Again, welcome everybody. We're just excited and blessed to be able to be gathered here to worship with you guys today
I am pastor Nathan and today we're gonna be looking at the second half of Revelation chapter 9 as well as taking communion together
And so if you're in the room, hopefully you've gotten your communion emblems as you came in the room today
If you're watching online, I encourage you to get your communion emblems ready
So we're gonna be doing that at the tail end of service today
But this morning we are looking at what is known as the second woe of Revelation
the sixth trumpet judgment of Revelation
Chapter 9 now by the time we've gotten to Revelation chapter 9
Whether you see the judgments the trumpets or the seals of trumpets and the bulls as a chronological
Set of judgments or whether you see them as overlapping
Retelling of the same tribulation period. Those are a couple of the possible interpretations
Either way all agree that by Revelation 9 we are looking at events that are taking place during what is known as the great
Tribulation the second three and a half years of the seven-year tribulation period and this is a period of time where God's
Judgment on sin the sin of mankind the sin of those who reject him is still falling upon the earth and it's falling on
the earth and its inhabitants in increasingly devastating ways
By this time the church has been taken out of the earth
And so that that event that rapture as we called of the church was followed by these cataclysmic judgments
landing in rapid succession upon the earth
This time is so bad
This time is so difficult that Jesus said unless those days were shortened. No flesh would be saved
And so the first half of Revelation 9 we looked at last time the first woe or the fifth trumpet judgment
Which was a demonic attack aimed at people
It was a judgment of torment a judgment of pain a judgment of suffering a time
So bad that it tells us in Scripture that people would want to die
They would seek death they would try to end their lives
But God would remove the ability to they would not be able to find death
That's all then followed by the second half of Revelation 9, which is another demonic attack ding ding demons round two, right?
and
so
you know
It's a difficult time but but this time in Revelation this time in Revelation
instead of people being tormented and people being
Just persecuted with intense suffering God allows this judgment the second demonic attack to actually kill people
Primarily here what we're gonna see this morning are four major demons
Demons or angels of destruction as I'm calling them leading an army of two hundred million people
Now this is all part of the reclaiming of the earth by its rightful owner
Jesus Christ as we've been studying through Revelation
We saw there in heaven as the Lamb of God who was slain
Stepped forward and claimed the seven sealed scroll which I believe is the title deed to the earth there and as he reclaimed that scroll
Reclaiming that ownership that rightful ownership of the earth that was given over when sin came into the world. He began to open those seals
unleashing terrible judgments upon the earth and the inhabitants of his
Earth because it belongs to him and as he began to open up those seals those judgments were falling on
What are essentially at this point squatters in his property?
Squatters in property that belongs to him people who are not of his family due to their willful continued rejection of him
Then as those seals opened each one was another phase of this judgment pouring out upon the earth until we got to the seventh seal
Which then ushered in the seven trumpet judgments and the first four trumpet judgments
We saw were judgments against the earth itself against the natural order against the land and the sea and the sky
And and these were judgments that were against that which mankind had raised up as their own god
Earth itself to to worship creation to worship mother earth gaia all the different words people use
in their worship of the creation
But then the last three trumpet judgments are introduced as woes as the angel would say whoa
whoa
Whoa to the inhabitants of the earth as the remaining trumpets
Are about to sound and that word whoa means destruction and despair and devastation to come and again just a picture of the further
Escalating judgments of god upon the earth
And so as we saw in that first, whoa is five months of uniquely
Terrible suffering
Caused by demons who were released from the abyss to inflict pain and suffering upon mankind
The second whoa the sixth rudiment trumpet judgment that we're looking at this morning
Will begin in verse 13 of revelation chapter 9 and what we're going to see here today
The four main descriptors of what we're looking at today and what we're going to study is an altar
Some angels an army and a world audience
But before we get into the details of all that we are going to spend some time
In worship because as god's people we are saved
We are saved from our sin
We are saved from the power of sin and death
We are saved from the wrath to come and we are so grateful for that
So grateful for that opportunity to be saved but never to forget that while we are here
There are still people who aren't
And we have a great call to go out and share the gospel of jesus christ with them that they too are
Saved amen let's pray father god
We love you
We love you lord we're so grateful god for what you've done in our lives in saving us god
Lord we're gathered here today as your people most of us are gathered here as your people lord
To hear from you to hear your word
God we gather as a group like this to to hear the the teaching and the preaching of the gospel
To hear the the teaching and the preaching of your word that we would study and learn it together to know what it is
What it means how it applies that then we would live
according to the truth of your word
And lord as we've been studying revelation god
We've seen some very terrible judgments
Falling upon the earth
Lord as we've been studying this prophecy of the future of the time of tribulation
God it's a warning
It's a picture of
How you really feel about sin god
That lord you were in no way cavalier about sin
You were in no way
Justifying with sin lord sin is destructive and you hate it
And lord you've spent centuries by this point
Allowing the truth of salvation to be preached upon the earth, but lord we know there's a time coming when that'll be over
And god it breaks our heart to see that there are still those who will reject you even in the face of judgment lord
And we pray god
That those we know today that don't know you yet would know you before this terrible time of judgment lord that they would come to salvation
before this terrible time of judgment
But lord we're also gathered here today god to celebrate in communion lord and god
We know the very basis the very foundation of our evangelistic zeal the very foundation of why we go out to tell people about you
And to share the gospel
Lord is because we remember what you did for us
And we're so grateful god that you shed your blood for us that you died on that cross for us lord
God speak to us today bless us today encourage us today challenge us today lord
Motivate us today through the power of the holy spirit to be people of god
People of jesus christ
People who live for him and people who share him with everybody they run into lord
God we worship you now we praise your name because you are worthy
It's in jesus name we pray amen
We are in revelation chapter 9 verse 13
Verse 13 and let's start reading there. It says the sixth angel blew his trumpet
And from the four horns of the golden altar that is before god I heard a voice
So here in revelation 9
john is
Watching these judgments unfold these trumpets being blasted and now as he hears this six trump trumpet
It he hears a voice and it specifically tells us that this voice is coming from the four horns
of the golden altar
now this is a
scene that's somewhat reminiscent of moses in the wilderness
