Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP190011A
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00:30 Hello and welcome to the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel.
00:33 Man, what a delight, what a privilege to be able to 00:36 come into your home and study the word of God together! 00:39 You know, it's just exciting, as soon as someone says 00:40 "study the word of God," and all of a sudden I 00:42 started getting a little bit excited. 00:43 I know the panel is excited about it. 00:45 We've been so excited about this quarter about 00:49 the study of Revelation. 00:50 We've covered an awful lot of things and God has been 00:52 very good to reveal and I pray 00:55 it's been a blessing to you folks. 00:57 My name is Kenny Shelton, by the way and if you don't have 01:01 the Quarterly, I always encourage you to please 01:03 get one - please get one. 01:05 It's been noted many times, you can go to the nearest 01:07 church and get one. 01:08 They are more than happy and they always carry a few extra, 01:11 so that you can have it so you can study along with us, 01:13 take notes and so on and so forth. 01:15 If you don't have one, you can simply download it at: 01:17 ABSG.Adventist.org 01:20 and you can get these free, so please get your study guide. 01:23 We want you to study with us. 01:25 We appreciate you so much coming together 01:27 to study with us. 01:28 I'd like to, right now, talk about our lesson... 01:31 get ready for it because we're going to be talking about: 01:33 "The Seven Last Plagues" 01:36 That is a big subject and it is scary to a lot of folks. 01:42 And I approach it, many times, with a little bit of 01:44 apprehension but I know God is in charge, so it's alright. 01:47 We will go on and introduce our Sabbath School Panel. 01:48 I want to praise God for our sister Jill Morikone. 01:50 Always glad to have you. 01:52 A privilege to be here, I'm excited about this study. 01:54 And who do you have next to you, is that sister Shelley Quinn? 01:56 Yes and I love the word of God and this is just exciting 01:59 to be learning from each and every one of you. That's right! 02:02 And then we have Pastor John Lomacang, a pleasure. 02:05 Always a blessing to be able to open God's word, 02:06 especially this Book! Amen! Amen! 02:09 And you have next to you Brother Ryan Day. 02:11 Amen, I'm here and I'm ready to study! 02:13 Yeah, I know you are and I mentioned before 02:15 you come in singing and praise God for that! 02:18 Well praise God, we're going to get you right in to it, 02:20 and before our lesson, I'm going to have prayer. 02:21 The importance of prayer, I'm going to ask 02:23 Pastor John if he will have it for us. 02:25 Pastor Lomacang, pray for us please. 02:27 Loving Father in Heaven... This is Your Book, the Revelation 02:30 of Your character, of Your message, of Your end-time 02:34 people, of the plan of salvation and we do pray that today, Lord. 02:37 We rely on Your Holy Spirit to take the notes that we 02:41 have jotted down under Your direction and cause them 02:44 to find fertile soil in the hearts and minds of those 02:47 watching and listening to the program. 02:50 And may the message not obscure the Person of Christ; 02:54 may You be uplifted and honored and glorified through our lives, 02:58 we ask in Jesus name... Amen, Amen! Praise the Lord! 03:02 We'll go right in just kinda for a little overview 03:04 of the Sabbath's lesson, but our memory text, 03:07 I think is amazing - it's a good foundation for us there 03:10 and found in Revelation 15:4, do you have that sister Jill? 03:15 I do... Would you like to read that please? 03:17 "Who shall not fear You, O Lord and glorify Your name? 03:20 For You alone are holy. 03:22 For all nations shall come and worship before You, 03:24 for Your judgments have been manifested." 03:27 Amen, praise the Lord! 03:28 "Who shall not fear You, O Lord and glorify Your name?" 03:32 Man, what a day we live in, we need to fear God, 03:35 give Him reverence and respect and certainly 03:37 glorify His name and we pray these lessons 03:40 will glorify His name. 03:41 Just quickly, Revelation 15:1, John said... and just 03:45 kind of condense it down a little bit. 03:46 John just simply said he saw seven angels and they had 03:49 seven last plagues in them 03:50 it's filled up the wrath of God. 03:52 So it's all going to be studied as we go down the line here 03:55 with each one who is on the panel. 03:57 But before that, it's interesting in Revelation 04:00 15:1-4, we get a glimpse of God's people. 04:05 We hear an awful lot of stuff going on but praise God, 04:08 He always gives us a glimpse of the faithful. 04:10 You know, I'm going to just kind of go over that 04:13 real quickly and you get your Bible and please read it. 04:16 It describes God's victorious people - that's good, 04:19 who had gotten the victory over the beast and certainly 04:22 the image and the mark and the number and so on, 04:26 which we'll go in through or have been going through. 04:28 So we hopefully will understand all these things, 04:30 but these are the folks that have gotten that victory 04:33 and they're singing the song of Moses. 04:37 Do you like that and that's a new song, isn't it? Amen! 04:40 The 144,000 is the only ones that will be able to 04:42 learn that song, so we can't really rehearse it right now, 04:45 but we just need to be preparing for that that we 04:47 can be a part of that. 04:48 And so we see the saints, they're standing on the sea 04:51 of glass - praise God for that! 04:54 God's people will (quickly) go through the time of trouble. 04:58 Probation will have closed and there will be no mediator. 05:02 They'll be no priests. 05:03 They'll be a people who have been perfected, 05:05 and their character has been perfected 05:07 to be the image of Jesus. 05:09 And, you know, we need to strive for that, should we not? 05:12 We should be striving to be in the image of Jesus Christ. 05:15 They are referred to, in Revelation, as the 144,000, 05:20 Revelation 14:1-5. 05:21 Sunday's lesson, as we move right along... 05:25 It says: "The Meaning of the Seven Last Plagues." 05:27 I looked at it and I said, "The meaning, that's kind of 05:29 interesting," I like to think about the events, 05:31 and can I say "cause." 05:37 ... The events, causes and meanings. 05:39 And so, let's go over just a few of these 05:41 as the panel discusses more on this and I'm not going 05:44 to get in to what they are talking about. 05:45 But I thought it would be interesting if we went in 05:48 chronological order of the events that took place 05:51 from the ascension of Christ because we need to know 05:55 where and to trace it right on down so we know 05:58 that this is going to take place. 06:00 I found 11 things and just jot them down if you will: 06:03 #1... Keep in mind from the time Christ ascended 06:09 back to heaven until 1844, Jesus ministered what? 06:15 He ministers His own blood in the apartment 06:18 of the heavenly sanctuary. That's right. 06:20 And how beautiful that is when you think about that. 06:22 Hebrews 9:12, just quickly, says... "It's by His own blood." 06:27 And He only entered once because that's all He had to do, 06:30 praise God for that. 06:31 #2... In 1844, at the close of the 2,300 days of Daniel 8:14, 06:38 Christ entered, we know, into the what? The most holy place. 