1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,760 Well, we like to start our services on Sundays 2 00:00:02,760 --> 00:00:04,240 to say welcome to anybody. 3 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,200 If you're here in our room for the first time joining us 4 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:10,680 or if you're joining us online for the first time, welcome. 5 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:12,440 We're so glad you're here to worship with us 6 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:14,800 here at Hosanna Christian Fellowship. 7 00:00:15,760 --> 00:00:18,400 This morning, oh, I am Pastor Nathan, by the way, 8 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:20,000 for those of you that may be new, 9 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:24,000 and this morning we are coming to the description 10 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:26,200 of the end of the world. 11 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:28,280 I did not wanna open this study by saying 12 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:30,920 today is the end of the world because, 13 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:33,880 considering what's going on in our world, 14 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:36,120 that might scare some. 15 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:38,840 But we're coming to the description of the end of the world 16 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:40,440 in our study of Revelation. 17 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:45,040 For some, for some of us, it might be easy to think 18 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:47,360 as we go through life in this world that, 19 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:51,800 if people just saw enough miracles, 20 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:56,800 if people just saw enough signs and wonders, 21 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:00,080 that of course they would be converted, right? 22 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:03,080 Many of us have had experiences with God 23 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:05,280 in our own personal relationship, and we're like, 24 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:09,880 wow, this is just mind boggling and so definitive for me, 25 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:12,620 and if someone else just had this experience, 26 00:01:12,620 --> 00:01:14,520 they might immediately come to know the Lord, 27 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:17,680 but sadly, we know that's not true. 28 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:20,560 We even know in the gospels that people saw Jesus 29 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:25,520 raise Lazarus from the dead, and they still did not believe. 30 00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:27,960 You know, in the tribulation period specifically, 31 00:01:27,960 --> 00:01:30,040 and we've been studying this in the book of Revelation, 32 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:35,040 that people will see so much miraculous activity, 33 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:39,720 both divine and demonic, and many, 34 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:42,920 and yet many will still follow Satan, 35 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:46,340 still follow the demonic and reject God at this time. 36 00:01:47,340 --> 00:01:50,160 Well, today, we are gonna look at the last 37 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:55,000 of the last judgments of God in the context of Revelation. 38 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:58,000 We've been looking at all of these judgments 39 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:00,800 through this book as God has given this vision 40 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:03,600 to John the Apostle, laying out what the end times 41 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:07,860 will be like, a time period that Jesus described 42 00:02:07,860 --> 00:02:12,360 as the worst period in Earth's history. 43 00:02:12,360 --> 00:02:14,720 It's called the tribulation period. 44 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:17,440 The last three and a half is specifically referred to 45 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:20,100 as the great tribulation period. 46 00:02:20,100 --> 00:02:23,080 This whole time is referred to as the day of the Lord. 47 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:25,120 There's many other titles for it. 48 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:28,680 And we've looked at the seven seal judgments. 49 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:31,600 We've looked at the seven trumpet judgments. 50 00:02:31,600 --> 00:02:35,440 Last week, we took a look at the first five bowl judgments, 51 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:38,120 and now we've come to the very end 52 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:42,540 of this seven-year period known as the tribulation time, 53 00:02:42,540 --> 00:02:47,280 the final moments before Jesus returns again. 54 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:49,560 And so the last two bowls we're looking at today, 55 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:54,560 the sixth and seventh bowl judgment, set up a war, 56 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:58,200 a final war that is coming between man and God, 57 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:01,000 where God is gonna just finish it. 58 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:04,060 He is gonna say it is done, and it is gonna be 59 00:03:04,060 --> 00:03:07,280 God's final judgment upon the sin of mankind 60 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:08,840 and their rejection of Him. 61 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:11,280 And then we're also gonna see what looks to be 62 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:15,360 a renovation of the face of the Earth. 63 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:17,760 A picture, if you will, of Jesus taking back 64 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:20,000 the property that belongs to Him, 65 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:23,400 doing some intense demo and renovating the place 66 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:26,120 in preparation of His millennial kingdom. 67 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:28,400 Collectively, these last two judgments 68 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:30,820 are the end of the world as we know it. 69 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:33,920 But we're gonna pray first, because I always like 70 00:03:33,920 --> 00:03:36,120 to pray and glorify God and think of Him 71 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:38,000 and who He is and what He's done 72 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:40,840 before we get into these very heavy, heavy teachings 73 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:42,700 about what's to come upon the Earth. 74 00:03:42,700 --> 00:03:44,800 God is worth our worship. 75 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:45,880 He is worthy. 76 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:46,840 He is almighty. 77 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:47,660 He is just. 78 00:03:47,660 --> 00:03:48,500 He is holy. 79 00:03:48,500 --> 00:03:49,340 He is righteous. 80 00:03:49,340 --> 00:03:50,480 He has so many wonderful things, 81 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:52,760 and He deserves our praise, amen. 82 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:53,600 Let's pray. 83 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:55,720 Father, we love you so much. 84 00:03:56,720 --> 00:03:58,880 God, it has been a difficult and a tough study 85 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:01,640 as we've been walking through Revelation, 86 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:04,080 seeing what is to come upon the face of this Earth 87 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:06,480 for those who reject you. 88 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:08,200 God, we're living in a time right now 89 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:09,840 as things are unfolding in our world 90 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:13,900 that are very compelling in the picture 91 00:04:13,900 --> 00:04:18,080 of end times teaching and what is to come, Lord. 92 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:20,720 But God, despite what is happening now, 93 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:22,600 despite what has happened in the past, 94 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:24,920 despite what is to come in the future, 95 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:26,960 you are still God. 96 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:28,760 You are still almighty. 97 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:31,380 You are still holy and just. 98 00:04:31,380 --> 00:04:32,220 You are true. 99 00:04:32,220 --> 00:04:33,640 You are right. 100 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:34,800 You are love. 101 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:36,440 You are light. 102 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:38,600 God, you are perfect. 103 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:41,440 And Lord, we can trust you in all things. 104 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:42,840 We can trust you in all ways, Lord, 105 00:04:42,840 --> 00:04:46,480 because we know that you are in control of everything. 106 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:48,440 And so we trust you, God. 107 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:52,400 Lord, today as we come to study the final two judgments 108 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:54,100 that are gonna effectively end 109 00:04:54,100 --> 00:04:57,020 this era of Earth's history, God, 110 00:04:57,020 --> 00:04:59,400 that are gonna bring to a close this time 111 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:01,860 before your coming reign upon this Earth, 112 00:05:02,960 --> 00:05:05,480 Lord, I pray, God, as we look at the devastation 113 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:08,400 that is to come, as we study, Lord, 114 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:10,600 the picture of what is gonna be poured out 115 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:11,960 and the destruction and the death 116 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:13,240 that is gonna come with it, Lord, 117 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:15,840 God, we would again be reminded, 118 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:20,840 Lord, of how you feel about sin. 119 00:05:20,840 --> 00:05:22,420 That sin is serious. 120 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:25,600 That sin kills. 121 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:27,640 That sin destroys. 122 00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:31,640 And Lord, that even means that those who persist in sin 123 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:34,480 and reject you to the day of judgment, 124 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:37,720 it'll be because of their sin that they are destroyed. 125 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:41,020 But Lord, we still have time on this Earth now 126 00:05:41,020 --> 00:05:42,720 to share the truth and the hope, 127 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:44,480 to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. 128 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:46,780 And so Lord, encourage us, God, 129 00:05:46,780 --> 00:05:48,240 as we look ahead what is to come, 130 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:50,560 let it be a motivator to us that are here now 131 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:52,880 to share truth with people, 132 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:56,320 to share the hope that is in Jesus Christ. 133 00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:57,640 And God, those of us that know you, 134 00:05:57,640 --> 00:05:59,160 we have so much to worship you for 135 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:01,320 and we have so much to praise you for 136 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:03,320 because you are so awesome. 137 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:06,280 And so God, we worship you now in preparation of today. 138 00:06:06,280 --> 00:06:08,280 We love you and we thank you. 139 00:06:08,280 --> 00:06:10,800 It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. 140 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:13,600 We are in Revelation chapter 16, 141 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:15,760 starting in verse 12 as we are looking at 142 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:17,480 the final two bowl judgments 143 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:19,000 at the very tail end of Revelation. 144 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:22,960 So read with me Revelation 16 verse 12. 145 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:25,240 It says, the sixth bowl, 146 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:27,640 the sixth poured out his bowl 147 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:29,440 on the great river Euphrates 148 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:31,880 and its water was dried up to prepare the way 149 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:34,160 for the kings from the east. 150 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:36,420 Then I saw three unclean spirits like frogs 151 00:06:36,420 --> 00:06:38,360 coming from the dragon's mouth, 152 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:39,880 from the beast's mouth, 153 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:42,840 and from the mouth of the false prophet. 154 00:06:42,840 --> 00:06:45,240 For they are demonic spirits performing signs 155 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:47,680 who travel to the kings of the whole world 156 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:49,720 to assemble them for the battle 157 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:52,560 on the great day of God the Almighty. 