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Speaker 1: Life Audio.

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Speaker 2: For more resources to help you in your walk with Christ,

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Speaker 2: please visit us at Bible Studyheadquarters dot com. Well, today

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Speaker 2: we are continuing our look at the Book of Revelation.

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Speaker 2: We've been studying the Book of Revelation for seven or

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Speaker 2: several months, and today we're in chapter nine. And as

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Speaker 2: we look at this book in chapter nine, you'll notice

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Speaker 2: that the start of chapter nine is the continuation of

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Speaker 2: what we see initiated in chapter eight, where these trumpet

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Speaker 2: judgments are being spoken of, and then here today in

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Speaker 2: chapter nine, we see that continue with the fifth trumpet judgment. So,

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Speaker 2: if you would take your Bibles and turn with me

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Speaker 2: to Revelation chapter nine.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna pick up at verse one.

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Speaker 2: And there's a lot in this content to look at

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Speaker 2: and think about and talk about. But I'm gonna start

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Speaker 2: us with verse one, and I'm gonna read us down

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Speaker 2: to verse eleven today. So nine, starting with verse one,

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Speaker 2: this is what we read in this passage. It says,

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Speaker 2: in the fifth Angel blew his trumpet, and I saw

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Speaker 2: a star fallen from heaven to Earth, and he was

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Speaker 2: given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.

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Speaker 2: He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from

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Speaker 2: the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace,

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Speaker 2: and the sun and the air were darkened with the

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Speaker 2: smoke from the shaft. Then from the smoke came locusts

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Speaker 2: on the earth, and they were given power like the

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Speaker 2: power of scorpions of the earth. They were told not

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Speaker 2: to harm the grass of the earth, or any green plant,

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Speaker 2: or any tree, but only those people who do not

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Speaker 2: have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were

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Speaker 2: allowed to torment them for five months, but not to

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Speaker 2: kill them. Their torment was like the torment of a

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Speaker 2: scorpion when it stings someone. And in those days people

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Speaker 2: will seek death and will not find it. They will

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Speaker 2: long to die, but death will flee from them. Then

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Speaker 2: in verse seven we read it says in appearance, the

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Speaker 2: locusts were like horses prepared for battle. On their heads

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Speaker 2: were what looked like crowns of gold. Their faces were

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Speaker 2: like human faces, their hair like women's hair, and their

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Speaker 2: teeth like lion's teeth. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron,

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Speaker 2: and the noise of their wings was like the noise

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Speaker 2: of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. They have

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Speaker 2: tails and stings like scorpions, and their power to hurt

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Speaker 2: people for five months.

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Speaker 1: Is in their tails.

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Speaker 2: They have his king over them, the Angel of the

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Speaker 2: Bottomless Pit. His name is His name in Hebrew is Abadom,

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Speaker 2: and in Greek he is called Apollyan. Let's pray, Lord,

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Speaker 2: thank you for your word. Thank you for the privilege

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Speaker 2: of being able to look at it today and to

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Speaker 2: think about the things.

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Speaker 1: That you reveal here.

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Speaker 2: You know, Lord, that you're revealing future things to us,

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Speaker 2: things that sometimes when we look at them, were we

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Speaker 2: find it a bit challenging to wrap our minds around them.

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Speaker 2: And yet at the same time we can't also help

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Speaker 2: but be a bit fascinated. And so Lord, as we

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Speaker 2: look at this portion of your word, we pray that

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Speaker 2: we would do so with the right mindset, with the

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Speaker 2: right spirit, with the right desire, that we would grow

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Speaker 2: in our appreciation of You, that we would grow in

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Speaker 2: our appreciation of the work that's unfolding all around us,

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Speaker 2: and that we would trust the plan that you are

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Speaker 2: working out throughout the course of human history. We know,

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Speaker 2: Lord that it's your ultimate desire to rescue and redeem people.

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Speaker 2: And thank you, Lord for telling us these things. Even

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Speaker 2: these hard truths that we see in a passage like

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Speaker 2: Revelation nine. Thank you for telling us these things ahead

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Speaker 2: of time. We pray that you'd speak to us now

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Speaker 2: by the power of your Holy Spirit, and we commit

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Speaker 2: this time to you in Jesus' name.

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Speaker 1: Amen. So from a.

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Speaker 2: Past oral perspective, I would say that I think that

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Speaker 2: the easiest portions of scripture for me personally to preach

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Speaker 2: through are the New Testament epistles.

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Speaker 1: I have always found.

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Speaker 2: Those very intuitive to preach through, very interesting to preach through,

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Speaker 2: very helpful. Those passages basic include a lot of direct

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Speaker 2: language that's highly practical in nature. Basically, if you're going

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Speaker 2: through the New Testament epistles, you see that they say

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Speaker 2: this something like this, here's what to believe, and now

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Speaker 2: here's how to live that out. And I find that's

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Speaker 2: a very intuitive passage of scripture, a type of scripture.

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Speaker 2: When I'm putting a sermon together and preparing to share

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Speaker 2: on Sunday mornings, to take something from a New Testament epistle,

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Speaker 2: it reads very naturally because they're practically sermons in and

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Speaker 2: of themselves. Well, Revelation isn't that kind of book If

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Speaker 2: you've ever read through Revelation before you know what I'm

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Speaker 2: talking about. But even as we're just looking at what

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Speaker 2: I just read for us just moments ago, we recognize

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Speaker 2: this isn't that kind of book. It's not always easy

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Speaker 2: to speak through, it's not always easy to preach through.

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Speaker 2: And for that reason, I've noticed throughout the years that

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Speaker 2: many pastors that I'm friends with, people that I genuinely appreciate,

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Speaker 2: genuinely love, genuinely think highly of, many of them choose

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Speaker 2: not to preach through it for Sunday morning worship gatherings.

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Speaker 2: Typically what they'll do is is if they teach through

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Speaker 2: the content, they'll usually save it for maybe like a

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Speaker 2: midweek Bible study or something of that nature. Now, admittedly,

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Speaker 2: since we are taking the risk to look at Revelation

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Speaker 2: on Sunday mornings, and we've been doing it for several months,

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Speaker 2: when we'll be doing it for several months more, we're

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Speaker 2: going through every single passage in the Book of Revelation,

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Speaker 2: And admittedly, the passage that we're looking at today from

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Speaker 2: Revelation chapter nine is actually a challenging passage to wrap

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Speaker 2: our minds around because there's a lot of imagery here,

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Speaker 2: there's a lot of data here. There's a lot of

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Speaker 2: things that you and I when we look at these things,

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Speaker 2: we're probably wondering what's being spoken of here. There's futuristic language,

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Speaker 2: there's apocalyptic language, and I think some of us could

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Speaker 2: some of it could leave us scratching our heads a

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Speaker 2: little bit. But even as we examine this passage that

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Speaker 2: talks about future things, and I'm even going to show

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Speaker 2: you several different interpretations related to one part, I also

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Speaker 2: want it to remind us of something else, not just

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Speaker 2: the future things that it's also talking about, right, but

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Speaker 2: something else, and that's this the fact that God is patient,

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Speaker 2: that God is purposeful, and that God is just. You

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Speaker 2: will actually see those attributes of those character traits of

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Speaker 2: God illustrated in the content that's talked about here in

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Speaker 2: this portion of scripture. This passage also reminds us of

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Speaker 2: something else. It reminds us that rebellion against God actually

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Speaker 2: has real consequences, and that this season that we're living

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Speaker 2: in right now, it's a season of just divine patience.

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Speaker 2: I think we could call it that. It's a season

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Speaker 2: that doesn't last forever. Eventually it comes to an end,

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Speaker 2: meaning a reckoning is coming. So keep all those things

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Speaker 2: in mind as we look at this portion of scripture together.

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Speaker 2: But let's take a look at it a piece of

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Speaker 2: a time. Let me reread verse one for us. Revelation nine.