06:44 Notice this... To do what? A cleansing of the sanctuary 06:47 to get rid of sin. Praise God for that and then also 06:51 to do what? To proclaim really Revelation 14:7, for the hour 06:55 of His judgment is come. 06:58 #3... We also say, at this point in time, the "Investigative 07:04 Judgment" - also judgment began and it began before the 07:08 throne room of God. Notice this, and it began at the what? 07:13 At the house of God, 1 Peter 4:17 isn't it. 07:17 It began at the house of God, so again, we're just tracing 07:20 the events that is leading up to 07:21 the pouring out, why did God do it? 07:23 Why these main events? What's going on here? 07:26 #4... The judgment work then continues until the 07:29 sealing angel returns from the earth and his job is done. 07:34 Think about it... and we read that also in Ezekiel 9:11, 07:39 we talk about the man that comes clothed in linen and what 07:43 did he say? He said, "It's done, it's finished. I have done 07:47 what Thou has commanded me." That's right. Amen. 07:50 And that's going to happen again - think about it. 07:52 "I've done what Thou has commanded me to do." 07:55 Then what happens? So he goes to Jesus, 07:57 "I've done what You've asked me to do," and we're talking 07:59 about what? The sealing of God's people. 08:03 Done it all, they're sealed. 08:04 Okay, now what does Jesus do? 08:06 #5... Then Christ rises from the judgment throne... 08:11 and basically it says, once again, what His work is. 08:14 His work is finished! His work is done, Revelation 08:19 22:11 just simply said, "He that is unjust will be 08:24 unjust still; he that is holy will be holy still." 08:26 So that simply means probation closed; Jesus' work is done 08:29 in the sanctuary, so He stands up... something still is 08:32 getting ready to happen. 08:33 #6... I like this... every man, woman and child has had 08:38 the opportunity to hear the gospel. That's right. 08:42 They've had an opportunity to make a choice, 08:44 to make a decision for Jesus Christ or against Him... 08:48 notice - accept it and you receive the seal 08:51 of the living God; you reject it, you receive the mark 08:54 of the beast or the enemy. 08:57 #7... Christ then stands up, He has something in His hand. 09:02 Do you remember what it was He had in His hand? 09:04 He had a censer, didn't He? 09:06 And He said, He cast that censer down to the earth, 09:09 do you remember that. It had fire in it! 09:12 And so what did he do? He laid aside He priestly 09:14 robes and He passes from the temple and His work is finished. 09:19 Revelation 15:8... you've read it many times - talk about 09:23 smoke does what? Smoke fills the temple 09:26 signifying that His work is done. 09:28 #8... Before Jesus leaves the temple... remember, 09:33 keep this in mind... before He leaves the temple, 09:34 He has already stood up, He said, "Okay, it's done," 09:36 but before He leaves the temple, we realize in Revelation 15:1 09:39 and so on, the seven angels are seen standing where? 09:43 Standing before the altar and they're given the seven vials 09:48 unmingled, right? with the mercy, but no mercy there. 09:53 Unmingled, wrath of God. That almost seems foreign 09:58 in my thinking - the way I was raised and taught; you know, 10:01 the wrath of God - I see Him as love. 10:05 Could this be the justice of God? Absolutely! Yes. 10:08 Could this possibly be just God giving back what man 10:12 has asked for? 10:14 Is it possible if a person is lost, it's not because 10:17 the pastor did it or somebody else did it? 10:19 Because we made those decisions. 10:22 We chose to make those decisions. 10:24 We chose which side that we were going to certainly be on. 10:27 Now notice that in Revelation 15:1, we were talking about 10:30 unmingled wrath of God and it starts out... "And I saw 10:35 (notice this) another sign in heaven..." I saw another 10:39 sign - you say, "Another sign?" 10:41 He said, I saw another "indicator" in heaven. 10:44 I saw another "wonder" in heaven. 10:48 When Christ steps out... I hadn't really thought 10:51 about this - maybe some of you have often thought about it. 10:53 I hadn't really thought about it until I studied this lesson. 10:55 This is always good because we can learn. Amen! 10:57 It's always onward and upward, and learning and I learn 11:00 from the panel every time and I try to listen by the grace 11:03 of God and drink it in. 11:05 We pray that you're listening and you're taking notes, 11:07 and you're learning along with us here... 11:09 That when Christ stands up and He leaves the temple, 11:12 who remains? God! God remains. 11:17 God is still in control. God remains in the temple. 11:21 It's kind of interesting because if you think about it, 11:25 I read somewhere one time, it said, "The thresholds move, 11:29 they move (right?) at the voice at the voice of Him that cried 11:33 and the house was filled with smoke." 11:37 The power of Jesus getting up saying, "It's finished," 11:41 and He's moving out but as He moved out because there's still 11:45 a work to be done, God is still there. 11:47 God is still in control. 11:49 And you notice there that what happens with it... 11:51 that it says that smoke fills the temple. 11:57 No man is able to what? 11:58 No man is able to enter in because there's no 12:02 Mediator there. 12:03 No one else will ever come to Christ again. 12:07 Probation has ended for the world. 12:10 That brings tears to your eyes. 12:12 It hurts your heart to think about the time will come. 12:16 And that's why we don't want that time to come without 12:18 you, at home, making the decision because you have to 12:21 make it now because it's going to end a lot sooner 12:24 than maybe many of us even know or understand 12:26 or even believe. 12:28 The power of God was so strong still in the temple 12:31 that it was talked about in Exodus (was it 40) 12:34 where there was a cloud, the presence of God, 12:37 and it shook because He is all powerful. 12:41 So when God speaks, mountains will shake and quiver. Right? 12:45 In the temple when He moved around, it shook 12:48 and it quivered; the threshold it talks about here, moved. 12:51 Now we're thinking about, that's in Exodus 40:34-35, 12:57 you can read about that. 12:59 #11... The last point here is kind of interesting. 13:02 You have the seven angels; they're now waiting for the 13:06 command of Jesus. 13:07 So you have the seven angels; they're waiting... 13:09 They're not going to go... "Well I feel like I need to go" 13:12 like sometimes we do; we're not waiting upon God. 13:14 We just feel like we need to. 13:16 They're waiting for the command of Jesus to 13:19 pour out their vials upon the earth. 13:23 That would be the closing work in the earth, 13:27 and think about it and something big is about to happen. 13:30 Seven plagues are getting ready to be poured out, 13:36 what a time that will be. 13:38 And also, I think of that song, "What a Day That Will Be 13:41 When My Jesus I Shall See." 13:44 Keep this in mind as we study the closing work of earth 13:48 is about to begin in the pouring out of the seven last plagues. 13:58 Sister Jill... Pastor Kenny, thank you so much 14:01 for that; I love the chronology and the way that you 14:04 laid that out - I'm going to go back and study that again. 14:07 And thank you for your heart, you know... I mean that's what 14:10 when we look at this in the seven last plagues, 14:13 you're right - it can be heavy and you think, "This is kind of 14:16 the fulfillment, you know, in Revelation 14:9, 14:18 the "Third Angel's Message," and those who worship the 14:22 beast and his image, it says what they'll receive 14:24 that wrath of God and we see this wrath, as it were, 14:27 being poured out here in Revelation 16 with the 14:31 seven last plagues. 