smoke of God's judgment fills this place in heaven.

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And the seven angels are given these bowls as John sees them that are filled with God's

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judgment for the world.

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And then in chapter 16 we have the pouring out of these bowls upon the earth.

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The first vial or the first bowl involves boils.

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I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, go and pour out the bowls

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of the wrath of God on the earth.

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So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth and a foul and loathsome sore

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came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image.

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Notice that the judgments here are poured out upon those who are the worshipers of the

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beast.

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Someone has called this God's germ warfare.

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God pours out upon the earth dwellers as they are called in this book.

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That is those who dwell on the earth and his whole lives focus on the earth and who follow

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the beast.

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He pours out upon them some sort of a sore, a boil, a cancer we might call it.

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Some understand these adjectives foul and loathsome or bad and evil as meaning malignant,

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possibly the case.

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This is somewhat similar to the sixth Egyptian plague back in the book of Exodus where there

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were also boils that were poured out upon the earth and upon Egypt in that case.

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It is sores that affect those with the mark of the antichrist.

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We come then to the second vial or bowl of blood.

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It says in verse 3, the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea and it became blood

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as of a dead man and every living creature in the sea died.

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And so the salt water stores of the earth are made uninhabitable for the creatures that

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now live in them.

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Does the sea literally turn to blood like the blood that comes out of your veins when

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you cut yourself?

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It's possible it does.

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I don't think the language here demands that interpretation.

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It is whatever the chemical change is in the water, it turns it so that it's dead and so

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that it's red.

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That is the main point here.

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The sea, which is now the great life giver, we are told even human life would be impossible

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were it not for the sea.

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The sea which now absorbs the filth of man and which yet gives man food for life, this

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sea will in that day be fit only for death.

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And the carcasses of all of these dead sea creatures will float to the surface as every

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sea creature dies.

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Can you imagine the stench?

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I think we could say this is going to be the mother of all stenches.

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When the second bowl is poured out upon the earth and every fish dies, it's bad enough

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to be around the lake when the smelt are running.

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Or when there are other causes of dead fish in massive quantities.

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But listen, I'm serious, can you imagine what the coastal areas of the world will be like

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in this day?

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So we come now to the third of these vials or bowls.

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The rivers also are turned to blood.

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The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, this is fresh

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water, and they became blood.

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And so the same thing that happened in the sea will now happen in the rivers.

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The rivers and springs of the earth will pour forth blood.

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Already a third of the waters, fresh waters, have been made bitter by wormwood, according

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to the trumpet of chapter 8, verses 10 and 11, the third trumpet.

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This will cause the water to be, I think we can say, nearly undrinkable.

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The angel of the waters, which seems to be a description of this angel that pours out

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the bowl on the water, says, you are righteous, O Lord, the one who is and who was and who

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is to come, because you have judged these things.

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They, he's talking now about these followers of the beast, they have shed the blood of

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saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink.

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It is their just do.

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And so you see now why God pours out these curses upon the water supply of the earth.

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There is unprecedented martyrdom during this period of the tribulation.

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And now God gives the earth blood to drink, because it has shed the blood of his people.

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And from underneath the altar, and earlier in the book we saw that underneath the altar

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the souls of those who have been martyred, at least part of the tribulation, and there

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is this voice that comes out that says, even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous

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are your judgments.

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And so there is this amen, shall we say, from some of the martyrs in heaven who are saying

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yes.

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This angel is speaking the truth.

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God is true and righteous.

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Now friend, there is not truth and righteousness in our world today.

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There are lies and there is wickedness.

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There is deception and there is evil.

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That characterizes man.

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But it does not characterize God.

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He is holy.

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And when he brings judgment to the earth, it will be in truth and it will be a righteous

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judgment.

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God will give man what he richly deserves.

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We come then to the fourth of the bowls, verses 8 and 9.

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It is an oppressive heat.

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This fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch

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men with fire, and men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of

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God who has the power over all these plagues.

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And they did not repent and give him glory.

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And so in this fourth bowl is given to the sun to scorch men.

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God just turns up the thermostat on the earth.

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Now this is interesting because back in chapter 8, under the fourth trumpet, the solar power

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is reduced by a third.