158 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:55,040 Look, I am coming like a thief. 159 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:57,800 Blessed is the one who is alert and remains closed 160 00:06:57,800 --> 00:06:59,880 so that he may not go around naked 161 00:06:59,880 --> 00:07:02,080 and people see his shame. 162 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:03,840 So they assembled the kings at the place 163 00:07:03,840 --> 00:07:06,680 called in Hebrew Armageddon. 164 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:11,680 This brings us to what is known as the end of the world. 165 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:13,240 The end of all things. 166 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:15,940 We've been studying through Revelation 167 00:07:15,940 --> 00:07:18,600 looking at this time frame as God has given it 168 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:21,500 to John the apostle and we've seen a lot. 169 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:24,800 And we've touched on many times through this 170 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:27,040 and I fully acknowledge that there are numerous 171 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:30,240 different interpretations of what these events mean 172 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:32,040 and how they unfold. 173 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:35,080 And I respect all those different interpretations 174 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:36,880 as I ask you to respect mine 175 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:39,160 and the interpretation of this church. 176 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:41,080 As we have been studying through Revelation, 177 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:44,180 we see Revelation as a chronological telling 178 00:07:44,180 --> 00:07:48,000 of the judgments of God during the seven year period. 179 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:50,760 Seven seals followed by seven trumpets 180 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:52,640 followed by seven bowls. 181 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:54,880 We have seen similarities in these judgments 182 00:07:54,880 --> 00:07:57,280 but we've also seen these judgments 183 00:07:57,280 --> 00:07:59,960 have many differences and have seemed to escalate 184 00:07:59,960 --> 00:08:02,760 as God is ever increasingly pouring out 185 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:05,120 his judgment on the earth all with an eye 186 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:08,560 to getting people to realize he is God Almighty. 187 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:11,600 They are sinners and they should turn to him. 188 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:14,080 And yet sadly as we've seen throughout Revelation, 189 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:16,680 many continue to dig in their heels 190 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:18,880 and blaspheme the name of God 191 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:21,360 knowing it is God pouring out these judgments 192 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:23,920 and yet refusing to bow the knee to him 193 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:26,520 and unfortunately then falling under 194 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:28,360 ever increasing judgment. 195 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:30,360 Well as we get here to this sixth bowl, 196 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:32,360 it starts out with telling us about this 197 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:35,440 great river Euphrates and this isn't the first time 198 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:37,880 we have seen this river specifically mentioned 199 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:39,120 in Revelation. 200 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:41,840 The last time was back in Revelation chapter nine 201 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:43,640 where we were in the trumpet judgments 202 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:45,940 and we read about these four demons 203 00:08:45,940 --> 00:08:49,720 that were bound at the great river Euphrates. 204 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:51,700 The word it uses there is angels 205 00:08:51,700 --> 00:08:54,640 but the word simply means a supernatural being 206 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:58,420 and so they're fallen angels that were incarcerated there 207 00:08:58,420 --> 00:09:00,240 but it says that they were there bound 208 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:02,640 and prepared for a certain time 209 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:04,640 and at that time they were then released 210 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:07,220 as part of that judgment where they went forth 211 00:09:07,220 --> 00:09:10,480 with an army of 200 million 212 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:12,040 and were allowed to kill one third 213 00:09:12,040 --> 00:09:14,620 of the human population on the planet. 214 00:09:14,620 --> 00:09:16,920 That was the first time we read about this river 215 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:19,840 in Revelation and now we read about it again. 216 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:23,520 And the reason is because the area of the river Euphrates 217 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:26,280 is a very important area biblically. 218 00:09:27,180 --> 00:09:29,340 We do know going back to Genesis and stuff 219 00:09:29,340 --> 00:09:32,640 that the river Euphrates, the area of this river 220 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:36,840 is where civilization began on earth. 221 00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:39,600 Euphrates River is called the great river. 222 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:42,360 It's a famous river, it's a historical river 223 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:45,420 and it was originally the eastern border 224 00:09:45,420 --> 00:09:47,840 to the promised land that God had given 225 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:49,480 to the children of Israel. 226 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:53,120 Now Israel never actually took all of that land 227 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:54,960 but it was the land given to them 228 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:57,960 and Euphrates River was the eastern border. 229 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:00,480 It was also incidentally the easternmost border 230 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:02,800 of the Roman Empire at its height 231 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:04,820 and that's just an interesting detail 232 00:10:04,820 --> 00:10:07,800 because we see in the end times prophetically 233 00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:09,720 that there is a one world government 234 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:11,880 led by the Antichrist and many refer 235 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:15,440 to this one world government as a revived Roman Empire. 236 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:18,880 And so again we see this area of the world 237 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:20,960 that has been a part of so much in history 238 00:10:20,960 --> 00:10:23,200 brought back into the picture. 239 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:24,640 This river's region of the world 240 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:27,880 has also been the source of all kinds of strange 241 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:32,880 and just weird wickedness from the very beginning of history. 242 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:35,040 We do know that somewhere in the area 243 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:37,420 of the Euphrates River in a delta 244 00:10:37,420 --> 00:10:39,840 that was formed by the Tigris and Euphrates 245 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:43,620 was where the Garden of Eden was located. 246 00:10:43,620 --> 00:10:46,360 This garden was the garden that was infiltrated 247 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:48,560 by evil Satan himself. 248 00:10:48,560 --> 00:10:52,020 This garden area was where the first sin was committed, 249 00:10:52,020 --> 00:10:54,040 where the first lie was told, 250 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:56,320 where the first murder was committed, 251 00:10:56,320 --> 00:10:58,480 where the first grave was dug. 252 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:01,220 This area of the Euphrates River 253 00:11:01,220 --> 00:11:02,900 has been a significant problem area 254 00:11:02,900 --> 00:11:05,640 for mankind from the very beginning. 255 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:08,800 It was where Nimrod defied God, 256 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:11,300 rebelled against God we read about in Genesis 257 00:11:11,300 --> 00:11:14,720 and really rallied together a precursor 258 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:18,100 of a one world religious movement. 259 00:11:18,100 --> 00:11:19,800 As he gathered everybody together and said, 260 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:21,480 we're gonna build a tower that's gonna reach 261 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:22,480 all the way up to the heavens 262 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:23,760 and they started building what was called 263 00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:25,680 the Tower of Babel. 264 00:11:25,680 --> 00:11:28,800 And you know it was then that God then struck down 265 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:30,240 a little judgment upon the people 266 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:32,040 and confused everybody's language 267 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:34,440 and then pretty soon nobody knew how to talk to each other 268 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:35,480 and they scattered. 269 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:39,920 The Euphrates region historically 270 00:11:39,920 --> 00:11:42,120 has also been the location of some of Israel's 271 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:43,920 most oppressive enemies. 272 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:45,720 It's where the Ninevites came from. 273 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:49,880 The Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Medo-Persians, 274 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:51,640 cultures that feature prominently 275 00:11:51,640 --> 00:11:55,600 in the eschatological, prophetical look 276 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:58,400 of what's to take place in the end times. 277 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:01,240 Essentially it's where world history began 278 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:04,600 and it's gonna be where world history has its end. 279 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:06,480 Now why does this river need to be dried up? 280 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:07,900 It tells us right there. 281 00:12:07,900 --> 00:12:10,240 Its water was dried up to prepare the way 282 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:12,240 for the kings from the east. 283 00:12:13,140 --> 00:12:13,980 That was why. 284 00:12:13,980 --> 00:12:18,980 Now the Euphrates River in some places is 3,600 feet wide. 285 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:22,200 That's a big river, okay? 286 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:26,280 Some places it's anywhere from 30 to 60 feet deep. 287 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:29,040 To give you an idea, from the floor to the ceiling here 288 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:30,840 is about 30 feet, so double that 289 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:33,040 and that's how deep the Euphrates River is 290 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:34,560 at certain places. 291 00:12:34,560 --> 00:12:36,760 That's really, really deep. 292 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:40,760 Now it's dried up so that these kings from the east 293 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:41,720 can come across it. 294 00:12:41,720 --> 00:12:45,020 Now the big question is, who are the kings from the east? 295 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:49,120 Nobody knows, right? 296 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:52,120 There's a lot of ideas, but it's one of those things 297 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:56,280 in Revelation where we say nobody knows for sure. 298 00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:58,880 Nobody knows for sure who the kings from the east are. 299 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:01,840 Now if you look at the geographical map 300 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:04,000 and you look east of the Euphrates River, 301 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:07,960 you're gonna find India, China, Pakistan, 302 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:11,940 North Korea, Japan, and many others. 303 00:13:11,940 --> 00:13:14,680 Collectively, this area of the world, however, 304 00:13:14,680 --> 00:13:18,320 east of the Euphrates River, holds the greatest percentage 305 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:22,120 of the world's population that exists today. 306 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:24,440 And this area of the world also possesses 307 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:27,760 some substantial military might. 308 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:29,720 So we don't know exactly who they are, 309 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:31,880 but whoever they are, they're gonna march 310 00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:33,560 and they're gonna march west 311 00:13:33,560 --> 00:13:35,760 and they're gonna march over what is a dried up 312 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:39,160 Euphrates River coming into what is the land of Israel 313 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:42,680 to attack Israel and to attack Jerusalem. 