"The Battle of Armageddon (part 1)" - Pastor Doug Batchelor

we are living in interesting times we're living in volatile times and I was impressed this week to talk about a subject that it actually has certain air about it even when you just say the word Armageddon word only appears one time in the Bible and it doesn't appear anywhere else in Greek literature it's it's something of a mysterious word but it describes a great final conflict that the world is drifting towards it's going to represent the culmination of the battle between good and evil there's a lot of confusion on that subject but you and I are very much involved in what happens and what leads up to this battle between good and evil so the message today in this next week is gonna be the Battle of Armageddon today part 1 you know Jesus makes a statement about the wars in the world when he spoke about the signs of his coming in Matthew 24 verse 6 Jesus said and you will hear of wars and rumors of wars for nation will rise against nation and Kingdom against Kingdom I remember I was downloading this application that included a free book and the book looked interesting to me they said the book was nearly 2000 years old and the name of the book was the art of war and written by a Chinese military strategist possibly a general sunsoo and have you ever heard of that the art of war yeah some colleges make it required reading because it talks it's got a lot of principles about worth and really apply they say to business as well and so I didn't read it all I've got a little bit of that and I thought well there's a lot oh there's a lot of planning that goes into work and to be a good general there's a lot involved in a war and in preparing for war now there's been some debate in my family I was told I was named Douglas after the DC craft Douglas McDonald and then someone else in our family said no you were named after Douglas MacArthur your dad liked him so I don't know if I ever will know the truth this side of heaven but I do remember a quote at the end of World War two General Douglas MacArthur said you know he was there on that battleship when they signed the peace agreement with Japan and he said if we do not devise some greater and more equitable means of settling disputes among nations Armageddon will be at our door sometimes when people think of Armageddon like General MacArthur they think about World War three and it's gonna be a massive war between China and Russia and the US or other world powers it's hard to imagine anything that could be worse in world war two do you know that in the last century 108 million people were killed in the 20th century someone estimated the total number of people killed in wars that are recorded in history easily tops 1 billion people killed in war man seems to have a propensity towards war today the combined armed forces in the world there are 20 1.3 million people in the military China's got the world's largest military with 2.4 million India is second we were just there 1.4 million America's third we used to be larger than India but it slid back about last 8 years Americans the fact America now is 1.3 million North Korea 1.1 million Russia 900 thousand now this to me was I think one of the most interesting facts about war militaries you know that the world spends over 100 million dollars an hour on soldiers ammunition and war machines how'd you like to get that paid per hour hundred million dollars an hour so when people talk today about Armageddon it is a fact of history that man has never made a weapon he did not use I mean even America at one point used the atomic weapons and now the nuclear weapons are infinitely more devastating and you think how long will it be before somebody through accident madness or folly launches a nuclear weapon what would happen but is that the Battle of Armageddon well it's not what most people think first what begins the countdown to Armageddon now you go to route go to Revelation is the place where you find this but we're going to go to Revelation chapter 7 in Revelation chapter 7 they go to verse 1 we read after these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth those four angels represent the north the South the east and west he talks about the four corners of the earth Bible says Jesus will send forth his angels to gather together his elect from the four corners of the earth and those are the four directions of the compass so this is somewhat symbolic for angels standing at the four corners of the earth holding the four winds of the earth that the wind should not blow now the winds represent a storm says that the wind should not blow on the earth or the sea or any tree we've all seen when winds blow on the earth and you can get a dust storm or a tornado and winds can blow on the scene you can get a hurricane and winds blow on a tree you can see a typhoon or something bending the trees down as these storms affect the elements in the environment so these angels are holding back this great storm that is about to be unleashed and if you read in Daniel it talks about I saw the winds of strife on the waters in Daniel there it's talking about the strife and storm and these nations rising and falling often happens in the context of war now before those angels release their grip on this storm so something has to happen we're living in these verses I'm about to read then I saw another angel ascending from the east having the seal of the Living God and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea saying do not harm the earth and the sea or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their forehead and we're right now living in the eye of a hurricane you might say you know they say that you know when a hurricane goes over and you're just right in the middle of it this in the strange calm that happens so there's a sealing that needs to happen then we're going to talk for a moment about what is this seal because this is something that you must have if you're gonna be saved by the way I don't know how to tell you this but whether you like it or not you're all gonna be mark soon everybody here one way or the other there are two marks in Revelation much of the Christian world is very familiar with the mark of the beast in the hand or in the forehead but the Bible says the saved or mark 2 it's interesting the crazy things you hear about the mark of the beast people say it's a you know I remember years ago when people first started talking about the mark of the beast some of my friends I kind of hung out with these hippy Christians that believed every wind