When all Hell Breaks Loose

this thing will manifest itself no one had expected that something like this was let's grab our Bibles and turn to Revelation chapter 9 and the title of my message is when all hell breaks loose so are you glad you came to church today what when all hell breaks loose do I really want to hear this actually I think you do let's begin with a word of Prayer father as we open once again the book of Revelation the unveiling of things that are yet to come help us Lord to read with an understanding again you promised a blessing to those that would read here and keep the words of this book so Lord as we read and hear it help us keep it speak to us from Scripture today we would pray in Jesus name Amen have you ever been seated in a restaurant where the tables are very close to one another and you are hearing the conversation of the people next to you you don't want to hear their conversation but they're so close you can't help but hear everything they're saying and you're trying to tune them out and maybe talk to the person you might be with but then one of those people says to the other I'm gonna tell you a secret now and I don't want you to share this with anyone now let me ask you this are you listening to their conversation well sure because we all like to hear a secret we like the inside scoop it's sort of like with my granddaughter's I'll say do you want to know a secret now sometimes I'll just make up random things or we'll be leaving in some place I'll say now we can go out the normal way or we can go up the secret way who wants to go this egoriy I do pop are they all raise our hand and I just take him out a side door but you know it seems to work we all like to know secrets we here's what the Bible says in Psalm 25 for the secret of the Lord is with those that fear Him and I bring this up because we look at a world today in many ways in chaos especially in the Middle East we see the moral meltdown in America we wonder what is happening and here's what we need to know it's no secret God has predicted so many of the things we see happening right now and here's the secret we all need to know God is in control and nothing is happening that surprises him in any way you know the Bible is the one book that dares to predict the future not once not twice but hundreds of times now anybody can predict a future but we don't know if they're on the money until sometime transpires and we can see if the thing that they predicted actually comes true well in the case of the Bible we have a lot of history to look back at things that the Bible said would happen and have happened exactly as God said they would so we don't have to be afraid and that is why we are studying the book of Revelation together and why we should study the topic a Bible prophecy in general there are many distinct advantages to it number one the reason we should study Bible prophecy is it will unlock the mystery of history again it will unlock the mystery of history in eastern religions history goes in a cycle that's why adherence to these religions believe in reincarnation effectively if they mess it up this time they'll get it right next time but Bible history is not cyclical it's linear Christians are moving toward a goal it's like when you play checkers and you move your man into Kings row and then you say crown him that's exactly what God is doing he's gonna move his son Jesus Christ in the Kings row and say crown him revelation 11 5 says the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah and he will reign forever secondly the reason we should study Revelation and Bible prophecy is because it will bring sense to our suffering it will bring sense to our suffering what about the person who is critically ill what about the person who has a severe disability what about the person who has recently lost a loved one what do we say to them excuse me we say this is not God's final plan because revelation 21:4 says he will wipe away every tear from their eyes death will exist no longer grief crying and pain will exist no longer because the previous things have passed away I heard the story about a guy that excuse me I love these moments when I have to clear my throat and you're all just looking at me I heard about it's about a guy that liked to study the book of Revelation and he was not known for his great intellect but he believed the Word of God he had some friends that consider themselves very intelligent and great theologians and they said now why would you even bother studying the book of Revelation no one can figure it out it's an enigma it's a puzzle no one can ever understand the book of Revelation and this guy said well I understand it oh yeah they said then explain it to us what does the book of Revelation mean his response it means that we win that's a revelation says we win in the end number three we should study the book of Revelation and Bible prophecy in general because it will cause us to live more godly lives you see if we really believe that Christ is coming we'll want to be more prayerful first Peter 4:7 says the end of all things is near therefore be clear-headed and discipline for prayer if we really believe that Christ is coming it will help us to persevere through a trial because James 5:8 says you must persevere and be patient strengthen your hearts because the Lord's coming is near because we all go through hardships in life that don't make sense and sometimes we feel like giving up but instead we need to look up because the Bible says when you see these things begin to happen look up for your redemption is drawing there and if I really believe the Lord is coming what caused me to want to live a godly life because first John 3:3 says he that has this hope will purify himself even as he is pure and forth and finally the reason we should study the book of Revelation and Bible prophecy in general is it shows us there will be justice in the world one day there are wicked people that do wicked things and seemingly get away with it but according to revelation there's going to be a reckoning one day but unfortunately it's going to get worse before it gets better so let's pick up where we last left off where are we now and the prophetic