314 00:13:42,680 --> 00:13:45,800 But for those of you that like to conjecture about things, 315 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:47,980 when it says kings from the east, 316 00:13:47,980 --> 00:13:51,500 that word east literally means rising sun. 317 00:13:51,500 --> 00:13:52,400 That's what the word means. 318 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:56,000 So it's literally the kings of the rising sun 319 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:57,480 are gonna march. 320 00:13:57,480 --> 00:13:59,760 Now some people go, well that's describing 321 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:02,720 the Asian nations of the east there. 322 00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:05,640 That's describing places like communist China 323 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:08,080 and so some think that the kings of the east 324 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:10,080 is referring to communist China 325 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:13,080 that is possibly gonna ally with Japan. 326 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:13,960 And for those of you who don't know, 327 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:16,480 Japan's flag is the rising sun, right? 328 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:18,840 So some people make connections like that. 329 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:21,680 We also know that it could be the Muslim nations 330 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:24,240 that are marching because they hate Israel 331 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:26,160 and there's Muslim nations over there, 332 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:27,800 east of Euphrates. 333 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:30,720 We know that China has actually supplied 334 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:32,880 many of those Muslim nations with weapons. 335 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:36,680 So it could be Iran, it could be Pakistan, 336 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:39,960 it could be India, it could even be Afghanistan 337 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:42,720 because our country was kind enough to donate to them 338 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:46,780 millions of dollars of very high end military technology 339 00:14:46,780 --> 00:14:50,680 when we botched leaving that country a few years back. 340 00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:54,540 But the point is is that there's gonna be nations, 341 00:14:54,540 --> 00:14:58,760 kings from the east leading their nations towards Israel 342 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:00,920 and some of these nations might think 343 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:02,640 at the time that this river dries up, 344 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:05,720 look what a miracle. 345 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:08,300 Our gods have provided a miracle for us 346 00:15:08,300 --> 00:15:12,320 so we could finally go destroy Israel the way we want to. 347 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:14,920 But it's the true God actually setting a trap 348 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:17,440 and leading these nations to the slaughter. 349 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:20,120 If you look in verse 13 of Revelation 16, 350 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:22,800 it says then I saw three unclean spirits like frogs 351 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:25,720 coming from the dragon's mouth, from the beast's mouth, 352 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:27,800 and from the mouth of the false prophet. 353 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:31,320 For they are demonic spirits performing signs 354 00:15:31,320 --> 00:15:33,840 who travel to the kings of the whole earth, 355 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:35,200 the whole world. 356 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:37,000 So it's not just the kings of the east 357 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:38,260 that these spirits go to, 358 00:15:38,260 --> 00:15:40,840 but the kings of the whole world to assemble them 359 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:43,840 for the battle on that great day of God the Almighty. 360 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:46,960 So again, these kings, these world leaders, 361 00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:50,880 whoever they are, they're deceived by demonic spirits 362 00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:53,860 and they're deceived by a really interesting vision here. 363 00:15:53,860 --> 00:15:56,640 It says these demonic spirits that look like frogs 364 00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:59,880 are coming out of the mouth of the dragon, 365 00:15:59,880 --> 00:16:02,500 that's Satan, the Antichrist which is the beast, 366 00:16:02,500 --> 00:16:03,480 and the false prophet. 367 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:05,220 These spirits are coming out of their mouths 368 00:16:05,220 --> 00:16:07,040 and it says specifically that these spirits 369 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:09,080 are able to perform signs. 370 00:16:09,080 --> 00:16:12,880 That means to perform miracles or apparent miracles 371 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:16,040 and these miracles, these signs are then convincing 372 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:18,140 these kings, these leaders of the world nations 373 00:16:18,140 --> 00:16:20,600 to come together to attack Israel. 374 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:22,880 Now, you know, I read stuff like this 375 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:25,460 and I just think poor John, 376 00:16:25,460 --> 00:16:27,540 he had to see some really weird stuff 377 00:16:27,540 --> 00:16:29,200 in this vision God was giving him. 378 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:32,600 Some really strange things that he had to look at 379 00:16:32,600 --> 00:16:35,740 and then in his vocabulary, he had to figure out a way 380 00:16:35,740 --> 00:16:38,780 to describe some of these things, to write them down 381 00:16:38,780 --> 00:16:41,280 so he could pen this letter as he was directed to do. 382 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:44,680 And so he says that these spirits, they look like frogs. 383 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:45,900 Right, they look like frogs. 384 00:16:45,900 --> 00:16:49,320 Now, frogs to ancient cultures, 385 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:52,080 many ancient cultures were disgusting. 386 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:56,640 Frogs were a picture of a gross, slimy, foul thing. 387 00:16:56,640 --> 00:16:57,480 That was the picture. 388 00:16:57,480 --> 00:16:59,500 I know some of you today, you like frogs 389 00:16:59,500 --> 00:17:00,720 and you think, oh, they're so cute 390 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:02,480 and you see the cool little cute pictures of frogs 391 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:05,240 and yeah, that's fine, but in ancient cultures, 392 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:08,240 many people thought frogs were foul. 393 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:10,880 They were representative of something disgusting. 394 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:13,080 In fact, to the Jewish culture specifically 395 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:14,720 and to the Persian culture, 396 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:18,720 frogs were specifically considered unclean and defiled. 397 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:21,800 And so touching them or having any interaction with them 398 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:23,960 would make one unclean and defiled. 399 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:26,760 But it says these frogs came from their mouth. 400 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:30,360 And so what we see as a picture here is this disgusting, 401 00:17:30,360 --> 00:17:35,360 unclean, defiled, demonic something coming from their mouths. 402 00:17:35,360 --> 00:17:37,760 Now, some people look at this and they see it 403 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:40,160 very specifically as metaphorical. 404 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:42,760 And so the idea that this is coming out of their mouth, 405 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:45,080 they go, oh, well, that's referring to the speech, 406 00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:46,580 the things they are saying. 407 00:17:46,580 --> 00:17:48,640 And we've seen that picture earlier 408 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:51,080 in the description of the Antichrist and the Beast 409 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:54,040 that they can have this evilness come from their mouth 410 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:56,800 and it was a reference to the wicked words they would use, 411 00:17:56,800 --> 00:17:59,760 the oratory they used to manipulate people 412 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:03,000 and to get the world to do their bidding. 413 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:05,760 And so some go that's disgusting, unclean, 414 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:09,020 defiled, demonically inspired speech. 415 00:18:09,020 --> 00:18:11,560 And of course, as we've seen in earlier in Revelation 416 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:13,840 that the source of this demonic power and influence 417 00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:15,660 is Satan himself. 418 00:18:15,660 --> 00:18:17,920 We saw earlier that it was Satan pictured 419 00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:21,040 as the great red dragon who gave authority to the Beast, 420 00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:23,680 the Antichrist, he gave authority to him 421 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:27,140 and the false prophet and through them was given them 422 00:18:27,140 --> 00:18:29,920 the ability to perform signs and miracles. 423 00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:31,720 And there is some conjecture on whether they were 424 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:35,000 false miracles or actually real miracles that got allowed. 425 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:38,000 But the idea is that these signs performed 426 00:18:39,320 --> 00:18:43,200 and the things spoken by the Beast and Satan 427 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:46,600 and the false prophet are influencing the rulers 428 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:48,360 on the earth towards Satan, towards evil, 429 00:18:48,360 --> 00:18:51,160 towards wickedness and ultimately are gonna influence them 430 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:53,400 to march upon Israel and Jerusalem. 431 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:58,680 But it specifically says that these demonic spirits 432 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:00,780 performed signs. 433 00:19:00,780 --> 00:19:04,000 So it could also be that there was actually 434 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:06,520 some demonic spirits that kind of came out of their mouths, 435 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:08,720 flew out of their mouths, were called forth, 436 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:12,520 called into being by Satan and the Antichrist 437 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:13,680 and the false prophet. 438 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:15,440 They were manifested, if you will, 439 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:17,960 and these spirits actually were spirits out there 440 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:20,740 performing signs and wonders to deceive these kings. 441 00:19:22,280 --> 00:19:23,840 Now when you think about that, 442 00:19:25,620 --> 00:19:27,400 when we look at some of the atrocities 443 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:28,960 that have happened on our planet, 444 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:31,720 perpetrated by governments and government leaders, 445 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:34,800 and many atrocities that are still happening 446 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:38,040 worldwide today, we see things like child trafficking 447 00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:42,880 and organ trafficking and just some foul things 448 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:45,240 that are perpetrated by those that have the power 449 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:48,080 to do what they want or at least what they think, 450 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:51,360 it's hard not to consider that there are indeed 451 00:19:51,360 --> 00:19:53,200 many rulers and governments that are truly 452 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:55,320 demonically controlled today, 453 00:19:55,320 --> 00:19:57,680 that have demonic spirits behind them, 454 00:19:57,680 --> 00:20:00,000 influencing and manipulating them. 455 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:04,720 I mean today when we look at an entity like Hamas 456 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:09,240 that would butcher babies and decapitate babies 457 00:20:10,360 --> 00:20:14,920 out of hate, I mean what pathetic cowards they are, 458 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:16,760 and yet it's their leaders that would lead them 459 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:18,660 to do these horrific things. 