of doctrine the blew by and first they said you know the logo for Procter & Gamble the logo for Procter & Gamble it kind of looked like three sixes lined up with stars many of you remember that one went by I see some nodding you don't wanna raise your hand though because you're perceived IQ goes down when you say that but I see you go and then when the first barcodes came out I remember I went to the store everything used to have a little sticker on it because they had these machines that place the stickers you go kitchen kachunk on all the cans you know and then someone got the victory over that and they developed the barcode system and there were lines and a friend told me that's the mark they're gonna use that to control buying and selling don't buy any products that have the lines on because at first I remember when I first saw it I said wow that's that nobody even had scanners back then they appeared on products before people even had scanners and I remember distinctly some don't buy anything that has that so I tried not to for a while I guess all my other friends have starved since that that's stuck to that theology that's not the market of East now the other ones kind of creepy is they say the mark of the beast is they've got this this is the RFD chip they put underneath yeah and you know you scan your hand now they got some corporations at all security you don't have to have us we've got it's kind of scary we got that an amazing fact not the thing under the skin but we got an access card at amazing facts and it's in my back pocket and that's my wallet is so thick it you know I hate that I have to carry this around I go overseas and forget I got carried this card it says amazing facts pass on it so because there's nothing else written on I go what in the world is this thing I'll forget it so I had to write that on there and whenever I go to the front door it's locked and but it doesn't read it just cuz I haven't on my person it's so embarrassing I could missus scan you here I'll come on a pull on the door and it doesn't read it I've got to take my rear end and go like that and then the door unlocks and so I know that the receptionist says laughs as she watches all the guys come into the front door and they hold their best pumpkins nothing so people always wonder why I do this little dance when I come in the front door so but you know we've become very secure society and this it doesn't mean these mechanisms for registering and security or for buying are the mark of the beast that's not the mark of the beast I never hear anyone say and all of the saves are gonna get a barcode and all of the saved are gonna get the salvation RFD chip we never equate the mark the saved yet with any of these goofy things that's because both of the marks are a symbol for something that is in the hand and in the head now you turn with me in the Bible I'll show you this first of all the seal of God in the heart is the law of God the law of God is the seal of God in the law of God you find the seal where do you get that Pastor Doug it's in the Bible you read in Isaiah 816 to bind up the testimony seal the law among my disciples you know the Bible is call them along the prophets along the testimony this must be sealed within us the Word of God you can read in Revelation 14 we'll talk more about 144,000 next week I look and behold the lamb standing on Mount Zion and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand having his father's name written on their foreheads he gets a revelation 17 there's his woman she's got a paragraph in her forehead Mystery Babylon the Great the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth I mean do you really think you're gonna see a lady walking around that big old tattoo in her forehead in the last days it could happen I guess today huh but that's not what it's talking about what does it mean when it says in the hand and in the forehead biblically friends I want you to understand this Deuteronomy if you go to Deuteronomy chapter 6 first I quoted this in that discussion debate that we did last week Deuteronomy chapter 6 this is that very famous Shama where you can read in Deuteronomy 5 Moses goes through he repeats the Ten Commandments by the way the word Deuteronomy pne's a repeating of the law in Deuteronomy chapter 5 you got the Ten Commandments you go to Deuteronomy 6 and he says hear o Israel the Lord our God is one you should love the Lord your God this is verse 4 with all of your heart and your soul with all your strength and these words that I command you today the words you just commanded there's no chapter divisions these words 10 commandments that I command you today shall be in your hearts that's the New Covenant of course right you should teach them diligently to your children you should talk of them when you sit in your house when you walk by the way when you lay down when you rise up notice this you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes now you know some of the ancient Jews wanting to make sure they didn't misunderstand they literally took passages of Scripture and they wrapped them with leather around their right hands or they hung phylacteries little boxes with a piece of scripture on their forehead some of you have probably seen the pictures of the Orthodox Jews that they they've got a little something hanging in their forehead that's supposed to have the Word of God on their forehead and they'll have one on their hand and they do that because Moses said in your hand and in your forehead it's obviously a symbol because in the same passage he says it's to be in your heart too so how do you do that are we supposed to like open up our chests and stuff passages of the word and like you do stick your prayers and the cracks of the Wailing Wall know in your heart means and your affections in your mind in your actions let me give you a few more verses that bear this out you find this phrase so often in the Bible we shouldn't miss it so I'm always surprised when people come up with these zany ideas about what the mark of the beast is and what it means when it says in the hand and in the forehead here's another one Deuteronomy 11 verse 18 therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul and bind them for a sign on your hand and they will be as frontlets between your eyes that's your forehead by the way where did the stone hip Goliath had brought them down in the forehead what is the word of God the law of God written on rock what brings down the Giant what brings down the image the idol in Daniel chapter 2 a stone he said you he