14:33 Verse 1, I have actually the first five plagues, 14:36 so we're going to move very quickly through them, 14:38 and everyone else will take the other ones slower, 14:42 but mine are quick! 14:43 Revelation 16:1... "I heard a loud voice from the temple 14:47 saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out the bowls 14:51 of the wrath of God on the earth." 14:54 Now remember a few lessons ago we studied the seven trumpets. 14:58 The seven trumpets are God's judgments 15:00 throughout the Christian Age. 15:02 They only affect a third of the population. 15:04 They are executed while the gospel is still being preached, 15:07 and while there is still an intercessor in the heavenly 15:11 sanctuary - they are redemptive. 15:14 God's purpose in them is to bring people back to repentance. 15:17 These seven last plagues; these judgments of 15:20 God are the justices you said of God at the end of time 15:24 are executed, as you said, after the proclamation of the gospel 15:28 when there is no more intercessor. 15:31 And they're poured out on those people who have deliberately 15:34 hardened their hearts against God and as we'll see in the 15:38 fourth and fifth plague, it makes them even harder. 15:41 They turn even more against God. 15:44 So let's look at the first plague... oh before we say that, 15:47 there are similarities between the seven last plagues 15:50 and the plagues in Egypt, but right before the Israelites 15:55 were granted deliverance and started their journey toward 15:58 the promised land. 15:59 In Egypt, the Israelites were spared and the Egyptians 16:02 were affected - not entirely, but for a great portion of them. 16:06 For the last days, the righteous are spared and the 16:09 wicked are affected. 16:11 In Egypt the plagues only served to harden Pharaoh's 16:14 heart and his rebellion against God. 16:17 The seven last plagues only served to harden the 16:20 rebellion of the wicked's heart against God. 16:24 You know, you can have the same circumstance, maybe the death 16:27 of a spouse or a child or go through a divorce - something 16:30 major and traumatic and significant and it will affect 16:34 two people differently... because it can be the same 16:38 circumstance but it's how we respond to that. 16:42 So you think that the sun melts ice, but yet it hardens clay... 16:47 And the sun is the same in both circumstances, 16:51 it's the response of the substance; so in this case, 16:54 the wicked heart becomes hard and even harder. 16:57 So let's read the first plague. 16:59 Revelation 16:2... "So the first went and poured out his bowl 17:03 upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon 17:08 the men who had the mark of the beast, 17:09 and those who worshipped his image." 17:11 So this plague is specifically poured out on those who 17:14 had the mark of the beast and who worshipped 17:17 his image. 17:18 Those are the recipients of this plague. 17:21 Now the word for "sore," this would compare to 17:23 the sixth plague in Egypt. 17:24 It's actually the same root word and in Egypt it was 17:28 called the "boils," is what they received was boils. 17:31 It means a wound, a sore, an ulcer... 17:33 some people say it indicates leprosy. 17:36 Whatever it is, but this is a sore, the first one. 17:39 The second plague, Revelation 16:3... "The second angel 17:43 poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a 17:48 dead man; and every living creature in the sea died." 17:53 Now this reminds us of which plague in the plagues of Egypt? 17:56 Number 1, right? It reminds us of plague #1, 18:00 and it also compares to maybe trumpet number 2 because 18:03 there's some of that symbolism in trumpet number 2 as well. 18:07 So the third plague, we're moving quickly... 18:09 Revelation 16:4-7... "Then the third angel poured out his bowl 18:15 on the rivers and springs of water and they became blood." 18:17 Now this is the same thing, but instead of the sea, this is 18:21 the fresh springs of water, as it were. 18:25 "And I heard the angel of the waters saying, "You are 18:29 righteous, O Lord, the One who is and who was and who is 18:33 to be, because You have judged these things. 18:37 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets and you 18:41 have given them blood to drink, for it is their just due." 18:46 You know, we often focus on the mercy of God which is 18:51 evident, clearly evident, all throughout the word of God. 18:54 You see the long-suffering nature of 18:57 God and of His character. 19:00 He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should 19:03 come to repentance. 19:04 In fact, sometimes we almost see the mercy of God 19:07 so much that you wonder where is the justice, you know? 19:10 David wondered that in Psalm 73, God where is 19:13 Your justice? Why are the wicked prospering? 19:16 I think of the fifth seal and the saints who were slain, 19:20 and they said, "God, how long?" 19:23 You know, their blood cries out to God, as it were, 19:25 from the ground - When are You going to bring justice? 19:29 We ask God "Where is justice?" 19:32 Here we see the justice of God... 19:34 The wicked had shed the blood of the prophets, 19:37 now they get to drink blood. 19:40 It's almost like, "Here's what you did," and the 19:43 consequence almost fits what the transgressions were. 19:47 This is justice unmixed with mercy. 19:50 The justice of God is perfect. 19:53 All the decisions of every person, at this point, 19:56 have been made. 19:58 Now we see verse 8, the fourth plague. 20:02 "Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, 20:05 and power was given to him to scorch men with fire." 20:09 This is a contrast to the fourth trumpet because in the first 20:13 trumpet, the sun's intensity is lessened, but here it's 20:16 strengthened and the word for "scorched" literally means 20:20 "to burn up," so scorch meant to burn up with fire. 20:24 And men were scorched with great heat, and they 20:26 blasphemed the name of God who had power over these 20:31 plagues; and they did not repent." 20:34 The word "repent" there means "to change one's purpose." 20:38 They did not change their purpose. 20:40 "And they did not repent and they did not give Him glory." 20:44 This is the opposite... we see the response of the wicked 20:48 in the middle of the seven trumpets in Revelation 11:13. 20:51 It says, "... The rest were afraid and they 20:54 gave glory to God." 20:55 In other words, that judgment of God led them 20:58 to repentance but in this case, it leads to cursing of God, 21:03 and not even changing their course. 21:06 I just can't even imagine the heart of God and the pain 21:10 this would cause. 21:12 I remember one time getting something I deserved when I 21:15 was young - a spanking from my mom; and I remember, 21:18 I was all mad and upset about it and all of that... 21:20 And I remember her saying, "Jillie, this really hurts me." 21:24 And I thought, "Whatever! That did not hurt you," because 21:26 you know... but yet as you mature and you grow and you 21:31 realize, actually justice causes pain. Amen! 21:34 And so this hurts the heart of God. 21:36 The fifth plague, Revelation 16:10-11... 