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[0:00] Good morning. I have been blessed so far.

[0:12] Praise the Lord. Thank you for the worship and singing, and as well for the special number. I whispered to Mary as she walked back, and God's ear is tuned in.

[0:29] The voices were loud and clear. And so, praise the Lord for that. Thank you, Jan, for reading the Scriptures.

[0:42] So, this morning we want to continue in our series in Revelations. And I've titled the message this morning Boom.

[0:57] Boom. Just one word. Boom. Have you heard of the Big Bang Theory?

[1:13] This is going to be a different bang. The trumpet judgments are before us in this passage of Scripture, and the world is going to experience a boom like never before.

[1:33] And so, as we, you know, as we, we look at this coming judgment, it serves to drive us to Christ.

[1:47] It serves us, as some of our singing messages were, it serves us to keep on evangelizing, to rescue the perishing.

[2:03] Because we don't want anyone to go through that time, but rather to be with the Lord. Let's pause in prayer.

[2:19] Father, thank you that we can gather. Thank you for your word. Thank you for your strength.

[2:30] Father, give us understanding, Father, as we work through this passage this morning, and that we understand why this needs to come.

[2:45] And Father, that our response would be appropriate. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. I would like to start the message with reading a couple paragraphs out of a book by Ed Hindson on his commentary and revelations.

[3:17] And so, it begins like this. In a desert expanse, 50 miles from Alamo, Gordo, New Mexico, the first atomic bomb was exploded at 5.20 a.m.

[3:34] July 16, 1945. Then, less than three weeks later, President Harry Truman gave the orders to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan at 8.15 a.m.

[3:52] on August 6. It leveled two-thirds of the city of 350,000 people in one of the most incredible decramations in the human history.

[4:09] In one flash, that city was cleaned up. by 1949, the Soviet Union had also developed the atomic bomb and the Cold War was underway.

[4:28] Then, on November 1, 1952, the United States tested the first hydrogen bomb on a small atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

[4:42] The explosion was so devastating that it blew the one-mile island of Iugulab right out of the Pacific, leaving a 175-foot-deep hole in the ocean floor.

[4:59] A frightening new era of apocalyptic proportions had dawned.

[5:15] For 70 years now, the world has faced the possibility of being wiped out, annihilation by man's own efforts.

[5:33] to our knowledge today, there are nine countries that have a mass of atomic weapons.

[5:52] Enough weapons to wipe out the whole world many times over. Many times over. But did you know what, brothers and sisters?

[6:09] Our Lord is in control. Mankind comes up with these devices of destruction and yet they cannot pull the trigger unless the Lord allows them.

[6:33] Now we see since the 1940s, World War II, the development of weapons to this very day as we witness the Soviets and Ukraine and Israel defending itself, we see the precision of their warfare like never ever before.

[7:05] And just last week Israel wiped out, I think it was seven heads of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in one moment.

[7:18] And in the building next door there were other empassies untouched, unharmed, undamaged. The precision to zero in on a select target so small and wipe them out.

[7:39] Why am I sharing this? As we go through the judgments in revelation, is it possible as in time past that some of this judgment will be man's own destruction with our own weapons?

[8:07] It has always been in the past and we have no reason to believe that it won't be during the seven years. And that we will see nuclear warfare or the earth I should say will see nuclear warfare during those years.

[8:28] I'm not sharing this or highlighting it to cause us undue fear but reality as man is self destructive under the realm of Satan.

[8:46] this morning we want to look at chapters 8 and possibly 9 as we look at the judgments of the trumpet judgments as they're called and it's both chapters we'll see how far we get through this but let's start in the first verses of chapter 8 Revelation chapter 8 and we have the seventh seal opened remember in chapter 5 the father had a scroll the judgment scroll with the seven seals and the lamb was found worthy to open and we have opened or worked through opening the first six seals and now the seventh seal is pulled back and the whole the whole program is now exposed and the the seventh seal gives light now at a different depth and perception as we see trumpet judgments and later the bowl or vial judgments highlighted as well coming within the seventh seal so when he opened the seventh seal there was silence in heaven for about half an hour and

[10:16] I saw the seven angels who stand before God and to them were given seven trumpets and then another angel having a golden censer came and stood at the altar he was given much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne and the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints ascended before God from the angel's hand then the angel took the censer filled it with fire from the altar and threw it to the earth and there were noises thunderings lightnings and an earthquake we have silence in heaven for about half hour now we don't know exactly why but as