that hears these words of mine and does them is like a wise man who builds on mashed potatoes the rock that rock is a symbol for the Word of God Ezekiel 39 it shall be assigned to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes that the Lord's law may be in your mouth and it says out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks it means the Lord why in your heart for with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt now go to Exodus 13 6 I'm giving you four in the mouth of two witnesses it should be established is for exodus 13 verse 16 it shall be assigned to you on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes for my strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt in the hand and the forehead in the hand in the forehead every Jew knew what that meant it meant that it's to be close to you in your actions is to be in your thoughts now very simply if you do not have the seal of God in your hand and in your heart and in your head you will have the mark of the beast in your hand and in your head because everyone's gonna have one or the other you'll have your father's name in your forehead and I'll talk more about the seal next week what are some of the specifics of it so what is the seal I'm gonna give you one aspect there is a seal I'll give you a couple of aspects there's a seal in the law of God where you find the name of God you know they say there are three components to any seal a government seal when the president gives a speech it'll have the seal of the United States of America I was just in Nashville a few weeks ago and Karen I got to shake hands with vice president pence and he came up they brought out his own podium it's just a vice president when he speaks they've got his own podium they bring with him they set it up and they put the seal there remember one of the attendants he did all this fiddling with the microphones made everything perfect he took out a cloth and he polished off the seal and so a government seal contains three things it's got the name of the individual it's got the title or office that they hold and then it's got the territory over which that office has authority the presidential seal would say Donald Trump his name president that's a title the United States is the territory you have several seals in the Bible there was a seal placed on the tomb of Jesus by Pontius Pilate and it would have read Pontius Pilate governor Judea there was a seal place on the stone when Daniel was put in the lion's den remember the king Sealand it would have said Darius King medo-persia and so you find those three characteristics now where in the law of God do you find the seal of God it's in the only commandment where you also find the word holy says for in six days the Lord Jehovah that's his name created he is the creator and the sustainer that's his title the heaven and the earth that's everything above and everything below that's his territory you've got the name of God you've got the seal of God in that commandment that talks about who do you worship and that's why there's an important deal and no some don't feel that way but that's not the only seal that's a seal in the law you know the most important seal is those that have the mark of the beast have whose spirit Satan spirit those that have the seal of God have whose spirit so you already knew that doesn't that kind of go without saying but it's in the Bible - second Corinthians chapter 1 verse 21 now he who establishes us with you in Christ has anointed us in God who has also sealed us and given us the spirit in our hearts as a guarantee there is a ceiling that happens with the Holy Spirit if you say I keep the commandments of God and you don't have the Spirit of God you're not saved by the commandments and by the way you can't really keep the commandments without the Holy Spirit you know it doesn't matter how hard you might try if the Lord is not first in your life you might say well I don't pray to statues but if he's not first in your life you're inside Allah tree if the Lord is not first in your heart then you're worshipping other gods if the Lord is not first in your heart then you're really not worshiping God you take his name in vain you say you're a Christian but it's in vain and you can't really keep the Sabbath if you were to sit down and fiddle your thumbs all day long I'm not doing anything and say I kept the Sabbath holy if the Lord is not first in your heart you're missing the whole spirit of it it's for those who have the seal of the Holy Spirit one more maybe two more maybe three more Ephesians 1:13 in him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation in whom you having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise that's clear say Amen if not I've got one more Ephesians 4:30 do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption and then you've got Ezekiel 20:12 which says I'm moreover gave them my Sabbath's to be a sign and that word sign can mean token or seal it's interchangeable between me and them that they might know that I am the lord who sanctifies them Sabbath is a sign that God is our Creator and it's a sign also that he recreates us and he sanctifies us now when this seal goes out I'll say more about the hundred and forty-four thousand as I mentioned next week when that work is complete the angels are supposed to hold back the winds of strife until that work is complete but when that work is finally complete when all the servants of God are sealed is it clear to you from chapter 7 he says don't release the winds until I've sealed my servants wouldn't that sound you like after they are sealed the winds are released so why does this church exist we get together because we're social creatures and we need to interact with each other that's good I love coming to church and you see friends and your fellowship and that's great but why do we really exist what is our mission Jesus gave us to us you go and teach the gospel to every creature we've got to work to do we need to feed the hungry with food but we need to feed them with the bread of life we need to clothe the naked but they need the robe of Christ's righteousness we need to give water to the thirsty but they need the living water we've got a mission to dispense the gospel we're to be a light to the world and I know this church takes it very seriously because what you do now is preparing people to live when probation flow now that thought used to make me shudder it still does make me tremble a little bit right now we're so thankful that we mess up then we pray and God forgives