["Pomp and Circumstance"]
Good evening, tonight we're in Revelation chapter 8.
Revelation 8, the Bible reads,
When he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about space of a half hour.
And I saw the seven angels which stood before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.
And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer, and there was given unto him much incense,
that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar, which was before the throne.
And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.
The angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth.
And there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
And the seven angels, which had the seven trumpets, prepared themselves to sound.
The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood.
And they were cast upon the earth, and the third part of the trees was burned up, and all the green grass was burnt up.
And the second angel sounded, and as it were, a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea.
And the third part of the sea became blood.
And the third part of the creatures, which were in the sea, and had life, died, and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven burning as it were a lamp,
and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters.
And the name of the star is called Wormwood, and the third part of the waters became
Woodwood, and many men died of the waters because they were made bitter.
And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten,
and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars,
so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
And I beheld and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice,
whoa, whoa, whoa, to the inhabitants of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound.
Let's pray, dear Lord God. Just thank you for everything you blessed our church with, Lord,
and just thank you for keeping us all safe here, Lord. We just pray that you bless this service.
Please be in the midst of us as we hear the preaching of your word, Lord,
and just please fill Pastor Mahir with your Holy Spirit as he preaches unto us, Lord, and just give us
ears to hear the message that he's prepared tonight, Lord. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen.
Okay, we're in Revelation chapter 8 this evening, and tonight we're continuing our series with lessons from the 7 in Revelation,
just covering different instances in the book of Revelation where the number 7 is mentioned.
And last week we talked about the seven seals. We went through the significance
of the beginning of sorrows, the four horsemen of the apocalypse, the seven seals dealing with
great tribulation, beginning of sorrows, that which the Antichrist imposes upon God's people, making war with them.
And then, of course, we know that through chapter 7 we find the rapture taking place, the multitude in heaven,
which no man could number, and that's obviously referring to the rapture.
So that takes place after the sixth seal.
Jesus Christ returns, raptures all believers, and then you have them in heaven in chapter 7.
Now chapter 8 is where we have the essentially the wrath of God
that's going to be poured out upon the world. And so if we were to look at this through a timeline perspective,
it would be the first three and a half years is where we find the four horsemen of the apocalypse, the seven
seals, the persecution of God's people, things of that nature.
The last three and a half years
is dealing with God pouring out his wrath, judging the earth through what's known as the seven trumpets and seven bowls?
No, the seven vials. Okay, if you see if you have bowls in your Bible, then you have a wrong Bible version.
Okay, it's supposed to be vials, not bowls. All right.
And so these are seven trumpets, seven vials, and I'm going to go through the significance
and kind of explain through these judgments what the Bible is referring to. Now
let me start off with a couple things here regarding, just by way of introduction,
regarding the seven trumpets and seven vials. Let me say that both of these judgments, which are seven, are actually happening
simultaneously.
And the reason we know that is because they are different in nature
regarding trumpet one, vial one, trumpet two, vial two.
But they have a lot of similarities and you can see how one is kind of giving way
for the other. So they're not the same judgment. They're two separate judgments that are happening
concurrently. So just keep that in mind. Now the second thing I want to mention
regarding the seven trumpets and seven vials,
is that the reason God is calling these trumpets is because it's in my personal opinion
that he's actually declaring war on the world.
Okay, and how is he doing it through? Through a trumpet. Typically in the Old Testament you have a trumpet being blown.
We obviously know that's also significant of the rapture, but it also indicates war.
War is taking place. God is waging war through these plagues, through these judgments, through these seven trumpets.
The vials on the other hand
are essentially
implying that these are the imprecatory prayers of the saints. So you think of a vial, maybe like a
a perfume bottle so to speak, and it's filled with liquid, right? Well the liquid, so to speak symbolically speaking, is actually
the prayers of the saints that are being poured upon the earth in the form of judgment, believe it or not.
Now let's prove that. Go to Revelation chapter 5. Hold your place there in Revelation 8.
We'll go over that in just a bit, but look at Revelation chapter 5 in verse number 8.
It says here in verse number 8,
And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them
harps and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of the saints.
So we see that these vials possess the prayers of the saints. And what do we see the saints asking for
under the altar in Revelation chapter 6?
How long, O Lord, holy and just, does thou not judge and avenge our blood on them which dwell on the earth?
So they're asking for God to judge
the world for being persecuted, being killed for their faith. This is what the Bible is referring to, that odor,
the content that's found within those vials. Now go to Revelation chapter 15.
And by the way, in Revelation chapter 8, we see that when the incense
is being mixed with the prayers of the saints, right? These are prayers that we are praying today.
These are prayers of what people would refer to as the tribulation saints,
those who are praying for God to pour his vengeance upon the earth. You know, God is listening to those
imprecatory prayers. This morning we talked about prayer, and we talked about the importance of imprecatory prayers.
Well, we see how important it is, especially in regards to end times. God wants us to pray those prayers according to Luke chapter 18,
because in fact, they're going to fill up those vials that will eventually be poured out into this world as judgment.
for their wickedness and for the persecution of God's people. Look at Revelation chapter 15.
Let me also show you the significance of pouring the vials.
It says in Revelation 15 verse 5,
And after that I looked and behold the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was open.