[11:19] John is witnessing this there's absolute silence for half an hour maybe it's the still before the storm as we sometimes say but the scene during this silence might as well enlighten us as we look at verses 2 and 3 and 4 the seven angels were given seven trumpets but then in verse 3 another angel having a golden censer who stood at the altar this scene of worship reminds us and takes us back into the old testament into the temple worship scene the daily burning of incense as the priests would enter the holy place the first room and with a censer a golden bowl filled with incense the mixture of spices that the

[12:32] Lord had instructed them to and they would go to the front to the curtain that separated the two rooms and from the altar of incense take burning coals and then dump them on the incense and what would happen the room would fill with smoke and a sweet aroma would rise up and fill the room and during during this procedure there was absolute silence in the temple as the priests performed this duty and now John seeing the throne in heaven sees a similar scene where the angels are performing this duty and their silence for half an hour before the trumpets sound their judgment after the incense fills the room and rises up it says our scriptures say that in verse five then the angel took that same censer the bowl and filled it with fire from the altar and then threw it down to the earth and what followed is if we can use this terminology all hell broke loose on earth it's it's not it's not a full description of hell but it's going to be very very harsh here on earth as this happens and so preparing us now for the blowing of the trumpets one after another each one exposing a different aspect of the wrath of

[14:49] God why why trumpets what were trumpets used for or perhaps are still used for anyone help me out make a noise or it's it's a herald to get people's attention okay sorry I didn't quite the execution of God's judgment okay a warning yeah so in the old testament they in Israel they were used for exactly the reasons that were brought out they called public assemblies to gather they were used in war to call to attention they were used when the law was given among

[15:56] Sinai and the blast of the trumpet grew louder and louder and the people feared as the trumpet blew and they were they were blown every first day of the month in Israel to gather to attention and so here in revelations the sounding of the trumpet is a herald a warning a drawing attention to look what's coming and so we understand the use of the trumpet here so let's proceed and work through these we're going to go fairly quickly there's a lot of symbology in these descriptions so we're going to start in verse six so the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound the first angel sounded and hail and fire followed mingled with blood hail fire mixed up with blood ran down on the earth was thrown to the earth the result a third of the trees were burnt up and all green grass was burned up keep in mind the apostle john who is seeing these visions is again trying to put words to what he is seeing descriptions because it's thousands of years ahead of him two thousand as of today or almost and he has never seen what we see even daily on television today what the world has gone through in the last 70 years john the fastest thing he has seen is a horse and he is putting to words what what he is seeing trying to explain one third of the trees are burnt up and all green grass is burnt up we cannot fully explain what exactly is this is it some form of a holocaust a nuclear event we have had an increase of forest fires in the last few years like the world has never seen before but this sounds much more severe than a forest fire and yet the green grass is gone and one third of the trees in the world you know

[19:23] Alberta is covered in trees especially in the north but one third of the whole world's trees wiped out the first trumpet trees we know take in carbon monoxide and give out oxygen one third of our oxygen supply is gone there's going to be consequences here the second angel sounded in verse eight and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea and a third of the sea became blood notice his wording and something like a great mountain burning with fire again

[20:24] I can picture him struggling to describe this what he is seeing could be a meteorite we could be a volcano was thrown into the sea and the result of this one third of the sea becomes blood and one third of the living creatures in the sea die and one third of the ships are destroyed today with what mankind has there's lots of possibilities that could create this it could be God throwing a meteorite as well we cannot nail this down and it's not for us to do but the results are clear and they're literal one third of sea life one third of the ships they're gone they're wiped out and one third of the sea is blood again it affects mankind in a big way then the third angel sounded and a great star fell from heaven this would be more of a meteorite maybe burning like a torch and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water so now this falling star whatever it will be covers the fresh water the previous event the second trumpet covers the salt water one third now we have one third of the fresh water is destroyed and it says the name of the star is called wormwood and it means bitter a third of the waters became wormwood and many men died from the water because it was made better many commentaries that I've kind of glanced at likened this to maybe the outfall of a nuclear holocaust the radiation the dust from that we don't know but it's going to be so severe that one third of all fresh water is wiped out and men will die because there's no water to drink they will drink the bad water and die that's the third trumpet the fourth trumpet sounded and a third of the sun was struck a third of the moon and a third of the stars so that a third of them were darkened a third of the day did not shine and likewise a third of the night again affecting not only earth but the heavens and the amount of daylight the heat is affected much change here on earth as mankind will endure this so here again we we can you can use your imagination what it could be none of us can nail