460 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:21,840 And then, I mean we could even go back further 461 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:24,520 and we see worldwide in our country, 462 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:27,560 you have government officials even in our country 463 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:29,440 primarily from one political party 464 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:32,680 that really aggressively wanna advocate 465 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:34,440 for murdering babies in the womb 466 00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:36,640 all the way up until the moment they're born. 467 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:39,320 And they wanna call that healthcare. 468 00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:43,840 And you look at stuff like this and you go, 469 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:47,160 yeah, demons are behind some of this evil 470 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:49,760 and this wickedness that exists in our country today. 471 00:20:50,740 --> 00:20:52,680 But look at verse 14, it said these spirits 472 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:57,360 traveled to the kings and assembled them for battle. 473 00:20:57,360 --> 00:20:59,040 Now we're gonna come back to verse 15, 474 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:00,760 but if you jump up to verse 16 it says, 475 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:02,440 so they assembled the kings at the place 476 00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:05,680 called in Hebrew Armageddon. 477 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:07,280 So these kings and their armies, 478 00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:10,480 they come into Israel into a very specific place 479 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:15,180 to fight against Israel, whom Satan and the Antichrist 480 00:21:15,180 --> 00:21:17,560 and the false prophet hate. 481 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:20,520 We've looked at that when we looked at the woman 482 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:23,000 that was being persecuted by the dragon, 483 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:25,160 and we saw that as a picture of Satan 484 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:28,000 just being against God's chosen people Israel. 485 00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:31,460 That you go all the way back through the history, 486 00:21:31,460 --> 00:21:33,480 God chose a people group, Israel, 487 00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:36,360 to enact his plan through. 488 00:21:36,360 --> 00:21:39,700 And they have been far from perfect. 489 00:21:39,700 --> 00:21:42,440 They have sinned greatly in so many different ways, 490 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:44,580 but still it was God's sovereign choice 491 00:21:44,580 --> 00:21:47,500 as he chose this people to work in and through them, 492 00:21:47,500 --> 00:21:49,000 to send the prophets through. 493 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:51,480 And then the Messiah, the savior of the whole world, 494 00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:55,280 not just Israel, was born through that nation of people. 495 00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:58,920 And then Satan trying to stop all that 496 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:01,000 through the Old Testament and ultimately failing 497 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:04,100 as Jesus came to the earth and was born and lived and died 498 00:22:04,100 --> 00:22:06,560 and then said, okay, well I'm just gonna oppress this people 499 00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:09,800 because there are prophecies that are yet unfulfilled 500 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:12,880 that pertain specifically to the people group, 501 00:22:12,880 --> 00:22:14,320 the nation of Israel and the Jews. 502 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:16,580 And Satan's like, if I could wipe out that nation, 503 00:22:16,580 --> 00:22:18,120 if I could destroy that nation, 504 00:22:18,120 --> 00:22:20,120 well then God can't fulfill his prophecies 505 00:22:20,120 --> 00:22:22,120 and ha ha, God's a liar. 506 00:22:22,120 --> 00:22:24,680 And so the persecution and the anti-Semitism 507 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:26,880 that has been prevalent throughout history 508 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:29,160 is just railing today. 509 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:34,180 And yet we know that there is a plan. 510 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:40,720 And so Satan hates Israel, hates the Jewish people, 511 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:43,080 simply because they are God's chosen people. 512 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:48,060 But in verse 16, as they are assembling to this place 513 00:22:48,060 --> 00:22:51,800 called Armageddon, it's not just a fight against Israel. 514 00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:53,800 It's a fight against God. 515 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:57,520 It's war against God, which is really the foundation 516 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:00,240 of mankind's problem in our sin. 517 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:03,160 We're in a war against God. 518 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:05,320 And we've already seen throughout the book of Revelation, 519 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:08,240 especially by this time at the very tail end of Revelation, 520 00:23:08,240 --> 00:23:09,940 the world has already acknowledged, 521 00:23:09,940 --> 00:23:11,720 the unsaved world has already acknowledged, 522 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:14,360 we know that these judgments are coming from God Almighty. 523 00:23:14,360 --> 00:23:16,000 They're acknowledging it. 524 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:18,240 There's a place now where people are like, God is real, 525 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:19,920 and I still hate his guts. 526 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:24,680 And so they gather together. 527 00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:29,280 What deception to think that they could defeat God, right? 528 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:33,280 These spirits go forth, and whether it's actual spirits 529 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:35,160 or just words spoken, but these people go, 530 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:37,160 yeah, yeah, we should gather together. 531 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:38,640 Let's get our military might together. 532 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:41,040 Let's get our nations and our militaries together. 533 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:42,980 Because we could defeat God. 534 00:23:42,980 --> 00:23:44,820 Really? 535 00:23:44,820 --> 00:23:48,380 The ocean's gone, it's all blood. 536 00:23:49,740 --> 00:23:51,340 Yeah, but whatever, we could still fight him. 537 00:23:51,340 --> 00:23:53,260 We got bullets, pew pew. 538 00:23:54,900 --> 00:23:58,540 The sun burned out. 539 00:23:58,540 --> 00:24:00,620 Yeah, but we have missiles. 540 00:24:00,620 --> 00:24:03,700 I mean, it's like deception to think 541 00:24:03,700 --> 00:24:05,900 that they could defeat God. 542 00:24:05,900 --> 00:24:07,680 And what deception to think that mankind 543 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:11,820 would ever have enough power to finish off the Almighty. 544 00:24:11,820 --> 00:24:14,020 But Psalm two anticipated this. 545 00:24:14,020 --> 00:24:15,940 In Psalm chapter two, verses one through three, 546 00:24:15,940 --> 00:24:17,460 it says, why do the nations rage 547 00:24:17,460 --> 00:24:19,860 and the people's plot in vain? 548 00:24:19,860 --> 00:24:21,700 The kings of the earth take their stand 549 00:24:21,700 --> 00:24:23,220 and the rulers conspire together 550 00:24:23,220 --> 00:24:25,320 against the Lord in his anointed one. 551 00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:26,860 Let's tear off their chains 552 00:24:26,860 --> 00:24:29,060 and throw their ropes off of us. 553 00:24:30,420 --> 00:24:34,020 And that's why people rage against God. 554 00:24:34,020 --> 00:24:37,140 They think when God says, hey, don't do this, 555 00:24:37,140 --> 00:24:39,060 it's bad for you, it's gonna hurt you, 556 00:24:39,060 --> 00:24:40,980 it's gonna hurt your family, it's gonna hurt your friends, 557 00:24:40,980 --> 00:24:41,900 it's gonna hurt your kids. 558 00:24:41,900 --> 00:24:45,940 And people go, how dare you try and put chains upon my, 559 00:24:45,940 --> 00:24:47,600 however I wanna live. 560 00:24:49,180 --> 00:24:51,300 And that's the nations raging against God. 561 00:24:51,300 --> 00:24:52,960 Don't tell me what to do. 562 00:24:54,900 --> 00:24:57,620 And God's like, I'm just trying to tell you 563 00:24:57,620 --> 00:25:01,000 what to do so you're happy and healthy and blessed. 564 00:25:02,060 --> 00:25:03,320 Don't dare tell me what to do. 565 00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:05,200 And so they have this idea that they're gonna come 566 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:07,040 against them and it was spoken all the way back there 567 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:10,420 in Psalms and so Satan, knowing that Jesus' second coming 568 00:25:10,420 --> 00:25:13,380 is close at hand right here at the very end of tribulation 569 00:25:13,380 --> 00:25:15,100 through the deception of the antichrist 570 00:25:15,100 --> 00:25:16,940 and the false prophet and these spirits, 571 00:25:16,940 --> 00:25:20,620 he brings the military might of the world together 572 00:25:20,620 --> 00:25:22,420 to gather in Israel thinking 573 00:25:22,420 --> 00:25:24,440 that they will indeed overcome God. 574 00:25:25,820 --> 00:25:28,180 And we see a picture of the mindset of them at the time 575 00:25:28,180 --> 00:25:30,860 when we jump forward to Revelation chapter 17 576 00:25:30,860 --> 00:25:34,180 verses 13 and 14, this is what God says. 577 00:25:34,180 --> 00:25:37,020 He goes, these have one purpose, 578 00:25:37,020 --> 00:25:38,740 speaking of the nations of the world, 579 00:25:38,740 --> 00:25:41,860 and they give their power and authority to the beast. 580 00:25:41,860 --> 00:25:43,960 These will make war against the lamb, 581 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:45,320 but the lamb will conquer them 582 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:48,280 because he's the Lord of lords and the king of kings. 583 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:51,440 Those with him are called chosen and faithful. 584 00:25:52,820 --> 00:25:54,620 And so the nations of the earth think 585 00:25:54,620 --> 00:25:58,340 we're gathering together, we're gonna come and defeat God, 586 00:25:58,340 --> 00:26:01,460 we're the ones doing this, we're the ones initiating this, 587 00:26:01,460 --> 00:26:03,780 we're finally gonna cast off the yoke of God 588 00:26:03,780 --> 00:26:07,180 and his religion, but Zechariah gives us a picture 589 00:26:07,180 --> 00:26:08,620 of this from God's perspective. 590 00:26:08,620 --> 00:26:11,140 It says this in Zechariah 14, two, 591 00:26:11,140 --> 00:26:13,780 I, God speaking, will gather all the nations 592 00:26:13,780 --> 00:26:15,800 against Jerusalem from battle. 593 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:17,820 Who's doing the gathering? 594 00:26:17,820 --> 00:26:19,880 God's doing the gathering, it's a trap. 595 00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:22,900 And then verse three of Zechariah 14, it says, 596 00:26:22,900 --> 00:26:25,420 then the Lord will go out to fight against those nations 597 00:26:25,420 --> 00:26:27,900 as he fights on a day of battle. 598 00:26:27,900 --> 00:26:30,180 And so this is all a part of God's plan, 599 00:26:30,180 --> 00:26:32,060 this is all a part of God's will, 600 00:26:32,060 --> 00:26:33,860 and God will stand against them, 601 00:26:33,860 --> 00:26:37,500 God gathers them together, and they will lose. 602 00:26:37,500 --> 00:26:38,900 They will lose. 603 00:26:40,700 --> 00:26:44,580 So we'll come back to verse 15, but in Revelation 16, 16, 604 00:26:44,580 --> 00:26:46,880 again it says they assembled the kings of the place 605 00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:48,140 in Hebrew called Armageddon. 606 00:26:48,140 --> 00:26:51,200 This is what the whole sixth bowl is about, is this battle. 607 00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:54,380 Now Armageddon, it's a word we've spoken out before, 608 00:26:54,380 --> 00:26:57,460 it's a word that conjures up maybe images 609 00:26:57,460 --> 00:27:00,700 of end of the world movies we've seen, right? 610 00:27:00,700 --> 00:27:03,120 Remember back in 2012 when everybody was convinced 611 00:27:03,120 --> 00:27:05,580 the Mayan calendar is right, and so there was that movie 612 00:27:05,580 --> 00:27:08,700 that came out, and I've always been a fan 613 00:27:08,700 --> 00:27:11,980 of apocalyptic movies, way back in the day, Mad Max, 614 00:27:11,980 --> 00:27:13,400 you guys remember that? 615 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:15,820 After nuclear war, and there's a guy running around, 616 00:27:15,820 --> 00:27:17,500 and it's like everything got destroyed 617 00:27:17,500 --> 00:27:19,820 but black leather outfits, I guess. 618 00:27:19,820 --> 00:27:22,180 And I've always been a fan of like, 619 00:27:22,180 --> 00:27:25,060 oh, what would it look like, what could it be after that? 620 00:27:25,060 --> 00:27:28,260 And God's like, here you go, Revelation, right? 621 00:27:28,260 --> 00:27:32,260 So, but Armageddon, it conjures this idea. 622 00:27:32,260 --> 00:27:34,740 The word Armageddon, actually the original language 623 00:27:34,740 --> 00:27:38,220 is Har-mageddo, and so the word means 624 00:27:38,220 --> 00:27:42,700 in the original language, the mountain of Maggedo, okay? 625 00:27:42,700 --> 00:27:44,620 Now there's no real mountain there in Maggedo, 626 00:27:44,620 --> 00:27:46,500 there's a hill, and we're gonna talk about that in a moment. 627 00:27:46,500 --> 00:27:48,480 So it's the mountain or hill of Maggedo, 628 00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:50,300 or it could also be translated 629 00:27:50,300 --> 00:27:53,740 the mountain of the plain of Maggedo. 