And the seven angels came out of the temple having the seven plagues
clothed in pure and white linen
and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials
full of the wrath of God who liveth forever and ever. So in Revelation chapter 5,
you have the beast possessing these vials that are filled with the odors, which are the prayers of the saints. In Revelation chapter 15,
we see that one of the four, or excuse me, we see that one of the four beasts gives unto the seven angels
these vials which are also referred to as the wrath of God.
Now who are they giving it to? Well, it says in verse number six that he gives it to seven angels
that are clothed in pure and white linen. Now I don't have time to develop this,
but when it talks about the pure and white linen, it's referring to the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Okay, so the pure white linen is symbolically representing the salvation
of this person. You say wait a minute. I thought angels can't be saved.
You know, I thought angels are angelic celestial beings. Well, these seven angels aren't the celestial beings that we would typically think about.
These seven angels are actually referring to people, okay?
Because what does angel mean? Angel is the messenger, right, of God. You know, when we go out and preach the gospel, we're essentially
messengers, angels of God, so to speak, going forth preaching the gospel to every creature.
Now, obviously that's not something that we should go around saying like hey, I'm from First Works Baptist Church.
I'm an angel from First Works Baptist Church. Just want to give you this invitation or something.
This is just essentially showing us that angel simply means a messenger, okay?
Now I do believe that the the seven angels that are blowing the trumpets are the celestial angels,
because when you read the book of Revelation, they do some pretty supernatural things that would essentially coincide with being
those celestial beings. But these seven angels that are pouring out the vials on the other hand
are prophets, are brethren, they're saved people, okay? And I'm going to prove it to you.
He says they're clothed in pure and white linen, having their breasts girded with golden girdles, essentially the same attire
that Jesus Christ has in Revelation chapter 1, okay? Now go to Revelation 21, if you would, Revelation 21.
So in Revelation chapter 5, we see that the four beasts have these vials
that are the odors, which are the prayers of the saints. In Revelation chapter 15,
it says that they give these vials to the seven angels that are filled with the wrath of God.
So what do we see here? The vials are the prayers of the saints mixed with the wrath of God. Essentially our prayers
that are being essentially translated into judgments that God is going to pour
upon this earth. Look at Revelation 21 with that thought in mind. Verse 9, it says, and there came unto me
one of the seven angels,
which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me saying, come hither,
I will show thee the bride, the lamb's wife. So I want you to keep in mind here that this angel's coming to John
in this vision, and he's saying I'm going to show you a series of things. Of course, he first mentions the bride,
but all of 21, he's describing, you know, the New Jerusalem. He's giving him the different measurements of the New Jerusalem.
He's showing him all of these future events that are going to take place.
He's given the authority to kind of present to him what's going to happen, right?
That's what Revelation 21 is talking about, the new heaven, the new earth. Now go to chapter 22, if you would.
Chapter 22, so in chapter 21, we see that one of the seven angels, which had the vials, comes to John to reveal these things.
So chapter 22 is still referring to that same angel. Look at verse number 8 of Revelation 22.
It says, And I, John,
saw these things and heard them.
And when I heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel,
which showed me these things. Verse 9,
Then saith he unto me, see thou do it not. What does he not want him to do? Worship before his feet.
Why? He says, For I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book,
worship God. So this is showing us conclusively
that the person who is revealing these things unto John is the same individual who's responsible for pouring out one of those vials.
Now here's the cool thing about it. That could be you.
That could be me. I pray to God that it would be me,
but there's only seven openings,
you know. So there's, you know, basically this is showing us that, you know, he's not just
allocating
the judgments of the world to these celestial beings. He's given the privilege to the believers to participate in that as well.
You know, it's kind of like what first Corinthians chapter 5 says that we shall judge the world.
And that's definitely true in the millennial reign, but you could also apply it to this instance where there's seven angels who are brethren,
fellow servants of the prophets, who are keeping the sayings of the book, who are given the privilege
to have these vials. It's like you got one job, man. Don't mess it up, you know.
Don't pour this anywhere else. Just pour it on the earth, you know.
But they're literally going through and we're going to see it and they're just pouring that
and we'll see the type of judgments that they pour. But obviously that is a major privilege.
And, you know, the Bible doesn't really tell us exactly what you have to do to get the job, you know.
Just like we don't know what the 21 elders, the 24 elders, excuse me, are doing to get the job of the elders.
But all we can do is just serve God, be zealous for him, win souls to Christ, keep the commandments of God.
Just do the best that we can with what we have and we'll see what happens.
You know, who knows. You might wake up in heaven and say, hey, you're the lucky winner.
You're going to be one of the seven who is destroying the earth, okay.
And so I think that's cool. I think it's very neat that God is allowing that.
So let's get into, go back to Revelation chapter 8, if you would. Revelation chapter 8.
So again, these trumpets and vials are being administered concurrently. They're being administered by celestial beings,
the trumpets, but they're also being administered by prophets, the brethren, Christians, saved people.
These are the individuals who get to participate in these actions. The trumpet signifies war.
The vials are represented by the prayers of the saints, these imprecatory prayers that are coupled with God's wrath.
So let's look at the first four trumpets.
Here first in Revelation chapter 8.
So the first trumpet here is going to affect the earth and this is hail and fire mingled with blood.
We looked a little bit into this on Thursday in Isaiah 34, but look at verse 6.