21:40 "The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the 21:44 beast and his kingdom became full of darkness and they 21:48 gnawed their tongues because of the pain. 21:50 This is similar to plague number nine with 21:51 that darkness in Egypt. 21:53 They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain 21:57 and their sores... and what's that word? 21:59 They did not repent of their deeds. 22:04 Revelation 13:2 says... "The dragon (which we know is Satan) 22:08 gave the sea beast (the papacy) his power, his throne and 22:13 great authority. 22:14 Satan gave the sea beast his throne and authority. 22:17 This shows that the judgments of God reach all the way 22:21 to the beast and to Satan's authority himself. 22:26 The plagues are undermining, as it were, the beast's 22:29 authority and control over the earth and we'll look at that 22:32 further as we get into the rest of the plagues. 22:35 But what's the condition of the righteous in the midst of the 22:38 pouring out of the seven last plagues? 22:40 The promise is sure... Isaiah 33:16... "Bread shall be given 22:44 him, his water shall be sure." 22:47 Isaiah 41:17... "When the poor and needy seek water, 22:51 and there is none and their tongue fails for thirst, 22:53 I, the Lord, will hear them; I, the God of Israel 22:57 will not forsake them." 22:59 Psalm 121:5-7... "The Lord is thy keeper; the Lord is thy 23:03 shade upon thy right hand. 23:04 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. 23:08 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil; He shall 23:10 preserve thy soul." 23:12 So quickly... three take-aways. 23:14 #1... Justice may seem delayed, but it will come. 23:19 Maybe not when we ask for it or when we want it, 23:21 but it will come at the right time. 23:23 #2... God uses mercy to draw people to repentance and He 23:28 woos us with love. 23:30 If that fails, He tries judgment mixed with mercy, 23:33 like with the trumpets. 23:34 But if we still refuse Him, even the harshest judgment 23:38 will fail to bring repentance... that's what we see here 23:42 with the seven last plagues. 23:43 And finally #3... Now is the day of salvation, now is the 23:47 opportunity and the time to make the choice for 23:51 the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen! Amen! That's right! 23:55 Well, we're going to take a short break right now, 23:57 but there's a lot more to come, stay with us. 23:59 See you in just a moment. 24:07 Ever wish you could watch a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel 24:10 again or share it on Facebook Instagram or Twitter? 24:14 Well, you can! By visiting 3ABN Sabbath School Panel.com 24:19 A clean design makes it easy 24:21 to find the program you're looking for. 24:23 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guides 24:27 so you can follow along. 24:28 Sharing is easy, just click "share," and choose your 24:32 favorite social media. 24:33 Share a link, save a life, for eternity! 24:39 And welcome back to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 24:42 We're going to go right quickly to sister Shelley Quinn. 24:44 And we're going to dive right into the sixth plague 24:47 "Drying Up the Euphrates River" 24:50 I just want to point out one thing... 24:52 The seven last trumpets and the seven bowls are the 24:55 seven last plagues parallel 24:57 each other topically but not chronologically, 25:02 they don't happen during the same time. 25:04 The seven trumpets were redemptive in nature 25:10 and they were poured out to cause people to repent, 25:15 and they lasted over a relatively long period of time. 25:20 But the seven last plagues, God knows that everybody 25:24 has made up their mind, not one person is going to 25:26 change their mind which is obvious 25:27 as you went through these. 25:29 And so everybody's eternal destiny has been sealed, 25:34 and this is it. 25:37 So intercession is over and the wicked are going to face 25:40 love's justice - God's wrath against the wicked, 25:46 and it will be poured out unmixed with mercy. 25:50 ... But in a very short duration, I wanted to add. 25:53 So the first four bowls were literal; the last three 25:57 shift from nature to spiritual in effect. 26:02 And the sixth bowl, the sixth final plague 26:07 introduces the consummation of earth's history and it 26:10 takes us right down to the preparation for that final 26:14 battle between Christ and His faithful followers, 26:18 and Satan and the worshippers of the beast. 26:21 So, let's look at Revelation 16:12... "Then the sixth angel 26:28 poured out his bowl on the great River Euphrates, 26:31 and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings 26:36 from the east might be prepared." 26:39 As we always do, we're going to look to the Old Testament 26:43 for meaning of these symbols. 26:45 Drying up the waters in the Old Testament symbolizes 26:50 a mighty action of God on behalf of His people. 26:53 Think about the Red Sea... or it symbolizes the preparation 27:00 to the gathering of God's people, 27:01 bringing them back to their land. 27:07 So let's look at Isaiah 51:10-11. 27:12 Isaiah 51:10-11 says... "Are You not the one who dried up 27:18 the sea, the waters of the great deep; that made the 27:21 depths of the sea a road for the redeemed to cross over? 27:25 So the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to 27:28 Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their 27:33 head; they shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow 27:37 and sighing shall flee away." 27:40 Now in the Old Testament, the Euphrates River was 27:45 often referred to as "The Great River," this was a 27:50 boundary that separated God's people from their enemies. 27:53 So let's look at Jeremiah 51, we were in Isaiah 51 weren't we? 27:59 Jeremiah 51:12-13, (many waters is a term that's also used 28:07 for the Euphrates). So he says, "... What He spoke against 28:11 the inhabitants of Babylon, O you who dwell by many 28:18 waters (this is the Euphrates), abundant in treasures, 28:22 your end has come, the measure of your covetousness." 28:26 The Euphrates River flowed through the ancient City of 28:33 Babylon and it was critical to their survival. 28:37 It nurtured their crops and it provided water for the 28:40 inhabitants of the city. 28:42 Babylon could not survive without the Euphrates. 28:46 So there's this remarkable prophecy in Isaiah 44:27-28. 28:53 To me, this is something that truly shows God's word, 28:56 His prophecies are not of man, but inspired by His Holy Spirit. 29:02 In this prophecy, Isaiah 44:27, God is going to call out the 29:09 name of a man who isn't even born yet. 29:12 This is 150 years before his time and the man is Cyrus, 29:16 so listen to what he says. 29:17 "Who says to the deep, be dry and I will dry up your 29:22 rivers; who says of Cyrus, He is My shepherd, 29:27 he shall perform all My pleasure, saying to 29:31 Jerusalem, "You shall be built, and to the temple, 29:34 your foundation shall be laid." 29:36 In short, what happened is Cyrus overthrew Babylon, 29:41 and we're going to look at that in just a moment. 29:43 But he is the one who ended up liberating God's people. 29:47 Now in Jeremiah 51:36-37, we see another prophecy about 29:54 Babylon... "Therefore thus says the Lord: "Behold, I will plead 29:59 your case and take vengeance for you. 30:01 I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry. 30:06 Babylon shall become a heap, a dwelling place for jackals, 30:10 an astonishment, and a hissing without an inhabitant." 