puzzle well as we land on revelation 9 we find ourselves smack dab in the middle of the most horrible time that this planet is ever going to experience it's known as a Great Tribulation Period speaking of this time jesus said in mark chapter 13 there'll be great anguish in those days and there's ever been at any time since God created the world it'll never be so bad again in fact unless the Lord shorten the time of calamity not a single person would survive but for the sake of the chosen ones he has shortened those days know that god takes no delight in this whatsoever we pointed out that God is loving God is merciful God is gracious God is ready to forgive but listen God is also just and because he is just wrongs need to be righted and he needs to honor the laws that he has set in place as in you will reap what you sow now as we look at the world at this time and all the things that are going wrong we still find God reaching out to humanity fact of the matter is millions of people are going to come to Jesus Christ in the tribulation period this is doing part to a hundred and forty-four thousand Messianic Jews that will spread across the planet preaching the gospel 144,000 kosher Billy Graham's if you will and interestingly the Bible teaches that they are protected by God in other words are effectively indestructible and the Antichrist can't lay one finger on them so they are able to lead thousands and thousands and even millions to Christ and then God's also gonna raise up to powerful witnesses that will be able to work wonders and miracles and we'll talk about them in our next message but here it is it's all happening and the devil knows that his days are numbered revelation 12:12 gives us an insight into why the devil is wrecking so much havoc at this time we read the devil has gone down to you he has filled with fury because he knows his time is short see even if some liberal theologians don't believe it and some untaught Christians don't understand it the devil knows Christ is coming back again soon now if you're a true believer that means that you'll want to be about your father's business getting the gospel out but if you're not a believer or in this case if you're the devil you're gonna want to create as much misery as you possibly can and wreak as much havoc as you possibly can so here in revelation 9 the church is not on earth the church is in heaven in Revelation the church has caught up to meet the Lord in chapter 4 in chapter 5 there we are in heaven and we don't really reappear again until later on in chapter 19 when Christ comes back again and the second coming and re we return with him we are safe and sound in glory with the Lord but with the absence of the church the preservative on the earth if you will the restraining force that the Holy Spirit works through you see that all these standards will be gone I mean people push against it all the time we don't like the way you Christians think we don't appreciate your beliefs your heat mongers your puritanical narrow-minded bigoted people and and we're tired of your rules and we're tired of your regulations and so effectively we're out of the picture God says okay what is it you guys want I'm gonna lay it on you thick minds of the plagues that came against Egypt back in the book of Exodus remember that Moses went in and demanded the release of the Jews the Pharaoh basically said no and so a series of plagues came against Egypt but did you know that those plagues were directed toward God said Egyptians worship you see the ancient Egyptians worshipped thousands of gods and so God actually I think with a touch of humor gave them their gods back to them one of the gods they worship for instance was a frog God ancient name Kermit oh I made that up fine translated Kermit Kermit the Frog Sesame Street news here yeah no no it was actually heck it was the name of their God so the Lord said okay you're in do peg it you're into the Frog God here you go frogs galore and a plague of frogs came there were frogs everywhere there were frogs in the beds there were frogs in the ovens there were frogs everywhere you look and then eventually the Lord killed all the frogs and they stunt the place up so the Lord said is this what you want I'll give it to you the same is true in the book of Revelation God a saint okay you want sin you want to indulge in these things I'm gonna give you what you're asking for how about it by the way let me know how that works out for you CS Lewis made this statement quote there are only two kinds of people in the end those who say to God thy will be done and those to whom God says in the end they will be done all that are in hell choose it without that self choice there could be no hell end quote so now God is saying okay thy will be done here you go as all hell breaks loose let's read about it revelation 9 starting to verse 1 then the fifth angel sounded and I saw star fallen from heaven to the earth to him was given the key to the bottomless pit first he when he opened the bottomless pit and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace so the Sun in the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit and out of the smoke locusts came on the earth and to them was given power as the Scorpions of the earth have power they could where they were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth or any green thing or any tree but only those men who did not have the seal of 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'll 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 woman's hair and their teeth were like lion's teeth and they had breastplates like french plates 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 and their power was to hurt men five months and they had as king over them the Angel of the bottomless pit whose name in Hebrew is about it but in Greek he has a name apollyon now we've heard about great actors or singers that have become very successful but often their life spiral spiral out of control as they get into alcohol or drugs or things of that nature we refer to them as a fallen star here we are introduced to a fallen star not the time we read about in Revelation 8 we saw an asteroid or a meteor most