It says the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound
and the first angel sounded and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood
and they were cast upon the earth and the third part of the trees was burnt up and all green grass was burnt up
So what we see here we see that the first trumpet carries with it hail,
fire mingled with blood whereby the third part of the trees are burnt up and all green grass.
Okay. Now I find this interesting because later on we're going to see
that the third part of the marine life is destroyed.
But then when the other vial is administered it just takes care of the rest of the marine life.
So it's just like one trumpet takes care of one third of the marine life and then the vial just kind of finishes the job.
Okay, so I'm going to read to you from revelation 16. You can turn there if you like,
but revelation 16 has all seven vials already laid out in one chapter.
Whereas the seven trumpets are kind of laid out in various chapters, okay.
So revelation 16 verse 1, I'm going to read to you the first vial.
It says that I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels,
Go your ways and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
And the first went and poured out his vial upon the earth and there fell a noisome
and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast and upon them which worshipped his image.
So the first trumpet is declared the third part of the trees are burnt up all green grass.
When the first vial is is poured out you have a noisome and grievous sore. Now, what does noisome mean?
Well, noisome is basically something that smells very offensively, okay.
So think about this men are having these sores in their body
and it's aside from the fact that they're extremely painful. They also smell
Okay, they're just putrid they smell
And maybe you have some experience of that. I don't know. I have never experienced something but obviously it doesn't sound very pleasant
Okay, and i'm sure no cologne in the world could ever mask the smell that's being produced by that
So this noisome this very offensively smelling grievous sore
Is poured upon the men who had the mark of the beast. So first trumpet first vial a lot of chaos
Third part of the trees are burnt up all the green grass is burned up
The earth is being affected but men on earth are actually are always also excuse me being affected given this sore that's painful
and
Smelly, okay look at uh revelation chapter eight
So that's the first trumpet first vial. Let's look at the second trumpet affecting the sea
Revelation chapter eight in verse number eight says and the second angel sounded and as it were a great mountain
Burning with fire was cast into the sea
And the third part of the sea became blood
And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea and had life died and the third part of the ships were
Destroyed so the second trumpet is a great mountain essentially a meteor of sorts an asteroid of sorts
Burning with fire cast into the sea
It destroys the third part of the marine life and it actually destroys a lot of the the the ships that are in the sea
That are being used for travel that are being used to transport goods
These are completely destroyed now when it says that the third part of the sea became blood think about this
This is if it's killing a third part of the marine life and it's making the third part of the ocean's blood
That's an even worse smell
So aside from the fact that people are dealing with their own smell
From the noisome sores that they possess that they have now you have the oceans, okay
And we're not even talking about the rivers yet. Just the oceans the bodies of water in this world
That are giving off this disgusting smell of blood and dead fish
Okay. Now I don't know if you've ever smelled a dead fish before I smelled dead fish
But I mean, you know, there's videos out there of like dead whales exploding and how horrible it smells when they explode
How many guys ever seen something like that?
Now they say if you ever find a dead whale don't go near it because it's like a ticking time bomb
And it'll blow up and all this, you know guts will be all over you but it just smells horribly
Well, just think about the third part of the marine life dying at that point. So you have all these whales
Killer whales blue whales sperm whales all these massive creatures floating up to the top blowing up
Bring out the smell i'm trying to give you a picture here because this is what's going to happen
You're like pastor, you know, this is the service before thanksgiving
uh
I know that's not you know, hey be thankful you're saved. Hey, man
You don't got to experience any of this. We're not going to say don't this is as close as we're going to get
To what's going to take place we're reading about it. So i'm trying to make it as graphic as possible
Well, you know all the while being appropriate, of course
So we see that the first the second trumpet
this
Meteor this asteroid falls to the ground to the sea. Excuse me
It destroys the marine life turns the sea into blood ships are destroyed. Let me read to you about the second vial
It says in revelation 16 verse 3 and the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea
And it became as the blood of a dead man and every living soul died in the sea
So the second trumpet that sounded kills a third of the marine life
The second vial that's poured out just finishes the job and just kills all the marine life
Because at first it says the third part of the marine life dies
But then the vial the second vial says that every living soul died in the sea. So it just kind of kills everything off
Okay, so no more fishing
No more using it for import exports. I mean, it's I mean just think about the ships that are out at sea
During this time that didn't get affected by the second trumpet, obviously
They are you know experiencing that that terrible smell nauseating smell look at verse 10 if you would
So the first trumpet affects the earth the second trumpet affects the sea
Now we're going to see the effect upon the rivers the third trumpet revelation chapter 8 and verse number 10
It says and the third angel sounded
And there fell a great star from heaven
Burning as it were a lamp and it fell upon the third part of the rivers and upon the fountains of waters
And the name of the stars called capital w wormwood
And the third part of the waters became wormwood and many men died of the waters because they were made bitter now
I believe that what revelation 8 verse 10 is actually referring to
Is not a literal meteor like we see in the second trumpet
But rather it's actually referring to an angel himself, okay
And I don't have time in this sermon to develop it
But there's instances in the bible where angels are referred to as what stars
And in fact fallen angels can often be referred to as what fallen stars, right or excuse me, wandering stars, okay
And you know, we can get into all that how the star of bethlehem in my opinion
This was probably an actual angel not a literal star because it was moving and it led the y
The the the wise men to go find jesus christ, etc
But in this particular case, I do believe that this is referring to a celestial being because of the fact that it's called wormwood
Capital w I mean it's a pronoun. It's a name that's given to this particular star that is designated
to poison the waters destroy those the water and and and bring
Bitterness and poison upon the rivers so that no one can drink from it
Okay, so a third part of the rivers are poison
No more reservoirs no more rivers to drink from no more sparkling water. None of that. Okay. So what is god doing?