30:14 And what God tells His prophets, He brings to pass. Amen? Yes. 30:18 So according to the historian, Herodotus, Cyrus and the 30:24 Persian Army - when they came to Babylon and they found 30:30 out that the walls were too strong and that Babylon 30:35 had probably supplies for many years inside, 30:39 what they did is... they captured Babylon by drying 30:43 up the Euphrates River. 30:45 What he did was, he sent out a section of his soldiers; 30:48 they diverted the river and then they entered the city 30:54 underneath the gates on a dry riverbed. 30:58 And they conquered Babylon on the night that Belshazzar 31:03 and his officials were having a feast - a drunken orgy really. 31:08 And they brought the implements, the tools, 31:12 utilities from the Holy Place and they were profaning 31:17 God's Holy items. 31:20 So later, Cyrus is the one who issued the decree that allowed 31:24 Israel to return to their homeland and rebuild 31:27 Jerusalem and the temple. 31:29 So the sixth plague reflects the capture of ancient Babylon 31:34 by Cyrus the Persian and this is echoing the judgment of 31:39 God on Babylon. 31:40 So let's read that again because John is using a real 31:45 historical scene to symbolically portray God's final 31:50 judgment on end-time Babylon. 31:52 He says, "The sixth angel poured out his bowl on 31:55 the great river Euphrates and its water was dried up; 31:59 so that the way of the kings from 32:01 the east might be prepared." 32:03 Now if we look at Revelation 17, we know that Babylon must be 32:08 understood symbolically, let's read that 17:1... 32:11 It says, "One of the seven angels who had the seven 32:14 bowls came and talked with me (these are the seven 32:16 final plagues), and he said, "Come, I will show you 32:20 the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters 32:24 (and what was many waters? It was another term 32:27 for Euphrates)... So we see in verse 15 he says... "The waters 32:33 which you saw where the harlot sits are peoples, multitudes, 32:37 nations and tongues." 32:39 So the waters upon which end time Babylon sits represents 32:44 the people who support it. 32:46 So what's going to happen... the worldwide civil, secular 32:51 and political powers that are behind the system of Babylon, 32:55 they're looking to Babylon to protect them from these 32:58 plagues and they see all of these final plagues 33:02 come and they realize that Babylon can't even protect 33:06 herself, so they retract their support of Babylon 33:13 and they actually end up attacking Babylon. 33:15 Let's look at Revelation 17:16.. it says... "The ten horns 33:20 which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, 33:24 (these are the ones who were supporting the harlot) 33:28 and they will hate the harlot and make her desolate 33:31 and naked; eat her flesh and burn her with fire." 33:35 So the very political and secular powers that enabled 33:40 the Babylon to dominate the world, become disillusioned 33:45 by Babylon - they suddenly withdraw their support 33:49 from her and there is a great antagonism, a great hostility 33:55 that is built up in them and her passionate lovers 33:58 become now hostile haters and they burn her with fire. 34:03 Did you know that was a form of punishment; we find this 34:06 in Leviticus 21:9... To be burned with fire was a 34:12 form of punishment that was reserved for the daughter of 34:16 the high priest if she was caught in prostitution. 34:19 Wow, boy - how about that for symbolism. 34:22 But still their hearts remained hard against God and His people 34:28 and they become fertile soil for the final deception. 34:32 Symbolically when the Euphrates is dried up, 34:38 it is to prepare the way for Christ and His heavenly host, 34:42 the kings of the east, just as the literal Babylon 34:47 was dried up to prepare the way for Cyrus. Amen! 34:51 Thank you Shelley, I tell you, it's impossible to cover these 34:56 without each of them covering each other. That's right! 34:59 Because the picture is so huge, it's like walking into a 35:04 museum and there's a 10 floor tapestry and each one of us 35:07 has to describe what we're looking at, so thank you 35:11 for laying the foundation. Amen! 35:12 We're now on Wednesday: "Satan's Last Great Deception." 35:15 You know, what I like about it 35:17 is the word "last," after that - that's it! 35:19 There are no more deceptions after that, 35:21 and it takes us to Revelation 16. 35:24 Now what I want to do out of the chronology that we have 35:27 established here as the cadence, I want to show 35:30 what the attitude is going to be when the judgments of 35:34 God are being poured out on Babylon. 35:38 When the judgments of God are being poured out because 35:40 in Revelation 17, the scene was set that all these 35:44 nations, the 10 kings that haven't received a kingdom yet, 35:47 they give their strength and authority and support to the 35:50 beast for one hour 35:52 They figured, "Okay, well this is the best place to be 35:54 since she appears to be so great and so strong 35:56 riding over the authority of many multitudes and nations 35:59 and tongues since she has the golden cup and since she 36:03 looks to be the authority of the hour, let's go ahead 36:05 and support her, but when the plagues begin to fall, 36:08 there's a different attitude altogether. That's right. 36:10 Let's look at Revelation 18 real quickly, then I'm going to 36:13 dive into this. 36:15 Revelation 18:9-11, it says, "And the kings of the earth 36:22 who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her 36:26 will weep and lament for her. 36:28 ... Say, wait a minute! That's interesting! 36:31 When they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a 36:36 distance for fear of her torment saying, "Alas, 36:38 alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! 36:44 For in one hour your judgment has come. 36:47 And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her 36:52 for no one buys their merchandise anymore." 36:54 In other words, the word there "buy" is significant; 36:57 we're not accepting what you're giving to us, 37:00 but now it's too late because these very merchants 37:03 that were made drunk and deceived by her now see 37:05 their collective faith - that's what the weeping is all about. 37:10 "There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 37:12 The weeping is not just for her, but what she has done to them. 37:16 But now they're saying without any resolution... 37:18 to turn it around - we're not accepting what you say 37:21 any longer, but it's too late. 37:23 Let's keep going... And it talks about all the 37:25 different merchandise but I'll go ahead, verse 14... 37:30 "And the fruit that your soul has longed for, 37:33 has gone from you, and all the things which are rich 37:36 and splendid, have gone from you, and you shall 37:39 find them no more at all." 37:41 All that Babylon offered, all those spiritual lies; 37:45 all those false doctrines; all those deceptive methods 37:48 of worship - all of a sudden she is finally unmasked. 37:52 The woman that was to be, and I want to add this in... 37:55 When John, in Revelation 17, sees her, he's taken into 38:01 the wilderness and the Bible says he's shocked, 38:05 he's shocked because this is not the woman he saw 38:08 go into the wilderness. 