And if you guys remember the story he was walking through the wilderness one day and a bush started talking to him
It was on fire
There was a voice that came out of it and it says in exodus chapter 3 verse 4
It says when the lord saw that he had gone over to look at the burning bush
God called out to him from the bush and said moses moses and here I am he answered
now that experience must have been very strange for moses because you know bushes are
Alive but considered inanimate objects right they don't typically speak to us wave at us try to get our attention
And they're just plants, you know, and even though this bush was burning and not consumed strange enough moses then heard this voice
Well here in revelation 9 much like this burning bush this voice
I believe coming from the four horns of the altar is the voice of god speaking
Through this inanimate object this golden altar and you'll notice that that is a very specific detail there
It's not just any altar. It says it is the golden altar
Now if you remember back in the book of hebrews
We were taught that the tabernacle and the temple that was here on earth was a model a representation of the throne room of heaven
The throne room of god and so in the tabernacle we had on earth
There was actually two altars that were a part of that whole setup there one you had the brass altar or the bronze or brazen
altar as it was called that
Set in the outer court of the temple and it was a place where the animal sacrifices were killed
They were slaughtered there their blood was shed as that offering to cover their sin
And that happened in the outer court and then in the inner court or inside the holy place
Sitting just before the big veil that separated the holy of holies which is where god's presence was
You had this thing called the golden altar or also referred to as the golden altar
referred to as the altar of incense and that altar is where the incense from outside was brought in it was placed on that altar
The smoke went up from that altar of incense and that whole picture there
Was a picture of god receiving the prayers of his people as that smoke went up from that incense just before the throne room of god
It was this picture of the prayers of god's people rising up to him
And it was a picture that the prayers of god's people are a sweet smelling aroma to him that god is not
You know irritated when we talk to him, right?
He he loves it. He loves us to reach out and to pray and to talk to him that way and so
Um, but the golden altar we have seen this altar twice so far in the book of revelation
The first time we saw it was in chapter six where we saw a group of believers who had been killed for their testimony
Their testimony of jesus christ that they had given during tribulation
We refer to these people as tribulation saints that people who had come to believe in jesus christ as lord and savior during tribulation
They had then been killed they had been slaughtered murdered for their testimony
And so in chapter six we saw them underneath this altar
That was right in front of the throne of god there in heaven
And they were there crying out to god or in a sense offering up prayers to god from that altar
But their prayer at that time was when god will you avenge our blood?
When will you make those who killed us pay the price for their crimes?
And then in chapter eight at the opening of the seventh seal when the seven trumpets were handed out to the seven angels
We read there that we saw an angel that had an incense burner
Right that that thing that would dangle off at a chain is kind of bowl like thing that the incense was inside and it would burn incense
Incense we saw this angel that had that incense burner
It says he was given a large amount of incense that he then mixed with the prayers of the saints and offered that on the golden
altar
Again the picture of the altar of incense in heaven
Um the being what we saw in the tabernacle on earth
But in revelation eight instead of those prayers then going up to god going up to the throne from that golden altar
It tells us that the angel took that sensor that was filled with the incense and mixed with the prayers of the saints
Filled with fire from the altar and he hurled it down to earth
Hurled it down to earth, which was a picture of god's judgment
Falling down to the earth and now here in revelation nine. We see this golden altar mentioned again
But this time there's an additional detail added to it. It specifically mentions the four horns of the altar
now it's specifically
Interestingly enough from the four horns of the altar that the voice of god comes from so what's the significance of that?
What's the what's the idea the picture that's being painted here?
Well, if you go back to exodus chapter 30, you don't need to turn there
I'm just going to tell you what takes place there
But if you're a note taker in exodus 30
We actually have the detailed instructions for the construction of this golden altar in the tabernacle
And in those detailed instructions, we find that a part of this altar was that there were four horns
Um on the altar as a part of its construction
And then in exodus 30 we also read that the people were instructed that once a year during yom kippur
They would take blood from the animal sacrifice on the outside altar and they would bring it into the golden altar
And they would smear that blood on the horns of the altar
Again, this being the altar of incense which represented the place where people um god the prayers of god's people went up to him
And so in those instructions in exodus 30 they would smear the blood of the sacrifice on the horns of this altar
And then they would take the incense from that altar place it in the burner and then enter into the holy of holies
So it was this whole process of access into god's presence now the point of that whole picture there
Is god was saying to his people
I will hear your prayers
I will receive your prayers, but only on the basis
of the blood sacrifice
That is a principle that has never changed
God hears our prayers. He hears the prayers of his people but only on the basis of the blood sacrifice
So when we cry out to god in prayer
When we're pleading our cause pleading our case to god in prayer
It's only on the basis
Of the blood atonement the blood sacrifice and that atonement being the shed blood of jesus christ on the cross
It is only on the basis of the shed blood of jesus that sacrifice on our behalf that the way to god is open
That was the whole picture of what was taking place in the tabernacle. That is the whole reality of god coming to this earth
As as clothing himself in flesh jesus christ the the son of god dying on the cross that whole picture
That whole process is is what we see in this
That access to god almighty who is perfect and pure and holy and without sin and without blemish
Access into his presence
Is only possible through the blood atonement. That's what we see in the altar
And so
A person might say you might say perhaps. I don't know but well
I pray all the time and and oftentimes as you're sharing your faith with people and talking to people
About jesus christ and talking to people about the gospel and and they don't know the lord
They'll often come back with well, I pray because when people are confronted with the fact that they don't know god
They want to respond with well, i'm spiritual
That's the natural response. And so one of the things you'll hear is well, I pray i'm a praying person
But if that prayer is not brought or based on what jesus has done
If it's not based on his atonement and his relationship with you through that atonement
Effectively, it's a useless prayer
It's going nowhere and bouncing off the ceiling
God hears and answers prayer based on the atonement
That incidentally is why we pray in jesus name. You'll notice that you know every time we pray
We end that prayer in jesus name or in the name of christ, right? We pray that way not not because it's some ritualistic formula
Or not because you know, that's just the way to to make sure the prayer is formatted, right?