He's obviously removing the resources from this world
In great quantities men die from drinking the water
And you'd be surprised what people do when they're completely dehydrated
Even though even if they know that the waters are bitter
They're going to drink from it because they're thirsty and unfortunately many of them will die
I mean you have instances where people are lost at sea
And they're so thirsty that they can't take anymore and then they just drink the sea water
And it obviously dehydrates them even more and ends up killing them in the long run
Okay, and they say that the ocean is the biggest desert in the world
Because you're surrounded by all kinds of water, but none of it can be drunken. Okay, you can't drink any of it
So we see here that wormwood, which is this star
Uh this angel because I don't know if i'm convinced though if that's really an angel well in revelation chapter nine
We see another star coming
And what is that star named apollyon?
abaddon
Okay, and there's no question that if that's an angel or not
Okay, he's he operates as a king of the locusts from hell to torment men for five months
So I don't think it's a coincidence. I think that's there on for a reason
Showing us that this star in revelation nine that falls known as apollyon and abaddon is coming right after another star by the name of wormwood
Comes, you know to destroy the rivers you say you pastor you really think like god creates these angels
To do I mean have you heard the angel of death
Right that he used in egypt to kill all the firstborn
I mean, I preached this sermon called
I think it was called apollyon where I went over all the instances that I believe apollyon was involved in throughout biblical history
And how literally god created him to destroy
And in fact, what's his name? It's apollyon abaddon, but he's also called the destroyer
So god created this celestial being not to minister to you
Not to bring a message to you not to strengthen you his whole creation is just to destroy
Okay, it's like just to kill things. He just brings him out to just kill things kill people kill things. That's his job
That's what he's made for and in fact god's like you're the destroyer
Your full-time job is to destroy and I personally believe that he's not only involved as far as apollyon is not only involved
Throughout biblical history. I think he's just involved in every plague throughout history
He's probably the one that brought about the black plague and all the plagues that that these famous plagues throughout history
He's the god's the one who brought him out during that time to punish that nation
For that particular reason and so, you know, apollyon's pretty pretty awesome. Okay. He's actually one of my favorites
So, you know people are like, oh no, no, I like michael the archangel
I like gabriel, you know, I like these other angels. No, I like apollyon. I like a baton. Okay
Um, I could say a lot about that, but we'll stop there
Okay. So the third trumpet is wormwood. Now. Let me read you from revelation 16 verse 4 regarding the third vial
Very much similar to what we see with the third trumpet
It says in verse 4 the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters
And they became blood and heard the angel of the waters say thou art righteous. Oh lord, which which are and was then shall be
Because that was judged thus for they have shed the blood of saints and prophets
And that was giving them blood to drink for they are worthy
And I heard another out of the altar say even so lord god almighty true and righteous are thy judgment
So again, we see similarities here with these judgments that god is essentially removing the water sources from the earth
To cause men to either drink the waters that are turned poisonous and bitter to kill them or just out of desperation
They even drink the waters that are just filled with blood
Okay
And so that is the third trumpet and third vial look at verse 12 if you would of revelation chapter 8
So the earth is affected the sea is affected the rivers are affected now
He's going to smite the heavenly bodies the fourth trumpet revelation 8 verse 12 says and the fourth angel sounded
And the third part of the sun was smitten
And the third part of the moon and the third part of the stars
So as the third part of them was darkened and the day shone not for a third part of it and the night
Likewise, so the fourth trumpet sounds smites the heavenly bodies. Let me read you from revelation 16
And verse 8 and by the way revelation 16 verse 8 regarding the fourth vial kind of shows us the effect
of what happens
When these heavenly bodies are smitten and the third part of their light is removed
It says in verse 8 and the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun
And power was given unto him to scorch men with fire
The men were scorched with great heat and blasphemed the name of god which hath power over these plagues and they repented not
To give him glory. Now. This is a theory out there that this is actually possibly referring to a nuclear winter
Okay, if you've heard of that nuclear winter is a theory
Used to describe the potential climatic effects of a large-scale nuclear war
And some of the effects of a nuclear winter is first and foremost
You have uh smoke from the fires that are started
By these nuclear weapons, of course or a large star that falls to the sky from the sky to the earth
Would spread globally and essentially heat
Right the sky
and um
What happens is basically the ultraviolet radiation is enhanced and it actually scorches men
So it creates this blanket in the atmosphere that actually ends up burning people
You know because of the atmosphere and so that is a legitimate thing or that is a theory so to speak of a nuclear winter
Not only that but there's also ozone depletion
And cooling preventing crops and actually creating darkness
Which interestingly enough we see that the next trumpet in the next vial actually creates darkness
Okay, so it's kind of it kind of works out with what's going on here now look at revelation chapter 8
and verse 13
So these four trumpets and four vials are pretty bad
like
If I was living in that time, I'd just be miserable. Everything smells I smell i'm in pain
You know and you know, there's no water i'm dying of dehydration
You're being scorched with fire
So aside from your sores and the smell of the sores now you're being burned by the by the atmosphere
Because of the ultraviolet radiation that's coming through
It's pretty bad
But it actually doesn't compare
To the last three and in fact the last three trumpets and vials are so bad
That god calls them the three woes, okay, not like whoa, you know
whoa means like
Whoa, it means like curse
Because he talks about revelation 13, uh 813. It says and I beheld and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven
Saying with a loud voice. Whoa, whoa
Whoa to the inhabitants of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpets of the three angels which are yet to sound
You know, let me translate that for you you think that was bad
That's nothing compared to what's coming next
That was just like a an appetizer judgment
Okay, that's just kind of setting the foundation
Because the next things we're going to the next couple things we're going to look at
Obviously what we just saw with the four trumpets is the four vials is very supernatural
but the supernatural
Uh nature of these next judgments is just like it's just turned up seven times, okay
Look at chapter nine if you would so let's look at the first whoa
referring to the fifth trumpet
It says in verse number one the fifth angel sounded and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth
Just like what we saw with warm wood, right?