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Speaker 2: Verse one says this, in the fifth Angel blew his trumpet,

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Speaker 2: and I saw a star falling from heaven to Earth,

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Speaker 2: and he was given the key to the shaft of

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Speaker 2: the bottomless pit. Now, in this portion of scripture, it

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Speaker 2: starts talking about a star. Maybe that stood out to

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Speaker 2: you right away, even when we read the big passage

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Speaker 2: just a few moments ago. Well, the star that's being

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Speaker 2: referenced here isn't a meteor or some sort of object

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Speaker 2: in the sky like that. The language that's being used

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Speaker 2: here actually points to a personal being of some kind

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Speaker 2: that's being described as a star. And by the way,

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Speaker 2: this isn't the first time in scripture that we see

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Speaker 2: this kind of imagery used. Now, the best way to

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Speaker 2: understand this is that this star that's being referenced here

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Speaker 2: is either a fallen angel. Some would say maybe it's

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Speaker 2: Satan himself. Others seem to think, and I think this

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Speaker 2: is where I land on this, that it may be

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Speaker 2: like a high ranking demonic figure that's under Satan's authority. Now,

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Speaker 2: when you go back into the Old Testament, when you

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Speaker 2: go back into the prophetic portions of scripture, in places

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Speaker 2: like Isaiah, Isaiah makes this reference to Satan's fall. When

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Speaker 2: you look at Isaiah fourteen, there he says, how you

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Speaker 2: are fallen from heaven, O day star, son of Dawn's

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Speaker 2: how he speaks of Satan. He speaks of him as

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Speaker 2: as a star, O day star, son of Dawn. When

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Speaker 2: you get into the Gospels, in Luke, chapter ten, verse eighteen,

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Speaker 2: Jesus makes this statement. He's kind of reiterating what Isaiah said,

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Speaker 2: but he says, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

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Speaker 2: So in those contexts you have Satan being referenced with

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Speaker 2: an analogy like a star or like lightning, And that's

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Speaker 2: the type of way that the word star is being

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Speaker 2: used here in this passage. But it's also interesting to

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Speaker 2: note that this fallen being, whomever it is, doesn't possess

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Speaker 2: the key that this being is given by right, meaning

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Speaker 2: they don't have a write to this key necessarily. The

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Speaker 2: key is something that this being is given divinely, like

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Speaker 2: it's chosen to be given. That means spiritual authority, rests

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Speaker 2: firmly in God's hands, even in the midst of judgment.

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Speaker 1: So he's not.

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Speaker 2: Reacting, he's raining, and he's showing how he determines that

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Speaker 2: these things are are ultimately going to operate. Now, from

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Speaker 2: a personal standpoint, please remember this sort of thing in

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Speaker 2: your own life, but also when you're reading portions of

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Speaker 2: scripture like this, because there's going to be moments in

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Speaker 2: your life, in my life when life starts to feel

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Speaker 2: a bit chaotic, certain seasons absolutely will. And one of

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Speaker 2: the things that we need to keep in mind, whether

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Speaker 2: we're reading a portion of scripture like this about prophetic things,

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Speaker 2: or whether we're going through a season in our own

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Speaker 2: life that might feel like it's got an element of

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Speaker 2: chaos to it. Nothing is happening outside of God's permission.

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Speaker 2: Nothing is happening outside of God's control. Let me say

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Speaker 2: it again, just so it sticks in our mind and

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Speaker 2: so I hear my own self saying it. Nothing is

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Speaker 2: happening outside of God's permission. Nothing is happening outside of

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Speaker 2: God's control. You have no idea how many times, throughout

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Speaker 2: the course of the decades that I've been walking with

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Speaker 2: the Lord that I've had to revisit that truth over

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Speaker 2: and over and over again. And I think it's a

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Speaker 2: really helpful truth for us. Is people who are taking

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Speaker 2: the time to study a prophetic portion scripture that talks

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Speaker 2: about really difficult things that are going to take place,

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Speaker 2: remind yourself the entire time, nothing happens outside of God's permission.

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Speaker 2: Nothing happens outside of God's control. So even forces that

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Speaker 2: oppose him operate on a leash. And a passage like

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Speaker 2: this makes that clear. But let's just keep working our

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Speaker 2: way right through these verses and just look at them

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Speaker 2: one at a time. Verse one sets it up. Verse

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Speaker 2: two explains a little bit further what's going on here.

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Speaker 2: Revelation nine to two says he opened the shaft of

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Speaker 2: the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke, like

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Speaker 2: the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and

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Speaker 2: the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft.

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Speaker 2: Now Here, this shaft or this pit that's opened, we're

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Speaker 2: told that when that happens, smoke pours out, and it

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Speaker 2: says like the smoke of a great furnace, Like the

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Speaker 2: smoke of a great furnace. This imagery reminds me a

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Speaker 2: lot of what you see in the Book of Exodus. Lately,

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Speaker 2: I've been reading through the Book of Exodus. I've been

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Speaker 2: studying it just in my personal time together this month.

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Speaker 1: And when you get to chapter nineteen.

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Speaker 2: Of the Book of Exodus, when you get to chapter nineteen,

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Speaker 2: verse eighteen, there were told that smoke covered Mount Sinai

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Speaker 2: as the Lord descended in fire. It's all covered in smoke.

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Speaker 2: And here there's this discussion of smoke as well. But

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Speaker 2: here the smoke doesn't signal God drawing near, but there

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Speaker 2: is something happening in this spiritual realm, the supernatural realm.

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Speaker 2: What smoke in this instance seems to indicate is that

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Speaker 2: judgment is being released. Something of a supernatural nature is happening.

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Speaker 2: Judgment is being released. And there's this place that's referenced

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Speaker 2: here that it's referred to. It says he opened the

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Speaker 2: shaft of the bottomless Pit, also called the Abyss. Now

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Speaker 2: the Abyss doesn't appear to be Hell itself, but a temporary,

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Speaker 2: used holding place for especially dangerous demonic beings.

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Speaker 1: And this is one of those things when.

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Speaker 2: You look at this, you're you know, you look at

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Speaker 2: this and you think, all right, what exactly is going on?

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Speaker 1: Here.

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Speaker 2: Well, we're given some hints about this when you read

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Speaker 2: through the Gospels, when you go into Luke chapter eight.

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Speaker 2: In Luke chapter eight, you actually have demons begging Jesus

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Speaker 2: not to send them into the Abyss. Don't send us

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Speaker 2: into the Abyss. Please, don't send us into the Abyss.

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Speaker 2: They feared being sent into this place called the Abyss.

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Speaker 2: So that alone tells us something about what's unleashed here.

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Speaker 2: And when God opens what he's long restrained, what we

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Speaker 2: see in this passage, the results seem a bit terrifying.

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Speaker 2: As this starts to develop. There's there's I think a

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Speaker 2: sobering reminder here when we look at this too, because

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Speaker 2: God's restraint is an act of mercy, and when that

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Speaker 2: restraint is removed, the true nature of evil is revealed.

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Speaker 2: And right now, I think people don't fully appreciate and

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Speaker 2: don't fully understand the nature of evil. I think people

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Speaker 2: play with it a little bit and think that it's

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Speaker 2: something not that big of a deal. But here, when

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Speaker 2: you look at the Book of Revelation, it reveals to

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Speaker 2: us exactly what this evil is like and what it's

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Speaker 2: capable of. And then you get to verse three and

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Speaker 2: verse three starts to develop the thought a little bit further,

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Speaker 2: and it says, then from the smoke came locusts.

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Speaker 1: On the earth.

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Speaker 2: It says, and they were given power like the power

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Speaker 2: of scorpions of the earth. Now, I don't know if

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Speaker 2: you've ever read this passage before, and I don't know

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Speaker 2: if you've read the things that have come that come

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Speaker 2: right after this that we're going to look at in

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Speaker 2: just a few moments.

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Speaker 1: But there's some imagery here.

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Speaker 2: And while we look at this, I want to encourage

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Speaker 2: you to just attempt to envision it in your mind.

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Speaker 1: What do you think it will actually look like?

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Speaker 2: Because as John is writing these things down, he's trying

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Speaker 2: to describe for you and for me an image that

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Speaker 2: we will look at and say and we'll try and

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Speaker 2: he's actually trying to give us a picture that you

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Speaker 2: and I can can kind of hold in our mind.

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Speaker 2: But it says, then from this locusts on the earth,

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Speaker 2: and they were given power like the power of scorpions

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Speaker 2: of the earth. So out of the smoke come these locusts.

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Speaker 2: But again, they're not ordinary insects, just like that reference

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Speaker 2: to a start, it's non ordinary star. But these locusts

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Speaker 2: aren't ordinary insects. John describes them as having power like scorpions. Now,

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Speaker 2: when you go into the Old Testament, the Old Testament

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Speaker 2: often use locusts as a symbol for divine judgment. When

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Speaker 2: you go into the Book of Joel chapter one, the

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Speaker 2: Book of Joel chapter two, they describe devastating locust plagues

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Speaker 2: as instruments of God's discipline. But then you look at

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Speaker 2: this portion of scripture and you realize these locusts are

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Speaker 2: different from the locusts that are being described there.

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Speaker 1: They don't eat vegetation.

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Speaker 2: The locusts in the Old Testament context typically are used

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Speaker 2: to eat vegetation. These locusts do something else. They torment people,

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Speaker 2: which would you prefer? They don't eat the vegetation, they

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Speaker 2: torment the people. Were also told that God places limits

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Speaker 2: on them. There's certain limits that are placed on them.