38:10 The woman he saw go into the wilderness in Revelation 12, 38:13 he is now taken by the angel into the wilderness to see a 38:17 woman, but he sees her now sitting on a scarlet beast, 38:20 and he's shocked! "I'm shocked at what I see," which means 38:23 the church that was protected by God, put into the wilderness 38:26 during the Dark Ages was corrupted by Rome during 38:29 the Dark Ages. 38:31 That's why the Lord had to raise up a remnant. 38:34 You know, Isaiah 58:12... "They that shall be of thee, 38:40 shall build up the old waste places; they shall raise up 38:43 the foundations of many generations. 38:45 They shall be called the repairers of the breach, 38:47 the restorer of paths to dwell in." 38:49 So God had to raise up a people to repair and to restore, 38:51 to rebuild and to reform because it had been broken down 38:55 during the Dark Ages. 38:56 So each of the components were being restored and the only 38:59 power resisting that was the long established institution 39:03 of Babylon - this false system of worship 39:06 But what I want to point out, I'll go back to Revelation 18 39:09 here, look at this, verse 17, it says... "For in one hour 39:13 such great riches came to nothing." 39:17 And verse 18... And speaking about "And they cried out 39:20 when they saw the smoke of her burning saying, 39:22 "What is like this great city?" 39:25 Prior to that, in Revelation 13, "Who is like? Who could make 39:29 war with you? Now what is like this? 39:31 So the boastfulness is a parody to the destruction 39:38 that comes - it's a comparison. 39:40 You thought you were great? Then you get great destruction. 39:43 You were boastful - then you cannot boast 39:45 about your destruction. Right. 39:47 Equal judgment. 39:48 And then it says in verse 19, "And they threw dust on their 39:51 heads, (a symbol of mourning) and cried out, weeping 39:54 and wailing, and saying, "Alas, alas, that great city 39:56 in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her 40:00 wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate." 40:04 And so you see, it goes in verse 23, "And the light of the 40:08 lamp shall not shine in you anymore. 40:12 And the voice of the bridegroom shall not be heard in you 40:15 anymore for your merchants were the great men of the earth 40:21 for by your sorceries all nations were deceived." 40:24 Now when it says the lamp and the voice... 40:28 The lamp was shining as long as the call to come out of 40:32 Babylon was being given. Yes. 40:35 The voice of the bridegroom was heard through the call 40:38 to come out of Babylon but now that God's people are 40:44 no longer there, she is receiving her judgments. 40:46 So the light is not going to shine anymore there. 40:48 So here's my point... If you're in a church where 40:50 the doctrines are false, the light is shining 40:52 for you to come out. That's right. 40:54 If you're where the pastor tells you the commandments 40:58 were nailed to the cross and the Sabbath doesn't matter, 41:00 you gotta come out of Babylon while you have 41:02 an opportunity because one day the light is not going to 41:04 shine anymore and the voice of the bridegroom is 41:06 not going to heard anymore... That's right. 41:08 And then you're going to be in this category - weeping and 41:10 wailing wondering how you ended up there. 41:15 So going back quickly... to Revelation 16, 41:20 we see now these three unclean spirits. 41:22 When the River Euphrates dries up, thank you for that, Shelley, 41:27 we see that the support system completely dries up, 41:31 but just before the support system completely dries up, 41:34 as it's drying up, Satan has one last push. 41:37 He knows he's losing his support, so his last push 41:41 is to activate three unclean spirits - these demonic 41:44 forces to go to the kings of the earth and he's going to 41:47 pull together all the forces of spiritualism and paganism. 41:50 He's going to pull together out of the mouth of the beast 41:52 all the forces under the reign of Catholicism; 41:57 he's going to pull out of the mouth of the false prophet 42:02 all the forces of Protestantism that have 42:06 apostasized - he's pulling them all together to 42:09 gather them for this final battle, that's what's happening. 42:12 But what I want to point out... we know about spiritualism; 42:15 we know about Catholicism - we have said that in Catholicism 42:19 itself has admitted to many changes that are gifted 42:22 to Protestantism, but I want to hit one very quickly 42:25 about the false prophet. 42:27 Why are they called "false prophets?" 42:29 Look at Matthew 7:15, one of the reasons and I'll give you 42:33 three quick reasons... One is they are called "false prophets" 42:36 because they don't look like false prophets. 42:41 That's their camouflage. 42:43 Matthew 7:15... "Beware of false prophets who come to you 42:46 in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are 42:48 ravenous wolves." 42:50 2 Corinthians 11:13-14, they don't look the part, 42:53 they look like sheep! 42:55 Here's another one, "For such a false apostle deceitful 42:59 workers transforming themselves into apostles of Christ, 43:03 and no wonder, for Satan himself transforms himself 43:07 into an angel of light." 43:09 And it says, in the next verse, "Therefore it is no great 43:12 thing if his ministers also appear as ministers of 43:15 righteousness whose end shall be according to their works." 43:18 So don't ever take anybody for eye-value, take it for 43:23 word value! Amen, Amen! 43:25 Don't test them by the garments 43:27 of the ecclesiastical Benedictum, 43:29 thank you Pastor C.A. Laughter 43:32 Don't let that garb fool you, it's sheep's clothing! 43:37 LISTEN to what they say which is... 43:39 You cannot tell them by what they look like, 43:41 but you have to tell them by what they say. 43:45 2 Peter 2:1... "But there were also false prophets 43:50 among the people, even as there will be false teachers 43:52 among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, 43:57 even denying the Lord who brought them and bring 44:00 on themselves swift destruction." 44:02 Isaiah 8:20... "To the law and to the testimony, if they 44:05 speak not according to this word, it's because there is 44:08 no light in them." 44:09 The light in Babylon will go out because there's no 44:11 light in those who left. Amen! 44:13 The other one... Why is Satan particularly angry with 44:16 the woman who keeps the commandments of God? 44:19 Because he knows that in full allegiance to God, 44:22 he is no match for them! That right. 44:25 So he wants to come after them. 44:27 That's why the Bible says... Acts 20:29-30... 44:32 "For I know this, after My departure savage wolves 44:35 will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 44:38 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking 44:41 perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves." 44:45 I've got to take just a few seconds here and just wrap this. 44:48 EVEN... I'm going to say this... even Adventists have to be 44:52 careful because Satan is particularly coming after 44:55 our church bringing in destructive heresies. 45:00 Pastors are falling, members are being led away to 45:03 give allegiance to people that tell lies - that were once 45:07 among us - look what Peter says... he said, "Also from 45:10 among yourselves - men will rise up speaking perverse 45:13 things and now all these offshoot movements are 45:15 starting because they're drawing away disciples after themselves. 45:18 So be very, very careful. 