630 00:27:53,740 --> 00:27:56,660 And so if you've ever had the opportunity to go to Israel, 631 00:27:56,660 --> 00:28:00,080 one of the stops on Israel trips is what you see there, 632 00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:04,500 that is the hill of Maggedo, that is the archeological dig, 633 00:28:04,500 --> 00:28:07,260 the ruins, that is the city of Maggedo, 634 00:28:07,260 --> 00:28:10,140 and that valley you see past it, 635 00:28:10,140 --> 00:28:13,580 that is what is referred to as the Valley of Armageddon. 636 00:28:13,580 --> 00:28:16,140 It's this large flat plain that lies 637 00:28:16,140 --> 00:28:18,660 next to the hill of Maggedo. 638 00:28:18,660 --> 00:28:22,740 Now, this area is 60 miles north of Jerusalem, 639 00:28:22,740 --> 00:28:25,100 and today, as I said, it's an archeological dig. 640 00:28:25,100 --> 00:28:27,760 And what they have found as they've dug into it 641 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:29,860 is there's actually like 20 or so cities 642 00:28:29,860 --> 00:28:31,860 that have been there at different times, 643 00:28:31,860 --> 00:28:33,660 one built on top of the other. 644 00:28:33,660 --> 00:28:37,740 And so this hill serves like as a lookout 645 00:28:37,740 --> 00:28:40,220 over this huge valley, 646 00:28:40,220 --> 00:28:42,860 which is actually the meeting of two valleys there in Israel. 647 00:28:42,860 --> 00:28:45,020 One is called the Plain of Ezdreelon, 648 00:28:45,020 --> 00:28:46,980 and the other is called the Valley of Jezreel. 649 00:28:46,980 --> 00:28:50,200 And this whole valley, this huge flat area, 650 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:52,960 is what's referred to as the Valley of Armageddon. 651 00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:54,220 Now, if you visit there today, 652 00:28:54,220 --> 00:28:58,320 you'll notice that this valley is just very beautiful. 653 00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:03,060 It's filled with fruits and vegetables and farms and homes. 654 00:29:03,060 --> 00:29:05,940 I mean, it's a really beautiful thing to look out upon. 655 00:29:05,940 --> 00:29:09,860 But historically, it's often been a battlefield. 656 00:29:09,860 --> 00:29:12,380 200 or so different battles have been fought 657 00:29:12,380 --> 00:29:15,360 in that valley called the Valley of Armageddon. 658 00:29:15,360 --> 00:29:17,620 Pharaoh has fought there. 659 00:29:17,620 --> 00:29:20,300 Lord Allenby of the British has fought there. 660 00:29:20,300 --> 00:29:23,140 Samson defeated the Philistines there. 661 00:29:23,140 --> 00:29:25,140 Titus, the Roman general, fought there. 662 00:29:25,140 --> 00:29:28,540 The Crusaders fought battles there in this area. 663 00:29:28,540 --> 00:29:31,060 Shennachara of the Assyrian fought there. 664 00:29:31,060 --> 00:29:35,460 Antikyos Epiphanes, who is the precursor to the Antichrist, 665 00:29:35,460 --> 00:29:36,380 he fought there. 666 00:29:36,380 --> 00:29:37,420 There's a whole bunch of people 667 00:29:37,420 --> 00:29:39,620 that fought battles in this valley. 668 00:29:40,500 --> 00:29:44,380 In modern times, it was the site of battles in World War I. 669 00:29:44,380 --> 00:29:47,500 It was the site of much fighting in 1948 670 00:29:47,500 --> 00:29:49,700 in the Arab-Israeli War. 671 00:29:49,700 --> 00:29:54,300 Napoleon, who's thought to be one of the most brilliant 672 00:29:56,180 --> 00:29:59,180 tactical minds of history, 673 00:29:59,180 --> 00:30:01,820 said that this valley is the most natural battlefield 674 00:30:01,820 --> 00:30:04,000 that he has ever seen in the entire world. 675 00:30:05,420 --> 00:30:07,660 This valley that's up there has been the site 676 00:30:07,660 --> 00:30:11,160 of so many great victories and great tragedies for Israel. 677 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:14,920 In Judges chapter four, it was the site of Barak's victory 678 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:16,620 over the Canaanites. 679 00:30:16,620 --> 00:30:19,980 In Judges chapter seven, it was the site of Gideon's victory 680 00:30:19,980 --> 00:30:21,240 over the Midianites. 681 00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:23,460 You remember that story, right? 682 00:30:23,460 --> 00:30:25,140 God said, hey, Gideon, go to battle. 683 00:30:25,140 --> 00:30:26,580 And he's like, all right, I got this huge army. 684 00:30:26,580 --> 00:30:28,860 And he goes, there's too many people. 685 00:30:28,860 --> 00:30:30,620 What are you talking about, dude? 686 00:30:30,620 --> 00:30:32,360 Like, their army's bigger. 687 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:33,280 Yeah, yours is too big. 688 00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:35,180 And he whittled it down, whittled it down. 689 00:30:36,220 --> 00:30:39,060 He said, okay, now it's like, what, 300. 690 00:30:39,060 --> 00:30:39,900 Go fight. 691 00:30:39,900 --> 00:30:42,580 Okay, Lord. 692 00:30:42,580 --> 00:30:44,500 So you're gonna like go out there and do a thing, right? 693 00:30:44,500 --> 00:30:46,060 No, you're gonna go and you're gonna follow 694 00:30:46,060 --> 00:30:47,680 my really weird instructions. 695 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:50,900 And it defeated everybody, right? 696 00:30:50,900 --> 00:30:51,760 Great victories. 697 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:54,800 But in 1 Samuel chapter 31, 698 00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:58,840 this valley is where Kingsall and his sons were killed. 699 00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:03,140 In 2 Kings, it was where King Josiah 700 00:31:03,140 --> 00:31:04,900 was defeated and killed. 701 00:31:04,900 --> 00:31:09,220 And so it's a place of battle, historically, great battle. 702 00:31:09,220 --> 00:31:11,180 And so the kings of the east, it says, 703 00:31:11,180 --> 00:31:12,660 they'll come to this valley. 704 00:31:12,660 --> 00:31:16,060 The nations of the earth will be gathered into this area. 705 00:31:16,060 --> 00:31:18,340 But when it says the Battle of Armageddon, 706 00:31:18,340 --> 00:31:20,740 it's not just referring to all the fighting being 707 00:31:20,740 --> 00:31:23,540 in this valley here. 708 00:31:23,540 --> 00:31:26,240 This valley is representative of the larger battlefront 709 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:28,140 that is the entire nation of Israel. 710 00:31:28,140 --> 00:31:31,620 And we know that because in Revelation chapter 14, verse 20, 711 00:31:31,620 --> 00:31:34,860 it told us that the battlefront will encompass 180 miles. 712 00:31:34,860 --> 00:31:37,140 Remember, it said that the blood will rise 713 00:31:37,140 --> 00:31:40,860 to the bridles of the horses for 180 miles. 714 00:31:40,860 --> 00:31:43,760 180 miles is, incidentally, the measurement 715 00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:46,760 of the entire nation of Israel, north to south. 716 00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:49,820 So the entire nation is gonna be a site of fighting. 717 00:31:49,820 --> 00:31:52,860 And so the scope of that measurement in Revelation 14 718 00:31:52,860 --> 00:31:54,940 tells us that the Battle of Armageddon, 719 00:31:54,940 --> 00:31:56,740 or at least it tells me the Battle of Armageddon 720 00:31:56,740 --> 00:32:00,500 is not just one battle, but it's a series of battles. 721 00:32:00,500 --> 00:32:01,900 It's a campaign, if you will. 722 00:32:01,900 --> 00:32:04,740 It's a series of fights collectively known 723 00:32:04,740 --> 00:32:06,900 as the Battle of Armageddon. 724 00:32:06,900 --> 00:32:10,220 Now, in Revelation 19, we're gonna look at great detail 725 00:32:10,220 --> 00:32:12,880 at the conclusion of this battle, 726 00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:14,460 where we're gonna see the kings of the earth 727 00:32:14,460 --> 00:32:16,400 under demonic influence gathered together 728 00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:18,260 for this all-out attack. 729 00:32:18,260 --> 00:32:20,380 And we're gonna see the Antichrist leading the charge 730 00:32:20,380 --> 00:32:21,220 of this attack. 731 00:32:21,220 --> 00:32:23,300 And then there, we're gonna see that Jesus 732 00:32:23,300 --> 00:32:26,120 then returns with the armies of heaven, 733 00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:28,740 standing down on the Mount of Olives, 734 00:32:28,740 --> 00:32:31,980 where he will once and for all defeat the forces of evil, 735 00:32:31,980 --> 00:32:33,980 cast the Antichrist and the false prophet 736 00:32:33,980 --> 00:32:35,420 into the lake of fire. 737 00:32:35,420 --> 00:32:37,740 And that'll just be a really graphic picture 738 00:32:37,740 --> 00:32:41,380 of the full execution of him trampling 739 00:32:41,380 --> 00:32:43,940 on the great winepress of God's wrath, 740 00:32:43,940 --> 00:32:46,520 as he finalizes and put it to an end. 741 00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:48,900 After that, we're gonna read about Satan being bound 742 00:32:48,900 --> 00:32:51,500 for a thousand years and imprisoned into the pit. 743 00:32:51,500 --> 00:32:53,520 And during that thousand years will be 744 00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:55,180 the millennial kingdom of Christ, 745 00:32:55,180 --> 00:32:56,500 where Jesus will be here on earth 746 00:32:56,500 --> 00:32:58,260 reigning for a thousand years. 747 00:32:59,820 --> 00:33:01,900 It's gonna be a horrific battle though. 748 00:33:01,900 --> 00:33:04,340 It's gonna be a war to end all wars. 749 00:33:04,340 --> 00:33:07,140 It's gonna be gruesome, it's gonna be horrific. 750 00:33:07,140 --> 00:33:09,300 But it's a part of the judgment of God, 751 00:33:09,300 --> 00:33:11,940 as he has continually put out, 752 00:33:11,940 --> 00:33:14,600 hey, I will save you if you call out to me. 753 00:33:15,820 --> 00:33:17,460 That does mean obedience to God. 754 00:33:17,460 --> 00:33:19,220 That does mean living his way. 755 00:33:19,220 --> 00:33:21,620 That does mean living according to his word. 756 00:33:21,620 --> 00:33:23,120 It does mean acknowledging God, 757 00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:25,380 you're God, you know best. 758 00:33:25,380 --> 00:33:26,880 But people will refuse that. 759 00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:29,580 They say, no, we want our sin. 760 00:33:29,580 --> 00:33:30,900 We want our depravity. 761 00:33:30,900 --> 00:33:32,660 We want our whatever. 762 00:33:33,940 --> 00:33:35,220 And they will stand against God. 763 00:33:35,220 --> 00:33:37,780 But that all brings us to the seventh bowl. 764 00:33:37,780 --> 00:33:41,420 The wasting of the earth or the renovation of the earth, 765 00:33:41,420 --> 00:33:43,340 depending on how you look at it. 766 00:33:43,340 --> 00:33:45,580 Revelation chapter 16 verse 17, it says, 767 00:33:45,580 --> 00:33:47,700 then the seventh poured out his bowl into the air 768 00:33:47,700 --> 00:33:50,180 and a loud voice came out of the temple 769 00:33:50,180 --> 00:33:52,980 from the throne saying, it is done. 770 00:33:52,980 --> 00:33:55,260 There were flashes of lightning and rumblings 771 00:33:55,260 --> 00:33:58,980 and peals of thunder and a severe earthquake occurred. 772 00:33:58,980 --> 00:34:01,500 Now, we've seen this type of stuff 773 00:34:01,500 --> 00:34:03,740 in a few different stages of Revelation 774 00:34:03,740 --> 00:34:06,980 that when God is escalating things, 775 00:34:06,980 --> 00:34:09,020 taking the next step, we see this noise 776 00:34:09,020 --> 00:34:11,940 and this commotion and this voice coming from heaven. 777 00:34:11,940 --> 00:34:15,180 And so it goes on to say that there was a severe earthquake 778 00:34:15,180 --> 00:34:17,700 like no other since people have been on the earth. 779 00:34:17,700 --> 00:34:19,780 So great was the quake. 780 00:34:19,780 --> 00:34:23,080 Telling us that this particular quake 781 00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:26,320 is not like any other earthquake that has happened. 782 00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:29,560 There have been other earthquakes in prior judgments, 783 00:34:29,560 --> 00:34:32,280 but right here it's saying this quake is unlike any 784 00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:34,120 that has happened in prior judgments 785 00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:35,800 and at any point in history. 786 00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:39,120 The great city split into three parts 787 00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:41,840 and the cities of the nations fell. 788 00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:44,960 Babylon the great was remembered in God's presence 789 00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:46,840 and we'll look at Babylon in greater detail 790 00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:49,200 in Revelation 17 and 18. 791 00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:51,120 It says he gave her the cup filled 792 00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:53,480 with the wine of his fierce anger. 793 00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:57,020 Every island fled and the mountains disappeared. 794 00:34:57,020 --> 00:34:59,560 Enormous hail stones each weighing about 100 pounds 795 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:02,760 fell from the sky on people and they blasphemed God 796 00:35:02,760 --> 00:35:04,920 for the plague of hail because that plague 797 00:35:04,920 --> 00:35:06,620 was extremely severe. 798 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:11,720 Now that is a very brief synopsis of the end. 799 00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:15,400 The end of the end, the end of the world. 800 00:35:16,920 --> 00:35:18,640 The moments right before Jesus comes 801 00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:21,320 to set up his kingdom on the earth. 802 00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:25,400 This is the last final plague, the seventh bowl. 803 00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:26,920 You'll notice there it says that the angel 804 00:35:26,920 --> 00:35:29,500 poured it out into the air. 805 00:35:29,500 --> 00:35:32,480 Some read that to say that this is a very direct 806 00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:36,120 focused judgment against Satan because the Bible tells us 807 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:39,440 that Satan is the prince of the power of the air. 808 00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:42,840 And so they go this is a metaphorical judgment 809 00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:44,640 against Satan. 810 00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:47,480 It could be that, but as we read it, 811 00:35:47,480 --> 00:35:50,600 this judgment of God's wrath being poured out into the air 812 00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:54,880 results in a series of very real physical cataclysms 813 00:35:54,880 --> 00:35:57,440 in the atmosphere and cataclysms on the earth itself. 