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Speaker 2: They're told not to harm the grass. Well, typically locus

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Speaker 2: would harm grass, right, These locusts are told, your job

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Speaker 2: isn't to harm the grass. That's not yours to do.

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Speaker 2: They're also told not to harm the plants, not to

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Speaker 2: harm the trees. They're told you may only harm those

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Speaker 2: who don't have the seal of God on their foreheads

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Speaker 2: may only harm those who don't have the seal of

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Speaker 2: God's Seal of God on their foreheads. Look at what

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Speaker 2: it says in verse four says they were told not

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Speaker 2: to harm the grass of the earth, or any green

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Speaker 2: plant or any tree, but only those people who do

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Speaker 2: not have the seal of God on their foreheads. Now

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Speaker 2: that ceiling connects us right back two chapters, back into

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Speaker 2: Revelation chapter seven, where God seals his servants, where God

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Speaker 2: seals his followers.

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Speaker 1: It's like a protective.

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Speaker 2: Seal in a sense, and it's done before the judgments intensify.

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Speaker 2: But again, once again we see a distinction. God knows

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Speaker 2: whose are.

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Speaker 1: Like, who is his. He knows who belongs to him.

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Speaker 2: He knows who is his like even in our context

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Speaker 2: right now, if you belong to the Lord, that's not

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Speaker 2: a mystery to him.

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Speaker 1: He knows that you belong to him.

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Speaker 2: And in fact, in Ephesians chapter one, one of my

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Speaker 2: favorite portions of the New Testament.

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Speaker 1: To read and reread and reread.

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Speaker 2: One of the things that it tells us there that

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Speaker 2: happens the moment you trust in Jesus Christ, you are

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Speaker 2: sealed with the Holy Spirit, that it becomes a permanent

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Speaker 2: relationship between you and God. You are sealed with the

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Speaker 2: Holy Spirit. You have that kind of language also being

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Speaker 2: used here in the Book of Revelation. So here they're told, look,

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Speaker 2: only you can only sting, you could only hurt, you

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Speaker 2: can only torment those who do not have the seal

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Speaker 2: of God on their foreheads. But those who are sealed,

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Speaker 2: you are not allowed to torment. So again, if you

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Speaker 2: belong to Christ, you aren't forgotten, you aren't overlooked, and

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Speaker 2: you aren't unprotected. Even in the spiritual realm when you

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Speaker 2: think about spiritual things, and there's spiritual realities that we

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Speaker 2: don't often think about. The scripture tells us we are sealed,

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Speaker 2: and it's also language spoken of these future believers living

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Speaker 2: during this era, and they're sealed not because they're strong,

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Speaker 2: they're sealed because God is faithful and he's showing mercy

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Speaker 2: and he's showing grace even in the midst of this

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Speaker 2: great season of judgment that's being prophesied here. But let's

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Speaker 2: just keep going through this. Let's get to verses five

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Speaker 2: and six. Look what it says here. It says they

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Speaker 2: were allowed. So it's speaking of these scorpion type locus

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Speaker 2: now do you have a picture of them in your

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Speaker 2: mind yet?

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Speaker 1: The scorpion type locus.

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Speaker 2: You didn't know that today was going to be so

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Speaker 2: sci fi, right, We're going to be preaching through this

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Speaker 2: book for a few months still, there's a lot more

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Speaker 2: to come. But it says they were allowed to torment

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Speaker 2: them for five months, but not to kill them, and

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Speaker 2: their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when

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Speaker 2: it stings someone. And in those days people will seek

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Speaker 2: death and will not find it. They will long to die,

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Speaker 2: but death will flee from them. Now that's an interesting

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Speaker 2: portion scripture. By the way, have you ever been near

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Speaker 2: a scorpion looking around a couple of you.

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Speaker 1: Yes.

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Speaker 2: Friend of mine he has a son who's really into reptiles,

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Speaker 2: really into bugs, really into stuff like that, and I

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Speaker 2: went down to visit him. This is maybe four or

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Speaker 2: five years ago. He lives down in Florida, and he

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Speaker 2: took a picture of me holding one of his son's scorpions,

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Speaker 2: and I was like, this is going to go over

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Speaker 2: really well when I show this to my wife, and

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Speaker 2: he's like, oh, she'll see it sooner than that.

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Speaker 1: It's going up on social media.

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Speaker 2: And I'm like, oh great, So I held it, and

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Speaker 2: I looked at the thing, and I thought, I wonder what,

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Speaker 2: I wonder what this thing's going to do? Why am

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Speaker 2: I holding it and wondering that maybe I should wonder

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Speaker 2: that before I hold it? But I have a picture

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Speaker 2: of it crawling up my arm. And then you look

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Speaker 2: at a portion of scripture like this, and this passage

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Speaker 2: tells us that the torment that people will experience if

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Speaker 2: they're stung, it'll last five months. What were you doing

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Speaker 2: five months ago? Five months ago, the weather was nice.

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Speaker 2: We didn't have this silliness right now. Okay, that's pretty.

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Speaker 2: This is atty snow. It stops being pretty once it

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Speaker 2: starts melting and gets all slushy and dirty and all that.

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Speaker 2: For five more minutes, it's going to be pretty. So

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Speaker 2: look out out the window and enjoy it. Five months ago,

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Speaker 2: what were you doing. You were enjoying nice weather. Could

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Speaker 2: you imagine if you got stung by something and since August,

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Speaker 2: like from August till now, you're just an intense pain,

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Speaker 2: no relief, nothing you could do about it.

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Speaker 1: Five months.

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Speaker 2: Well, here it's talking about the fact that people that

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Speaker 2: are tormented are going to experience it for five months,

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Speaker 2: which by the way actually happens to be the normal

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Speaker 2: lifespan of a locust swarm. Now, I haven't known that

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Speaker 2: for a long time. I actually recently found that out.

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Speaker 2: Five months tends to be the length of time for

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Speaker 2: the average locust swarm. And here they're talking about the

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Speaker 2: fact that this pain they're going to experience is five months.

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Speaker 2: But the pain is it's described as so intense that

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Speaker 2: people will seek death and not find it. Now, I

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Speaker 2: honestly don't know how that's the case. I don't know

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Speaker 2: how that's going to work out. How are they able

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Speaker 2: to how are they desirous of seeking death and un

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Speaker 2: able to find it? But I'm certain so I don't

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Speaker 2: understand that, and I don't think you understand that either,

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Speaker 2: how that part's gonna work out. But I'm certain that

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Speaker 2: those who read this passage during that season of history

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Speaker 2: will fully understand why that is. So, for some unknown reason,

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Speaker 2: that will be the case. So that means this isn't annihilation.

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Speaker 2: It's anguish without escape, anguish without escape. And in many respects,

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Speaker 2: you could look at this and you say it's like

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Speaker 2: a foretaste of hell, anguish without escape. Now, this season

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Speaker 2: of judgment, I believe it's future and it's literal. I

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Speaker 2: believe it's something that takes place during an era of

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Speaker 2: time we refer to as the Tribulation. I believe it

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Speaker 2: takes place after the Church has been raptured. And yet,

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Speaker 2: even though I believe that this is speaking about things

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Speaker 2: that are yet to come, I think that the principle

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Speaker 2: behind it speaks to every generation, including to our generation

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Speaker 2: right now.

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Speaker 1: Well, what's the principle behind it?

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Speaker 2: Well, think about the people experiencing all this, What did

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Speaker 2: they believe? What did they spend their lives belore? Well,

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Speaker 2: they believe that sin would be fun. They believe that

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Speaker 2: sin would be freedom. And sin promises freedom, But what

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Speaker 2: does it result in? Slavery and regret. Sin promises us

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Speaker 2: freedom whatever category we want to choose, but it delivers slavery.

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Speaker 2: Rebellion against God does not lead to life. It leads

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Speaker 2: to despair. It leads to regret. And you see that

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Speaker 2: illustrated in what takes place here. Maybe you're familiar with this.

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Speaker 2: Love to read through the Book of Proverbs. Book of

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Speaker 2: Proverbs filled with so much wisdom, and in Proverbs for

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Speaker 2: fourteen twelve it says this, there is a way that seems.

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Speaker 1: Right to a man, but its end is the way

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Speaker 1: to death.

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Speaker 2: There's a way that seems right to a man, but

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Speaker 2: its end is the way to death. And Revelation nine

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Speaker 2: shows us a world experiencing that in real time. Basically,

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Speaker 2: they went their own way, seem right to them, find

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Speaker 2: to them, seem filled with worldly logic and reason. They

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Speaker 2: went their own way. And then what do they discover.

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Speaker 2: It doesn't produce good fruit, but it's what they chose.