You know
10-4 over and out buddy. I mean, it's not like there's this you have to end it that way or god doesn't hear it
The idea is that we're praying on the basis of
We're saying god is praying on the basis of
on the basis of
We're saying god hear what i'm saying on the basis of what jesus did
We don't pray to um, or we don't come to god on the basis of of our own actions
What we've done we don't come to god with the list of our accomplishments and our credentials and then demand that he hear us
That's not how prayer works. We come based upon what jesus did because that is the only reason
We have access to god almighty
And so here in revelation 9
What we see
is god
responding to prayer
Speaking from the place of the atonement the four horns that are on the altar of incense
It's likely him speaking here in revelation 9 in response to the prayers of all the saints that have been suffering during the time of tribulation
It's very possible that this
Response is directly in response to the prayer of those under the altar, right?
They killed us god for our testimony. They murdered us because we believed in you. When will you avenge us?
When will they pay for their crimes?
Well, the bill has come due
That is what we're seeing here in revelation 9 and they're about to pay
But before we move on to that, I just want to encourage you again, you know christian don't ever doubt
If you're a believer
Don't ever doubt that your prayers
count
Don't ever wonder if if is god hearing my prayers do they matter to him?
Are they important enough in his economy? Don't ever think that you know, because god hears your prayers
And you could be confident of that. Why because jesus died so that you would have that privilege
Jesus died so that you would have that access
That through his shed blood his atonement and our faith in that saying I plead that I depend on that
I I believe you died for me. I put my faith in you
We then are able to walk into the holy of holies right into the very presence of god himself
And say dad I got issues. I need help with something. It's a beautiful picture
But interesting in the old testament times there would be occasions where someone would charge through the outer court and charge into the holy of
holies and grab the horns of the altar
And there was this thought that that if I hold on to these this altar if I hang on to these horns
God will grant me mercy and grace
Now that is true
Up until this time
Because here in revelation chapter 9
That time has passed that age of grace the church age that we now live in prior to this time of tribulation
in revelation 9 that time has passed
And effectively there is no more long suffering for those who reject christ
Now is salvation possible yes
But it's in the midst of judgment drastic judgment being poured out and so verse 14
This is what the voice said say to the six angel who had the trumpet
Release the four angels bound at the great river euphrates
So the four angels who were prepared for the hour day morning
And who were prepared for the hour day month and year were released to kill a third of the human race
Now you read here you go it's four angels
Aren't angels good
Right
I mean we use the terms angels and demons to refer to the good guys and the bad guys
Right aren't angels good. Well, we have to remember the word angel
Is is is a neutral term the word angel simply means messenger
In the original language and so in the original language that word messenger can refer to someone who is a good messenger
It can refer to someone who is an evil messenger it can refer to someone who's a supernatural messenger
It can refer to someone who's a human messenger
So the word itself simply means messenger and these four angels are not
Good angels for a couple reasons
It says release the four angels bound at the great river euphrates
Not one single time in all of scripture. Do you ever find a good angel bound?
in any way shape or form
And the reason is because they don't need to be right that word bound there. It's implying restraining something against its will
It's like being arrested. It's like being in prison. It's like being handcuffed is the idea. It's like
The a captured enemy soldier who has their hands and feet tied up or a criminal that is bound up
So they can't do bad any longer that is what the word bound means here and nowhere in scripture
Do we ever read of an angel that we know for sure is good being bound in this way?