814 00:35:57,440 --> 00:35:59,400 And so it could be both, right? 815 00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:01,000 It is a judgment against Satan, 816 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:03,560 but it is also a final judgment upon the earth 817 00:36:03,560 --> 00:36:04,500 and those upon it. 818 00:36:05,880 --> 00:36:08,680 Now every natural disaster that has ever happened 819 00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:11,080 up to this point, every earthquake, every hurricane, 820 00:36:11,080 --> 00:36:15,040 every everything, every tornado, every disease, 821 00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:19,360 every plague, all of that, all of that were just warnings, 822 00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:22,120 if you will, of what God will do in the end. 823 00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:25,160 They were just samples, if you will, precursors 824 00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:27,160 to what God's gonna do in the end. 825 00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:29,740 And you'll notice there that after this bowl is poured out, 826 00:36:29,740 --> 00:36:31,780 God says it is done. 827 00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:33,680 It is done. 828 00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:37,280 Now does that sound familiar to anybody? 829 00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:40,320 Right? 830 00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:42,760 You remember when Jesus hung on the cross? 831 00:36:42,760 --> 00:36:46,840 And the full wrath of God against sin was placed on him? 832 00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:47,960 What did Jesus say? 833 00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:50,680 It is finished. 834 00:36:50,680 --> 00:36:51,800 It is finished. 835 00:36:52,640 --> 00:36:54,680 The seventh bowl, it's at the end of the world 836 00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:58,160 and God is pouring out his full wrath on sin. 837 00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:01,720 Again, if you wanna look at it that way, 838 00:37:01,720 --> 00:37:03,500 he says it is done. 839 00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:06,380 It's interesting, you go back into the gospels 840 00:37:06,380 --> 00:37:08,500 and you see when Jesus said it is finished, 841 00:37:08,500 --> 00:37:10,920 there was a local earthquake. 842 00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:14,820 Here, when God says it is done, there's a global earthquake. 843 00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:21,200 The judgment on the cross brought grace into the world. 844 00:37:22,900 --> 00:37:25,980 It brought the opportunity of salvation for everybody. 845 00:37:27,120 --> 00:37:28,440 That the prize had been paid, 846 00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:30,720 the atonement had been laid on the altar, 847 00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:33,420 the lamb had been slain. 848 00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:37,840 And now through faith in his shed blood, 849 00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:40,920 salvation was attainable for everybody. 850 00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:43,800 Not a temporary salvation where you would have 851 00:37:43,800 --> 00:37:46,480 to come back next year and make another sacrifice, 852 00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:49,760 but no, a permanent salvation, cleansed. 853 00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:52,600 From that point forward, every sin you've ever done 854 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:54,320 and every sin you will ever do is paid for 855 00:37:54,320 --> 00:37:55,840 by the blood of Jesus. 856 00:37:55,840 --> 00:38:00,840 What marvelous grace was given to us in that moment. 857 00:38:01,040 --> 00:38:03,040 And from that point on, when people would look 858 00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:08,040 to the cross and say, yes, I'll let Jesus take my sin, 859 00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:12,120 the punishment for my sin, I will trust him to be my savior. 860 00:38:12,120 --> 00:38:16,200 I will let God's full wrath fall on him for my sin. 861 00:38:16,200 --> 00:38:20,500 I will believe in him, take him as my Lord, follow him. 862 00:38:20,500 --> 00:38:22,880 When people have done that, from then until now, 863 00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:24,920 they're making the wise choice. 864 00:38:26,120 --> 00:38:28,440 They're making the right choice, the best choice, 865 00:38:28,440 --> 00:38:33,140 but the wrong choice is, it always has been, 866 00:38:33,140 --> 00:38:37,800 to refuse him, to harden your heart as many will do 867 00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:41,160 in the end times as we've been seeing and many do today 868 00:38:42,080 --> 00:38:44,940 and end up facing judgment on your own 869 00:38:44,940 --> 00:38:46,600 without Jesus as your advocate. 870 00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:50,940 That's the wrong choice. 871 00:38:52,240 --> 00:38:56,760 But either way, whether you choose to let Jesus 872 00:38:56,760 --> 00:38:59,240 take the punishment for your sin 873 00:38:59,240 --> 00:39:03,360 or you choose to take it upon yourself, 874 00:39:03,360 --> 00:39:07,600 it will be finished, it will be done. 875 00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:10,040 The matter will be settled. 876 00:39:10,040 --> 00:39:13,520 Somebody will pay the price for sin. 877 00:39:15,520 --> 00:39:19,640 It can either be Jesus on your behalf or it could be you. 878 00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:24,640 That's really the gospel in a nutshell, isn't it? 879 00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:27,500 We've sinned against God. 880 00:39:27,500 --> 00:39:30,760 We've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 881 00:39:30,760 --> 00:39:32,480 There's nothing we could do to pay the price. 882 00:39:32,480 --> 00:39:35,520 There's nothing we could do to atone for our own sin. 883 00:39:35,520 --> 00:39:36,460 We try. 884 00:39:37,840 --> 00:39:41,480 We try and, well, I'm a good person. 885 00:39:44,360 --> 00:39:46,400 Well, I'm not as bad as that person. 886 00:39:48,360 --> 00:39:50,040 You know, and God always responds to us, 887 00:39:50,040 --> 00:39:52,340 that person isn't the standard. 888 00:39:52,340 --> 00:39:55,360 I'm the standard. 889 00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:58,280 And we think, well, I only told a little lie, 890 00:39:58,280 --> 00:39:59,360 but still a lie. 891 00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:04,560 I didn't rob a bank, I just stole the ream of paper from work. 892 00:40:04,560 --> 00:40:05,680 You're still a thief. 893 00:40:08,600 --> 00:40:11,960 I'm not actually cheating on my spouse. 894 00:40:11,960 --> 00:40:14,500 I'm just watching pornography all the time. 895 00:40:15,540 --> 00:40:17,360 Jesus said, you lusted in your heart. 896 00:40:17,360 --> 00:40:18,660 You've committed adultery. 897 00:40:18,660 --> 00:40:21,660 We've all sinned. 898 00:40:24,040 --> 00:40:27,920 And God has been trying to get the world to understand 899 00:40:28,920 --> 00:40:30,940 that I have to judge sin because I'm holy, 900 00:40:30,940 --> 00:40:32,180 and I'm just, and I'm righteous. 901 00:40:32,180 --> 00:40:34,560 I can't just turn a blind eye and let it go. 902 00:40:34,560 --> 00:40:35,920 And some of you in this room today, 903 00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:38,120 maybe watching online today, you're going, 904 00:40:38,120 --> 00:40:39,460 well, God hasn't judged me yet. 905 00:40:39,460 --> 00:40:40,800 Maybe he's okay with my sin. 906 00:40:40,800 --> 00:40:41,760 No. 907 00:40:41,760 --> 00:40:46,760 To show you how not okay with your sin he is, 908 00:40:48,820 --> 00:40:50,580 Jesus died on the cross, 909 00:40:51,780 --> 00:40:54,580 was brutally tortured and bled out for your sin 910 00:40:54,580 --> 00:40:56,420 to pay the price for your sin. 911 00:40:57,860 --> 00:40:59,460 But you don't get the benefit of that 912 00:40:59,460 --> 00:41:01,500 until you call out to him in faith, 913 00:41:02,740 --> 00:41:05,020 until you trust in Jesus and put your hope in him 914 00:41:05,020 --> 00:41:08,380 and say, God, I receive that free gift. 915 00:41:08,380 --> 00:41:12,180 I receive your death in my place. 916 00:41:12,180 --> 00:41:13,660 But if you don't do that, 917 00:41:15,180 --> 00:41:18,180 that wrath that poured out on Jesus will pour out on you. 918 00:41:20,060 --> 00:41:22,380 You will get the opportunity to pay your own price 919 00:41:22,380 --> 00:41:24,980 for your own sin, and that breaks God's heart. 920 00:41:27,260 --> 00:41:31,100 Says for he loved the whole world, that includes you, 921 00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:34,060 that he sent his son. 922 00:41:34,060 --> 00:41:37,140 That if you would believe in him, you would be saved. 923 00:41:37,140 --> 00:41:39,580 You would not perish, but have everlasting life. 924 00:41:42,540 --> 00:41:44,380 And God just pleads with you. 925 00:41:45,340 --> 00:41:46,940 And I know some don't like that word, 926 00:41:46,940 --> 00:41:50,180 but it's please, let me save you. 927 00:41:52,260 --> 00:41:55,580 Because without the salvation, I will judge you. 928 00:42:00,260 --> 00:42:02,380 But what we see here at the end of tribulation, 929 00:42:02,380 --> 00:42:04,980 is this judgment pouring forth, 930 00:42:04,980 --> 00:42:08,340 the full wrath of God, finalized. 931 00:42:08,340 --> 00:42:10,180 And the planet is radically changed. 932 00:42:10,180 --> 00:42:11,780 It's radically affected. 933 00:42:11,780 --> 00:42:15,260 It's remodeled, it's rearranged, if you will. 934 00:42:15,260 --> 00:42:18,420 There are some that even see this radical rearranging 935 00:42:18,420 --> 00:42:21,460 of the earth as God preparing the earth 936 00:42:21,460 --> 00:42:25,100 for the millennial kingdom that he is about to establish, 937 00:42:25,100 --> 00:42:27,180 as he is gonna touch down on earth. 938 00:42:27,180 --> 00:42:29,700 We have these massive, grand, 939 00:42:29,700 --> 00:42:33,020 global earthquakes, it tells us that cities are leveled. 940 00:42:33,020 --> 00:42:35,220 It tells us that islands are moved, 941 00:42:35,220 --> 00:42:37,540 that mountains are flattened. 942 00:42:37,540 --> 00:42:39,860 We're reading about the atmosphere continuing 943 00:42:39,860 --> 00:42:43,060 to be changed and affected with thunder and lightning, 944 00:42:43,060 --> 00:42:46,300 and something happens in the atmosphere to the point 945 00:42:46,300 --> 00:42:50,460 that results in 100 pound hailstones falling from the sky. 946 00:42:50,460 --> 00:42:52,140 You ever been hit by a hailstone? 947 00:42:53,340 --> 00:42:54,780 The little ones hurt, right? 948 00:42:54,780 --> 00:42:56,300 The little ones hurt. 949 00:42:56,300 --> 00:42:58,300 They wreck your car, they wreck your car. 950 00:42:58,300 --> 00:43:01,220 They hurt, they wreck your car, they break your windshield. 951 00:43:01,220 --> 00:43:02,660 100 pounds? 952 00:43:05,180 --> 00:43:06,020 Crazy. 953 00:43:08,300 --> 00:43:10,500 It's like I said earlier, it's like Jesus taking back 954 00:43:10,500 --> 00:43:12,260 the place that he originally built, 955 00:43:13,900 --> 00:43:16,340 and doing some demolition so that he can restore it 956 00:43:16,340 --> 00:43:18,780 to what it was before we gave away the title deed 957 00:43:18,780 --> 00:43:19,780 and ruined it all. 958 00:43:21,580 --> 00:43:24,460 And this restoration could be a return 959 00:43:24,460 --> 00:43:26,060 to pre-flood conditions. 960 00:43:26,060 --> 00:43:29,060 Some commentators see that, that the earth is gonna be 961 00:43:29,060 --> 00:43:32,460 restored to a pristine condition for this thousand year 962 00:43:32,460 --> 00:43:34,300 reign of Christ, right? 963 00:43:34,300 --> 00:43:35,340 We get that from this. 964 00:43:35,340 --> 00:43:37,420 It says there's earthquakes and islands moving 965 00:43:37,420 --> 00:43:38,820 and mountains disappearing. 966 00:43:41,460 --> 00:43:43,660 You guys remember what happened in Genesis chapter six 967 00:43:43,660 --> 00:43:45,820 and seven during the flood? 968 00:43:45,820 --> 00:43:46,900 I'll read a verse to you. 969 00:43:46,900 --> 00:43:48,700 Chapter seven, verse 11. 970 00:43:48,700 --> 00:43:51,260 It says, on that day, all the sources of the vast 971 00:43:51,260 --> 00:43:54,980 watery depths burst open, and the floodgates of the sky 972 00:43:54,980 --> 00:43:57,380 were opened, and the rain fell on the earth 973 00:43:57,380 --> 00:43:59,300 for 40 days and 40 nights. 974 00:44:00,620 --> 00:44:04,060 It's believed that before the flood, there was this canopy, 975 00:44:04,060 --> 00:44:06,820 this vapor canopy that was around the earth 976 00:44:06,820 --> 00:44:11,620 that created pristine conditions that blocked UV radiation 977 00:44:11,620 --> 00:44:14,900 from the sun, that made it so perfect that it allowed humans 978 00:44:14,900 --> 00:44:17,940 to live to a thousand years old, which was the lifespan 979 00:44:17,940 --> 00:44:19,500 during those early years. 980 00:44:19,500 --> 00:44:24,500 And it says that during the flood, water came from below 981 00:44:24,580 --> 00:44:27,180 that the vast watery depths burst open. 982 00:44:27,180 --> 00:44:30,340 There were streams, fountains underneath the earth 983 00:44:30,340 --> 00:44:32,580 that burst open and water came forth. 984 00:44:32,580 --> 00:44:36,580 And then the canopy, the floodgates of the sky were opened 985 00:44:36,580 --> 00:44:38,460 and the water came from below and above it. 986 00:44:38,460 --> 00:44:40,420 It flooded the entire earth. 987 00:44:42,780 --> 00:44:45,580 It says that the water surged, and it surged to the point 988 00:44:45,580 --> 00:44:46,900 that later on in Genesis says, 989 00:44:46,900 --> 00:44:51,060 the mountains covered as waters surged above 990 00:44:51,060 --> 00:44:54,100 the highest mountains by more than 20 feet. 991 00:44:57,820 --> 00:45:01,300 Now in other translations, that phrase vast watery depths 992 00:45:01,300 --> 00:45:03,980 is fountains of the deep, so there's just like springs 993 00:45:03,980 --> 00:45:06,820 of water, if you will, fountains that burst open. 994 00:45:06,820 --> 00:45:10,700 Now, there's some conjecture on this, 995 00:45:10,700 --> 00:45:13,700 but when I read stuff like that and you look at science 996 00:45:12,740 --> 00:45:17,020 continental tectonic plate shifting and stuff, 997 00:45:17,020 --> 00:45:18,220 some of you have read some of this, 998 00:45:18,220 --> 00:45:20,700 but it's pretty widely accepted that at one point 999 00:45:20,700 --> 00:45:22,020 all the continents were together 1000 00:45:22,020 --> 00:45:24,340 and it was this massive supercontinent called Pangea. 