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Speaker 2: And then we get to verses seven and nine seven

433
00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:11,520
Speaker 2: through nine of Revelation chapter nine, and it says again,

434
00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:15,199
Speaker 2: in appearance, the locusts were like horses prepared for battle.

435
00:22:15,359 --> 00:22:17,359
Speaker 2: So again, do you have an image in your mind?

436
00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:21,520
Speaker 2: It keeps giving us more datum, more detail about these

437
00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:25,280
Speaker 2: locusts scorpion beings. It says, in appearance the locusts were

438
00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:28,040
Speaker 2: like horses prepared for battle. And then it says on

439
00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:32,360
Speaker 2: their heads were what looked like crowns of gold. Their

440
00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:36,720
Speaker 2: faces were like human faces, their hair like women's hair,

441
00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:42,800
Speaker 2: and their teeth like lion's teeth. They had breastplates like

442
00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:47,679
Speaker 2: breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was

443
00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:52,520
Speaker 2: like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle.

444
00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:56,400
Speaker 2: I think John to a degree is doing the best

445
00:22:56,440 --> 00:22:58,320
Speaker 2: that he can, but I also imagine it was probably

446
00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:02,360
Speaker 2: quite the struggle to decribe what he was seeing. He's

447
00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:05,600
Speaker 2: seeing things that are unlike anything he's ever seen before,

448
00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:09,000
Speaker 2: and he's trying to describe something that's unfamiliar to him,

449
00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:11,639
Speaker 2: and yet the spirit of God is revealing these things

450
00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:12,360
Speaker 2: to him.

451
00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:13,760
Speaker 1: These locusts that he's.

452
00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:16,400
Speaker 2: Seeing, their locusts, but they kind of look like horses

453
00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:19,040
Speaker 2: prepared for battle. Well, how does that work? And then

454
00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:21,040
Speaker 2: they also wear something like crowns, and they also have

455
00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:24,199
Speaker 2: humans face human faces, and it also tells us they

456
00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:31,840
Speaker 2: have women's hair, lion's teeth, iron iron breastplates, and wings

457
00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:33,280
Speaker 2: that thunder like chariots.

458
00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:37,800
Speaker 1: If if we.

459
00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:39,639
Speaker 2: Were all artists and could draw out our imagery of

460
00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:41,919
Speaker 2: all of this, this would be a really funny like

461
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:44,840
Speaker 2: comparison and reveal. Maybe we should have done that in

462
00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:47,280
Speaker 2: the start of today's message. Everyone should have started drawing

463
00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:48,800
Speaker 2: what they thought it would look like, and then at

464
00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:51,880
Speaker 2: the very end we just show each other. But here

465
00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:54,280
Speaker 2: John's trying to describe all of this, and again, this

466
00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:56,639
Speaker 2: isn't He's not just trying to invite speculation. For its

467
00:23:56,720 --> 00:23:59,760
Speaker 2: own sake. These creatures that he's talking about here are

468
00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:04,320
Speaker 2: in intelligent. They are aggressive, they are relentless, and they're terrifying.

469
00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:06,920
Speaker 2: And that's the imagery that we're being given here. They're

470
00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:13,479
Speaker 2: instruments of judgment, not instruments of random chaos. And the

471
00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:16,920
Speaker 2: scorpion sting that we're being told about here, this scorpion

472
00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:18,359
Speaker 2: sting in their tail. In a way, I think it

473
00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:20,960
Speaker 2: kind of reminds us of Genesis three. Now why would

474
00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:25,080
Speaker 2: I say that, Well, in Genesis three, the serpent deceived humanity,

475
00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:29,960
Speaker 2: and now the offspring of rebellion brings pain. Sin always

476
00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:33,640
Speaker 2: circles back. So you have rebellion and pain, rebellion and pain.

477
00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:37,720
Speaker 2: In this context, it's both spiritual pain and physical pain,

478
00:24:38,359 --> 00:24:41,000
Speaker 2: rebellion and pain coming back and forth, back and forth.

479
00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:42,800
Speaker 1: Then you look at verses ten and eleven.

480
00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:47,560
Speaker 2: It says they have tales and stings like scorpions, and

481
00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:50,040
Speaker 2: their power to hurt people for five months is in

482
00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:53,000
Speaker 2: their tails. They have his king over them, the Angel

483
00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:56,639
Speaker 2: of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaden,

484
00:24:56,840 --> 00:24:58,440
Speaker 2: and in Greek he.

485
00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:04,520
Speaker 1: Is called Pollyan. So John ends this description by naming

486
00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:06,720
Speaker 1: their king. That's what he does. At the very end

487
00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:07,640
Speaker 1: of it, he names their king.

488
00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:10,040
Speaker 2: In Hebrew, he says, the name is a Baden, and

489
00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:13,679
Speaker 2: in Greek he's called a Polian. Both names have the

490
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:17,440
Speaker 2: same meaning, both have the same meaning.

491
00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:19,320
Speaker 1: They both mean the same thing. Destroyer.

492
00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:22,439
Speaker 2: That's what it means, a Badin and a Pollian. It

493
00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:26,840
Speaker 2: both means the same thing Hebrew Greek destroyer.

494
00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:29,600
Speaker 1: That's their king. This destroyer.

495
00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:32,639
Speaker 2: Now again, this doesn't appear to be Satan himself, but

496
00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:35,960
Speaker 2: another powerful demonic ruler. That's what I think is being

497
00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:39,680
Speaker 2: referenced here. And by the way Proverbs chapter thirty, verse

498
00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:41,879
Speaker 2: twenty seven. There it tells us about Locus that they.

499
00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:44,440
Speaker 1: Have no king. Says locusts have no king.

500
00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:48,159
Speaker 2: But when you look at this they do, so you

501
00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:50,080
Speaker 2: can see these aren't just like natural locusts.

502
00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:51,680
Speaker 1: They're not the bugs. It's something being.

503
00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:57,000
Speaker 2: Described as locusts, but it's something else. Natural locusts have

504
00:25:57,119 --> 00:25:57,520
Speaker 2: no king.

505
00:25:57,640 --> 00:25:58,840
Speaker 1: These do so.

506
00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:01,520
Speaker 2: Again, this tells us they're not natural. It's something else

507
00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:04,639
Speaker 2: going on here. And yet even this destroyer has to

508
00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:08,359
Speaker 2: has to answer to God's timeline. He has to answer

509
00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:11,359
Speaker 2: to God's timeline. And I think it's worth noting that

510
00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:14,359
Speaker 2: there are several viewpoints related to what John.

511
00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:15,480
Speaker 1: Is seeing in this passage.

512
00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:18,800
Speaker 2: I'm gonna give you. I'm gonna give you if I

513
00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:23,880
Speaker 2: could speak, I'm gonna give you the main ones. These

514
00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:27,840
Speaker 2: are the main ones. Take a look at that one.

515
00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:30,479
Speaker 1: That's the literal view. What do you think of that?

516
00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:31,719
Speaker 1: Just take a look at it.

517
00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:34,159
Speaker 2: I don't know if any of you drew it, but

518
00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:41,800
Speaker 2: there you could see locust, breastplate, crown, teeth, stinger, all

519
00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:42,160
Speaker 2: of that.

520
00:26:42,160 --> 00:26:43,120
Speaker 1: That's the literal view.

521
00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:46,800
Speaker 2: So this view holds that John is actually seeing supernatural

522
00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:51,760
Speaker 2: beings released from the Abyss. The locusts aren't insects, but

523
00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:55,160
Speaker 2: they're demonic entities that have some sort of locust kind

524
00:26:55,200 --> 00:27:01,200
Speaker 2: of scorpion appearance. Now, the strength of this view is

525
00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:04,560
Speaker 2: that it fits the immediate context of the Abyss and

526
00:27:04,720 --> 00:27:08,040
Speaker 2: the angelic king over them Abadon or Apolly.

527
00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:09,840
Speaker 1: In the destroyer that's being referenced.

528
00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:12,280
Speaker 2: Here, and it also seems to take the supernatural tone

529
00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:14,720
Speaker 2: of the Book of Revelation seriously. It also seems to

530
00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:18,400
Speaker 2: align well with other Biblical depictions of spiritual beings, and.

531
00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:20,439
Speaker 1: So that's the literal view. The literal view is that.