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But now God turns up the thermometer, or the thermostat, so that men are scorched with

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the heat.

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Perhaps God at this point in some way removes a layer of the atmosphere.

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Maybe he just taps the earth a little bit closer to the sun.

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Whatever he does, it causes tremendous suffering in the world because of the heat that is produced.

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And remember, there is only blood to drink.

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All of the water supply of the earth has been tainted by the curse of God.

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All of this corresponds with what Jesus himself said in Luke 21, 25.

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He said, there shall be signs in the sun, and the moon, and the stars upon the earth,

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distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring.

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And what is the result of the judgment of God?

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Is it that many turn to God?

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No it is not.

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The result is blasphemy and a hardening of the heart of man.

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Who does that remind you of?

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Pharaoh in the Old Testament.

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God poured out the plague saying, let my people go, and he hardened his heart against God.

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And he simply represented all of mankind in doing that.

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Then we have the fifth of the bulls, verses 10 and 11.

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Fifth angel poured out his bull on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full

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of darkness, and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain.

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And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not

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repent of their deeds.

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Now the earth is plunged into some sort of supernatural darkness.

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It is mysterious what is taking place.

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The throne of the beast probably refers to Babylon, and we will discuss that when we

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get to chapters 17 and 18 in a few weeks.

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That is headquarters for him, and that seems to be where the darkness begins, and then

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it seems to spread throughout the earth.

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There is a mystery about it.

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It is eerie.

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Heat is increased, but light is decreased.

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And again, there are prophecies in both the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament

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that align with the very things that John sees happening here.

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And the result of all of this is great pain.

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These things happen in quick succession.

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It's not scattered over many years, but just one after another these pains and plagues

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are poured upon man.

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But again, there is no repentance.

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Then in verse 12 we have the sixth of the bulls.

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It is a march that is directed against the people of Israel by an army.

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We saw this army numbered and gathered under the sixth trumpet.

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And now something happens making it possible for this army to march to the west.

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The sixth angel poured out his bull on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried

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up so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared.

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We don't know whether this involves more than a drought.

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We can understand the drought, can't we, because of what we've seen happening.

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There may be something historical or political involved here as well as geographical, atmospheric,

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that allows this massive army from the east to march toward the west and toward the land

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of Israel.

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It may be that there is some sort of conflict and vision between this great army from the

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east and the massive armies of Antichrist, which are basically Western, European, and

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beyond.

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And these two large power blocks now are fighting over the mid-east.

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Perhaps the oil is part of that.

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They are coming toward Palestine, they are coming toward Israel, and the way is prepared

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as this sixth bull is poured out upon the earth.

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That brings us to something of a parenthesis in verses 13 through 16.

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This sort of follows a pattern in the book.

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You remember that there before between number six and number seven in these series, there's

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been a break.

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And so now there's another break in the forward push of the chronology, and some information

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is given to us regarding this battle.

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It says, I saw three great, three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth

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of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

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They are the spirits of demons, performing signs, and they go out to the kings of the

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earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

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Behold, I am coming as a thief.

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Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame.

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And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew Armageddon.

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We are given two bits of information here.

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One regards Armageddon, the other the return of Christ.

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The word Armageddon is found only here in the Bible.

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Literally it means the Mount of Megiddo.

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You probably know that there is a mount that is called that and has been for thousands

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of years in a plain area of Israel.

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It is in the plain of Ezdralon.

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Many of the Old Testament battles were fought there, and even modern battles.

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The Valley of Megiddon is mentioned in Zechariah 12 and verse 11 that is related here to this

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name Armageddon.

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You can hear something of the same sound in it.

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There are demons that are involved in the gathering of the world's armies to this place.

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These are called frog-like demons.

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Psyche in his commentary says, they are the elect agents to awaken the world to the attempt

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to abolish God from the earth.

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They are frog-like in that they come forth out of the pestiferous quagmires.

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Don't you like that phrase?

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I think the next time my kids act up I'm going to say, you pestiferous quagmire.

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They come forth out of the pestiferous quagmires of the universe to do their work amid the

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world's evening shadows and creep and croak and fill the ears of the nations with their

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noisy demonstrations till they set all the kings and armies of the whole earth in enthusiastic

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commotion for the final crushing out of the lamb and all his powers.