1001 00:45:24,340 --> 00:45:25,540 You guys ever heard of that? 1002 00:45:27,580 --> 00:45:29,260 And when you study plate tectonics, 1003 00:45:29,260 --> 00:45:31,460 they know that continents are shifting and moving, 1004 00:45:31,460 --> 00:45:33,860 but at one time it appears that they might have been 1005 00:45:33,860 --> 00:45:36,220 one supercontinent together, all connected. 1006 00:45:36,220 --> 00:45:39,300 I think Genesis six and seven when the flood happened 1007 00:45:39,300 --> 00:45:42,300 is likely when the continents we know today were formed. 1008 00:45:42,300 --> 00:45:43,900 That's a personal opinion. 1009 00:45:43,900 --> 00:45:47,060 I believe that's possibly when Pangea was broken apart 1010 00:45:47,060 --> 00:45:49,820 and the continents were forced apart as this water burst up 1011 00:45:49,820 --> 00:45:52,820 through and on shoved tectonic plates apart. 1012 00:45:52,820 --> 00:45:54,340 Speculative, I understand, 1013 00:45:54,340 --> 00:45:56,740 but that's my personal opinion. 1014 00:45:57,900 --> 00:45:59,900 But since then, 1015 00:45:59,900 --> 00:46:01,340 I've been thinking about this, 1016 00:46:01,340 --> 00:46:03,780 and I've been thinking about this for a long time. 1017 00:46:03,780 --> 00:46:06,940 But since then, 1018 00:46:06,940 --> 00:46:10,780 the earth has just been active with earthquake activity 1019 00:46:10,780 --> 00:46:11,780 all over the earth. 1020 00:46:12,660 --> 00:46:15,980 As these tectonic plates continue to shift and move. 1021 00:46:18,740 --> 00:46:19,580 Why? 1022 00:46:19,580 --> 00:46:21,700 Why has there been earthquake activity from then until now? 1023 00:46:21,700 --> 00:46:24,300 Because we live on an unstable earth. 1024 00:46:25,180 --> 00:46:29,300 We live on an unstable earth that's not destined to last. 1025 00:46:29,300 --> 00:46:31,780 As we're seeing here in the seventh bowl, 1026 00:46:31,780 --> 00:46:33,060 the final judgment here, 1027 00:46:33,060 --> 00:46:35,060 we live on an earth today that is destined 1028 00:46:35,060 --> 00:46:38,260 to break up again and move and shift. 1029 00:46:38,260 --> 00:46:41,420 As it says, the islands flee and the mountains disappear. 1030 00:46:41,420 --> 00:46:42,820 What is that describing? 1031 00:46:44,540 --> 00:46:48,900 It's a massive geological shifting is gonna take place. 1032 00:46:48,900 --> 00:46:50,860 And some even say the effect on the weather 1033 00:46:50,860 --> 00:46:52,740 with the lightning and all this stuff, 1034 00:46:52,740 --> 00:46:55,140 it's gonna ultimately result 1035 00:46:55,140 --> 00:46:58,100 in that vapor canopy being restored. 1036 00:46:58,100 --> 00:47:01,540 And people aren't gonna die like they do now, 1037 00:47:01,540 --> 00:47:03,940 and life stands are gonna be expanded, 1038 00:47:03,940 --> 00:47:07,060 and things are gonna go back to pre-flood conditions. 1039 00:47:07,060 --> 00:47:09,540 You know, again, speculative, but there are ideas here 1040 00:47:09,540 --> 00:47:12,460 that something is changing radically upon the earth. 1041 00:47:15,380 --> 00:47:17,700 But regardless of how you see all that, 1042 00:47:17,700 --> 00:47:19,700 I see that Jesus is stepping in 1043 00:47:19,700 --> 00:47:21,300 and rearranging the living room. 1044 00:47:22,500 --> 00:47:25,260 He is stepping in and repainting and renovating. 1045 00:47:25,260 --> 00:47:28,780 I think it's gonna result in no more rifts and fault lines. 1046 00:47:28,780 --> 00:47:31,060 Everything's gonna be exactly how he wants it. 1047 00:47:32,100 --> 00:47:33,500 Then there's gonna be this thousand year 1048 00:47:33,500 --> 00:47:34,620 millennial reign of Christ, 1049 00:47:34,620 --> 00:47:35,940 and then after the thousand years, 1050 00:47:35,940 --> 00:47:39,300 it tells us that yeah, he recreates it all together 1051 00:47:39,300 --> 00:47:41,740 when there's a new heaven and a new earth. 1052 00:47:41,740 --> 00:47:43,300 Hallelujah, I can't wait for that. 1053 00:47:44,540 --> 00:47:47,180 But verse 19, it mentions the great city. 1054 00:47:47,180 --> 00:47:48,980 The great city is split in three parts. 1055 00:47:48,980 --> 00:47:50,580 What city is this? 1056 00:47:50,580 --> 00:47:51,420 There's a couple ideas. 1057 00:47:51,420 --> 00:47:53,540 Some people go, well, it's back to the old city. 1058 00:47:53,540 --> 00:47:56,140 There's a couple ideas, some people go, well, it's Babylon. 1059 00:47:56,140 --> 00:47:58,740 Babylon is a city that's split into three parts 1060 00:47:58,740 --> 00:48:00,460 because, well, it's mentioned right there in the verse, 1061 00:48:00,460 --> 00:48:01,820 right? 1062 00:48:01,820 --> 00:48:03,940 The city is split into three parts, 1063 00:48:04,820 --> 00:48:06,300 and the cities of the nations fell, 1064 00:48:06,300 --> 00:48:08,260 and then it says Babylon the great was remembered. 1065 00:48:08,260 --> 00:48:10,740 So people go, of course it's referring to Babylon. 1066 00:48:11,660 --> 00:48:15,260 Additionally, Babylon is referred to as the great city 1067 00:48:15,260 --> 00:48:19,540 in Revelation 18, 10 and 16 and 18 through 19, verse 21, 1068 00:48:19,540 --> 00:48:21,020 whole bunch of places. 1069 00:48:21,020 --> 00:48:22,620 You'll see verses like, whoa, whoa, 1070 00:48:22,620 --> 00:48:25,340 to the great city as it's talking about Babylon. 1071 00:48:25,340 --> 00:48:26,900 So that's one interpretation. 1072 00:48:26,900 --> 00:48:28,900 Another interpretation people have is that 1073 00:48:28,900 --> 00:48:31,500 the great city is Jerusalem, 1074 00:48:31,500 --> 00:48:33,300 and the reason they think that is because 1075 00:48:33,300 --> 00:48:34,940 if you look at verse 19, 1076 00:48:34,940 --> 00:48:37,260 some read it as making a distinction 1077 00:48:37,260 --> 00:48:39,140 between the great city and Babylon. 1078 00:48:39,140 --> 00:48:41,580 If you go back to it, it says the great city, 1079 00:48:41,580 --> 00:48:44,620 and then it says, and the Gentile nations, 1080 00:48:44,620 --> 00:48:46,180 and then it talks about Babylon. 1081 00:48:46,180 --> 00:48:49,020 So people read it as making a distinction between the two, 1082 00:48:49,020 --> 00:48:51,900 and again, they'll go back to earlier in Revelation 1083 00:48:51,900 --> 00:48:53,820 when we had the story about the two witnesses, 1084 00:48:53,820 --> 00:48:54,780 and they were murdered, 1085 00:48:54,780 --> 00:48:56,740 and their bodies were left to rot on the street. 1086 00:48:56,740 --> 00:48:58,900 It said that they were left to rot on the streets 1087 00:48:58,900 --> 00:49:03,300 of the great city where Jesus was crucified. 1088 00:49:03,300 --> 00:49:05,740 Well, we know where Jesus was crucified, right? 1089 00:49:05,740 --> 00:49:06,940 Jerusalem. 1090 00:49:06,940 --> 00:49:08,300 So, and then on top of that, 1091 00:49:08,300 --> 00:49:11,260 Zechariah has a prophecy that when Jesus returns 1092 00:49:11,260 --> 00:49:14,500 and his feet set down upon the Mount of Olives, 1093 00:49:14,500 --> 00:49:17,020 it tells us that the Mount of Olives will split in two 1094 00:49:17,020 --> 00:49:19,060 from the west to the east. 1095 00:49:19,980 --> 00:49:21,340 Well, if you look at a map, 1096 00:49:21,340 --> 00:49:25,020 the Mount of Olives is directly west of Jerusalem, 1097 00:49:25,020 --> 00:49:27,100 and if the mountain splits in half 1098 00:49:27,100 --> 00:49:28,880 and the split goes west and east, 1099 00:49:28,880 --> 00:49:31,300 one of those splits is gonna directly go through 1100 00:49:31,300 --> 00:49:32,420 the city of Jerusalem, 1101 00:49:32,420 --> 00:49:34,380 and so some see that there's gonna be some type 1102 00:49:34,380 --> 00:49:35,500 of great earthquake there 1103 00:49:35,500 --> 00:49:38,140 that causes this geological trauma. 1104 00:49:38,140 --> 00:49:40,100 There's a split, and then the city then splits 1105 00:49:40,100 --> 00:49:42,020 into three parts as a result of this, 1106 00:49:42,020 --> 00:49:43,260 and on and on and on. 1107 00:49:45,740 --> 00:49:48,860 And that ties into another prophecy in Zechariah 1108 00:49:48,860 --> 00:49:50,980 where it says that there were water flowing 1109 00:49:50,980 --> 00:49:53,180 from Jerusalem all the way down to the Mediterranean 1110 00:49:53,180 --> 00:49:54,620 and all the way down to the Dead Sea, 1111 00:49:54,620 --> 00:49:56,180 and then during the Millennial Kingdom, 1112 00:49:56,180 --> 00:49:58,880 there's gonna be fishermen in the Dead Sea. 1113 00:49:58,880 --> 00:50:00,700 And so people go, yeah, there's gonna be a split 1114 00:50:00,700 --> 00:50:03,140 and the city's gonna be broken apart as a part of this. 1115 00:50:03,140 --> 00:50:06,640 So, again, I don't know either way, right? 1116 00:50:06,640 --> 00:50:08,340 I personally lean towards Jerusalem, 1117 00:50:08,340 --> 00:50:10,820 but I won't make a case for that to die on. 1118 00:50:10,820 --> 00:50:15,820 So, but it says then 100-pound hailstones fall from the sky. 1119 00:50:15,940 --> 00:50:18,300 So the very last thing God does, 1120 00:50:18,300 --> 00:50:20,280 the last element of his wrath, 1121 00:50:20,280 --> 00:50:23,380 the last bit of activity of God's judgment, 1122 00:50:23,380 --> 00:50:27,140 the last moment, if you will, are these big hailstones, 1123 00:50:27,140 --> 00:50:29,180 these big blocks of ice falling from the heavens. 1124 00:50:29,180 --> 00:50:31,180 And you say, why is that the last thing? 1125 00:50:33,220 --> 00:50:35,020 Why hailstones? 1126 00:50:35,020 --> 00:50:37,020 Why not more meteorites? 1127 00:50:37,020 --> 00:50:38,380 Why not balls of fire, right? 1128 00:50:38,380 --> 00:50:40,660 Isn't that how God judged in the Old Testament? 1129 00:50:40,660 --> 00:50:42,060 Fire, right? 1130 00:50:43,180 --> 00:50:44,580 But why hailstones? 1131 00:50:44,580 --> 00:50:46,380 Well, you go back to the Old Testament, 1132 00:50:46,380 --> 00:50:48,300 what was the penalty for blasphemy? 1133 00:50:48,300 --> 00:50:49,900 It's being stoned to death. 1134 00:50:51,260 --> 00:50:53,260 Having large, heavy rocks cast upon you, 1135 00:50:53,260 --> 00:50:55,660 crushing you to the point where you die. 1136 00:50:55,660 --> 00:50:58,860 And so God is gonna do that very thing rightfully, 1137 00:50:58,860 --> 00:51:01,580 because as we read here, even in the judgment, 1138 00:51:01,580 --> 00:51:03,340 man is still blaspheming God. 1139 00:51:05,260 --> 00:51:07,020 So let's close with verse 15 real quick. 1140 00:51:07,020 --> 00:51:09,020 I wanna jump back to that. 1141 00:51:09,020 --> 00:51:10,260 This is Jesus speaking. 1142 00:51:11,380 --> 00:51:13,660 He says, look, I'm coming like a thief. 1143 00:51:13,660 --> 00:51:15,660 Blessed is the one who is alert and remains closed 1144 00:51:15,660 --> 00:51:17,660 so that he may not go around naked. 1145 00:51:17,660 --> 00:51:19,300 And people see his shame. 1146 00:51:20,500 --> 00:51:23,780 This is a comment, like as John is seeing this vision, 1147 00:51:23,780 --> 00:51:26,860 it's being revealed to him, it's like Jesus just jumps in 1148 00:51:26,860 --> 00:51:30,340 and makes a quick commentary regarding what he is seeing. 1149 00:51:30,340 --> 00:51:33,060 You know, the coming of Jesus Christ is often compared 1150 00:51:33,060 --> 00:51:34,700 to the coming of a thief. 1151 00:51:34,700 --> 00:51:37,980 We see that in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse two. 1152 00:51:37,980 --> 00:51:39,900 It says, for you yourselves know very well 1153 00:51:39,900 --> 00:51:41,260 that the day of the Lord will come 1154 00:51:41,260 --> 00:51:43,380 just like a thief in the night. 1155 00:51:44,660 --> 00:51:46,500 And what does he mean by using this phrase, 1156 00:51:46,500 --> 00:51:47,820 like a thief in the night? 1157 00:51:47,820 --> 00:51:49,100 Well, what do you think about when you think 1158 00:51:49,100 --> 00:51:50,220 of a thief in the night? 1159 00:51:51,340 --> 00:51:53,740 It's not someone who knocks on the door and says hi. 1160 00:51:55,740 --> 00:51:57,940 About a week and a half ago, two weeks ago, 1161 00:51:57,940 --> 00:52:00,540 my mom's car got stolen from in front of our house. 1162 00:52:01,780 --> 00:52:02,860 Thief in the night. 1163 00:52:03,900 --> 00:52:06,020 They didn't show up and say, excuse me, 1164 00:52:06,020 --> 00:52:08,020 I'm gonna take your car for a joy ride, 1165 00:52:08,020 --> 00:52:09,740 we'll leave it in Santa Ana, 1166 00:52:09,740 --> 00:52:10,660 pick it up in a couple weeks. 1167 00:52:10,660 --> 00:52:12,140 No, they didn't tell us that. 1168 00:52:12,980 --> 00:52:15,500 The idea, and we got the car back by the way, 1169 00:52:15,500 --> 00:52:16,780 praise God, so. 1170 00:52:16,780 --> 00:52:18,700 But the thief in the night, 1171 00:52:18,700 --> 00:52:21,420 it's the idea that it's the arrival of something sudden, 1172 00:52:21,420 --> 00:52:22,780 something you're unprepared for, 1173 00:52:22,780 --> 00:52:24,860 something that could be even dangerous, 1174 00:52:24,860 --> 00:52:27,260 and you go, wow, Jesus coming like a thief in the night, 1175 00:52:27,260 --> 00:52:28,380 something unprepared for, 1176 00:52:28,380 --> 00:52:30,220 that doesn't sound very comforting. 1177 00:52:31,740 --> 00:52:33,980 It's not meant to be comforting, all right? 1178 00:52:33,980 --> 00:52:35,900 The idea of Jesus coming like a thief in the night, 1179 00:52:35,900 --> 00:52:38,060 this is for unbelievers. 1180 00:52:38,060 --> 00:52:39,580 This is for those that don't know him. 1181 00:52:39,580 --> 00:52:44,580 You see, Jesus never comes as a thief for those 1182 00:52:44,580 --> 00:52:46,740 who belong to him. 1183 00:52:48,940 --> 00:52:51,140 First Thessalonians 5, 2. 1184 00:52:51,140 --> 00:52:52,460 You know that the day of the Lord, 1185 00:52:52,460 --> 00:52:54,980 and this was referring to the tribulation time period, 1186 00:52:54,980 --> 00:52:56,980 will come just like a thief in the night. 1187 00:52:58,060 --> 00:52:59,460 And then in verse three, he goes on to say, 1188 00:52:59,460 --> 00:53:01,700 when they, speaking of nonbelievers, 1189 00:53:01,700 --> 00:53:04,060 say peace and security, 1190 00:53:04,060 --> 00:53:06,860 when they think everything is okay, 1191 00:53:06,860 --> 00:53:09,020 when they think all is well, 1192 00:53:09,020 --> 00:53:10,780 destruction will come upon them. 1193 00:53:10,780 --> 00:53:13,020 And then in verse four of First Thessalonians 5, 1194 00:53:13,020 --> 00:53:15,660 he says, but you, brothers and sisters, 1195 00:53:15,660 --> 00:53:17,220 speaking of the saved, 1196 00:53:17,220 --> 00:53:19,980 you're not in the dark for this day, 1197 00:53:19,980 --> 00:53:22,900 or this time period to surprise you like a thief. 1198 00:53:22,900 --> 00:53:24,340 For you are all children of the light 1199 00:53:24,340 --> 00:53:25,340 and children of the day. 1200 00:53:25,340 --> 00:53:28,260 We do not belong to the night or the darkness. 