These angels are bound restrained
fallen angels
Or we might use the word demons to refer to them
But they're simply another part of satan's fallen army
Now it says that they are bound at the great river euphrates
Very specific details here the euphrates river still exists today. It's a great river
Sometimes not so great river, but it's a famous river. It's a historical river
The euphrates river was the original eastern border of the promised land that god gave to israel now
Israel never actually took all of that land, but it was the original eastern border
Of the promised land it was also the eastern most border of the roman empire interestingly enough because
prophetically
During the time of tribulation according to daniel we see that the world power the one world power that
Comes upon the globe at that time is referred to as the revived roman empire
Is referred to as the revived roman empire
This river's region of the world is also
Has also been a source of all kinds of strange wickedness and weird spirituality all the way back from the very beginning
Because somewhere in this area
In in a delta region that is formed by both the euphrates and the tigris river
We read in genesis is where the garden of eden existed. It was in this area of the world
now back in the garden
We read that it was there in the garden where evil infiltrated satan himself
Infiltrated this garden and then lied and tricked
Eve who then gave to adam who ate and sin entered the world
It was this garden area where the first sin in the world was committed
Where the first lie was told where the first murder was committed where the first grave was dug
It's a significant problem area for all of mankind
This was the area where
Nimrod we read in genesis defied god
He was an early world ruler some look at him as a pre-type of the antichrist
Someone who rebelled against god and formed a huge
Worldwide movement some look at it and say it was a worldwide religion
Against god and formed everybody together to say we'll get to god and we'll be the gods and it was called the tower of babel
The euphrates region was historically the location of some of israel's most oppressive enemies
From this region of the great euphrates river. We had the ninavites
The Babylonians the assyrians the medo persians
By the euphrates river
Where babalon was it was in that area where israel was held captive for 70 years
From this area all kinds of idolatry and weird spirituality and pantheism and polytheism and naturalistic religions came out of
Most of it coming out of babalon, which is in this area
Babylon incidentally plays an important role in revelation when we get to revelation chapter 17 and 18 we see babalon
referred to as babalon the great
Home for demons
It says the haunt of every unclean spirit unclean bird unclean despicable beast
We know that this area and babalon itself is a place of sexual immorality and sensuality and excess
It ends up becoming the center during this time of the world's economy and the center of the world's false religious system
So this this is the center of the world's false religious system
So this great euphrates river area
Is essentially where world history began
And it's where world history will have its ultimate end
It's why bible students and scholars and theologians get all excited when stuff happens in this part of the world
Because it's so connected to um end times teaching and prophecy. It's the people get all excited
I don't know if you remember some of you weren't even alive yet, but
Back when saddam hussein was on the scene and he was rebuilding babalon everybody got really excited about that
Whoa, what does that mean for end times teaching?
But it's this region
Where these four great angelic leaders of evil are chained
bound and restrained
And then it says that they were prepared to
And then it says that they were prepared for the hour the day the month and the year
Now again when you're studying the bible, it's it's good to ask questions about why things are said the way they're said, right?
He could have just said they were prepared for this moment
But god decided to be very specific
this hour day month and year
And the idea there is it just gives us a picture of how precise
How in control how perfectly on time god is with everything?
including judgment
That he is perfectly on time god is never late
God is never early. He never procrastinates. He never jumps the gun. No, he is not gandalf
Okay
But he's god almighty
creator of space and time and in everything
In everything everything from the beginning to the end is exactly how and when god determines it to be
including the tribulation period
Now if you know, jesus is your lord and savior, that's a truth you can take heart in
I could trust god
If you don't know jesus christ is your lord and savior be warned
Because second peter chapter 3 verses 9 and 10 says this
The lord does not delay his promise as some understand delay but is patient with you
Not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance
That's the grace of god, that's the mercy of god that is the age of grace we live in today
When we look across the world and we see things like like
Sex trafficking going on and we go
God how can you allow this to happen?
In murders and and and and sometimes we see things even myself and they're just like god, I trust you but I don't understand
And we're in this age where where where we think god is delaying
But he's long suffering the bible tells us
Because he wants everybody to have the opportunity to come to salvation
Because he loves them that much he created them
Even us in our own worst worst sin before we came to christ god was like I created you I love you and I want to save you
But what does it say in verse 10 but the day of the lord will come
Like a thief there in second peter 3
The day of the lord will come like a thief
And on that day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise and the elements will burn and be dissolved in the earth and all the works on it will
be disclosed
God is long suffering today, but the day will come
When he's done
But the big picture of this is god is in control
God is in control now god is in control then
God is in control during tribulation
God is the one that is in control always
And we see this picture here that that he is in control
Even including of these apparently powerful angels who we're going to see are responsible for the death of one third of the human population
They're restrained by god
Until
the hour
The day the month the year precisely according to god's calendar when he says let him loose
In here, that's indeed what he does
Let him loose
And yes, they go on to kill one third of the human race
If you look at the seals and the trumpets the the judgments if you look at them as chronological, which that's how i lean
Um, you might remember back in revelation 6 that it says when the pale horse pale horse of death
Was released on the earth that was one of the seal judgments
It says there that one fourth of the earth was killed with sword and famine and plague and wild animals
And and of course, there's there's reason that you could look at these things and say not only are they chronological
But they're also summary of a long period of time. I you know don't want to get into that right now
But the idea is in revelation 6 we saw that one third of the human population was killed
Now here in revelation 9 it says one third
One third of the population is now killed in this particular judgment. Well, if you put one fourth and one third together
For some of you that are like I don't do math. I know me too
That's 50 percent of the entire population of the earth that had been killed by this point of tribulation 50 percent
That's four billion people based on today's worldwide population
It's horrific
But these four angels that are released to do this, they don't do this on their own
They have an entourage that comes with them look in verse 16
It says the number of mounted troops was 200,000
And the number of people that were killed in this situation is
It says the number of mounted troops was 200 million. I heard their number
This is how I saw the horses and the riders in the vision
They had breastplates that were fiery red
Hyacinth blue and sulfur yellow
The heads of the horses were like the heads of lions and from the their mouths came fire smoke and sulfur
A third of the human race was killed by these three plagues
And it's these three plagues that are mentioned in verse 17
And then they're mentioned again by the fire the smoke and the sulfur that came from their mouths
For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails because their tails which resemble snakes have heads that inflict injury
So these
four fallen angels
Restrained having been restrained and bound and chained are released
Are released upon the earth and they bring this army with them
Now when you look at this you go well who or what are these horsemen, right? What are they?