And to him was given the key of the bottomless pit
And he opened the bottomless pit and there arose a smoke out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace
And the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit and they came out of the smoke
Locust upon the earth and then to them was given power as the scorpions of the earth have power
And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth neither any green thing neither any tree
But only those men which have not the seal of god in their foreheads
And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but they should be tormented five months
And their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when he strikeeth a man. So what is this fifth trumpet?
Well, we see smoke that's covering the sky
Creating a darkness of sorts
And we see that apollyon will see that his name is mentioned, uh in the in the coming verses
But we see locust coming out of hell
okay
and instead of
Mobilizing these locusts to do what they've done in times past which is to just eat up the crops destroy the resources
God basically flips a switch in them and says go after the men who don't have the seal of god in their foreheads
Now, let me mention something regarding that, okay?
Because the only people at this time who have the seal of god on their foreheads are the 144,000
Okay, we're not talking about the mark of the beast mark of the beast is a counterfeit
To the seal of god who is written in their foreheads. So the 144,000 are given this seal of god
And we see according to revelation chapter 9 the reason that seal is given to them is so that when these locusts come out
They don't attack them
Now, what does that tell us about the 144,000 it tells us that if they didn't have that seal they could be hurt
You know what that also tells us it tells us that these 144,000 have not yet received their glorified bodies
Because when you get a glorified body
Shoot me, bro
Shoot me, you know you you can i'll take a missile i'll take a scorpion
Nothing's gonna happen because this body is 2.0. You can't kill this
right
But the reason god is sealing the 144,000 is because they can be hurt
You understand so this is the 144,000
Come down
When we go up in the rapture
And these are the 144,000 of the tribes of israel
Save the tribe of dan and what are they doing? I believe these are obviously the bible talks about them being virgins
They're males. Sorry ladies, but you're not involved in this
Um, that's just what the bible says and so, you know, but they are selected
Because they're just godly people. They're godly young men or individuals
And they you know, I don't know what they did to earn this but they're a special they're special forces
Okay
And here is your first example of a time traveler
Right. This is a legitimate time traveler because they existed because this is not referring to 144,000 of the current israel
Okay, because you won't find those tribes existing today
If the bible is giving us a specific tribe in the new testament
right
Regarding end times it's obviously referring to old testament saints when the tribe still existed at that point
so these men
Uh, either they died or they're a raptured of sorts, but they're in heaven and they still have
their bodies from you know bc
And when they come down
Then you know
They're given the seal of god because they probably still haven't worked to accomplish
The 144,000 are coming to this earth to preach the gospel to everyone
Okay, they're probably going to the very remote areas of the world islands where they speak different languages
They're essentially like the poor
In the old testament they were given the privilege to go to the corners of the field to glean that field
So they're kind of going and winning people to christ
During this particular time during the wrath of god. Okay, so people are being saved during the wrath of god
Don't have this attitude. It's just like no they're all damned
A lot of them are for sure, but you know what people are still being saved, okay
Because the 444,000 not just going there just to kind of see oh man, look at that, you know
Look at these locusts. Whoa, you know
They're going there to to accomplish a work. Okay
And obviously we don't we're not given the details of how their ministry concludes
But it's in my humble opinion
That they possibly die at the end or they just transition straight into the millennial reign
Receive their glorified bodies and now their work is accomplished. They receive the rewards for their for their labor
The point that i'm making here is there's a reason why they have a seal of god in their foreheads
It's because they could be hurt if they didn't meaning that they're not glorified yet
So god sends this angel and you have and by the way, these these locusts are still in they're in hell right now
They're just like waiting
Like god has these things on standby
It's crazy
Look what it says in verse six. It says in those days shall men seek death and shall not find it
And shall desire to die
And death shall flee from them
I'm going to mention a couple things regarding that just a bit look at verse seven the shapes of the locusts were likened to horses
Prepared into battle and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold and their faces were as the faces of men
And they had hair as the hair of a woman of women and their teeth were as the teeth of lions
I mean, you know, it's bad enough that these things hurt they gotta look like that, too
This is a terrifying sight
I mean it
Let's just say this, you know, if there's like a woman in in the street, okay
She's got long hair if she comes running at you
It looks kind of freaky
Hair flinging all over the place, right ladies, you know what i'm talking about
Right
Isn't that true?