532
00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:22,080
Speaker 2: It's going to be some sort of creature that looks

533
00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:24,440
Speaker 2: sort of like that, but it's not the other. It's

534
00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:25,840
Speaker 2: not the only view. In fact, I'm going to show

535
00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:29,320
Speaker 2: you three other views. There's also the symbolic view. Now,

536
00:27:29,359 --> 00:27:32,000
Speaker 2: the symbolic view kind of operates like this. This view

537
00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:36,760
Speaker 2: teaches that John is symbolically describing powerful human military force,

538
00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:40,600
Speaker 2: and the strengths of this viewer that locusts are often

539
00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:44,240
Speaker 2: symbolized in the Old Testament like invading armies, or I

540
00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:47,640
Speaker 2: should say, invading armies are spoken of like locusts as

541
00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:52,480
Speaker 2: they do they're invading, And I guess in some ways

542
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:55,080
Speaker 2: that description helps make use of some of the military

543
00:27:55,119 --> 00:27:57,960
Speaker 2: metaphors that are referenced here in this passage. But a

544
00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:01,960
Speaker 2: notable weakness of that view is that the torment that's

545
00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:10,080
Speaker 2: described is supernatural and selective. It's supernatural and it doesn't

546
00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:14,280
Speaker 2: sting those that have been sealed by the Lord himself,

547
00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:18,600
Speaker 2: and the king over these forces is described as some

548
00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:20,000
Speaker 2: sort of angelic being.

549
00:28:20,840 --> 00:28:22,919
Speaker 1: So the symbolic view, I don't know.

550
00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:25,080
Speaker 2: I don't think I buy that one, but it is

551
00:28:25,119 --> 00:28:27,200
Speaker 2: of you that some people hold, so I thought i'd

552
00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:30,320
Speaker 2: share it. Here's another one that's actually kind of interesting

553
00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:32,679
Speaker 2: to fact, and I'm fascinated by this one because I've

554
00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:35,040
Speaker 2: thought about it for many years. But I'll show you,

555
00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:36,760
Speaker 2: and I'm going to give you a specific image that

556
00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:39,520
Speaker 2: i want you to look at. Some people believe that

557
00:28:39,560 --> 00:28:41,640
Speaker 2: what we're reading about here in the Book of Revelation

558
00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:46,200
Speaker 2: is a reference to futuristic military technology, and they would

559
00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:48,920
Speaker 2: use something like this, like a you know, like a

560
00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:53,960
Speaker 2: military helicopter something like that. This view teaches that John

561
00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:57,880
Speaker 2: is basically witnessing future technology and trying to describe it

562
00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:01,480
Speaker 2: with first century vocabulary. So he's looking at and he's saying,

563
00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:04,560
Speaker 2: I'm seeing something in the future, something that's got like

564
00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:08,200
Speaker 2: it's got like a human head, but there's like a

565
00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:14,040
Speaker 2: crown on it, and it could sting you, and if

566
00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:16,680
Speaker 2: you get stung, you're gonna feel it for a good

567
00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:19,240
Speaker 2: long time. So some people look at this or are like, yeah,

568
00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:22,280
Speaker 2: maybe the breastplates of iron that are being spoken of

569
00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:26,920
Speaker 2: here resemble armored vehicles or some sort of craft like

570
00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:30,680
Speaker 2: I have pictured there, you know, like the sound like

571
00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:33,880
Speaker 2: chariots as it describes here. They think, all right, maybe

572
00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:38,240
Speaker 2: that's like engines or rotors. Maybe that's what it's referencing.

573
00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:42,480
Speaker 2: Faces Okay, you know, it talks about like the face

574
00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:43,080
Speaker 2: of a human.

575
00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:47,000
Speaker 1: Now it also talks about hair like a woman.

576
00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:51,840
Speaker 2: I don't know what that part is. These are things

577
00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:53,880
Speaker 2: John's talking about. I'm like, I don't know what he's seeing.

578
00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:56,760
Speaker 2: I don't know if it's futuristic military technology and there's

579
00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:00,400
Speaker 2: something coming off a helmet like wires or some I

580
00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:05,520
Speaker 2: have no idea. But when you look at the text,

581
00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:08,680
Speaker 2: the text emphasizes.

582
00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:12,400
Speaker 1: Torment, not combat or conquest.

583
00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:16,120
Speaker 2: It focuses on torment, and the beings are being released

584
00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:19,800
Speaker 2: from the ABYSS. They're not being deployed by nations. So

585
00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:21,000
Speaker 2: that's where I get tripped.

586
00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:21,440
Speaker 1: Up on that one.

587
00:30:21,480 --> 00:30:23,240
Speaker 2: But sometimes I look at that, I'm like, I don't know,

588
00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:26,880
Speaker 2: is he seeing something like that. Admittedly there's some speculation

589
00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:28,720
Speaker 2: that goes into some of these views, But then there's

590
00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:31,560
Speaker 2: a hybrid view. I don't really have an image for

591
00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:33,200
Speaker 2: you for a hybrid view, so you're just gonna have

592
00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:35,360
Speaker 2: to envision this in your mind. But this view teaches

593
00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:40,400
Speaker 2: that these are literal, demonic beings described using symbolic and

594
00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:45,000
Speaker 2: military imagery, and that they're possibly interacting with the physical

595
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:48,320
Speaker 2: world in ways that John frames with familiar metaphors.

596
00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:51,480
Speaker 1: They say, maybe that's what's going on here?

597
00:30:51,480 --> 00:30:54,880
Speaker 2: That John is seeing something very real, very terrifying, but

598
00:30:54,920 --> 00:30:59,160
Speaker 2: also very much unprecedented, and the Holy Spirit inspires him

599
00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:02,960
Speaker 2: to describe it in language that will effectively communicate power,

600
00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:07,280
Speaker 2: will also effectively communicate fear and authority and things like that,

601
00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:11,040
Speaker 2: and not so much precise biology, but like terms that

602
00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:14,480
Speaker 2: he would say, the closest I've ever seen is something

603
00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:19,840
Speaker 2: like this. So that's why I always or often say,

604
00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:23,240
Speaker 2: when it comes to prophetic portions of scripture, we have

605
00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:27,400
Speaker 2: to approach it with certainly curiosity, but also humility because

606
00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:28,840
Speaker 2: some of this We look at this and I just

607
00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:33,120
Speaker 2: gave you four different views that well meaning Christians hold, and.

608
00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:36,880
Speaker 1: You pick, you pick.

609
00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:39,760
Speaker 2: Basically, all I know is that the Lord's telling is

610
00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:42,320
Speaker 2: something that's going to happen, and it'll happen, and when

611
00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:43,520
Speaker 2: it happens, people will look at.

612
00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:46,000
Speaker 1: And be like, that makes sense. I thought it was

613
00:31:46,040 --> 00:31:46,680
Speaker 1: going to look like this.

614
00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:48,520
Speaker 2: You should see the picture I drew in church the

615
00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:51,880
Speaker 2: one day it looked like this, But I guess it's

616
00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:55,640
Speaker 2: going to look like that. Now, another important question I

617
00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:58,280
Speaker 2: want to ask before we finish up our time together today,

618
00:31:58,280 --> 00:31:59,680
Speaker 2: and I'm going to take a couple of minutes to

619
00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:03,000
Speaker 2: do it not too terribly long. When we look at

620
00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:05,680
Speaker 2: a portion of scripture like this, or any portion of scripture,

621
00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:07,880
Speaker 2: one of the things that I always ask is where

622
00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:11,360
Speaker 2: is Christ in this? How is this pointing me to Jesus?

623
00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:15,600
Speaker 2: It's not just data about futuristic military technology or locusts

624
00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:16,760
Speaker 2: or scorpions are.

625
00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:18,120
Speaker 1: Interesting things that John seeing.

626
00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:20,160
Speaker 2: The real question that you and I should always be

627
00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:22,400
Speaker 2: asking when we're reading the scriptures is how is this

628
00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:23,880
Speaker 2: trying to point my heart to Jesus?

629
00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:25,840
Speaker 1: Or where is Jesus in this passage?

630
00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:28,040
Speaker 2: Well, I think it's a fair question to ask because

631
00:32:28,120 --> 00:32:30,760
Speaker 2: Revelation chapter nine here, the passage we just read, it

632
00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:35,000
Speaker 2: doesn't reference Jesus by name, but he's everywhere in the background,

633
00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:37,320
Speaker 2: especially when you look at the context of what led

634
00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:39,840
Speaker 2: up to this portion of scripture. Because first, let me

635
00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:41,560
Speaker 2: just show you several ways that I think we should

636
00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:44,280
Speaker 2: notice Christ, or at least his fingerprints in a passage

637
00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:44,560
Speaker 2: like this.

638
00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:46,280
Speaker 1: First of all, Jesus.

639
00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:49,680
Speaker 2: Is the one who holds ultimate authority over the Abyss.

640
00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:50,880
Speaker 1: Why am I saying that?

641
00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:54,240
Speaker 2: Well, when you go back to chapter one, verse eighteen,

642
00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:58,920
Speaker 2: that passage records Jesus as saying this, I have the

643
00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:00,560
Speaker 2: keys of death Hades.