likely hitting the earth this is a different kind of fallen star this is referring to an angelic being and I believe it's a reference to Lucifer because Satan is a fallen angel Isaiah 14:12 says how you are fallen from heaven Oh shining star son of the morning you've been thrown down to the earth you who destroyed the nations of the world in Ezekiel 38 the devil is described as once being the model of perfection until wickedness was found in him and he lost his exalted position so God gives to Satan the key to the abyss or the bottomless pit in verse 1 now what does the bottomless pit well basically it's like a prison for fallen angels where certain offenders are kept apparently this bottomless pit is for the worst of the lots in Jude 1a it says I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God caused them to be sent to this place where they are securely chained in prisons of darkness waiting for the great day of judgment so even in the ranks of fallen angels it appears that what some do may be worse than others hence some are in the bottomless pit remember the story of the two demon-possessed guys and Jesus asked the demon to identify himself and he said his name was legion for he was many and then as you recall the demon then went on to say don't cast us into the bottomless pit before our time and Jesus actually did not do that but here we find this bottomless pit that this demon feared is being opened up imagine if every prison in jail globally release their prisoners on one day if every terrorist being held right now was released now taking a step further imagine if they were armed to the teeth with weapons of mass destruction now take it a step further they were deputized and encouraged to go and create havoc that gives you a sense of what is happening here has this bottomless pit is open up in all of these super bad demons come crawling out now it says they're locusts but I don't think this is literal in verse three you'll notice John uses the word like nine times in his destruction like this like that it's not that John was a teenager using the word like a lot you know teens I'm all like are you gonna come to the mall he's all like you know I'm not coming I'm all like I can't believe it he's all out you know that kind of thing no John said it Oh John's probably in his 90s at this point so he's not saying it's all like no he's just saying um look I have limitations here I'm using first century greek although a palette and fantastic language has its limitations he's effectively caught up in the god spiritual time machine catapulted into the future and sees things that a man of his generation has never seen so he's trying to describe it I believe that these locusts that John is speaking of our spiritual demonic creatures not animals they're not insects they're super natural soldiers in the kingdom of darkness in fact they're symbolic descriptions like John gives of them having hair like a woman in the breastplates and so forth communicate aggression as well as power intelligence and ferocity and they have a leader and he's called apollyon or a baton and a baton is one bad dude for sure now we don't know if this is a reference to the devil here are a reference to a powerful demon power that works under the devil just as God guesses high-ranking angels in his army like Michael and Gabriel the devil seems they have the same I told the story in our last message about a angel that was dispatched as an answer to the prayer of the prophet Daniel who was overcome by a more powerful demon or fallen angel and then the Lord dispatched and even higher ranking angel to free that other angel up and this demon that overcame the angel sent by God was called the Prince of Persia so this is a demon that apparently gets some influence and control over the ancient nation of Persia at that time so here we have a paulien or a baton a general in the devil's army backing this thing up now we know where the devil came from he's a fallen angel where the demons come from well their fallen angels too and we know that when the devil left heaven he took one-third of the angels with him so demons are fallen angels now Satan there's nowhere near to being the equal of God but he is still very powerful but he is not omnipresent meaning that he cannot be in two places at one time if Satan's in New York he can't be in LA so he has a network of demons doing his dirty work his minions out there doing what he wants them to do the purpose of demon seems to be too full they want to hinder the purposes of God and extend the power of Satan again the purpose of demon seems to be twofold they seek to hinder the purposes of God and extend the power of Satan reference for this is found over in 1st Thessalonians 2:18 Paul wanted to go to a certain city and preach any rights but Satan stopped us and sometimes it happens Paul of course had his thorn in the flesh to recall that he had the privilege of being caught up to heaven and seeing glory saw the third heaven and then he says unless I would be exalted above measure there was sent to me a thorn in the flesh a messenger of Satan to buff it me and the word that Paul uses there for buffett means to wrap or strike with the fists so he had to face this demonic opposition as believers we can be hassled we can be tempted we can be oppressed by the devil but he certainly can not control us now let me add if you're not a Christian you have a big bull's-eye painted on your chest there's nothing you can do to stop Satan from getting a foothold in your life well I have a crucifix he doesn't care about crucifixes well I have silver bullets now my work on imaginary werewolves where garlic around my net that'll do it let me keep your friends away I won't keep the devil away now the only power Satan fears is Christ himself that's why a believer is safe and why an unbeliever is vulnerable let me tell you three things you need to know about the devil and his demons you might write these down number one they are real and aggressive they are real and aggressive there are people that would say I don't really believe there are demons well you're a fool because they're out there CS Lewis summed it up this way in his book the Screwtape Letters