I don't know for sure
All right
But but there's a weird description here that that that could kind of point in a couple different directions
There's a few ideas of who this army is
One is people look at this and they go. Well, it's it's a human army. It's an army of humans led by these four fallen angels
But that's that's a big army, right? Some people go. That's a huge army
Because you know as of 2021
All branches of the u.s. Military if you take all the branches of the u.s. Military and you count them up
It's only 1.3 million soldiers
So 200 million that's a big army, right?
Some look at this and they go well because the number is so outrageously big
And and then of course you have this really strange description of this army
People look at it and go that it's supernatural. It's demonic
It's just like what we saw in the fifth trinity
It's like what we saw in the fifth trumpet where there was these demonic entities that that came upon the earth
The challenge is there is because it just calls them mounted troops
It says the number of the mounted troops was 200 million now that word troops there simply means soldier
It's again, it's a word that doesn't refer to something supernatural or not supernatural
It just means soldier a fighter that is sitting on or in something
And so again some see this as john maybe in his vision looking into the future and seeing
tanks and planes
And apache attack helicopters and he's going uh, how do I describe this in language of his day?
But if you look at it it goes on to describe them he says I saw the horses and their riders in the vision
He doesn't say I saw something like a horse
Which we saw in the description of the locusts right like this and like that it was john saying I see something
I don't understand i'm trying to bring something from my world to describe it, but here. He just says I saw the horses
The indication there is that he saw something that was a horse
That was some type of steed
And then he goes, but this is how I saw them
And he goes on to describe them in this very strange way where then he goes
He goes they had heads like
the heads of lions
So the idea there is something that had like the body of a horse, but then it had a lion's head on it
And that could be he maybe had a large mane it had sharp teeth like a lion
But then he goes it breathes fire smoke smoke and sulfur and that word sulfur
There is the word brimstone in some of the more traditional translations
But again, he doesn't say they breathe smoke
fire smoke and sulfur he says no this horse with the head of a lion like a lion breathed
fire smoke and sulfur and so again you know you might think in if you're a
Fan of fantasy literature and stuff you've heard of fire breathing dragons and that kind of thing right you know
It's this picture that that there's this this this this just devastating
Breath coming out of this creature and it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like it's like
Breath coming out of this creature and then it's interesting because brimstone or sulfur as the word is rendered here is often associated
biblically specifically with judgment on the wicked so
It says it has a tail that resembled a snake
That word resembled there means the tail had similar characteristics, too
So it wasn't actually a snake is a snake
He's not indicating that but he says it resembled a snake and it had a head that inflicted injury and so again there
That's one of those similitudes you know is it a the tail was long was it articulate was it scaled?
Did it have fangs or some type we don't know exactly but we do know it caused injury
And then of course earlier he said I saw the horses and their riders in the vision and then he goes on to say they had
breastplates
It could be just the rider or the horse or both but interestingly enough these breastplates this armor that they wore
Kind of the colors corresponded to the breath that came out of the the mouth of this thing right the breath was fire and it's
Said the breastplate had red on it the second part of the breath was smoke
And it says there was blue and then the third part of the breath was sulfur and there was yellow on the breastplate
So again, I don't know if there's any particular
Specific
connotation of that, but it's just a part of this weird description here, but
The 200 million in identifying this army that's going to come during this time period of tribulation
One of the reasons people used to say the bible can't possibly be true is because they would read something like that and go
Nobody has an army of 200 million that couldn't possibly happen
Right. I mean when john wrote this letter there wasn't 200 million people on the entire planet
And so some people would go that's impossible and then I'd go, um
He's having a vision in heaven of the future
So I don't think it matters if there was 200 million people on earth during that time or not
But the idea was that it's a very specific number now for people who look at this and they go
I think it's a a human army
Again, there was times where people said no no
Country on earth has an army that big in world war two the entire allied army numbered 12 million at the height of their
Conflict that was every allied army together
But in the 70s it was widely known that china who actually bragged about this
Could field an army of 200 million people
Today china has a population of 1.4 billion
So 200 million in an army is not um outrageous and then some like look in revelation 16
We see that this great euphrates river dries up and it says the kings of the east march across it with an army
And some go aha, that's the chinese army, right?
I don't know
But it's possible but regardless whether this army is human or whether this army is demonic
It's an army led by fallen angels
led by powerful fallen angels and the result of this judgment being released is a massive sudden and major decline of the world's population
And you can just imagine what that what the effect of that will have on the economy and just all kinds of stuff
But the real point of this section is not oh look at these weird horses
They breathe fire. Is it a manticore? I mean, that's not the point of the section, right?
The point of this section comes from verse 20
How did the people of the planet respond to billions of deaths suddenly?
How do they respond to these weird fantastic creatures appearing on the earth killing people indiscriminately?
What is the response of the people of the earth to this?
Not the first time people have been killed during this period of judgment
And back in the first seal judgments, it said that the people were trying to hide themselves in the rocks and mountains
Why? Because they knew the judgments were from god almighty
Well look at verse 20 the rest of the people
Who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands
To stop worshiping demons and idols of gold silver bronze stone and wood which cannot see here or watch
And they did not repent of their murders and their sorceries and their sexual immorality or their thefts
Now you might think with all that has happened
Mankind would fall on its knees and say please god spare us. We'll do anything
Please spare us. We can't take it anymore. But no
They will not believe it says they would not repent
It says they would not repent
Their hearts are so hardened in resisting god that they simply will not admit god. You're right. We're wrong
Forgive us of our sin
They won't do it
And this incidentally for me is is one of the big warnings for people if you're out there and you're the type of person that hears
This and you go, you know, I I don't know if I believe in god or not and someone comes along and says look
Judgment's gonna come and you go
Well, you know if this stuff is real and and the church gets raptured and all of these judgments if that's real
I'll just wait until that happens and then i'll believe
Will you?