1201 00:53:30,100 --> 00:53:34,700 For the church, Jesus doesn't come as a thief. 1202 00:53:34,700 --> 00:53:36,580 He comes as a bridegroom. 1203 00:53:37,820 --> 00:53:41,180 Now it says, be ready for him to come, 1204 00:53:41,180 --> 00:53:44,580 but he doesn't come as something dangerous, 1205 00:53:44,580 --> 00:53:46,740 something that's trying to take something from you. 1206 00:53:46,740 --> 00:53:48,620 He comes as a bridegroom. 1207 00:53:48,620 --> 00:53:51,660 We see that in First Thessalonians 5, 9. 1208 00:53:51,660 --> 00:53:54,700 For God did not appoint us to wrath, 1209 00:53:54,700 --> 00:53:57,580 but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1210 00:53:59,180 --> 00:54:02,460 So for the believers, we are waiting and watching for him, 1211 00:54:02,460 --> 00:54:04,540 because he's gonna return. 1212 00:54:04,540 --> 00:54:07,420 We don't know exactly when he's gonna return. 1213 00:54:07,420 --> 00:54:09,380 So yeah, it could be a sudden thing, 1214 00:54:09,380 --> 00:54:12,340 but the idea is we're expecting it. 1215 00:54:12,340 --> 00:54:14,300 We're not doing like the world does, 1216 00:54:14,300 --> 00:54:15,900 and the world will do during tribulation 1217 00:54:15,900 --> 00:54:17,660 and say there is no God, there is no return, 1218 00:54:17,660 --> 00:54:18,820 there is no judgment coming. 1219 00:54:18,820 --> 00:54:21,100 It's never gonna happen. 1220 00:54:21,100 --> 00:54:22,380 We're expecting it. 1221 00:54:22,380 --> 00:54:24,700 We're ready and waiting for him to take us to himself, 1222 00:54:24,700 --> 00:54:27,740 and the coming of this time of judgment upon the world 1223 00:54:27,740 --> 00:54:30,700 will take the world completely off guard. 1224 00:54:31,740 --> 00:54:34,260 They will have no idea and not be ready for it. 1225 00:54:34,260 --> 00:54:36,700 And it's just sad, because after all the treaties 1226 00:54:36,700 --> 00:54:39,540 and all the peace accords and all the UN humanitarian 1227 00:54:39,540 --> 00:54:43,140 efforts, the world's gonna think we're making 1228 00:54:43,140 --> 00:54:45,100 the world a better place. 1229 00:54:45,100 --> 00:54:46,940 We're making the world a better place. 1230 00:54:46,940 --> 00:54:49,060 We're making it good, we're making it all it should be, 1231 00:54:49,060 --> 00:54:52,420 and then it all falls apart very rapidly 1232 00:54:52,420 --> 00:54:55,180 in the span of seven years, very suddenly, 1233 00:54:55,180 --> 00:54:56,860 just when they think all is well. 1234 00:54:58,100 --> 00:55:00,380 And what does Jesus say here as John is watching 1235 00:55:00,380 --> 00:55:01,580 the conclusion of all of this? 1236 00:55:01,580 --> 00:55:03,500 He steps in and he goes like blessed is the one 1237 00:55:03,500 --> 00:55:07,220 who is alert, the one who is watching, 1238 00:55:07,220 --> 00:55:09,300 the one who is waiting, the one who is dressed, 1239 00:55:09,300 --> 00:55:11,700 clothed in righteousness, right? 1240 00:55:12,740 --> 00:55:14,540 Blessed is the one who is ready that they wouldn't 1241 00:55:14,540 --> 00:55:16,580 be ashamed, but they would be ready to go 1242 00:55:16,580 --> 00:55:18,580 when their Lord shows up to call them home, 1243 00:55:18,580 --> 00:55:21,300 taken away, saved from all this tragedy, 1244 00:55:21,300 --> 00:55:23,580 all this wrath, all this devastation. 1245 00:55:25,180 --> 00:55:26,740 As John is seeing the end, and he's seeing 1246 00:55:26,740 --> 00:55:29,380 the worst war ever, and he's seeing the final judgment 1247 00:55:29,380 --> 00:55:31,420 of God, and Jesus steps in and says, yeah, 1248 00:55:31,420 --> 00:55:34,500 praise God you're not gonna experience any of that. 1249 00:55:36,220 --> 00:55:38,140 Praise God you are saved from that. 1250 00:55:40,740 --> 00:55:44,260 In 1 John 2, 28 it tells us, so now little children 1251 00:55:44,260 --> 00:55:47,460 remain in him so that when he appears we may have 1252 00:55:47,460 --> 00:55:50,300 confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming. 1253 00:55:51,620 --> 00:55:54,460 That's the mandate we live under today as Christians. 1254 00:55:54,460 --> 00:55:56,260 We're looking forward to his coming, 1255 00:55:57,140 --> 00:55:59,140 but how do you get to this place of having confidence 1256 00:55:59,140 --> 00:56:01,940 and not being ashamed at him at his coming? 1257 00:56:01,940 --> 00:56:04,540 It's living for him today. 1258 00:56:04,540 --> 00:56:07,240 It's living in obedience to him today. 1259 00:56:09,020 --> 00:56:12,100 That's how you walk in this place, 1260 00:56:12,100 --> 00:56:14,460 live in this place of having confidence. 1261 00:56:16,100 --> 00:56:19,940 That when Jesus shows up with the shout, 1262 00:56:19,940 --> 00:56:22,300 with the trump and says, come home, 1263 00:56:24,140 --> 00:56:26,500 you're not like, oh shoot, I'm in the middle 1264 00:56:26,500 --> 00:56:31,340 of this sinful thing. 1265 00:56:31,340 --> 00:56:32,540 How do you make sure you're not in the middle 1266 00:56:32,540 --> 00:56:34,460 of that sinful thing? 1267 00:56:34,460 --> 00:56:36,620 You just strive to live in obedience to him. 1268 00:56:38,260 --> 00:56:40,260 You just study his word, you pray, you worship, 1269 00:56:40,260 --> 00:56:41,780 you say God I want my life to glorify you, 1270 00:56:41,780 --> 00:56:44,700 and you just endeavor to do it, he's calling you to do. 1271 00:56:44,700 --> 00:56:46,860 All the while watching and waiting and expecting 1272 00:56:46,860 --> 00:56:48,780 and anticipating the day when we're caught up 1273 00:56:48,780 --> 00:56:51,780 into the clouds as it says to meet the Lord into the air, 1274 00:56:51,780 --> 00:56:54,580 or meet the Lord in the air prior to his wrath 1275 00:56:54,580 --> 00:56:56,580 falling upon the earth. 1276 00:56:57,820 --> 00:57:00,580 So judgment is coming, we know that. 1277 00:57:00,580 --> 00:57:02,780 What we've been studying and looking at in Revelation 1278 00:57:02,780 --> 00:57:04,300 is yet future. 1279 00:57:05,820 --> 00:57:07,940 We've been seeing this vision that John has given, 1280 00:57:07,940 --> 00:57:10,700 it's very detailed, it's very graphic. 1281 00:57:11,660 --> 00:57:13,740 It's nothing anybody can prevent, 1282 00:57:14,620 --> 00:57:16,580 but it is something you can escape. 1283 00:57:17,700 --> 00:57:19,080 It is something you can avoid. 1284 00:57:19,080 --> 00:57:22,500 Paul said to the Thessalonians, Jesus is the one 1285 00:57:22,500 --> 00:57:24,740 who delivers us from the wrath to come. 1286 00:57:26,740 --> 00:57:31,740 So many scoff and dismiss and wave off any talk 1287 00:57:31,740 --> 00:57:34,040 of coming judgment as ridiculous. 1288 00:57:35,100 --> 00:57:37,260 That's just silly. 1289 00:57:37,260 --> 00:57:39,140 That's just Christian propaganda, 1290 00:57:39,140 --> 00:57:41,060 it's fairy tales that the church tells, 1291 00:57:41,060 --> 00:57:44,100 and that's exactly why they're gonna be caught off guard. 1292 00:57:45,180 --> 00:57:47,120 That's exactly why they're gonna be caught off guard. 1293 00:57:47,120 --> 00:57:49,300 This is exactly why judgment will come upon them 1294 00:57:49,300 --> 00:57:50,540 as a thief one day. 1295 00:57:50,540 --> 00:57:55,540 And I believe one day we'll be preceded by, 1296 00:57:56,020 --> 00:57:57,620 where did all the Christians go? 1297 00:57:58,860 --> 00:58:01,260 They are just suddenly gone from this earth. 1298 00:58:03,340 --> 00:58:04,860 And yeah, I think people are gonna be like, 1299 00:58:04,860 --> 00:58:09,860 aliens, UFOs, or some other silly ways to describe it. 1300 00:58:13,180 --> 00:58:16,140 But God forbid by this time, this tribulation time, 1301 00:58:16,140 --> 00:58:19,900 that people's hearts aren't so hardened against Jesus, 1302 00:58:19,900 --> 00:58:23,100 so hardened against truth, that when that time comes, 1303 00:58:23,100 --> 00:58:25,440 they simply cannot, will not repent, 1304 00:58:25,440 --> 00:58:27,260 even in the face of judgment. 1305 00:58:29,100 --> 00:58:31,540 This whole book, Revelation, has been pointing to 1306 00:58:31,540 --> 00:58:34,880 and warning of God's judgment against sin, 1307 00:58:34,880 --> 00:58:37,180 his judgment to come on sin for generations. 1308 00:58:37,180 --> 00:58:38,960 It's been pointing to that. 1309 00:58:40,080 --> 00:58:43,220 Sure, we talk a lot about and focus on now today. 1310 00:58:43,220 --> 00:58:45,580 It's been pointing to the cross, 1311 00:58:45,580 --> 00:58:48,180 where God the Father placed his judgment of sin 1312 00:58:48,180 --> 00:58:50,860 on Jesus, the Son of God. 1313 00:58:50,860 --> 00:58:55,860 That place where Jesus suffered and died for you and me. 1314 00:58:55,940 --> 00:58:57,820 That place where he said, it is finished. 1315 00:58:57,820 --> 00:58:59,300 I have paid your price. 1316 00:58:59,300 --> 00:59:00,960 I have died for your sin. 1317 00:59:00,960 --> 00:59:03,020 Trust me for salvation. 1318 00:59:03,980 --> 00:59:05,720 But it's also been pointing to what will come 1319 00:59:05,720 --> 00:59:07,780 for those who reject that, 1320 00:59:07,780 --> 00:59:10,300 to the judgment that will fall upon the earth, 1321 00:59:10,300 --> 00:59:13,060 that will fall upon those on the earth who have sinned, 1322 00:59:13,060 --> 00:59:14,420 where God will one day say, 1323 00:59:14,420 --> 00:59:18,280 you wanna pay your own price for sin, it is done. 1324 00:59:19,780 --> 00:59:20,880 You have a choice. 1325 00:59:22,060 --> 00:59:24,260 If you don't know Jesus today, you have a choice. 1326 00:59:24,260 --> 00:59:25,900 Make the right one. 1327 00:59:25,900 --> 00:59:27,060 Make the wise one. 1328 00:59:27,060 --> 00:59:30,620 Choose grace, choose mercy, choose forgiveness, 1329 00:59:30,620 --> 00:59:33,680 choose salvation for all the sin that you've done. 1330 00:59:35,120 --> 00:59:37,520 Choose to be saved from the penalty to come 1331 00:59:37,520 --> 00:59:38,660 for all the sin that you've done. 1332 00:59:38,660 --> 00:59:41,440 Choose the shelter of Jesus Christ. 1333 00:59:41,440 --> 00:59:46,440 Choose to be safe in the one who took all the wrath for you. 1334 00:59:48,980 --> 00:59:50,720 That you would avoid the full wrath to come 1335 00:59:50,720 --> 00:59:52,880 on all those who don't have that protection. 1336 00:59:55,100 --> 00:59:56,880 That you would be protected by the salvation 1337 00:59:56,880 --> 00:59:58,860 found in Jesus Christ. 1338 00:59:58,860 --> 00:59:59,820 Amen? 1339 00:59:59,820 --> 01:00:00,660 Let's pray. 1340 01:00:01,460 --> 01:00:06,300 Father, we thank you God for our salvation. 1341 01:00:06,300 --> 01:00:11,300 Lord, we know your judgment is coming upon this earth. 1342 01:00:14,260 --> 01:00:17,640 And God, it's hard not to wanna see that come quicker, Lord, 1343 01:00:17,640 --> 01:00:22,380 when we look around and we see things like child trafficking 1344 01:00:22,380 --> 01:00:26,880 and other horrors that are taking place on this planet. 1345 01:00:29,280 --> 01:00:32,400 It's hard, Lord, not to get eager for you to come drop 1346 01:00:32,400 --> 01:00:36,640 judgment upon those who would murder children, 1347 01:00:36,640 --> 01:00:38,560 who would terrorize others, 1348 01:00:41,720 --> 01:00:43,620 who would take hostages and kill them. 1349 01:00:46,900 --> 01:00:49,800 But Lord, even in that, we trust your wisdom. 1350 01:00:49,800 --> 01:00:51,080 We trust your timing. 1351 01:00:51,080 --> 01:00:52,200 We trust your will. 1352 01:00:53,860 --> 01:00:55,700 Because Lord, we know there are still people here 1353 01:00:55,700 --> 01:00:58,880 on this earth that don't know you, that need to know you. 1354 01:00:58,880 --> 01:01:02,400 There are people, Lord, that need to hear the hope 1355 01:01:02,400 --> 01:01:05,400 of the gospel of Jesus Christ before judgment comes 1356 01:01:05,400 --> 01:01:07,280 that they too would be saved. 1357 01:01:07,280 --> 01:01:09,680 And you're calling us to be a part of that work. 1358 01:01:11,600 --> 01:01:14,580 So help us, Lord, to be bold and to share our faith. 1359 01:01:15,600 --> 01:01:18,480 To study that we would understand your will and your word. 1360 01:01:19,520 --> 01:01:22,920 That we would be willing and ready to pass out a gospel 1361 01:01:22,920 --> 01:01:25,760 tract if that's what you want us to do. 1362 01:01:25,760 --> 01:01:29,960 To have a conversation if that's what you want us to do. 1363 01:01:29,960 --> 01:01:33,760 But regardless, Lord, that we would live as obedient people 1364 01:01:33,760 --> 01:01:36,920 knowing that how we live for you is also a part 1365 01:01:36,920 --> 01:01:38,060 of our witness. 1366 01:01:41,240 --> 01:01:43,200 And Lord, may we be diligent in doing this 1367 01:01:43,200 --> 01:01:45,200 because we know the time is coming, God. 1368 01:01:46,800 --> 01:01:49,400 When you're gonna take your church out of this world 1369 01:01:50,440 --> 01:01:54,200 and you're gonna begin a process, a seven year process, Lord, 1370 01:01:54,200 --> 01:01:57,120 of pouring out your wrath upon sin. 1371 01:01:57,120 --> 01:02:00,000 And even in that, God, you're gonna provide evangelists 1372 01:02:00,000 --> 01:02:02,680 and witnesses that people can still get saved 1373 01:02:02,680 --> 01:02:03,640 during that time. 1374 01:02:06,960 --> 01:02:09,200 And Lord, we pray for those that don't know you 1375 01:02:09,200 --> 01:02:11,640 that their hearts would not be so hardened against God 1376 01:02:11,640 --> 01:02:13,960 and so hardened against truth that they would resist you 1377 01:02:13,960 --> 01:02:15,040 to the point of death. 1378 01:02:17,500 --> 01:02:19,800 But instead, Lord, we pray, God, that you would just 1379 01:02:19,800 --> 01:02:24,480 do that work, plowing the field of their heart, 1380 01:02:24,480 --> 01:02:26,400 that the seed could be planted, 1381 01:02:27,320 --> 01:02:29,080 that the seed could be watered and the seed 1382 01:02:29,080 --> 01:02:33,360 could be harvested, that the fruit would be soul saved 1383 01:02:33,360 --> 01:02:35,080 to the glory of Jesus Christ. 1384 01:02:37,680 --> 01:02:39,360 Lord, we thank you for your word and we thank you 1385 01:02:39,360 --> 01:02:42,680 for these warnings, God, that they would be motivation 1386 01:02:42,680 --> 01:02:46,040 for us to get out into the field 1387 01:02:46,040 --> 01:02:50,600 because the harvest is ready, Lord, that we would be 1388 01:02:50,600 --> 01:02:54,580 a faithful church in doing what you've called us to do, 1389 01:02:55,800 --> 01:02:58,080 to preach the gospel, support the gospel, 1390 01:02:58,080 --> 01:03:01,240 proclaim the gospel, do everything we can 1391 01:03:01,240 --> 01:03:03,040 that the gospel would go forth, Lord. 1392 01:03:05,400 --> 01:03:07,700 We love you, we thank you, God. 1393 01:03:08,680 --> 01:03:10,980 Help us to never take our salvation for granted 1394 01:03:10,980 --> 01:03:13,720 but to live in just abject gratitude. 1395 01:03:13,720 --> 01:03:17,720 We love you, it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. 1396 01:03:17,720 --> 01:03:43,720 Let's worship, guys.