us and we can try it again and we're so glad for the grace of God but you realize that you can reach the point of no-return there's a time it happens in people's lives it can happen for a world it can happen for a nation when probation closes you know what I mean by probation it's a trial period God has given us mercy he's given us a period of time it is a limited period of time it will not last forever when we can choose to come to him and we can find mercy and forgiveness and transformation but some day God is gonna say enough if you live next to a laundromat and you depended on that laundromat to wash your clothes and you're so thankful everything they got dirty you just go next door and you'd use the laundromat but then you saw a sign that said laundromat going out of business in 30 days would you be a little nervous it's the only laundromat in town single man enough to wear dirty clothes forever until they rot off my body but then you saw fine print underneath the sign it's a laundromat going out of business 30 days if you would like classes how to prevent your clothes from ever being dirty again here the hours would you want to attend those classes you'd probably be smart to do that if the laundromats going out of business right or if it said we're offering clothes that never get dirty would you want that well we're living in that time right now God is saying hey laundromats gonna close I am merciful my blood washes away sin but the day is gonna come when Michael stands up the day is gonna come when the sanctuary is silent because there's no more intercession there it happened in the life of King Saul God was so merciful to him for years he reigned 40 years probably ten years into his reign he began to get rebellious and he started resisting and not listening to Samuel the Prophet and doing his own thing it became proud you've heard the expression power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely and he became corrupted by the power he became proud and he became rebellious and the prophets would talk to him and the priests would talk to him and he killed the priests finally God said look you're not listening I'm not talking anymore and when he was being attacked by the Philistines he went to talk to the prophets there was no word the priests no word he prayed no answer finally he went to a witch Saul had grieved away the Holy Spirit and he fell on his own sword Judas resisted the patient pleading of Jesus for three and a half years walking with Christ and never fully surrendering and Jesus got down he's washing Judas feet hoping that Judas will repent and confess he's about to betray the Lord but he hardened his heart he thought if he was really the Messiah he want to be down there washing my feet his pride he gave in to his pride and the Bible says Satan entered him and he went out and it was night he had reached the point of no return at that point he had lost the capacity to genuinely repent and he hung himself Balaam grieved away the Holy Spirit he was a prophet of God but he went too far it happened to Sodom and Gomorrah do you know that before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah he saved Sodom and Gomorrah there was a time when lot and his family were captive by Chedorlaomer and the kings of the north they came and they attacked sodom and gomorrah and the five cities of the plain they were all being carried away captive enslaved they plundered everything and God had mercy on them and through Abraham Abraham and two other nomads got together and they had a three-fold Alliance they attacked the kings of the north they delivered the people of sodom and gomorrah were saved we don't ever think about salvation and saw them in the same word do we Jude talks about the angels that gave up their first estate angels were saved but then they rebelled and now they're forever lost there's no more probation for them and the Bible warns us that there can come a time where you reach the point of no return you know army helicopters they've got a light that comes on if they're going out over the ocean the Coast Guard helicopter and they're gonna make a rescue at sea they've got to pay very close attention to their fuel because however far out they get they can't land like a plane you know just anywhere they need solid ground and they've got to make sure that they don't use more fuel going out then they have to come back and soon as they're going out on a rescue they'll set what their point of no return is and they'll get to a certain point if that red light goes off even if they see the person need to rescue is just a half a mile away they turn around they say if we rescue you we'll never make it back we're all gonna go into brink together it could happen for a person where you reach the point of no-return how do you know when you're pushing God's mercy too far he keeps saying off thank you lord I'm glad you're merciful God would forgive my sin but plan on doing it again tomorrow so thanks for your mercy today is that real repentance you keep doing that and it's not that God won't forgive you it's that you can get where you lose your capacity to really repent you could reach the point of no-return someday by persisting in your sin we take God's mercy for granted sometime and that's a very dangerous thing to do matter of fact most people do he is so merciful he's so patient he's so long-suffering after all he's our Heavenly Father how could he ever say no well the time comes where he just is not able to save you because you've just gone too far you don't want to go to that point it not only happened in the time of lot and Sodom and Gomorrah finally the angels came and said to lot and his family get out for God is going to destroy this place and you know when the Sun came up and Sodom they thought everything was fine the flowers were smelling sweet and the birds were singing and you would never know that that was their last day it happened in the days of Noah the world had reached the point of no return are you aware that God told his Noah and his family to get on the ark after it was built and God shut the door and after God shut the door life went on outside just like every other day for seven days but probation had closed and they didn't realize it it kind of isn't that a troubling thought so how do you know what's the best time to repent someone asked the rabbi what would be the best time to repent he said the last day of your life he said okay well how do I know which day is the last day and the rabbi said exactly since you don't know the best time to give it all to