Because god almighty looking into the future is saying look even despite the judgments people are still not repenting
There's five things here listed that the people refuse to turn from
Last week, I mentioned that some of these things are very contemporary. They're happening today
we see we see
We see it happening today
But it's growing and it's going to continue to grow what we're reading here in revelation 9 is is the ultimate escalation the ultimate
advanced picture of stuff we see happening in our world today and then it's also a picture of those who refuse to repent of these
sins and
So as we go through them, yeah, there's people today who are engaging in these sins. There's people today who are
Refusing to repent of these particular sins. But again, it's going to escalate and be much worse by the time we get to the tribulation period
So the first thing it says that they would not repent of worshipping demons and idols of gold silver bronze stone and wood
I
Mean that's just humanity's problem from the very beginning. We are driven to worship something
something
Here it's demons
Specifically which we see that today, right?
There are people today that are proudly i'm a part of the church of satan
I'm like, you're so ignorant. You have no idea what you're doing
The people that gladly and openly like oh no, I worship demons and it's actually on the rise in our world today
That is becoming a more popular thing to actively openly say now. I worship the devil and I worship demons
But humanity driven to worship something
You know people are always looking for some type of spiritual experience that transcends ourselves and they seek it in all kinds of stuff
And so people here we see that they're lifting up idols of gold silver bronze stone and wood
Right because a lot of times when we go through talking about what the bible teaches about idol worship people are like we don't worship idols anymore
Nobody's creating big statues of ball and ashtoreth and you know, that's dumb
But yeah, we create idols of money and success and fame
and accomplishments
We create idols of all kinds of stuff and and when it means worship it means we we point our whole life at it
It dictates our decisions and how we live and what we do and and and yeah
There's idols of gold silver bronze stone and wood all over our lives. It's our money our success our possessions
That's interesting he says which cannot see hear or walk
Because those things
Because those things don't do anything for you
We worship them we pour our whole life in them and they do nothing for us because they're dead inanimate worthless
And what's behind all of this worship is demons
Demons are the the the entity that deceive us and drive us to worship anything but god
Even ourselves to worship ourselves, but still as I said some are still openly worshiping demons today proud of that
And i'm it's just gonna get worse then he goes on to say they didn't repent of their murders
At some point in tribulation the killing of christians is going to become a national pastime for most countries on the earth
It's going to be an exciting thing not just christians
But jews specifically during the last three and a half years after the abomination desolation happens
The antichrist steps into the temple stops their sacrifices says worship me. I'm god jews are going to be under intense persecution
But the general idea of killing another person for um for any reason that that's been in man's heart since the very beginning
All right, we go back to the very first family. What was behind the very first murder?
Where cain killed abel because god didn't accept kane's worship, but he did accept abel's what was behind the murder
The issue is that cain was trying to worship god on cain's own terms
Abel worshiped god on god's terms
And so god said cain. I don't accept your worship you worship me on my terms not your own
And instead of cain going oh god i'm so sorry you're right you know abel did it right what did he do he killed abel
murdered him
What do we see today?
Don't you tell me how I have to worship god don't you tell me how I have to worship jesus
I'm making up my own and i'm going to bring my worship to that god in any way I choose
And you christians are so just so uptight and so oppressive and and it's just going to get worse
And the result of that is murders
We see it in the world today as christians are murdered for their faith
But it's just going to be rampant during the time of tribulation
And instead of repenting
They're going to keep doing it you know jesus said as it was in the days of noah
So it will be in the days of the coming of the son of man
You go back to genesis you read in the days of noah's it tells us violence covered the earth
Violence proliferates today and it's going to be much worse worse during tribulation
He goes on to say they didn't repent of their sorceries that word sorceries in the greek is pharmakia
It's translated as witchcraft. That's why we see it translated as sorceries
But we get our modern day word pharmacy from that right so you might read it that they wouldn't repent of their drugings
They wouldn't repent of their drug abuse
They wouldn't repent of their dependence and worship of drugs and not chasing the high and so the whole idea is
Worship of drugs and not chasing the high and so the whole idea of this word is is is including illicit use of drugs and substances
And in we don't see that today do we?
You go to san francisco and the fentanyl epidemic is destroying the city
It's destroying the city not just there but all over the place now in ancient times and in modern times in many cases
Drug use is associated with the occult and that's why it's translated sorceries a lot in the bible
The the whole idea of using drugs is to blur the lines between fantasy and reality to get into an altered state of mind
To have an out-of-body experience
One doctor said stupefying and hallucinatory drugs have been associated with sorcery and witchcraft for ages
Yielding to their users strange visions and hallucinations which they then could interpret as oracles for the guidance of their clients
Also, they divested their users of control of their own minds speaking of the drugs making them easily available for possession and control by evil spirits
It's happening today. It's just going to get worse
Sexual immorality that is the greek word pornea. We get our modern english word pornography from that
It's also rendered fornication, but it's referring to any morally objectionable illicit sexual activity
It's an umbrella term for for for any type of expression of sexual relation that is outside what god has ordained
And it says they would not repent to that people refuse to turn from it and and just I mean we could see it in the world today
You could see it in the world today and how bad things have gotten with
pornography and the epidemic that that is adultery
Homosexuality pedophilia sex trafficking as we've mentioned all of that is a deviation or a result of deviation
From what god has ordained as right and proper
And yet it's running rampant
We just exited june which is now worldwide pride month, right
And pride month kind of started with people going look
Let me celebrate my own private personal sexual expression
And a part of me would go god gave you the free will to do whatever you want and believe whatever you want
It doesn't mean he condones it but
express
But it went from no no no just just this is my personal celebration of my own personal choice to becoming something completely different
I don't know if you guys read about it, but there was a drag march in new york about a week and a half ago
And they're on video
Chanting this was the chant of the parade. We're here. We're queer and we're coming for your children
That was the chant on video of this parade
It's not about personal private expression of of individual
sexual identity
There's an agenda and the agenda isn't even being kept secret anymore
That's happening today imagine what it's going to be during the tribulation period
And then thefts is the last thing
And thefts is simply the idea of just taking what doesn't belong to you
We've seen this exploding in recent years, right
Everybody
People jumping on any excuse to loot and steal
It's a protest. So that means I get to steal everything from the store. What?