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These spirits of hell go forth upon the kings and potentates of the world to make up and

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gather together the grand army of the devil's worshippers.

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Well, you can tell that he wrote for the day in which he lived, but his language, though

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flowery, is certainly descriptive of the work of these frog-like demons.

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They are said to come forth out of the mouth of the dragon and the beast and the false

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prophet.

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They have hell's trinity, the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet.

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Because these demons are seen coming out of their mouths, it may be that it is their words,

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their deceiving, lying words, which will be the force used by these spirits to bring the

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armies together for this great battle.

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Do not doubt at all that he is speaking here of literal spiritual beings who will be used

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00:26:51,900 --> 00:26:54,420
in this attempt.

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00:26:54,420 --> 00:27:01,620
And it certainly does not say this at this point, but I think that in comparing Scripture

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00:27:01,620 --> 00:27:09,060
with Scripture, we can say that events in the world do not just automatically happen.

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What we see taking place in Russia is a struggle beyond Yeltsin and the democratic forces,

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00:27:16,540 --> 00:27:23,260
and that people's congress, which is a leftover from the communistic regime, these two blocks

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00:27:23,260 --> 00:27:32,260
of power in Russia represent spiritual forces that are battling it out for the future of

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00:27:32,260 --> 00:27:37,020
that nation in the invisible realm, in the heavenly realms.

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That happens all over the world.

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We see history on one level, but behind that there are spiritual forces.

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Believe me, there is not a separation, as our world view tells us, between the spiritual

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00:27:50,140 --> 00:27:52,320
realm and the physical realm.

326
00:27:52,320 --> 00:28:00,440
They overlap, they come together, and behind those political movements and military movements

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00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:07,780
in our world today there are spiritual forces that are orchestrating and battling and maneuvering,

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00:28:07,780 --> 00:28:14,100
seeking to advance the cause of the prince of darkness, Satan.

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00:28:14,100 --> 00:28:20,380
And we see that here as these particular frog-like spirits are sent out to gather the armies

330
00:28:20,380 --> 00:28:29,800
of the earth for this battle in a place that is called Armageddon.

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00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:35,020
Others point out rightly that we should not look upon the Battle of Armageddon as a single

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00:28:35,020 --> 00:28:36,760
battle.

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00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:46,100
It really is a series of campaigns, and it may last for some period of months or even

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years in the last half of this tribulation period.

335
00:28:49,220 --> 00:28:53,680
It is a world war, really.

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00:28:53,680 --> 00:29:01,420
It is a massive outbreak of war that will take place, but it will climax in this final

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00:29:01,420 --> 00:29:09,820
battle in the Valley of Megiddo, at Armageddon, at the Mount of Megiddo.

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And we will see more about that as we get to chapter 19, and we see that as these armies

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00:29:14,380 --> 00:29:20,460
come together in Israel to do battle with one another, their attention is diverted to

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00:29:20,460 --> 00:29:25,500
another army that shows up they hadn't expected.

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00:29:25,500 --> 00:29:30,460
Now it seems almost an intrusion, an interruption, but John says that there is a word from Jesus

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in the midst of all of this.

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Behold, I am coming as a thief.

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That is, Jesus comes unexpectedly upon the world.

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He is not saying that he comes as a thief to his people.

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We are now to be alert and watchful for the return of our Lord, his return for his people,

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00:29:52,260 --> 00:29:55,660
for the church, the rapture of the church.

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There is nothing yet to be fulfilled before he comes.

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It has been true for the last 2,000 years.

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It is still true tonight that the coming of Christ is imminent.

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It could happen at any moment.

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And in his return to the earth, likewise, his people in that day, as the tribulation

353
00:30:15,140 --> 00:30:20,340
comes to an end, will be looking and longing for the coming of the Lord Jesus.

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He will not come as a thief to his people.

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His people will be looking and expecting him, but to the world.

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He will come as a thief.

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And so he says, blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments.

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That's the anticipation.

359
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That's the expectation.