45:20 Let the light of God's word be your guide. 45:22 Don't ever become enamored by a man. Amen, Amen! 45:25 If it doesn't match up to God's word, stay in the ship! 45:31 Praise the Lord! 45:33 In fact, I'm going to feed off that great energy, hopefully! 45:36 Okay, go for it! Because that's a powerful 45:38 point that you made there about the deceptions. 45:39 In fact, that's continue to continue over into our 45:41 conversation about the Battle of Armageddon. 45:43 In fact, this is Thursday's lesson entitled: 45:46 "Gathering for the Battle of Armageddon" 45:49 And so I'm actually going to re-read Revelation 16, 45:54 the sixth plague and I'm not going to read the whole thing, 45:59 but I just want to start in verse 13 and read downward 46:02 just to set the context. 46:03 It says, "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs 46:06 coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth 46:08 of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 46:10 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out 46:13 to the kings of the earth and the whole world to gather 46:16 them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." 46:20 And it goes on to say, "Behold I am coming quickly as a thief." 46:23 (these are the words of Christ) Blessed is he who watches, 46:26 and keeps his garments lest he 46:27 walk naked and they see his shame." 46:29 And this is my key verse, verse 16... 46:31 "And they gathered them together into a place 46:33 called in the Hebrew tongue, of course, Armageddon." 46:37 Now notice the little portion there... "And they gathered 46:41 them," this is kind of feeding off what you just said. 46:43 "Who are they?" WHO is gathering? 46:46 It goes right back to what we just read, 46:47 "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs 46:50 coming out of the mouth these are the spirits of 46:52 demons performing signs which go to all the kings 46:54 of the earth and the whole world." 46:56 So these are the unclean spirits. 46:57 This is Satan's final attempt and I'm just going to go ahead 47:02 and say this because he knows that the River Euphrates 47:04 is dried up - this is demonic possession; 47:07 this is a mass demonic possession on the side of 47:10 those people who have completely rejected God's word. 47:13 They've completely rejected God in every sense of the word, 47:17 and so He is preparing his forces to launch a total 47:22 onslaught against God's remnant. That's right. 47:24 This is what's interesting because... 47:26 I've gotten questions about this a lot. 47:28 There is an apostate movement that teaches that, of course, 47:32 with this secret, silent rapture, this pre-tribulation 47:37 rapture as it's taught amongst the Christian world today... 47:40 that God's people are going to be raptured up out of here, 47:43 before all of this happens, we have to remember that back 47:45 in the Book of Psalms, we are told that the righteous are 47:48 going to behold the judgment of the wicked. 47:51 That they will be there, but they will have a special 47:53 hedge of protection around them. 47:55 So you read through these six plagues and you think 47:56 to yourself, "Wow, how is God's people going to live 47:59 through the scorching and the burning and the boils, 48:02 and all the stuff that going on, the Bible says that God 48:05 is going to put His angels' protection. 48:07 He will provide their bread, He will provide their water. 48:09 God is going to provide that for them. 48:12 So the righteous are seen... Satan knows where God's 48:15 people are and they're like a thorn in his flesh. 48:18 He is gathering together... you know, Satan is a psychopath. 48:22 He is an intelligent psychopath. 48:24 You know, psychopaths can be intelligent. Sure! 48:27 But nonetheless, he knows his end because the word of God 48:31 has said, but he's going to go out as much as he can 48:33 believing that he can still win. 48:35 And so now, he's gathering all of these evil forces 48:38 together - this demonic possession as he's sending 48:41 out these evil demonic spirits to overcome and possess 48:44 the minds and the hearts of the people who have 48:46 rejected the true Holy Spirit of God before this, 48:49 and now they are preparing to launch a total onslaught 48:52 amongst God's people. 48:53 Now some people will teach out there that this is a 48:56 literal war that Christ and His people and all the angels 49:00 are going to come together at this certain little valley 49:03 somewhere in the Middle East, 49:04 against Satan and his evil forces and there's going 49:07 to be this horrible war and then they misquote 49:10 and misrepresent verses from the Revelation 14, I think it's 49:12 verse 20 where it talks about the winepress and the blood 49:16 coming up to the horses' bridle. 49:18 I mean, I've heard that taught all my life, but I just want to 49:21 confirm, my friends - that while there may be some literal 49:24 elements to this battle; while there may be 49:26 some little physical elements to this battle, 49:28 this is a spiritual war. 49:30 Now I want to confirm that right now. 49:32 First of all, let's consider the word "Armageddon," 49:34 because we have little time to do this and I want to 49:36 jump in it as soon as I can. 49:37 Armageddon, of course, we are told here that it comes from the 49:40 Hebrew tongue, so when you look at the Hebrew word 49:43 "Armageddon," it is a combination of two Hebrew words 49:46 which is "har and "mow'ed" and when you put these two 49:49 concepts together, "har" obviously means "mountain," 49:52 "mow'ed" is "mount or place of congregation." 49:55 And so when you put this together, Armageddon 49:56 simply means "Mountain of Congregation." 49:59 Now, the panel can correct me if I'm wrong here, 50:01 but of my studies and of my understanding, 50:04 I'm only aware of one other place in Scripture where this 50:07 Armageddon concept is used in Scripture and it's actually 50:11 found in the description from God to Satan about Satan 50:16 himself, his plans, his thoughts. 50:18 Notice what it says in Isaiah 14:12-14... 50:21 "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, 50:23 son of the morning! How are though cut down 50:26 to the ground, who did weaken the nations! 50:28 For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into 50:32 heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; 50:34 (get this) I will also sit on the (har mow'ed) 50:38 on the mount of congregation, 50:41 on the farthest sides of the north." 50:43 Now it's interesting because this mountain, this Armageddon 50:46 mountain, it's actually an association - the Mount of 50:48 Congregation, biblically, is an association with a mountain 50:52 known as "Megiddo." 50:53 Okay, this is where people get this Megiddo Valley or the 50:56 Valley of Megiddo where they actually think, over in the 50:58 Middle East where there's been lots of battles, this is a 51:01 historical place where lots of spiritual warfare and holy wars 51:05 have been fought for land and power 51:07 and all that stuff in the Middle East. 51:08 Now on this Mount of Megiddo, there is a fortress city 51:12 located in the Valley of Jezreel and this is located at the foot, 51:16 (get this) of Mount Carmel. 51:18 So if you go locate Mount Carmel, in a valley over the 51:21 ridge, in the valley, there is a place called, 51:23 "Mount of Megiddo." 51:24 It's a famous historical place of battle. 