It's a protest so we get to burn down our thing and bust up all these windows and steal from all these businesses
And what has been the response of our world today? Well, let's decriminalize theft
Poor thieves
I mean, we don't want to throw them in jail, right? And so the result has been stores just stores just getting robbed constantly
Security employees and owners. They can't do anything about it
And the people that are breaking into these stores just in broad daylight walking through the doors of the stores
Why well, you know if it's under a certain amount you can't do anything
And people who do this have no conscious no sense or care of right and wrong and what we see here in revelation 9
Is a fully developed picture
Of what we're already observing today in our world
Crime without penalty
No justice no retribution
It's possible that during this time and tribulation that the justice system is going to be
So broken down
Become so completely impotent that that it just has no effect
And again, we're seeing a great example of that today in san francisco
One commentator said capital punishment will be fully eliminated in the great tribulation period except for one crime being a christian
So, what is the message of revelation 9 for christians today
I think it's a missionary call for the church
It's a missionary call for the church. We're getting a peek at what's to come in the future
As god is pouring out judgment on the earth and mankind is getting more and more resistant more and more entrenched in their sin
Vance havner said the real test of how much we believe prophetic truth
Is what we're doing to warn people to flee from the wrath to come
And that's a big one right, you know, we're called to evangelize scripturally as christians every christian
We're called to to to warn people to snatch them from the fire
It says to plead with them to persuade them and and and some will go. Well, i'm not an extrovert
So so I don't I don't have to share my faith and well, it's fine that you're not an extrovert
But you don't have to be an extrovert to witness your faith in the world today
You don't have to be an extrovert to share the gospel of jesus christ and yeah, there's different ways to do that, right?
Some people within the church go door to door
Some people are really comfortable and excited to spark up conversations with strangers some are are
Pass out gospel tracks, which we make available to the church here. Some do open air preaching
Not all are called to do the same thing
Not all are called to do the same thing but all of us can care for people
Can love people can serve people can actively engage in their lives as christians
Who know the truth who live the truth and who share the truth?
Yeah, not every believer is called to be an evangelist but the bible does say that every believer is called to do the work of one
God who loves them a God who desires to forgive them
A God who will one day pour out his wrath on sin, but now we live in a time
That is a time that we live in a time where we are able to forgive and forgive
And that's why we're called to be an evangelist
And that's why we're called to be an evangelist because we're able to forgive
A God who will one day pour out his wrath on sin, but now we live in a time
Where he is waiting he is patiently waiting
Where he died on the cross for them to save them from that wrath to come and you know
It's not all that difficult for us to look around and see that evil is getting worse
But if we believe what we're reading in revelation about what's to come and I believe we do it's God's word
It's God's word then I think the challenge is we can't continue to let our Christianity be a private
hidden
personal thing any longer
But rather we need to be the lights on the hill shining the light of salvation into the darkness
Now in a few days, we're celebrating independence day july 4th. I know this wasn't really a july 4th message per se
Um, but we're going to be celebrating independence day here in america and yeah, we're so grateful in america that we still have freedoms
Even though there's things that look like freedoms being eroded we still have freedoms today
We still have the the
The the stuff our country's about here in america specifically but independence can be both a good and bad thing
Spiritually, god has granted us a free will and that free will allows us to choose sin
or to choose salvation
One leads to wrath and eternal judgment the other leads to eternal life
So don't get caught up in using the independence the the freedom the free will that god has created you with
for sin for sinful living
Because each day you do that it just hardens your heart a little bit more against god
It hardens your heart a little bit more against him
And the end of all of it will be judgment
The end of all of it will be judgment instead use that free will that god has given you
To choose freedom to choose salvation to be set free from the power of sin and death to be set free from the control
Of sin to be to be alive with a freedom that is only found in jesus christ
A freedom that is only found in him because it was bought and it was paid for by him. Amen
Or a passion to proclaim the gospel
As christians I think comes from a deep understanding and remembrance of the salvation that we have been given that that is
Part of the motivation we believe in what christ has done
We believe in what it means for us today what it means for us tomorrow. We believe in his word
We believe in what his word tells us past present and future right and in communion
It's where we as the body of christ take time to remember the salvation that he has given us
to us that free
unearned
undeserved gift that that being pardoned and set free from the penalty of sin that's that's what we're remembering in communion
That we have been saved from the wrath is to come and in all of that we remember
We're encouraged that our passion our desire our motivation to share the gospel
Should continue to burn bright and so that's what we're doing in communion
So we're going to close today in communion all of you should have gotten one of these communion cups
As you came in if you're online, you should get your communion emblems ready real quick
There's a very thin plastic tab and a thicker plastic tab on this cup. If you would very carefully pull back the thin
Plastic tab it will reveal the the wafer on the top here
You know when jesus took the bread in the gospels
It says that he took the bread he gave thanks and he broke it and then he said to all his disciples that were there
This is my body
This bread it's my body which is for you and he gave them each a piece and he said do this in remembrance
of me
And the idea of the bread in communion for the body of christ and the reason jesus handed it to them and said do this
And remember it's me partake of this is because he wanted us to be partake of this
And remembers me partake of this is because he wanted us to remember what the bread represented
The bread represents his perfect
Sinless body that was given for us