the Lord and take those classes on how to keep your garments clean is now see you come to the Lord through justification he accepts you just like you are you turn to Jesus like a thief on the cross and he promises you he'll accept you he'll forgive you then if you really love the Lord and you've come to me says okay phase to sanctification now we want to teach you how to live a holy life so many people stopped at justification they are so thankful that God offers to forgive them but they have no interest in being holy that's kind of a frightening thing to consider that some people just want the mercy they don't want the power to be changed but you've got to be change friends because someday the laundromats gonna close that's when probation closes you can read about that in Daniel chapter 12 verse 1 at that time Michael will stand up you know when a judge stands up in a court that means I'm done listening to evidence I be issued my verdict cases are closed it is over Michael will stand up the Great Prince who stands watch over the sons your people and there will be a time of trouble such as there never was since there was a nation even under that time when there's a time of trouble such as never has been that's hard to imagine revelation 22 you can read about this where Jesus said he that is unjust let him be unjust still he that is filthy let him be filthy still he that holy let him be holy still and he that is righteous let him be righteous still they'll come a time when the saved are saved in the lost or lost the saved are sealed they've got their father's name written in their foreheads they've got their father's name written in their hearts in their hands in their heads and the lost they have a mark of the beast have you read what revelation says about the mark of the beast the most fearful denunciations and curses in the Bible falls on them so we don't want to wait until it's too late the Bible talks about of time a name is 12 well they'll wander from sea to sea and north to east they'll run to and fro seeking the word of the Lord and they'll not find it someday probation closes and then after that happens then you've got this great time of trouble the Bible calls at a time of trouble such as there never has been there's nothing you can look at in the Bible that even compares to it now there have been some pretty bad times of trouble and often when we think about times of trouble it's it's usually worse an anticipation than it is in reality when it finally happens a lot of us have made mountains out of mole hills but that's not possible in this case the time of trouble sometimes known as the Great Tribulation is the seven last plagues that you find in Revelation turn in your Bible with me please to Revelation chapter 16 Revelation chapter 16 and it talks about these plagues and I heard a loud verse 1 and I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels go pour out the bowls the vials of the wrath of God on the earth and says these vials are poured out without mixture usually his judgment is mixed with mercy even when the plagues fell on ancient Egypt they were mixed with some mercy but this time it says it's unmixed so the first angel went and he poured out his bowl upon the earth and a foul and a loathsome or came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image now as we begin to go through these plagues that you find here in Revelation I want you to notice something how many plagues were in Egypt ten how many plagues in the last days seven how do you reconcile that many of the seven last plagues are similar to the plagues of Egypt have you notice that the difference is of the plagues that fell on Egypt the first three plagues fell on the Egyptians and the Israelites it isn't until you got to the last seven plagues it says the Israelites were spared from any of those plagues when it comes to the seven last plagues God spares his people from all that but the world of course they suffer the full force of it and you might be wondering are the plagues simply symbolic or are they literal well I think they're literal but there's some symbolism with every plague the plagues that fell on Egypt were they just spiritual plagues or did the waters turn to something that looked like blood and the frogs were real and the boils and the lice and everything it was real so when God tells us about the last days this this was before the children of Israel were delivered from their bondage through Moses these plagues came and immediately after the plagues the last of the plagues they're delivered same exact thing happens in Revelation before the second coming of Jesus when we're delivered from the bondage of this world there are some terrible plagues that happen and God has nothing to lose I mean he doesn't have to worry about well I don't believe in miracles so these plagues can't be literal probations close at this point it doesn't matter what you believe you know what I'm saying so God he's not trying to prove anything to you it's real some of them have spiritual meaning so you know you'll see a rough news story sometimes it'll say what you're about to see if there are children in the room you might want to preoccupy them somewhere else these are gonna be very disturbing images okay friends I'm issuing a disclaimer there are some disturbing images you know one of the first plagues is a noisome and grievous sore and I I sometimes put slides on the screen that go along with a sermon let me just give you a little tip don't type into Google noisome and grievous sore and then look at images because this could be a long time for it get some of that out of my head but it's not pleasant I'll just tell you that but that's what it says revelation 16 verse 2 so he went and poured his bowl upon the earth and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the man and the word there men is encompassing it means the people who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image why sore look in Deuteronomy chapter 28 God says if you turn away from the Lord if you turn away from following him and keeping his commandments and you go to verse 35 it says the Lord will strike you in the knees and on the legs with severe boils that cannot be healed and from the sole of your foot to the top of your head and when it talks about a noisome and grievous sore it doesn't mean every person gets one it means the sore or sores that they have are noisome and grievous what did the devil do to job he struck him from the sole of his foot I pointed up when I said that sole of his foot the crown of his head with