and I quote there are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devil and demons one is to disbelieve in their existence the other is to believe and to feel in excessive and unhealthy interest in them they themselves are equally pleased by both errors inhale a materialist or magician with the same delight that really sums it up doesn't it some don't believe it all some are obsessed with demons and are always looking for demonic activity and so forth but yes they are real and aggressive they're looking for trouble remember that story in job two and the angels of the Lord appeared before God and Satan was among them and the Lord said so were you being Lucifer what do you been up to the devil responds I've been going back and forth across the earth watching everything that's going on that's so creepy isn't it he's like a stalker he's just looking there's an area I could get into there's a vulnerability Peter takes it a step further and described Satan as roaring lion walking about seeking whom he may devour number two though powerful demons have clear limitations though powerful demons have clear limitations let me tell you something that devil doesn't want you to know his power is considerable but it is clearly limited coming back to the story of Job the Lord allowed certain calamity to come upon his servant as initiated by Satan with limitations Satan accurately said that God had put a hedge of protection around his servant and you know what God has put a hedge of protection around you too and listen to this he'll never give you more than you can handle first Corinthians 10:13 says there is no temptation taken you but such as is common to man but God who is faithful will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able but with the temptation make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it one night Jesus was sitting around with his disciples he was next to Peter he said Peter Peter Satan has been asking for you let me ask you a question if you were hanging out with Jesus and he said that to you well then freak you out just a little bit hey Greg Greg yes Lord the devil has been asking for you what and then he went on to say he's been asking Peter that you would be taken out of the care and protection of God now I would be shaking in my sandals the devil has singled me out by name and he has asset I be taken out of the care and protection of God Jesus didn't say a demon did it he said the big guy Lou himself showed up Satan himself wants you Peter with anyone on this date but I prayed for you that your faith would not fail and when you've returned you'll strengthen your brother's good thing to remember when the devil comes knocking at your door you might just say Jesus would you mind so you're no match for satan nor mine but yes it's true he is clear limitations these demonic creatures in Revelation 9 have power distinct but not to kill verse 3 and 4 they're given power the word power means permission it looks like the swarm is out of control but they have to get permission in particular they can't touch the ones who are sealed look in Revelation 94 they're 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 God on their foreheads who are these people they're believers these are people that have come to Christ in the tribulation period got a seal he's put his ID tag on them and he said devil hands off don't touch these people here's the good news when you believe in Jesus God has put his seal on you as well his ID tag and the devil can read and when he sees property of the Lord Jesus Christ he knows he is really limited in what he can do in your life listen the devil is afraid of God bring me to point number three Devils flee at the name of Jesus Christ Bible tells us in James 2:10 the demons believe and tremble they know the power of that name going back to that story of the demon-possessed guys had the demons cast out don't throw us in the bottomless pit they said jesus said all right there was a herd of pigs feeding and he counts the demons into the pigs poor pigs they just went crazy and they ran to the edge of a cliff and they all went off the side of a cliff and committed mass suicide get it sooie sooie it's not that funny is it first case of doubled ham in history been using that joke for a long time so well that just shows the power of the Lord you can see - a demon go and they go but really this shows us the devil's endgame you want to know what it is look at verse 6 their torment was like the torment of a scorpion and those days men will seek death and will not find it they'll desire to die and death will flee from them there'll be many suicide attempts because the pain is so great but none will be successful someone would try to shoot themself and they'll survive it another will try to jump off a bridge they'll survive it another will try to hang themselves they'll survive it still obviously burying the effects of that attempt what a horrible time this is but that's the devil's plan to torment you know the devil is smart he doesn't come and tell you his endgame but Jesus summed it up for us in John 10:10 speaking of Satan he said the thief comes only to steal kill and destroy the devil doesn't walk up to you and say hi I'm the devil Lucifer Satan the great dragon maybe you've heard of me hey listen I want to ruin your life I hate you I hate your family I hate everything about you and and I want to just bring misery I want to bring pain and effectively I want to torment you so let's get started now how many people are gonna go for that probably one in you okay here we go you know most people not gonna buy that so the devil comes with all of his enticements hey what are you into what gets you excited you're like women men stuff drugs alcohol pleasure I've got it all here check it out pick but really what you're picking is a hook with a line attached to it here's Satan's endgame he wants to blind you he wants to bind you and he wants to grind you if you don't believe me our Samson is he here no he's not here so allowed to speak for him see Samson was a powerful judge leading Israel he's known for his supernatural feats of strength destroying thousands of his enemies the Philistines on the