You see all the wrath that was poured out on jesus
All that came upon him and the scourging and the suffering and the and the being nailed to the all of it
Right that was that was for us
Because we're the ones that have sinned we're the ones that broke god's law
And so what we're reading about in tribulation
Is god pointing about on the pouring all that judgment out on the world, but there was a time 2000 years ago
Where god poured it out on his own son
That through faith in him we would be able to be forgiven
Pardoned from breaking god's law
It's all a judgment that we deserve
It's a judgment that he's going to pour out on the world in the future, but because he loved you and me so much
He stepped into our place he took our punishment paid our price the penalty for all of our sin
Penalty for all the murders and the idol worship and the sexual immorality and the thefts and so on he paid it all so that we can obtain salvation now
So that we could be forgiven now and saved from the wrath to come on sin
And we get the benefit of what he did all through our confession of faith in him
And that confession leads to our adoption into his family
That when he comes back to claim the earth we're not going to be here because he took us out of it so he could wash it clean
What a truth what a glorious truth what a truth the world needs to hear and so as we are gathered to remember that be encouraged
God saved you
He wants to save your friend
Your family member
Your co-worker your boss he wants to save them too
And you may be the only person that's going to tell them about how much he loves them
About the fact that they they they broke his law
And any criminal deserves the punishment but God took it for them
What a glorious truth we get to live in and one we get to share as well father God
We're so grateful for what you did for us in taking the penalty of our sin onto yourself your body
Lord was given you were the atonement
God as as you were placed on that altar on the outside God and your and your body was was destroyed
All of that was a picture of the price of our sin the cost and it wasn't a pretty picture lord
But you loved us so much your word says that for the joy set before you
You stepped into all of that lord for us and we remember god
We remember how much you loved us
We remember the price of our sin and we say thank you god. Thank you so much
Let's partake together
Now if you're in the room and you have one of the cups just very carefully now pull back the thicker plastic tab here
So it doesn't spill
You know in that same story in the gospel is when Jesus it says took the cup
He said this is the new covenant in my blood and do this in remembrance of me
You see there was this process that they had been doing where they would go to that brazen altar
Sacrifice the animal the blood would be shed
The priest would then take that blood and take it to the altar
Brazen altar sacrifice the animal the blood would be shed the priest would then take that blood into the inside into the altar of incense and spread it on the horns once a year and then that allowed him to go into the very presence of god where he sprinkled blood onto the mercy seed and god would say okay people your sin is overlooked for another year and
That had to happen year after year after year on top of all the other sacrifices they had to do for all of their many sins
But Jesus said look I want you to remember that this is a new covenant and it's in my blood shed for you once for all
That I'm going to shed my blood on the cross and your faith in that is going to give you a clean slate an unblemished record restored fellowship permanently and forever
And a part of what we remember in that is we don't deserve that
But he gave it to us because he loves us
Oh what great love is this that we would be called children of God
To remember that we were stained by sin and there was nothing we could do to wash it away but he atoned
He atoned on the cross and his atonement didn't just grant us access to him that God would hear our prayers
It granted us full access that the stain of our sin was forever washed clean that we would forever be able to be in God's presence
Hallelujah
There is salvation in no other now and in the future doesn't matter what idol
One raises up doesn't matter what it's made of there is no God besides Jesus Christ
The one who loves us and died for us God's desire as we read earlier was that all would be saved and so he is patiently waiting
That's why he shed his blood that everybody would have the opportunity to come to know him and to be forgiven to be renewed and restored and redeemed
And how do we express our gratitude to our Lord and Savior for what he has done for us?
We do it by loving him first and foremost we do it by living for him first and foremost
And we do it by telling everybody we can about who he is how much he loves them and what he wants to do for them
To forgive them to save them as well
God we thank you so much for dying for us
We thank you God that that we're currently in this age Lord of your long suffering
We thank you God that that your blood was shed to wash us clean God and we thank you Lord that through our faith in that Lord you see us spotless blameless
Lord not that we would be puffed up and prideful and look how perfect we are but no simply that we would be able to approach you in confidence boldly coming to the throne of grace
To sit with you to talk with you to worship you to learn from you God how glorious that privilege is
And Lord we all know people who don't yet have that access Lord who still stand in the path of your judgment Lord and we ask that you would forgive them as you have forgiven us
That you would use us to share with them the salvation that you've granted to us Lord
Because we remember how powerful you are Lord and we ask that you would forgive them as you have forgiven us
Forgive them as you have forgiven us that you would use us to share with them the salvation that you've granted to us Lord because we remember how powerful it is
We remember Lord how precious it is and we say thank you let's partake together
I pray that God would bless each and every one of you as you go forth you know we got another night of harvest you know but I think every night of the year is harvest crusade for a Christian
We all get the opportunity to not just live our faith but to share our faith and that's why we're here learning more about our faith as we study the word of God together
I pray God would continue to use you and to bless you and to equip you and to empower you to fill you with his Holy Spirit
That you would have everything you need to be the person he's calling you to be and do the things he's calling you to do
And when that includes stepping out in faith to tell someone how much God loves them that you would do that with love and boldness and gentleness and firmness
Because our world is getting darker our world is hurtling headlong into judgment the time is short and so we're people called to redeem that time amen. All right God bless you guys.