noisome and grievous sores have you read in Isaiah 1 talking about how the wicked suffer he compares these sores to sin why should you be stricken again and will you revolt more and more the whole head is sick and the whole heart is faint from the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores putrifying means it's the loathsome it's almost like it smells terrible boils now I didn't know whether to tell you this or not but I remember once I had a terrible boil I was bitten by a spider when I went no it wasn't the mark or a plague but I got bit by a spider down in the Caribbean my parents sent me to a camp down there and I got a bit on the calf of my leg and it got so bad at first I just was sore it got so bad that my whole calf my late swole up like a football and I finally went and I just laid in bed and my other cabin mates were teasing me because I rolled back and forth and his hot on air-conditioned Caribbean climate and all I could think about was the pain and I just kept saying over not getting the pain the pain and I didn't felt pain like that in my life just pulsating up my leg they finally took the doctor and all he need to do is Lance it and it started getting better but it left a big ulcerated hole in my leg and then still scarred to this day from one boil so when I read the story of Job I go why is God doing this well you know this is coming on the heels of all the scriptures about the miracle workers and these false healers that said they had all this power you read about in Revelation 13 and even later in 16 doing great wonders making fire come down from heaven and a lot of the false prophets are gonna say we can heal even the false Christ is gonna perform at least the illusion of healing but it's all a deception it's not real so there's stricken with these boils second plague isn't this exciting the second place the sea became as the blood of a dead man now you notice here it uses the word as it doesn't say that with the freshwater but it does with the sea it became as the blood of a dead man and that typically means dark robbed of oxygen reddish some have wondered is talking about like a naval battle so bad that the waters turn red some of said you know they've got these tides I think I got a picture of one on the screen is that an actual photograph of they call it's a plankton that just chokes the waterways and it Rob's the oxygen from all the other creatures called the red tide and they wondered if that would just spread everywhere have you ever heard of the they've gotten all these garbage patches in the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean they got a Garbage Patch out in the Pacific Ocean that's almost as big as the state of Texas of plastic and debris that floats in this vortex out there in the middle it's not red so I don't know why I told you that but anyway the doesn't surprise me that there could be some kind of reaction in the ocean to pollution or something but whatever it is it turns red and what does that do to Commerce you know much you can't go to Walmart if it wasn't for a shipping container there'd be nothing there almost all of it comes from China take a look one time go look at the bottom of whatever you buy and I'm not making a statement on tariffs here I'm just stating the fact what would it do to shipping if the oceans became unpassable and the navies and armies sea becomes like blood he read in revelation eight and by the way the water becoming like blood that was one of the plagues on Egypt says became like the blood of a dead man revelation 18 the second angel sounded in something like a great burning mountain was thrown into the sea and a third of the sea became blood it's interesting revelation 8 it talks about the sea becoming like blood but it's only a third and a third of the living creatures in the sea died and a third of the ships were destroyed well that was back when it was one-third in Revelation 18 revelation 16 it's a hundred percent it looks like that means that there's every it says every living thing in the died that's not just talking about people that might be on the waters but the creatures in the sea say pastor Derrick it seems like how could anyone survive but wait there's more get your credit card out Revelation chapter 16 verse 4 then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers in the springs of waters and they became blood now it says it becomes blood he said well how can you do that he did it to Egypt didn't anyone doubt that I believe that the Lord did it back then you read in Exodus 719 then the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron saying take your rod and stretch your hand over the waters of Egypt over their streams or rivers and over their ponds and over all their pools of water that they might become blood notice and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt both in the buckets of wood and the pitchers of stone so it wasn't like they could say well I'm just gonna drink the water I've got on my bottle all of the fresh water became contaminated that's a miracle isn't it God has to do that the water that was in the bucket and one reason we know that it's real is because listen to what the angels say usually you've got angels rejoicing and singing over the people that come to Jesus here you've got angels rejoicing over a judgment the angels say revelation 16 6-4 they have shed the blood of saints and prophets keep in mind before probation closes there's a small time of trouble there's great persecution during that small time of trouble some may lose their lives be in prison persecuted and what about all the years and martyrs are died and so the angels are saying you are just in doing this you've given them blood to drink for it as they're just do then you get to the fourth plague and you read it says that men were scorched with great heat they angel poured out his vial now this is the fourth plague great Heat ostensibly coming from the Sun what day of the week did God make the Sun fourth day you've got the fourth plague it's nothing else at least it's a way to remember it some of wondered is this talking about an expansion of the hole in the ozone who hasn't heard of global warming but this is much more severe than that I think this is also a judgment on what they've worshiped why did God why did God use the Sun and the judgments on the Egyptians because they worshiped the Sun now keep in mind what's happened in the last day is the people of the world have had to make a decision am I gonna worship God on the day that he commanded or am I gonna worship Him on