Wouldn't it be look crazy if you're just flinging your hair it looks kind of creepy, okay
Don't let me stand up here on an island all by myself
Man don't be scared say, amen. Yeah. All right. All right
It's it'll be freaky, okay. Okay, so picture that but flying at you
Okay, they're flying at you the hair's I mean there's a reason he's putting long hair on these things because they look abominably terrifying, okay
So he's giving them
Disappearance that obviously strikes fear in the hearts of those who are being stung by it
It says in verse 10 and they had tails like it's the scorpions
And there were stings in their tails and their power was to hurt men five months
So what is the responsibility of these locusts? Is it to kill men? No
It's literally just to torment them for five months now
Why does it say that men shall seek death and not find it?
They they shall desire to die and the death shall flee from them
It doesn't mean that these locusts are making them immortal or something like that
Okay, I literally heard preachers of yesterday yesterday year say things like that or it's just like man
We'll seek to die and blow their brains out. They can't die or someone's gonna be like zombies
It's like all right, dude, until kid, you know, you're out there
This is what I believe this is actually talking about is the fact that these scorpions have a paralyzing effect on their victims
So there's things would create some sort of paralyzing effect where they can't move
And they're 100 in pain, but they're incapacitated
So they're just lying there
Just incapacitated not capable of moving and then probably finally when they're able to move again
You know, they come right back and they sting them and they're just and this happens for five months
Okay
and so, uh
This is a miserable existence
And you know, I guess there are some things worse than dying which is being tormented for five months by these locusts
Okay
Says in verse 11 and they had a king over them which is the angel of the bottomless pit
Whose name in the hebrew tongue is abaddon, but in the greek tongue hath his name apollyon
So this is what's happening for five months straight now to add more terror
to this scenario
Let me read you from revelation 16
regarding the fifth vial
Because remember these are happening concurrently simultaneously
So while the locusts are coming out wreaking havoc upon the world
It says in verse 10 of revelation 16 and the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast
And his kingdom was full of darkness
And they gnawed their tongues for pain and blasphemed the god of heaven because of their pains and their sores
And repented not of their deeds now
Obviously, there's a lot of speculation as to what this means regarding the seat of the beast
But it could just mean that it's referring to his kingdom, which is the world because at this point
The new world order is the entire world
The key the the the anti-crisis king over the entire world right his seed is the entire world
But what this is telling us is that when the fifth angel pours out his vial there's darkness
upon the land
Picture that you have these freaky locusts flying around
And it's pitch black
That's terrifying
It's like
I mean you guys feel me or what? I mean, I would be terrified of that
You know trying to fight off or run from these locusts in pitch black. I mean, that's absolutely terrifying
So god is pulling out all the stops here
And of course it says that they're gnawing their tongues for pain
Why because they're being tormented by these locusts for five months?
And so that is the first woe and yeah, that is a woe
When god creates a specific species of creatures that's only dedicated
And designated for the tormenting of men for five months in the end times. That's pretty wild
That's a woe. That's a major curse
But we see that even with this judgment the bible says that they repented not of their deeds
You know, sometimes we think like oh man
If this came upon this person if their finances were ruined if their health was taken if they were just destroyed physically
They would get right with god. That is true, but not always
Because we're going to see a bunch of examples in the end times where people
Are tormented for five months and they they're just like I still don't want to get saved
It's crazy look at revelation 9 verse 13
Now we're going to look at the second woe
The sixth trumpet
It says in verse 13 the sixth angel sounded
And heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before god
Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet loose the four angels which are bound in the great river euphrates
It says the four angels were loose which were prepared for an hour and a day and a month and a year
for to slay the third part of men
And the number of the army of the horsemen
Were two hundred thousand thousand and I heard the number of them. So let me explain what's going on here the sixth trumpet
Is the four angels that are being loose from the great river euphrates?
And it's of my opinion that this is referring to those four chariobims that were guarding the tree of life
In genesis chapter three, okay
Okay
These four angels are designated to lead
These 200 million horsemen
Who are going to breathe out fire brimstone and asphyxiate the population with smoke? Okay
Now who are the 200 million horsemen? It's also my humble belief that it's probably referring to also believers
Okay
And let me just insert this little opinion here regarding this is that this is where I believe the four horsemen of the apocalypse
Are getting this from because remember everything that the antichrist does is a counterfeit
of what god does
And these horsemen are actually mentioned in the book of zechariah as being
a red black and grizzled
Okay
And so, uh, you have these horsemen and these are the horsemen according to zechariah that are sentenced to all the earth to judge the earth
So what zechariah is prophesying of in my opinion is what we see here in revelation chapter 9
As these 200 million horsemen and then satan was like, oh i'm gonna jack that idea
You know, i'm gonna send out four horsemen of the apocalypse, you know, the white red black and gray
So these 200 million horsemen are sent out look at verse 17
And thus I saw the horses in a vision
And then that sat on them having breastplates of fire and of jacinth and brimstone and the heads of the horses
Whereas the heads of lions
And out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone
By these three was the third part of men killed by the fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone
Which issued out of their mouths for their power is in their mouth and in their tails for their tails were like into serpents
And had heads and with them they do hurt. So, okay you get five months of these locusts
And then all of a sudden they're like
And they just go away
And they're like, all right, you know five months is pretty bad. It's not that bad, you know, we survived that
Okay, now come to 200 million horsemen
That looks like a horse
Why does it have a head of a lion though?