360
00:30:39,340 --> 00:30:45,260
The warning is, though, lest he walk naked and they see his shame, a rather strange kind

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00:30:45,260 --> 00:30:47,260
of warning.

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At least one commentator says that it may be an allusion to what was done in the temple

363
00:30:54,940 --> 00:30:55,940
on that day.

364
00:30:55,940 --> 00:31:02,940
During the night, there were priests who were assigned guard duty in various parts of the

365
00:31:02,940 --> 00:31:04,900
temple area.

366
00:31:04,900 --> 00:31:10,900
And there would be an officer who would walk around to make sure that they were awake.

367
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And if he found one asleep, they were stripped of their clothing and beaten.

368
00:31:16,460 --> 00:31:20,040
And so it may be that that is the allusion here.

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00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:24,660
We do not want to be asleep when Jesus comes.

370
00:31:24,660 --> 00:31:29,580
And I'm telling you, the devil is just popping the sleeping pills into God's people like

371
00:31:29,580 --> 00:31:31,780
crazy today.

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Especially in the Western world, so many of God's people are drowsy to the age in which

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we live.

374
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Maybe you're like me.

375
00:31:44,580 --> 00:31:47,780
You read the newspaper and you hear about these things happening in the world and you

376
00:31:47,780 --> 00:31:51,580
sit there and you say, am I dreaming?

377
00:31:51,580 --> 00:31:53,420
Is all of this really happening?

378
00:31:53,420 --> 00:31:55,560
And it is.

379
00:31:55,560 --> 00:32:00,300
And it's just laying the groundwork for what God's Word says is going to come to pass in

380
00:32:00,300 --> 00:32:01,700
the last days.

381
00:32:01,700 --> 00:32:02,980
We don't see it all in place yet.

382
00:32:02,980 --> 00:32:05,420
I'm not suggesting that.

383
00:32:05,420 --> 00:32:11,620
But there were those who were quite alarmed when Russia was overtaken by democracy.

384
00:32:11,620 --> 00:32:18,620
They said, wow, this is going to make us rethink all of our prophecy regarding movements there

385
00:32:18,620 --> 00:32:20,300
in Europe and so on.

386
00:32:20,300 --> 00:32:24,340
Well, it may be good for us to rethink some of that.

387
00:32:24,340 --> 00:32:27,340
We don't have a corner in all truth yet.

388
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But the last chapter has not been written in Russia.

389
00:32:30,740 --> 00:32:39,260
And another chapter may be written this week, which will yet further the scene for the coming

390
00:32:39,260 --> 00:32:45,760
of a powerful man who is going to be able to bring peace.

391
00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:48,420
My daughter is not in here, so I'll tell a story on her.

392
00:32:48,420 --> 00:32:52,300
As we were driving to the church tonight, I had on a Christian station.

393
00:32:52,300 --> 00:33:00,700
Of course, I always listen to Christian music, you know, because I'm a preacher, right?

394
00:33:00,700 --> 00:33:03,100
If you believe that, I would know.

395
00:33:03,100 --> 00:33:04,740
She wanted to listen to something.

396
00:33:04,740 --> 00:33:10,140
She hit the little seek button there, so it went up to a station that she sometimes listened

397
00:33:10,140 --> 00:33:11,540
to.

398
00:33:11,540 --> 00:33:15,100
And Michael Jackson was singing.

399
00:33:15,100 --> 00:33:19,660
Blessed boy.

400
00:33:19,660 --> 00:33:28,980
And Michael was talking about healing the world and beating our swords into plowshares.

401
00:33:28,980 --> 00:33:33,620
I'll tell you something, he's not alone in that wish.

402
00:33:33,620 --> 00:33:36,020
I mean, all of us would wish for peace.

403
00:33:36,020 --> 00:33:41,500
But there's a cry for peace that is beginning to rise in our world.

404
00:33:41,500 --> 00:33:47,500
And at the same time, the world is beginning to crumble and to fall apart, and especially

405
00:33:47,500 --> 00:33:54,340
in Europe, which is the headquarters for Antichrist.

406
00:33:54,340 --> 00:34:00,540
And as the cry for peace gets greater and war becomes more of a reality in Europe, eventually

407
00:34:00,540 --> 00:34:07,700
we're going to see that cry, that prayer for peace, satisfied in the rising of some

408
00:34:07,700 --> 00:34:13,060
strong person who will have the answers for Europe.