51:27 Now this is where battles have been fought and probably 51:32 the most famous battle that most people probably 51:35 will remember that was fought on top of Mount Carmel, 51:37 and this whole conversation of Armageddon gets me to think 51:40 about the showdown of the gods, I guess you could say 51:43 on top of Mount Carmel during the days of Elijah, 51:45 we're talking about, of course, 1 Kings 18 where Ahab 51:50 and Jezebel have launched Israel into this great apostasy, 51:53 and eventually we have a showdown where 51:56 Elijah, he challenges Ahab. 51:59 He said, "You gather up all of your prophets of Baal, 52:02 and have them to meet me on top of Mount Carmel, 52:04 and we'll determine who the true God is - who it is that truly 52:07 deserves to be worshipped and, as you know the story 52:09 very well, that single day, after a very embarrassing 52:13 part on the sides of the false gods, 52:16 the true God rained fire from heaven. 52:18 He showed His power and the Bible tells us in 1 Kings 18, 52:22 that on that day, 850 prophets lost their life, false prophets 52:27 because it was 850 false prophets 52:29 against one true prophet. 52:31 It's kind of a little bit of an imagery, a look into the future. 52:34 My friends, you better believe that there's going to be 52:36 many, many, many more false prophets than there will be 52:39 true prophets but God does have His people, 52:42 always remember that! That's right! 52:43 Satan has gathered his people at this point; 52:47 he has gathered his people one final time to unite 52:50 in eradicating God's remnant. 52:52 So how is the devil able to do this? 52:55 Of course, we know by deception. 52:57 I just want to add a few Scriptures here 52:59 in the little time I have. 53:00 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10, how is Satan able to gather 53:04 his forces? We've kind of already have an insight to this, 53:07 but it says here in 2 Thessalonians 2:9... 53:10 "The coming of the lawless one is according to working of who? 53:13 Satan! with all (here it is) power, signs and lying 53:18 wonders and with all unrighteous deception among 53:20 those who perish. 53:22 And of course, we just read, multiple times, Revelation 16, 53:25 about the unclean frogs are the spirits coming out of the mouth. 53:28 Of course, these are spirits of demons performing miracles. 53:31 You know, God doesn't gain our worship, our respect, 53:36 and our commitment by force. 53:38 That's right! That's the one thing that 53:40 separates the true God from false gods. 53:42 Is that you can see here, Satan is trying to gain victory 53:45 by force - Jesus doesn't gain victory by force. 53:48 He is a loving God and He is only going to 53:50 allow it according to your free will. 53:52 He wants you to choose to follow Him. 53:54 He's not going to force you. 53:56 And, of course, we have a little bit of insight... 53:57 You know, this battle, the Battle of Armageddon 54:00 would probably turn into a literal battle, 54:03 a literal onslaught on God's people if Jesus 54:06 didn't cut the day short. 54:07 In fact, we have insight to that in Matthew 24. 54:09 "Just as in the great tribulation in the Middle Ages, 54:12 if God did not put an end to the papacy's reign momentarily, 54:16 no flesh would have been saved. 54:18 The Bible tells it here, Matthew 24:22... "And unless 54:21 those days were shortened, no flesh would have been 54:23 saved for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened." 54:26 And that's why we see within the context of the seventh 54:29 plague, and you can read that, verses 17 onward, 54:35 we see that within the context of the seventh plague, 54:38 in harmony with Revelation 19 which I'm sure we'll talk about, 54:42 you see Jesus, the heaven's split, the trumpet has sounded, 54:47 Jesus comes back with all of the heavenly forces on a 54:50 white horse to put an end to Satan's deception; 54:54 to put an end to this final battle! 54:56 I could just imagine that song ... IT IS FINISHED, THE BATTLE 55:01 IS OVER! I love that song! 55:03 I could just imagine Jesus just coming out of the clouds 55:06 and saying... "No Satan," that is it! 55:08 I want to leave you with this, Zephaniah 3:8... "Therefore 55:12 wait for Me, says the Lord, until the day I rise up 55:15 for plunder. My determination is to gather the nations 55:18 to My assembly for kingdoms; to HIS assembly for kingdoms, 55:22 to pour on them My indignation, all My fierce anger; 55:26 all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of My jealousy." 55:29 He is a jealous God, but a righteous, jealousy because 55:33 He is worthy - HE is the only One worthy of praise, 55:37 glory, honor and power! Amen, Amen! Amen! 55:41 Praise the Lord! Yeah, wonderful! 55:43 We'll have him come back for the rest of the story. 55:46 There is a lot, isn't there? 55:48 There's a lot, a lot of information that has been given. 55:50 Good information by the power of the Holy Spirit. 55:53 And I know each one of you have studied hard and asked for the 55:56 Holy Spirit to heed and guide and direct and in the 55:59 little time we have, as we always do, we want to go 56:02 around because there are other thoughts sometimes that come 56:04 after you get done and so we'll start with sister Jill here. 56:07 Maybe a thought has come into your mind 56:08 you'd like to enlighten us with. 56:09 I think of Revelation 6:17, just before the second coming 56:13 of Christ and people are saying, "The great day of His wrath 56:16 has come and who shall be able to stand?" 56:18 Proverbs 18:10, "The Lord is a strong tower. The righteous 56:22 run into it and are saved." Amen! 56:25 I'm just thinking, you know, how many people 56:28 don't know these truths? 56:29 I have someone who emails me quite frequently who is 56:33 obviously been taught from a preterist viewpoint. 56:37 We need to learn and to share. 56:41 So when you were talking about downloading this, 56:44 you may want to download an extra copy or give somebody else 56:48 that link - let them study too because God's people are 56:53 going to be protected in the end but other peoples lives 56:58 may be ending before these times come... so 57:02 we need to share. That's right! 57:03 When the judgments of God are falling, Revelation 15:3, 57:07 "Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty, 57:11 just and true are Your ways." 57:13 He will always be declared as a just God. Amen! Amen! 57:17 You know, we are told that these final times, these final 57:22 moments in prophecy are going to be swift ones and I 57:25 just want to encourage the viewers at home 57:27 surrender now while you have a chance. Amen! 57:29 Because sometimes we think that we're going to have all 57:32 this time to figure it out and we'll know when that time 57:35 of probation is going to close, but give your heart to Jesus 57:38 now while you can - today is the day of salvation! 57:41 Amen! Praise the Lord. 57:42 My thoughts go back to, as what we discussed here 57:45 about the temple of God was filled with smoke 57:47 from the glory, so that just simply tells me that the day 57:50 is coming and I believe that it's quickly and that 57:52 probation is going to close. 57:53 All the things that we talked about here... 57:54 the plagues are going to fall. 57:56 Our decision for Christ must be made now while there is time. 58:00 Many of you are making that decision right now. 58:02 Praise God for that. Keep your eyes on Him. 58:04 We look forward to seeing you next time. |
Revised 2024-08-22