3ABN Sabbath School Panel

The Seven Last Plagues

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

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Series Code: SSP

Program Code: SSP190011A


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.
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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.


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Revised 2023-12-28