the Sunday and model the world has made an object of worship out of the Sun we get Sunday worship not from the Bible but it comes from Sun worship in Babylon in Egypt and now men are being scorched with great heat now this probably is not gonna be as bad some places as others I suppose it'll be a little better in Antarctica and North Pole but parts of the world is gonna be terrible you know this is described in a number of prophets I'm gonna read them all together and by the way I'm quoting from great controversy page 628 the prophets thus describe the condition of the earth at this fearful time the land mourneth because the harvest of the field is perished all the trees of the field are withered the seed is rotten under their clods that Garner's are laid desolate how do the beasts groan the herds of cattle are perplexed they have no pasture the rivers of water are dried up the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day says the Lord God there shall be many dead bodies in every place and they will cast them forth in silence by the way that's Joel chapter 1 Amos chapter 8 and it's also Joel chapter 1 verse 17 through 20 subscribing a terrible condition now we had some pretty good fires here in California last year didn't we there's record-breaking some of these plagues that we see happening these small times of trouble in different parts of the world I just wonder if the Lord is trying to get our attention saying you think this is bad this oughta bring you to repentance if this doesn't bring you to repentance then what's coming later it'll be too late at that point it's like God is giving us little precursors of what can happen because he says there's gonna come a time when those judgments will be without mercy judgment number five and I'm almost done for what I'm gonna share with you today the Beast Kingdom is full of darkness was darkness one of the plagues on Egypt now you read ancient Egypt the Lord said to Moses stretch out your hand towards heaven that there might be darkness over all the land of Egypt a darkness that can be felt you read in Revelation 1610 then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the Beast and his kingdom became full of darkness and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain and they blaspheme the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores he noticed they say how long did the plagues gonna last well it says all of her plagues come in one day are they in the Bible is a year but the way that is worded it means they all come within one year I don't think it's gonna take a whole year because except those days be shortened no flesh would survive you think about what's happening in the world how long did the plagues take that fell on Egypt there's a matter of a couple of months if they seemed it just happened back-to-back as soon as one plane goes away the Pharaoh he doesn't let the people go God says okay here comes another one and it seems to happen in quick succession how about the plagues that fell on Joseph happen in a matter of a few weeks or a few months it wasn't years and so these final plagues I think are gonna happen in a matter of a few months some of us speculated it would happen and maybe 45 days because that's the time period difference in Daniel chapter 12 between the 1335 and the 1290 now I'm not telling that I'm telling you that's why that happens why darkness why darkness on the seat of the beast you notice there was darkness in Egypt but the children of Israel had light in their dwellings the Bible tells us you're to be the light of the world people say we're illuminated we've got light we've got truth well the Beast and the seat of the beast they said we have great light we are the light of the world where they're plunged into darkness Jesus shows that they were nothing more than the blind leading the blind because now they're in a darkness that can be felt they can't no light you can light can shine the way out of it everybody is groping in this darkness another quote I want to share with you from the book the great controversy 622 the time of trouble such as never was as soon to open upon us and we will need an experience that we do not now possess and many are too indolent to obtain it's often the case the trouble is greater in anticipation than in reality but this is not true of the crisis before us the most vivid presentation cannot reach the magnitude of the ordeal and this is written by an optimist and she says this is one case where there are no words that can adequately describe how devastating that's going to be and you think about the world being plunged into suffering and darkness in World War one and World War two and the great Spanish flu and the persecution of the dark ages and there the bubonic plague there's been some terrible times that are almost indescribable and so there are some tough times coming but you know I'm not afraid of the plagues friend I'm really not that's not what me I do there's things I'm afraid of it's not the plagues I'm afraid that I might take my eyes off the Lord if I am keeping my eyes on the Lord I need to look at the plagues I need to look at the Lord I don't you worry about the plays any worry about my daily walking relationship with Jesus am i walking in the spirit am i listening to the promptings of the Spirit now I'm gonna give you a little introduction to six because after all the sermons called the Battle of Armageddon and the sixth plague is where you find the Battle of Armageddon revelation 16 verse 12 then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river euphrates and the water was drying up so the way if the kings from the east might be prepared now I'm gonna play to see the picture there the afraid he's drying up you know they're afraid these river really is drying up today I was in 1990 I was in Guam and I was in the medical office there waiting for somebody I was going to visit with a doctor and and I was reading the magazines there and they have you realize Newsweek magazine they're out of business now but they had on the US version where we're always preoccupied with Hollywood and some things then they had the international version this was the international version of Newsweek magazine and the cover article said when rivers run dry and it said that the Euphrates rivers drying up and I'm looking at that I got goose bumps if it would have been stealing if I took it so I left it there but I found it again online later so something that's happening right now literally but you're Freddy's River drying up has a spiritual and a literal