Oh, man, that thing's breathing out fire and brimstone. Oh, man, that thing's coming right at me
So the job of these 200 million horsemen is to hunt people down and to kill a third part of the population
How by burning them scorching them and look i've seen enough hollywood movies
I wish I could make a movie out of this. It's just like this is I could I could see this, okay
You know people are running from these horsemen and they're like well board up the walls or just get inside a house
They wouldn't be well, you know, let's just let me just lock myself in my vehicle
Oh, what did they just break through the window and just blow smoke in there and just suffocate you, right?
And you know, it's like well, we just got to make sure that we're behind the horse
Yeah, but their tails are like serpents and they bite
So it's just there's no escaping
This uh, this uh, this animal now there's people say like well, I think this is symbolic. Okay of what?
You know, I get the symbolic thing I know people want to like symbolically everything to be symbolic
But sometimes it just is what it is
Okay
And it's almost like you know, oh god can't make an animal or creature that's like that
He made everything that exists at this moment
He made the platypus
Which is a crazy look it's just crazy. It just doesn't you know fit
Sometimes what we think is an animal, you know, just like I can't really figure this thing out. He made the octopus
made you
So
And so, you know, it's not outside his capability to create such a creature for such a time as this
Okay, and again, you know people will say well, you know the locus that's symbolic
You know that actually represents titus's army
That was used, you know in 70 or whatever and you know, this is all symbolic. This is already fulfilled pastor
So the titus's army was sent to torment men for five months
Last time I checked titus's army killed people
You know, these are not sent to kill they're sent to torment men. Okay, and no, uh, titus is not a polyon either
It's a symbolic hell it's a symbolic representation the locus are symbolic represent the 200 million horsemen are symbolic representation
No, I think there are literal things that take place that are actually in existence at that time
You say why do you believe that? Well, think about this. This is the apex of history
Right, this is where everything comes
to like the the the apex the zenith of history
Why wouldn't god just bring out all the cosmic supernatural occurrences at such a time as this?
You know, he's doing everything he can
Because obviously there are people who are getting saved during this time
When the bible says the men repented out of their deeds, I think it's just kind of generalizing
That the population is just not receptive
Because there are a lot of them are reprobate but there are small pockets of people who are experiencing or are seeing
These trumpets and vials and you know what they do get saved because 144 000 are going about preaching the word of god
So, you know god, why wouldn't god do this? I mean didn't he do supernatural things in the old testament?
In the land of egypt plaguing the land of egypt with 10 plagues and do you know, you know stopping the sun
Doing you know parting the red sea is anything too hard for god
No, I think these are literal things that are taking place. Okay
It says in verse 20 the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues
Yet repented not of the works of their hands that they should not worship devils and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone
Or of wood which neither can see nor hear nor walk neither repent the day of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their fornication
Nor of their thefts. So the sixth trumpet is pretty gnarly
Third part of men are killed not just in any way but by these 200 million horsemen that are going about destroying men
Let me read to you from revelation chapter 16 regarding the sixth vial. Okay
The sixth vial in verse 12 says the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river. Euphrates
The same euphrates river that's dried up or should I say the same euphrates river that had the four angels that led the 200 million horsemen
It says the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river euphrates and the waters thereof were dried up
That the way of the kings of the east might be prepared
So what I believe this is referring to is the fact that the sixth vials poured out to drive the euphrates
In order to prepare the way of the kings for the battle of armageddon
So now we're setting the stage for the final
Curtain the final battle of this particular era, which is the battle of armageddon
Here's the proof verse 13 says and I saw three unclean spirits
This is revelation 16
I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon
And out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet
Now you say that's kind of weird. Why are frogs coming out of the mouth of the of the beast the false prophet?
Well, what this is referring to is deception
Okay, and in fact it says verse 14 for they are the spirits of devils
Working miracles which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole earth
To gather them to the battle of the great day of god almighty
So what is this referring to?
Well, the sixth vial is where the euphrates river is dried up to prepare for armageddon, but in order to prepare for it
They had to send out a mass
Deception mass mass delusion because think about this, you know, the antichrist has to convince the kings of the world that they're gonna fight
A man coming from heaven
Right
An army that's coming from heaven because it's not like jesus just appears
He's coming from heaven in revelation 19 on a white horse along with all of us on white horses
that's
terrifying
You understand what i'm saying? So he has to be able to convince them that they can win
Otherwise, why would they be fighting?