644
00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:01,920
Speaker 1: Who has the keys?

645
00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:06,520
Speaker 2: Jesus says, I have the keys of death and Hades.

646
00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:10,680
Speaker 2: So no demonic force opens anything unless Christ allows it.

647
00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:13,360
Speaker 2: That's one of the things we're supposed to have in mind,

648
00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:16,920
Speaker 2: is having read the first chapter first. Second, there's something else.

649
00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:21,720
Speaker 2: Jesus is the one who seals his people. I already

650
00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:23,960
Speaker 2: reference Tophesians one, but i'd encourage you to take a

651
00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:25,960
Speaker 2: look at it again. When you get to verse thirteen

652
00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:29,000
Speaker 2: of Ephesians one, it tells us that believers are sealed

653
00:33:29,040 --> 00:33:31,520
Speaker 2: with the Holy Spirit. As you trust in Jesus Christ,

654
00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:35,120
Speaker 2: you are sealed with the Holy Spirit. Revelation is now

655
00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:39,000
Speaker 2: showing us that ceiling, it's actually protecting people during.

656
00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:40,520
Speaker 1: The darkest days of human history.

657
00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:43,960
Speaker 2: We're getting to see how that works in the midst

658
00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:47,880
Speaker 2: of a spiritual stressor, and that ceiling happens when a

659
00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:51,600
Speaker 2: person trusts in Jesus Christ. It's the third thing that

660
00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:54,360
Speaker 2: I think we should notice, and that's this, Jesus is

661
00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:56,160
Speaker 2: the reason that judgment exists at all.

662
00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:57,280
Speaker 1: Well, why am I saying that?

663
00:33:57,960 --> 00:34:02,880
Speaker 2: Well, God's wrath isn't arbitrary. It's the righteous response to sin.

664
00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:09,280
Speaker 2: It's the righteous response to our humanities rejection of Jesus Christ,

665
00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:11,960
Speaker 2: the Son of God. In fact, in John chapter three,

666
00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:16,080
Speaker 2: verse eighteen, that portion of scripture says that whoever does.

667
00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:17,880
Speaker 1: Not believe is condemned already.

668
00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:21,240
Speaker 2: So Jesus reveals in John chapter three, verse eighteen, whoever

669
00:34:21,239 --> 00:34:24,200
Speaker 2: does not believe is condemned already. Why because he is

670
00:34:24,239 --> 00:34:27,640
Speaker 2: not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

671
00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:30,760
Speaker 2: That's what Jesus says in that passage. So the torment

672
00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:34,120
Speaker 2: in Revelation nine is basically what life looks like when

673
00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:36,840
Speaker 2: humanity insists on life without Christ.

674
00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:38,319
Speaker 1: That's what it looks like.

675
00:34:38,480 --> 00:34:42,080
Speaker 2: It's really a foretaste of an eternity of separation apart

676
00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:47,160
Speaker 2: from Him. But even in judgment, our Lord is doing

677
00:34:47,160 --> 00:34:49,120
Speaker 2: something here, and I don't want us to miss this either.

678
00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:53,160
Speaker 2: He's calling people to repentance. We're gonna see later in

679
00:34:53,200 --> 00:34:56,680
Speaker 2: Revelation nine. We'll look at it soon. We're told that

680
00:34:56,719 --> 00:34:59,680
Speaker 2: there are going to be many who still refuse to

681
00:34:59,719 --> 00:35:01,920
Speaker 2: turn back. Even after all of this, there are many

682
00:35:01,960 --> 00:35:05,480
Speaker 2: people who refuse to turn back. That breaks God's heart. Now,

683
00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:07,160
Speaker 2: I showed you this scripture last week, but I want

684
00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:09,120
Speaker 2: to show it to you again because it reveals the

685
00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:11,640
Speaker 2: heart of God in Ezekiel thirty three eleven, What does

686
00:35:11,680 --> 00:35:13,600
Speaker 2: the Lord say? I have no pleasure in the death

687
00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:16,920
Speaker 2: of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his

688
00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:19,680
Speaker 2: way and live. That's what God wants for humanity. That's

689
00:35:19,719 --> 00:35:22,080
Speaker 2: why he's giving us this information ahead of time. These

690
00:35:22,080 --> 00:35:24,760
Speaker 2: things haven't happened yet, we already know they're going to happen,

691
00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:26,719
Speaker 2: and we know that those who trust in Christ are

692
00:35:26,719 --> 00:35:28,759
Speaker 2: going to be protected. But we know that those who

693
00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:36,200
Speaker 2: reject Christ will not be. That breaks God's heart, especially

694
00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:38,960
Speaker 2: since he said it ahead of time. It reminds us

695
00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:41,160
Speaker 2: when we look at Ezekiel thirty three that God takes

696
00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:42,560
Speaker 2: no pleasure in the death of the wicked.

697
00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:45,640
Speaker 1: He desires that they turn. He desires that they live.

698
00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:48,839
Speaker 2: God has been kind to us and giving us time

699
00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:51,919
Speaker 2: to turn and time to live, and thankfully we've taken

700
00:35:51,960 --> 00:35:54,040
Speaker 2: advantage of it. But pray for those in your life who,

701
00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:56,960
Speaker 2: as of yet, have not taken advantage of it. If

702
00:35:56,960 --> 00:35:59,279
Speaker 2: you're thinking about this today, if you're looking at these

703
00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:03,360
Speaker 2: scriptures today, that means that mercy is still available to you.

704
00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:07,120
Speaker 2: The door of grace is still open. Jesus hasn't yet

705
00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:11,520
Speaker 2: returned the abyss remains shut. The time of God's patience

706
00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:13,680
Speaker 2: is right now, but that's not always going to be

707
00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:17,200
Speaker 2: the case. We live in the time of God's patience.

708
00:36:17,239 --> 00:36:19,520
Speaker 2: Let's make great advantage of it, or take great advantage

709
00:36:19,520 --> 00:36:22,920
Speaker 2: of it. I think this passage wasn't just given to

710
00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:25,760
Speaker 2: us to satisfy our curiosity about the future. I'm certainly

711
00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:27,879
Speaker 2: curious about the future. I know you are as well,

712
00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:29,719
Speaker 2: but it's given so that we could live faithfully in

713
00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:33,960
Speaker 2: the present. So I think, just from a personal application standpoint,

714
00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:35,680
Speaker 2: if you claim to be a follower of Christ, what

715
00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:37,640
Speaker 2: can you take from a portion of scripture like this.

716
00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:40,000
Speaker 2: First of all, if you don't know him, know him.

717
00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:42,680
Speaker 2: But if you do know him, couple things to note.

718
00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:47,200
Speaker 2: First of all, don't toy with sin. Don't toy with it.

719
00:36:47,719 --> 00:36:52,120
Speaker 2: What God restrains now is not going to be restrained forever. Fact,

720
00:36:52,120 --> 00:36:55,239
Speaker 2: in Romans chapter two, verse four, that passage reminds us

721
00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:58,080
Speaker 2: that God's kindness that we're experiencing right now, it's meant

722
00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:00,920
Speaker 2: to lead us to repentance. He's being kind to you

723
00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:03,840
Speaker 2: and me so that we would repent. So don't toy

724
00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:04,279
Speaker 2: with sin.

725
00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:05,200
Speaker 1: It's not a game.

726
00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:07,920
Speaker 2: Don't keep toying with it, repent of it, move away

727
00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:09,840
Speaker 2: from it, and move toward Christ.

728
00:37:09,880 --> 00:37:11,560
Speaker 1: That's the essence of true repentance.

729
00:37:11,760 --> 00:37:14,680
Speaker 2: We move away from what was destroying us, from what

730
00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:18,359
Speaker 2: produced death, from what produced destruction. We move away from

731
00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:21,560
Speaker 2: that and we run toward Christ, where we find refuge

732
00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:25,680
Speaker 2: and restoration. Second, as one who runs toward Christ cling

733
00:37:25,840 --> 00:37:29,640
Speaker 2: to Christ. He's our savior, but he isn't just our savior.

734
00:37:29,960 --> 00:37:34,279
Speaker 2: He's also our protector. He's also our king, He's also

735
00:37:34,440 --> 00:37:38,279
Speaker 2: our judge. The same Jesus who bore God's wrath for

736
00:37:38,400 --> 00:37:40,759
Speaker 2: us is the one who's also going to pour out

737
00:37:40,760 --> 00:37:44,200
Speaker 2: wrath on this rebellious world. That amazing to think he

738
00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:47,719
Speaker 2: took that wrath for you upon himself. But for those

739
00:37:47,719 --> 00:37:50,160
Speaker 2: who reject him, that wrath is poured out upon this

740
00:37:50,239 --> 00:37:53,040
Speaker 2: earth and they experience the full heft of it, the

741
00:37:53,080 --> 00:37:58,040
Speaker 2: full force of it. So cling to Christ. In him

742
00:37:58,080 --> 00:38:02,400
Speaker 2: we find protection. Third thing, I think I've said this

743
00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:04,600
Speaker 2: several times as we've been working through Revelation, but I

744
00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:06,520
Speaker 2: think at every time as we look at these types

745
00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:07,759
Speaker 2: of scriptures.