component Turkey and Syria up north of Iraq are damming and siphoning off the water from the Euphrates they have no water agreement between the countries and it's kind of like you know Southern California taking our water right they got an agreement well they have no agreement and they're just taking the water and the fields in the river which used to be one of the great rivers of the world it's in Genesis Euphrates River it creation one of the four rivers that came from that fountain of God out of the Garden of Eden and it says it'll go dry as a sign the word a few Frey T's means fruitful full of life it's a sign that God's life is being withdrawn from the world with the spirit now this is a news report we're gonna play for you CNN Fox News on something that happened this is 2015 but I thought I just got to show it to you to stir up your pure Minds and get you to think and so they're gonna try and play this video for me and I think it's our next slide alright happening our Rockies fleeing three towns on the the Euphrates River there are new concerns that the rivers water level is so low that Isis fighters can just walk across and launch attacks that's after Isis militants they've shut off the gates of the Vermont dam this new strategy presenting a major security and humanitarian threat there is this belief of if you control the water you can control your enemy which in that part of the world is basically true Isis terrorists are doing the unthinkable they're closing the gates of the Ramadi damp downstream the water level on the Euphrates has dropped and this is allowing Isis fighters to move more freely Iraqi officials are releasing some water from the Hibernia Lake downstream so that southern provinces will have some flow still coming through but they said this is a temporary solution only it'll only last for a few days clearly a bit by Isis to say to those people caught up in the fighting there look we have the one thing you need for agriculture but basic daily life this wolf crisis unfolding around Ramadi a part of that picture Carol all right Nick Paton Walsh reporting live from Baghdad this morning thank you I hope you'll forgive me for playing a brief news segment but I thought you'd find that interesting that the headlines were talking about Euphrates being dried up well since then they've retaken the dam they're letting more water out of the gates but the water is still way too low now am I saying pastor Doug you telling us we're living during the sixth plague no you got me no I'm not saying that I'm just saying if you wondered if it could ever literally happen well yeah I could you know it says it in the news and I wonder if God is allowing some of these things to try to get our attention I think there's been little flashes and flares and little signs that God is giving us that our harbingers of the last plagues to try and get our attention and say wow this could really happen am i living where I need to be living am I just taking advantage of God's justification or am i really wanting him to sanctify me am i wanting to be a Christian in name or do I want to be a Christian in deed right now the doors of Mercy are open but you know in everybody's life probation closes for everybody eventually you want to walk in the light while you have the light Amen friends I'm not afraid about the seven last plagues I've read Psalm 91 can I read the first part of that with you he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty I'll say of the Lord he is my refuge in my fortress my god in him I'll trust surely he will deliver you from the snare of the Fowler and from the pestilence perilous pestilence he'll cover you with his feathers and under his wings you shall take refuge his truth will be your shield and buckler you'll not be afraid of the terror by night or the arrow it's a war that flies by day nor of the pestilence the plague the disease that walks in darkness nor the destruction that lays waste at noonday you'll not be afraid a thousand may fall at your side ten thousand at your right hand but it will not come nigh you only with your eyes will you see and look upon the reward of the wicked and we might be in the world we might see a thousand fall on our side ten thousand at our right hand but God will protect us because the most high is our habitation because you have made the Lord who is my refuge even the most higher habitation no evil will befall you nor will any plague come near your dwelling I hang my faith on my hopes on that I just want to make sure is the Lord my habitation am I really living in Christ am i allowing him to seal me with his Spirit and to walk in his word is that your desire friends all right we're gonna sing an exciting song this is one that you sing it's it's really talking about the coming of the Lord like to invite our singers to come up I'd like to encourage you to sing this with enthusiasm it's called watch these Saints and it's 598 in your hymnals it'll be on the screen let's stand and sing together [Music] so trendy [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Music] to tell redemption story [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] isn't that a great song of triumph we want to come and we want him to come we want to help others come to him and be ready father in heaven we know that we are living Lord in solemn times we see the signs in the world around us that the end is hastening Lord we know that if you don't come soon there'll be nothing left to come for and we believe those days will be shortened for the elects sake I pray while the doors of Mercy are open and people are being filled with your spirit receiving the seal of God that we'll do our part to not only walk in the light but to light the way for others please bless each person here lord help us to recognize that every day of life is a gift and we don't know when our probation our clothes or what will be our last day help us all decide today to live up to the light that you've given us and by your grace to be real Christians Lord we can't do anything without you but we believe that through Christ all things are possible I pray that you'll give healing where healing is needed that you'll give victory where victory is needed you'll bring comfort where comfort is needed and help us to be your people bless his church every family Lord fill us with the Holy Spirit we thank you and pray in Jesus name Amen happy Sabbath please

Channel: Aaron

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Length: 61min 10sec (3670 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 17 2018