409
00:34:13,060 --> 00:34:19,580
Now, whether you and I will see that or not, I don't know.

410
00:34:19,580 --> 00:34:26,500
But when that takes place, believe me, Antichrist is not far away.

411
00:34:26,500 --> 00:34:32,260
The whole thing is just setting the scene for what God in His Word has told us is going

412
00:34:32,260 --> 00:34:35,540
to come to pass.

413
00:34:35,540 --> 00:34:37,540
We must not be asleep.

414
00:34:37,540 --> 00:34:41,740
We need to recognize the day in which we're living.

415
00:34:41,740 --> 00:34:46,300
Then we come to the seventh vial.

416
00:34:46,300 --> 00:34:51,220
The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the

417
00:34:51,220 --> 00:34:55,340
temple of heaven from the throne, saying, It is done.

418
00:34:55,340 --> 00:34:57,340
What does that remind you of?

419
00:34:57,340 --> 00:35:00,220
The cross, right?

420
00:35:00,220 --> 00:35:02,660
Where Jesus said, It is finished.

421
00:35:02,660 --> 00:35:05,220
There redemption was finished.

422
00:35:05,220 --> 00:35:07,900
Here judgment is finished.

423
00:35:07,900 --> 00:35:13,540
Now, we've got some more detail to fill in, so don't think that we're not going to talk

424
00:35:13,540 --> 00:35:15,460
anymore about judgment.

425
00:35:15,460 --> 00:35:21,260
The seventh vial or the seventh bowl looks ahead to the end of judgment.

426
00:35:21,260 --> 00:35:23,900
It's finished.

427
00:35:23,900 --> 00:35:30,380
And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings and a great earthquake, such a

428
00:35:30,380 --> 00:35:35,500
mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth.

429
00:35:35,500 --> 00:35:40,500
Now, there are those who believe that this earthquake is a geopolitical earthquake and

430
00:35:40,500 --> 00:35:45,580
not a literal earthquake, a physical earthquake.

431
00:35:45,580 --> 00:35:50,460
It seems to me, however, better to think of it as a literal earthquake.

432
00:35:50,460 --> 00:35:56,420
It says the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell.

433
00:35:56,420 --> 00:36:00,140
Some see the great city here as Jerusalem.

434
00:36:00,140 --> 00:36:03,260
Others see the great city as Babylon.

435
00:36:03,260 --> 00:36:06,680
I lean toward the latter view.

436
00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:13,100
It says, and great Babylon was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine

437
00:36:13,100 --> 00:36:15,300
of the fierceness of his wrath.

438
00:36:15,300 --> 00:36:19,940
Chapter 17 and 18 again is going to tell us more about how Babylon is judged.

439
00:36:19,940 --> 00:36:22,380
The details are given there.

440
00:36:22,380 --> 00:36:26,780
The great cities of the world are now reduced to rubble.

441
00:36:26,780 --> 00:36:29,540
Now, you imagine this.

442
00:36:29,540 --> 00:36:35,500
Just try to think, not just of Los Angeles being hit by an earthquake, not just San Francisco,

443
00:36:35,500 --> 00:36:41,140
but you go around the whole Pacific Rim, that ring of fire.

444
00:36:41,140 --> 00:36:42,860
You go to Europe.

445
00:36:42,860 --> 00:36:46,780
You go to the east coast of the United States, to all of the cities of the world.

446
00:36:46,780 --> 00:36:56,140
An earthquake like has never struck the earth before, and the massive destruction and death,

447
00:36:56,140 --> 00:37:04,020
that will take place as skyscrapers crumble and fall into heaps of dust and rubble.

448
00:37:04,020 --> 00:37:08,620
So fears this earthquake that it says that every island fled away.

449
00:37:08,620 --> 00:37:14,100
Friend, don't be in Hawaii on this day.

450
00:37:14,100 --> 00:37:17,040
The islands of the seas will disappear.

451
00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:23,100
They will go down below the waters, and the mountains that reach up into the sky are going

452
00:37:23,100 --> 00:37:25,740
to crumble themselves.