746
00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:09,000
Speaker 1: Live with urgency.

747
00:38:09,640 --> 00:38:11,960
Speaker 2: Don't be one of those people that just thinks that

748
00:38:12,040 --> 00:38:14,880
Speaker 2: this sort of stuff is like forever from now, for

749
00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:17,600
Speaker 2: one of the generations coming up, maybe ours, maybe one

750
00:38:17,719 --> 00:38:20,680
Speaker 2: right after ours, who knows, for one of our generations.

751
00:38:21,120 --> 00:38:25,960
Speaker 2: This happens in close proximity to our lives. People around

752
00:38:26,040 --> 00:38:27,960
Speaker 2: us are moving forward to a day that they do

753
00:38:28,040 --> 00:38:31,160
Speaker 2: not understand. People are just going about living their day

754
00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:33,239
Speaker 2: to day life. They don't even understand what's coming up

755
00:38:33,280 --> 00:38:35,799
Speaker 2: because they have no idea what the Lord's revealed, and

756
00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:37,680
Speaker 2: even if they've read it, they've never taken the time

757
00:38:37,719 --> 00:38:40,120
Speaker 2: to try and understand it. But here's the thing. The

758
00:38:40,160 --> 00:38:44,840
Speaker 2: Gospel is an optional information. It's our only rescue, and

759
00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:47,120
Speaker 2: it's the only rescue of those that we care about.

760
00:38:47,719 --> 00:38:49,400
Speaker 1: It's not optional. We need it.

761
00:38:50,360 --> 00:38:52,560
Speaker 2: In the Book of Jude, verse twenty three, there it

762
00:38:52,560 --> 00:38:55,160
Speaker 2: says that we are to save others by snatching them

763
00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:57,960
Speaker 2: out of the fire. Now here's the thing, you and I,

764
00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:00,640
Speaker 2: we don't directly save people, but we are the ambassadors

765
00:39:00,640 --> 00:39:02,960
Speaker 2: that Christ sends out into a fallen world to proclaim

766
00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:05,440
Speaker 2: the message of the Gospel and give people the option.

767
00:39:06,239 --> 00:39:08,160
Speaker 2: We live our lives in front of them. We show

768
00:39:08,160 --> 00:39:10,120
Speaker 2: what it means to be a follower of Christ, and

769
00:39:10,160 --> 00:39:14,440
Speaker 2: we say, please come with me, Please come with me.

770
00:39:15,040 --> 00:39:19,640
Speaker 2: Please experience new life, Please experience joy, Please experience complete

771
00:39:19,680 --> 00:39:24,279
Speaker 2: forgiveness of every sin you've ever committed. Please experience the

772
00:39:24,280 --> 00:39:26,600
Speaker 2: gift of the righteousness of Christ that will be given

773
00:39:26,640 --> 00:39:28,719
Speaker 2: to you, even though you know and I know none

774
00:39:28,719 --> 00:39:32,919
Speaker 2: of us deserve it, But please experience it. And June

775
00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:36,600
Speaker 2: twenty three tells us what save others by snatching them

776
00:39:36,600 --> 00:39:37,200
Speaker 2: out of the fire.

777
00:39:37,239 --> 00:39:38,040
Speaker 1: Well, how do we do that?

778
00:39:38,360 --> 00:39:41,359
Speaker 2: Well, we don't give them salvation, but we tell them

779
00:39:41,400 --> 00:39:45,799
Speaker 2: where to find it. And Revelation nine shows us what

780
00:39:45,840 --> 00:39:48,719
Speaker 2: life is like when that option is rejected. There are

781
00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:51,439
Speaker 2: plenty of people who will reject it, but let's start

782
00:39:51,440 --> 00:39:53,600
Speaker 2: praying for our friends. Let's start praying for our family

783
00:39:53,640 --> 00:39:56,719
Speaker 2: members that they would not be among those who reject.

784
00:39:58,040 --> 00:40:00,040
Speaker 2: Cool thing is Revelation nine isn't the end of the

785
00:40:00,160 --> 00:40:03,840
Speaker 2: story because the same book here that describes the Abyss

786
00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:05,360
Speaker 2: is also the book that and it's going to be

787
00:40:05,440 --> 00:40:07,920
Speaker 2: really fun when we get to it. It describes the

788
00:40:07,960 --> 00:40:11,520
Speaker 2: new heavens and the new Earth as well tells us

789
00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:15,879
Speaker 2: how it all resolves, Meaning the destroyer that's referenced here

790
00:40:16,120 --> 00:40:19,320
Speaker 2: in Revelation nine doesn't get the final word.

791
00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:21,200
Speaker 1: Jesus does.

792
00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:25,800
Speaker 2: So for those who trust in Christ. That means judgment

793
00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:29,040
Speaker 2: has already fallen, and it fell on him at the cross.

794
00:40:29,600 --> 00:40:33,240
Speaker 2: The judgment we deserve Christ took upon himself, and therefore

795
00:40:33,239 --> 00:40:36,120
Speaker 2: there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

796
00:40:36,120 --> 00:40:38,759
Speaker 2: That's what scripture says. There is no abyss waiting for

797
00:40:38,800 --> 00:40:41,040
Speaker 2: you if you are in Christ Jesus. There is no

798
00:40:41,200 --> 00:40:44,640
Speaker 2: destroyer assigned to you, if you are in Christ Jesus.

799
00:40:44,840 --> 00:40:47,440
Speaker 2: There is no wrath left to pour out on you

800
00:40:47,880 --> 00:40:50,040
Speaker 2: if you are in Christ Jesus, because He already took

801
00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:54,920
Speaker 2: that upon himself so that you could live free forgiven

802
00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:57,440
Speaker 2: in His presence for all eternity. I love what we're

803
00:40:57,480 --> 00:41:00,000
Speaker 2: told in Romans Chapter eight, verse one. There is, therefore

804
00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:03,600
Speaker 2: are now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

805
00:41:03,640 --> 00:41:06,640
Speaker 2: no condemnation. The future he holds in store for you

806
00:41:06,719 --> 00:41:12,360
Speaker 2: is not one of condemnation. That promise holds for today.

807
00:41:12,600 --> 00:41:14,879
Speaker 2: It's also going to hold when these trumpets that are

808
00:41:14,880 --> 00:41:17,239
Speaker 2: referenced in chapter eight chapter nine of the Book of

809
00:41:17,239 --> 00:41:22,040
Speaker 2: Revelation sound. But for those who are in Christ there

810
00:41:22,120 --> 00:41:24,920
Speaker 2: is no condemnation. And so the challenge for you or

811
00:41:24,960 --> 00:41:26,960
Speaker 2: not anyone hearing my voice, whether you're hearing on the

812
00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:30,920
Speaker 2: live stream or a recording or whatever it may be.

813
00:41:33,160 --> 00:41:35,759
Speaker 2: Welcome Christ to be Lord of your life. Welcome Him

814
00:41:35,760 --> 00:41:37,960
Speaker 2: to be your savior. He will completely forgive you of

815
00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:39,960
Speaker 2: anything you've ever done, and not only that.

816
00:41:40,200 --> 00:41:41,799
Speaker 1: He will give you a new mind. He will give

817
00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:43,800
Speaker 1: you a new life. He will give you a new future,

818
00:41:44,120 --> 00:41:46,960
Speaker 1: and he won't expect you to secure it for yourself.

819
00:41:47,719 --> 00:41:49,600
Speaker 1: He will secure it for you.

820
00:41:50,200 --> 00:41:52,040
Speaker 2: And then you could read a portion of scripture like

821
00:41:52,040 --> 00:41:56,759
Speaker 2: this with compassion but not fear. Compassion for those who

822
00:41:56,800 --> 00:42:00,880
Speaker 2: as of yet don't realize what's coming, but not fear

823
00:42:01,080 --> 00:42:03,960
Speaker 2: that you're going to be somebody that experiences the turmoil

824
00:42:04,040 --> 00:42:07,799
Speaker 2: that's referenced here. Welcome Christ to be your lord. He

825
00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:10,600
Speaker 2: desires to be lord of your life, and he desires

826
00:42:10,640 --> 00:42:13,560
Speaker 2: to ultimately bless you with the new heavens, new Earth

827
00:42:13,680 --> 00:42:15,160
Speaker 2: life in His presence.