So this will require mass deception delusion
This is what it's referring to when it talks about the unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon
He's able to deceive them. So that is the sixth vial sixth trumpet second. Whoa
Look at revelation, uh 11 if you would revelation chapter 11
We're going to look at the third. Whoa
So
Seventh trumpet and seventh vial and we'll we'll conclude here
It says in revelation chapter 11 and verse 14
The second woe is past and behold a third woe cometh quickly
And the seventh angel sounded and there were great voices in heaven saying the kingdoms of this world
Are become the kingdoms of our lord and of his christ. He shall reign forever and ever now what I find interesting here is that
It hasn't literally happened yet
Because we see that these things the fulfillment of the vials and trumpets has to happen first
Before the battle of armageddon. So why is jesus saying this because he called those things which are not as though they were
He's saying the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our lord and of his christ because he's basically saying I win
You know jesus six anti-christ zero
And obviously it's about to be seven and anti-christ zero, okay, I mean he's shellacking the world right now
He's whooping the anti-christ. What are they doing? What is the new world order doing at this time?
No one cares about the ai anymore at this point. They're just like we're at the mercy of this supernatural god that's destroying us
So that's why he's already claiming victory at this point, okay
Says in verse 16 the four and 20 elders which sat before god on their seats
Fell upon their faces and worshiped god saying we give thee thanks
Oh lord god almighty which art and was that art to come because that was taken to thee thy great power and has reigned
It's like, you know the presidential election
Where the the polls aren't done yet, but there's there's you know, the president who obviously is winning
It's just like he gives his victory speech or whatever even though it hasn't been counted yet
This is kind of the same thing where jesus is just like this these kingdoms are mine
Which there's no there was no doubt in anyone's mind that they were
It says in verse 18 and the nations were angry
And thy wrath has come in the time of the dead that they should be judged
And that thou shouldest give reward into thy servants the prophets and to the saints and then that fear thy name
Small and great should has destroyed them which destroyed the earth and the temple of god was opened in heaven
And there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament and there were lightnings and voices and thunderings and an earthquake and great
Hail now this is insinuating
The seventh vial let me read you from revelation 16
and verse 16
It says and he gathered them together into a place called in the hebrew tongue armageddon
And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air
And there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven the temple that was open in revelation 11
From the throne saying it is done
And there were voices and thunders and lightnings like we saw in revelation 11 and there was a great earthquake
Such as was not since men were upon the earth so mighty an earthquake and so great
And the great city was divided into three parts and the cities of the nations fell
And listen to this and great babylon came into remembrance before god
To give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath
And every island fled away and the mountains were not found and there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven
Every stone about the weight of a talent and men blasphemed god because of the plagues of the hail for the plague thereof was exceeding
Great, so the the judgments conclude
With the seventh vial being poured out and really what that focuses on is the destruction of babylon
Okay, and if you want to learn more about babylon you can read revelation 17 and 18
Two chapters that are specifically dedicated to the subject of babylon
But babylon is guilty of various crimes and abominations but specifically against the prophets
And so it's the whore of babylon and god's like he's destroying all these nations
These islands are being moved. These nations are falling because of the earthquake and god's like, oh, yeah
babylon
You know babylon that sits as a widow and you know, she shall see no sorrow and she's so prideful and arrogant
She doesn't think anything is going to happen to her
Well babylon is the last
essentially the last city to go
Okay to be destroyed and there we conclude the seven trumpets and seven vials
You see what can I learn from this particular sermon pastor be grateful?
You know when the bible says that we've been spared from the wrath to come
I mean, it's true
Okay, and obviously we don't even know if this is going to happen in our lifetime
if the tribulation the rapture
But regardless if it does or it doesn't we're still spared this wrath because
There's a far greater wrath that awaits people who are not saved and that's hell, right?
And so this is may you walk away from this sermon realizing
That god will judge this earth one day
in such a severe way
And even though he judges it so severely so thoroughly so creatively
There's still gonna be people here who just
Don't want to get right with god. So here's the thing don't get discouraged when someone rejects you at the door
When you're preaching the gospel and they don't want to listen to you don't feel bad
God pulls out all the stops in the end times and there's still people who don't want to get saved
God shows some of the most supernatural occurrences that the world has ever seen
You know, and by the way
Let me make one this last point and that is you know
People are like oh the new testament god is way nicer than the old testament god
Did you just pay attention to what we just read?
He kills more people in the end times than probably everything that took him that took place in the old testament put together
Most of the stuff that happened in the old testament aside from the global flood
Which kills everyone?
You know, and by the way, he floods the world in genesis chapter 6, but then he also floods the world in fire
In revelation chapter 8 so he baptizes it with water initially, but then he baptizes it with fire. Okay?
The point that i'm making here is that god has not changed he's the same yesterday today and forever more
The anger and judgments that he had on mount sinai with the lightnings and the thunders and the voices
Those are the same lightning thunders and voices that we see in revelation 16
Where the vials are being poured out?
And so praise god for his judgments praise god for his righteousness
And don't take it personal if someone rejects you at the door
The lord brings out all the stops and they're still rejecting him in the end times
Amen, let's pray father. We thank you so much for your word. Thank you for
these uh, seven trumpets and seven vials
And I thank you lord that this is as close as we're going to get to ever seen something like that
And I don't know if you're ever going to give us a panoramic view of what takes place in the end times when we're in heaven
But even if we don't lord, we're thankful that you've spared us from the wrath to come
Through our savior jesus christ and I pray lord that you help us to think upon these things and as we read
The seven trumpets and seven vials in the book of revelation
May it create within us a heart of gratitude
And a love for the righteousness of god help us lord to to hate the things that you hate
And love the souls that you love lord and I pray bless this as we go on our way. We love you
We thank you pray this in jesus name. Amen