453
00:37:25,740 --> 00:37:33,840
Then it says, great hail from heaven fell upon men.

454
00:37:33,840 --> 00:37:41,820
Every hailstone about the weight of a talent, that is 75 pounds.

455
00:37:41,820 --> 00:37:50,980
Imagine a chunk of ice weighing 75 pounds, and then imagine this worldwide storm system

456
00:37:50,980 --> 00:37:57,600
that begins to throw upon the earth this kind of hail.

457
00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:04,120
And men fall on their knees and they cry out, oh God, forgive us of our sins.

458
00:38:04,120 --> 00:38:05,780
We could wish.

459
00:38:05,780 --> 00:38:07,280
Look at it.

460
00:38:07,280 --> 00:38:15,060
And men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly

461
00:38:15,060 --> 00:38:17,060
great.

462
00:38:17,060 --> 00:38:21,940
There has never been greater devastation in nature than will be seen with this seventh

463
00:38:21,940 --> 00:38:24,420
bull.

464
00:38:24,420 --> 00:38:31,060
Today the whole world begins to collapse.

465
00:38:31,060 --> 00:38:38,060
Today it's almost as though the spring is being wound tighter and tighter and tighter

466
00:38:38,060 --> 00:38:48,260
and tighter, and on this day the whole thing just goes, as God's judgment is poured out.

467
00:38:48,260 --> 00:38:56,300
Well, we don't have a very nice description of future events to think about as we go home.

468
00:38:56,300 --> 00:39:02,500
We can't go home very happy about the nature of man's unrepentant heart, his wickedness,

469
00:39:02,500 --> 00:39:04,860
his determination to blaspheme God.

470
00:39:04,860 --> 00:39:09,980
But I'll tell you what we can go home happy about.

471
00:39:09,980 --> 00:39:16,480
We can go home happy about the fact that in the end God is going to be vindicated.

472
00:39:16,480 --> 00:39:20,900
The righteousness of God is going to be vindicated.

473
00:39:20,900 --> 00:39:24,660
Only God's people can see and understand that.

474
00:39:24,660 --> 00:39:31,140
But the God who today is rejected and blasphemed by the world, the God who is ignored, the

475
00:39:31,140 --> 00:39:38,380
God against whom hostility is directed in this day, is going to have the last word.

476
00:39:38,380 --> 00:39:43,460
And the people of God can rejoice that he will be honored.

477
00:39:43,460 --> 00:39:45,860
He will be praised.

478
00:39:45,860 --> 00:39:48,700
He will be exalted.

479
00:39:48,700 --> 00:39:56,900
The one who is righteous, who is and who was and who is to be, the one who will judge these

480
00:39:56,900 --> 00:40:03,340
things, the one whose works are great and marvelous, the Lord God Almighty, the one

481
00:40:03,340 --> 00:40:11,940
who is just and true in all of his ways, the one before whom eventually all nations will

482
00:40:11,940 --> 00:40:15,060
come and worship.

483
00:40:15,060 --> 00:40:19,660
I'd like for us to take our hymnals and sing before we go.

484
00:40:19,660 --> 00:40:26,220
After a study like this you need something to kind of lighten you up just a bit.

485
00:40:26,220 --> 00:40:34,380
And so let's sing a verse or so of 229 that says, our God reigns.

486
00:40:34,380 --> 00:40:44,420
Today we look around and there is defeat on political issues and you see the people of

487
00:40:44,420 --> 00:40:49,140
God persecuted and blasphemed and attacked.

488
00:40:49,140 --> 00:40:50,660
And we think, where is God?

489
00:40:50,660 --> 00:40:51,660
I'll tell you where he is.

490
00:40:51,660 --> 00:40:53,820
He's on his throne.

491
00:40:53,820 --> 00:40:54,900
And we can sing about it.

492
00:40:54,900 --> 00:40:56,140
Let's do as we stand.

493
00:40:56,140 --> 00:40:57,140
229.

494
00:40:57,140 --> 00:40:58,140
How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him.