[24:24] this down and say this is exactly this or that but the outcome is very literal here one third again is affected of the day and the night so the first four trumpets boom boom boom boom and we're not told how much space is in between but whether they sounded one after another symbolically or whether there was a bit of space we're not told but then between the fourth and the fifth in verse 13 and I looked and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven saying with a loud voice woe woe woe to the inhabitants of the earth because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound then

[25:25] John sees a break between the fourth and the fifth that angel flying through the heavens with this message of woe if you think it's been bad till now it's getting worse it's getting worse you know as we just stop here and just ponder and as I prepared for this morning from within my heart a sense of Lord this is very severe I would not wish this on anyone I don't know if you share my heart in this but that's the impression

[26:31] I get we want to see justice done as believers but God's judgment program which he has throughout the entire Old Testament prophesied would come against all evil is now in John's visions coming to pass and when we read it it's like ouch it's like it's like wow is God just he is he is and it's like we had last the last message you know in in this time of judgment God is merciful in sending evangelists and that the whole world will be evangelized even through this and in the next lesson we will look at the two witnesses that are sent down from heaven and I won't elaborate on them today but we see

[27:47] God's heart balanced evil has to be judged and yet God's heart is that more would be saved let's go on to chapter 9 we're gonna make a start here the next angel sounds and we have 13 verses or 12 verses with the next woe the next trumpet then the fifth trump angel sounded and I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit and he opened the bottomless pit and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace so that the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth and to them were given power as the scorpions of the earth have power they were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth or any green thing or any tree but only those men who do not have the seal of

[29:09] God on their foreheads and they were not given authority to kill them but to torment them for five months their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man in those days men will seek death and will not find it they will desire to die and death will flee from them the shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle on their heads were crowns of something like gold and their faces were like the faces of men and they had hair like women's hair and their teeth were like lion's teeth and they had breastplates like breastplates of iron and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle they had tails like scorpions and there were stings in their tails their power was to hurt men five months and they had a king over them the angel of the bottomless pit whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon but in Greek he has the name

[30:20] Apollyon one woe is past behold still two more woes are coming after these things we have a shift in the judgments in the seal judgments the first four we had we went from peace to war to famine to death and then we had a scene of all the martyrs the souls before the altar in the trumpet judgments we have different catastrophes on the earth destroying water and land in the first four and now in the fifth we have a demonic influence a demonic war here on earth as we have a picture that is very hard to grasp what does this look like but that there's demons involved is very clear in this and it's it's satanic and maybe satan's you know attempt at controlling the world here

[31:46] I'll work through it fairly fast when the fifth angel sounds a star a star fallen from heaven but to him was given the key to the bottomless pit what's in the bottomless pit today what demons what's the other word for the bottomless pit the abyss the abyss you know when Jesus cast out demons during his walk on earth what did the demons cry out do not send us to the abyss before our time there are some demons chained there others are still on the loose they are under security you know

[32:56] Satan when he will be bound for a thousand years where is he going to go to this place the bottomless pit and here we have a fallen angel to him is given the key or we could say the authority to open for our sake the door to this pit just so we understand and and to unleash demonic forces like never before and it says smoke comes out of out of this pit like a great furnace and it the sun and the air are darkened because of this and then it says out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth what's a locusts we think of grasshoppers right yeah and in scripture in the book of Joel yeah they had plagues of grasshoppers locusts now these are called locusts here that are like scorpions anyone here been bitten by a scorpion just one two was it pleasant probably not and and there's scorpions with different severity of poison and so on some are deadly others not so deadly and yet the picture of a scorpion here is that these locusts will bite or sting with a poison that causes hurt immensely very deeply and says they were not given authority to hurt the grass or any green thing so these locusts so when we think of locusts when I read of stories of locusts coming in by swarms what did they do they looked up everything green right they devoured the leaves and the grass here they're forbidden you're going to focus on men not green your food will be mankind they were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth or any green thing or any tree but only those men who do not have the seal of