828
00:42:15,160 --> 00:42:16,040
Speaker 1: For all eternity.

829
00:42:16,239 --> 00:42:21,040
Speaker 2: Let's pray together, Lord, thank you so much for your word,

830
00:42:21,640 --> 00:42:23,640
Speaker 2: and thank you for the fact that we could look

831
00:42:23,680 --> 00:42:26,319
Speaker 2: at a portion of scripture like this together today.

832
00:42:27,840 --> 00:42:29,880
Speaker 1: And genuinely think about the fact that.

833
00:42:31,920 --> 00:42:34,000
Speaker 2: There are all sorts of things being spoken of here

834
00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:39,120
Speaker 2: that naturally speaking, we don't fully get we don't fully understand.

835
00:42:39,400 --> 00:42:41,160
Speaker 2: I know Lord that as many times as I've read

836
00:42:41,160 --> 00:42:43,920
Speaker 2: these passages, I have these images in my mind, I

837
00:42:43,960 --> 00:42:46,319
Speaker 2: have these thoughts in my mind of what these things

838
00:42:46,320 --> 00:42:48,600
Speaker 2: are going to look like. And there's people that have

839
00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:51,799
Speaker 2: artistically tried to draw these things out, and maybe they're right,

840
00:42:51,840 --> 00:42:54,200
Speaker 2: maybe they're wrong, maybe they have some aspect of it

841
00:42:54,280 --> 00:42:56,640
Speaker 2: that's correct. All we know is that the apostle John

842
00:42:56,760 --> 00:43:00,359
Speaker 2: is your spirit was guiding him, attempted to describe for

843
00:43:00,440 --> 00:43:02,520
Speaker 2: us things that he was seeing. But the heart behind

844
00:43:02,560 --> 00:43:05,279
Speaker 2: what he was seeing is not hard to figure out.

845
00:43:05,719 --> 00:43:07,640
Speaker 2: Some of the imagery is hard to figure out, but

846
00:43:07,680 --> 00:43:08,880
Speaker 2: the heart behind it isn't.

847
00:43:09,280 --> 00:43:10,719
Speaker 1: Basically, you're saying.

848
00:43:10,640 --> 00:43:13,399
Speaker 2: Through a passage like this that there's a day where

849
00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:15,680
Speaker 2: there's a reckoning. There's a day when those who have

850
00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:20,200
Speaker 2: rejected you experienced the fruit of that rejection. So, Lord,

851
00:43:20,280 --> 00:43:23,680
Speaker 2: knowing that that day is coming, we pray for ourselves

852
00:43:23,680 --> 00:43:25,680
Speaker 2: that we would walk with you, and we pray for

853
00:43:25,719 --> 00:43:28,879
Speaker 2: those that we know and love that they would come

854
00:43:28,920 --> 00:43:32,000
Speaker 2: to recognize their need for You, Lord, that they would

855
00:43:32,040 --> 00:43:36,239
Speaker 2: recognize Father, that they need your son Jesus Christ, that

856
00:43:36,360 --> 00:43:39,400
Speaker 2: they need the work that he accomplished on their behalf

857
00:43:39,480 --> 00:43:43,040
Speaker 2: applied to their life. What did your son do? He

858
00:43:43,120 --> 00:43:45,160
Speaker 2: lived the perfect life we couldn't live. None of us

859
00:43:45,160 --> 00:43:47,520
Speaker 2: makes it through life perfectly, so he did it for us.

860
00:43:48,160 --> 00:43:49,799
Speaker 2: And now you look at us as if we've lived

861
00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:52,040
Speaker 2: a perfect life. We know we haven't lived a perfect life.

862
00:43:52,040 --> 00:43:54,600
Speaker 2: You know that too, but that's not what's been reckoned

863
00:43:54,640 --> 00:43:56,600
Speaker 2: to our account. You see the perfect life of your

864
00:43:56,600 --> 00:43:59,840
Speaker 2: son applied to us. So it's as if we've lived perfectly.

865
00:44:00,120 --> 00:44:00,680
Speaker 1: That's amazing.

866
00:44:03,080 --> 00:44:05,160
Speaker 2: You know that we've sinned against you more times than

867
00:44:05,160 --> 00:44:07,000
Speaker 2: we could even count, and more times than we've even

868
00:44:07,040 --> 00:44:10,440
Speaker 2: realized that we've done it. And yet what did your

869
00:44:10,480 --> 00:44:12,560
Speaker 2: son do? He came to take the wrath that we

870
00:44:12,719 --> 00:44:16,320
Speaker 2: deserve because of our sin upon himself on the cross.

871
00:44:16,360 --> 00:44:19,640
Speaker 2: And now you tell us we're no longer under your

872
00:44:19,640 --> 00:44:22,400
Speaker 2: wrath if we trust in your son. The work he

873
00:44:22,440 --> 00:44:26,920
Speaker 2: did on our behalf is applied to us, and we

874
00:44:26,960 --> 00:44:31,520
Speaker 2: won't be condemned. Now will stand before you as men

875
00:44:31,560 --> 00:44:34,040
Speaker 2: and women who are welcomed into your presence.

876
00:44:34,360 --> 00:44:34,600
Speaker 1: Lord.

877
00:44:34,640 --> 00:44:38,120
Speaker 2: That amazes me. The longer I live, the more that

878
00:44:38,160 --> 00:44:41,000
Speaker 2: amazes me. I am super grateful Lord, that that's the truth,

879
00:44:42,880 --> 00:44:45,120
Speaker 2: that that's what I get to look forward to, and

880
00:44:45,120 --> 00:44:47,640
Speaker 2: again you tell us in your word that those that

881
00:44:47,680 --> 00:44:49,840
Speaker 2: trust in your son Jesus Christ are.

882
00:44:49,640 --> 00:44:52,719
Speaker 1: Sealed with your Holy Spirit, were sealed.

883
00:44:53,560 --> 00:44:55,520
Speaker 2: And here in a portion of scripture like this, you say,

884
00:44:55,560 --> 00:45:00,160
Speaker 2: those who do not have that seal experience life in

885
00:45:00,200 --> 00:45:01,920
Speaker 2: a very different way, but those who do have the

886
00:45:01,960 --> 00:45:06,120
Speaker 2: seal you protect us. So Lord, thank you on behalf

887
00:45:06,160 --> 00:45:10,960
Speaker 2: of the generation that experiences this, that that seal is

888
00:45:10,960 --> 00:45:13,040
Speaker 2: a very real thing. And thank you for the fact

889
00:45:13,040 --> 00:45:18,000
Speaker 2: that even now, even now, we experience the benefits of

890
00:45:18,040 --> 00:45:18,680
Speaker 2: that ceiling.

891
00:45:19,920 --> 00:45:21,439
Speaker 1: Lord, we're grateful for all these things.

892
00:45:21,440 --> 00:45:23,640
Speaker 2: We know that there's so many aspects of salvation that

893
00:45:23,680 --> 00:45:26,560
Speaker 2: sometimes we don't really even think about, but you desire

894
00:45:26,600 --> 00:45:28,439
Speaker 2: that we do. And thank you for bringing a portion

895
00:45:28,520 --> 00:45:31,440
Speaker 2: of scripture like this to our attention today, so that

896
00:45:31,480 --> 00:45:33,040
Speaker 2: as we look at it, that we could grow in

897
00:45:33,080 --> 00:45:36,600
Speaker 2: our walk with You, learn more about you, and walk

898
00:45:36,600 --> 00:45:38,920
Speaker 2: as men and women who choose to be representatives of.

899
00:45:38,880 --> 00:45:40,480
Speaker 1: Yours in this fallen world.

900
00:45:40,520 --> 00:45:42,640
Speaker 2: We pray for those that we know, love and interact with,

901
00:45:42,960 --> 00:45:45,200
Speaker 2: that they would come to know You as well, and that,

902
00:45:45,239 --> 00:45:47,680
Speaker 2: by your grace, that you would speak through the testimony

903
00:45:47,719 --> 00:45:50,759
Speaker 2: of our lives and the words of our lips, so

904
00:45:50,800 --> 00:45:53,759
Speaker 2: that others would hear this truth and believe. Please work

905
00:45:53,760 --> 00:45:55,759
Speaker 2: in their hearts, work in their minds, and draw them

906
00:45:55,800 --> 00:45:58,160
Speaker 2: unto you. We pray, we thank you for all of

907
00:45:58,200 --> 00:46:00,560
Speaker 2: these things in his name.

908
00:46:01,920 --> 00:46:02,280
Speaker 1: Amen,