495
00:40:58,140 --> 00:41:25,140
Who brings good news, good news, announcing peace, proclaiming news, proclaiming peace,

496
00:41:25,140 --> 00:41:32,140
proclaiming news of happiness.

497
00:41:32,140 --> 00:41:36,140
Our God reigns.

498
00:41:36,140 --> 00:41:40,140
Our God reigns.

499
00:41:40,140 --> 00:41:44,140
Our God reigns.

500
00:41:44,140 --> 00:41:49,140
Our God reigns.

501
00:41:49,140 --> 00:41:53,140
Our God reigns.

502
00:41:53,140 --> 00:41:59,140
Our God reigns.

503
00:41:59,140 --> 00:42:07,140
Have you noticed that this false prophet in Waco, Texas has been preaching to the FBI

504
00:42:07,140 --> 00:42:12,140
about the trumpets and the various parts of the book of Revelation?

505
00:42:12,140 --> 00:42:13,140
They're fed up to hear with it.

506
00:42:13,140 --> 00:42:14,140
So am I.

507
00:42:14,140 --> 00:42:18,140
He doesn't know what he's talking about because he sees himself as Jesus Christ.

508
00:42:18,140 --> 00:42:22,140
And our world laughs at the kinds of things that we read in this book.

509
00:42:22,140 --> 00:42:25,140
And if some of those people were here tonight, they would look at you and me and they'd

510
00:42:25,140 --> 00:42:28,140
say, you better move to Waco.

511
00:42:28,140 --> 00:42:31,140
They don't understand.

512
00:42:31,140 --> 00:42:37,140
I think that people like this are raised up to bring discredit to the truth of the Word

513
00:42:37,140 --> 00:42:39,140
of God and to the book of Revelation.

514
00:42:39,140 --> 00:42:41,140
Let me tell you what this book says.

515
00:42:41,140 --> 00:42:43,140
It's going to come to pass.

516
00:42:43,140 --> 00:42:45,140
It doesn't please man, but it is going to come to pass.

517
00:42:45,140 --> 00:42:50,140
Let's sing that third verse about Jesus' resurrection out from the tomb.

518
00:42:50,140 --> 00:42:59,140
Out from the tomb He came with grace and majesty.

519
00:42:59,140 --> 00:43:03,140
He is alive.

520
00:43:03,140 --> 00:43:08,140
He is alive.

521
00:43:08,140 --> 00:43:11,140
God loves us all.

522
00:43:11,140 --> 00:43:18,140
See here His hands, His feet, His side.

523
00:43:18,140 --> 00:43:27,140
Yes, we know He is alive.

524
00:43:27,140 --> 00:43:31,140
Our God reigns.

525
00:43:31,140 --> 00:43:36,140
Our God reigns.

526
00:43:36,140 --> 00:43:41,140
Our God reigns.

527
00:43:41,140 --> 00:43:47,140
Our God reigns.

528
00:43:47,140 --> 00:43:49,140
Let's pray together.

529
00:43:49,140 --> 00:43:56,140
Father, we give glory and praise to You, the One who is true and righteous in all Your

530
00:43:56,140 --> 00:44:08,140
judgments and as terrifying and fearful as these events are in their description.

531
00:44:08,140 --> 00:44:18,140
We nonetheless rejoice in them because they vindicate You as the God who is, who was,

532
00:44:18,140 --> 00:44:22,140
who is to come and the God who reigns.

533
00:44:22,140 --> 00:44:31,140
Father, we live in a day which is becoming increasingly dark, but even a little light

534
00:44:31,140 --> 00:44:36,140
shines brightly when it's real dark.

535
00:44:36,140 --> 00:44:43,140
May we be that point of light, that reflector of Jesus in the darkness of this world.

536
00:44:43,140 --> 00:44:46,140
Lord, keep us faithful.

537
00:44:46,140 --> 00:44:56,140
Carry us on in Your strength that we may be Your servants in the darkness of this age.

538
00:44:56,140 --> 00:45:03,140
And this week as we face whatever is before us, remind us that You reign, that You're

539
00:45:03,140 --> 00:45:07,140
on the throne, and that we need not fear.

540
00:45:07,140 --> 00:45:08,140
Amen.

541
00:45:08,140 --> 00:45:36,140
Good night.