[35:56] God on their foreheads now all all living people on the earth at this time will be target except those that have the seal of God on their foreheads and when we think of the seal of God the number 144,000 comes to mind they are sealed protected as believers are we not sealed as well and I firmly believe that all people who have come to faith who are still living at this time are sealed and protected and so it's those if we turn the tables those that have accepted the mark of the beast are the victims of these scorpions or of these locusts and they were not given authority to kill them but to torment torture them for five months and their torment was like that of a scorpion so we have a couple individuals who have felt that this may be more intense yet we don't know but it says it's going to be so bad that these men will seek to die and will not be able to the pain of this so that's the the the fifth angel the first woe the further description of these locusts is very difficult to explain because he says they were alike and he's trying to put words to it they were like horses prepared for battle well that we understand but they weren't horses but they were like horses so some kind of army unit on their heads were crowns of something like gold not gold but like something like gold and their faces were like the faces of men they weren't the faces of men but like they had hair like women's hair and their teeth were like lion's teeth so a lot of symbols here as he as

[38:41] John describes they had breastplates like breastplates of iron it doesn't say that they were iron but they were like iron and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle and their tails like scorpions and their stings were in their tails and their power was to hurt men five months now as we end this section they had a king over them a leader the angel of the bottomless pit whose name in Hebrew was Abaddon and in Greek Apollyon and as we look at those two names both in Hebrew and in Greek Abaddon means destruction and in

[39:43] Greek Apollyon means the destroyer and so that's that's the name of their leader that's it's demonic it's it's going to be of Satan's forces the angel of this so he's going to be the leader of this it's beyond our grasping this all the way of what John is trying to describe here but of thus far we have read in revelations this is going to be the worst yet as men will seek death and not find it I would like permission to go over one more yet no time is going but the six angel and we're going to go a little more quickly here then the six angels sounded in verse 13 and

[40:46] I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God saying to the six angel who had the trumpet release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates and so the four angels who had been prepared for the hour the day and month and year were released to kill one third of mankind and now the number of the army of the horsemen that were used here was 200 million I heard the number of them 200 million that's five times Canada's population and thus I saw the horses in the vision those who sat on them had breast plates of fiery red hyacinth blue and sulfur yellow and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions and out of their mouths came fire smoke and brimstone as we look at that picture it's not hard to picture maybe an army tank or some warfare as fire and brimstone coming out of their mouths by these three plagues a third of mankind was killed by the fire and smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths for their power is in their mouth and in their tails for their tails are like serpents having heads and with them they do harm but the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands that they should not worship demons and idols of gold silver brass stone and wood which can neither see nor hear nor walk and they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts and so a description of this army being unleashed by the four angels and one third of mankind being destroyed by this army and so read it for yourselves wrestle with it

[43:30] I don't think it's critical for us to pin down exactly you know the pictures here but but rather to realize what the result is what God is doing and the sad part is that the rest of mankind does not repent you know I believe by this time the mark of the beast has widely been accepted and they have pled allegiance to Satan they are worshipping Satan and are unable to reverse as they have been they have been led to the point of decision by the antichrist if you're for me the mark of the beast and you can continue on with life and we're going to see this in chapter 13 a few messages down but if you decide not to follow me martyrdom awaits you the decision is yours and this is what faces mankind in the tribulation period how do we respond with a sense of awe of

[45:10] God a reverence in revelations chapter 3 the 10th verse the letter to the Philadelphia church the command to persevere in the faith verse 10 because you've kept my command to persevere I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole earth to test those who dwell on it B our response to this is to insure that I am a child of God that's the only response that can bring about escape from the wrath of God is our becoming His children.

[46:22] And to ensure that I have salvation in Jesus Christ. Without that, as we read accounts like today, the only thing that remains is fear.

[46:45] But as a child of God, we are told we are blessed to read and study that. Instead of fearing, we are blessed by God. Amen. This morning, if there is fear in anyone's heart, I would like to pray with you.

[47:29] Because God does not want us to fear. He wants us to move forward in victory in Him.

[47:40] Amen. As we have a closing song today, and if there is fear in your heart, as we sing, I would like you to come up front and to sit in the front here, and after the service, I will spend some time in prayer with you.

[48:04] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[48:22] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.