battlefield no one could stop Samson so the devil sized him up realize he couldn't bring him down in the battlefield so he got him in the bedroom and he brings along a woman whose name was Delilah whoa Tom Jones in the background singing you know remember I used to be a cartoonist right okay so I have these weird little ideas ah Delilah whose name by the way means delicate she was probably really cute very petite and very seductive but I'll give her credit she was up front hey Samson hi I'm Delilah I want to have sex with you but I'm kind of hoping that you'll tell me the secret of your strength that I might torment you interestingly she uses that word you think Samson would be thinking is this a good relationship a girl says should I get involved with this girl what they would have sex and then they would engage in some pillow talk and so aligned I would say okay tell me the secret of his strength oh you know and he made up a bunch of stuff none of them were the answer and finally she warmed down and he took her baked hooker line and sinker and he revealed the secret of his string which was his commitment to God symbolized by his long hair his strength was not in hair fortunately for people like me but it was in a commitment to God symbolized by the velvet Nazarite which among other things was to grow your hell here I'll not cut it so he says you know what if you cut my hair off I'll be like any other man really okay then off it comes and he wakes up and the Philistines are upon him and they bind him and then they put him there at a wheel and he's going around in circles grinding their meal and they watched him for entertainment sin blind Jew then it binds you then it grinds you see that's how it works in contrast Jesus says continuing in John 10 I have come that you might have life and that more abundantly see the double he wants to ruin your life he wants to steal he wants to kill he wants to destroy but I have come to give you life to its fullest and yet ironically most people choose the devil over Christ go figure here are the five big sins now of the Tribulation Period it's worth noting that these five sins are very prominent today verse twenty revelation 9 but the rest of mankind were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands that they should not worship demons or idols of gold silver brass stone and wood who can either see nor hear nor walk they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts so one of the prominent sins of the Tribulation Period number 1 idol worship idol worship what is the first commandment of the tent you shall have no other gods before me what's the second commandment it's related to the first you should not have any graven image the Lord says we say well I've never committed that sin will hold on idol worship is putting anyone or anything in the place of God you see it's in him perhaps but it could be something else remember hearing Chuck Smith tell the story of a tribe in New Guinea that had a birth defect within their tribe he had intermarried and everyone in their tribe had one leg shorter than the other and they found that the little God that they made that they worship also had one leg that was shorter than the other because really what is a God with a small G it's you you worship yourself you see and people worship finals all the time in fact if anything that is the direction America is going in right now what we see things like this I'm spiritual I'm just not religious that's code for I'm making it up as I go I read an article in USA Today this week about the fastest growing spiritual group in America the article says then I quote for decades if not centuries America's top religious friend has been Protestant no more where did they go nowhere actually they didn't switch to any new religious friend they just let go of any religious affiliation or label this new group is called the nuns they are now the nation's second largest category after Catholics and outnumbered the top Protestant denomination the Southern Baptist what do nuns believe answer the article continues nothing in particular they're just open to spirituality once so called nun was quoted to say she was once a Christian but let go of her belief she said there is so much I cannot prove so instead of saying I believe I say maybe or who knows nuns believed in astrology and reincarnation and 58% say they feel a deep connection with nature and earth end quote that's a slippery slope GK Chesterton made this statement and I quote when a man stops believing in God he doesn't then believe in nothing he believes in anything end quote and that's what this is all about i effectively make it caught on my own image let me illustrate what I mean when someone's well my God would never judge a person my god would never condemn two people of the same sex to live together in a committed relationship my god okay you know what guess what your God is you your God you just made him up your god is fake because you can't edit the Bible you can't go and say well I like this part of the Bible and not that part because you're gonna end up with a god that's different than the God of the Bible which is effectively an idol one of the sins of the end times than the tribulation period is idolatry number two it's murder in the last thirty years there's been a five hundred and sixteen percent increase in violent crime seems like every time we turn around we read of another senseless killing little girl just killed tragically in Colorado the same place where they had this shooting not all that long ago in a movie theater these senseless acts of violence are only going to escalate number three we have sorceries and by the way the word sorceries here is from the Greek word pharmakeia we get our English word pharmacy pharmaceutical from it a literal translation would be druggies in both ancient as well as modern times sorcery and witchcraft are always connected to drug use it's no coincidence that the counterculture of the 60s that was so ended drugs later turned to Eastern mysticism and ocultism and the wake of their drug use but in the tribulation period drug use escalates it gets even worse people are probably ingesting drugs by the handfuls in a vain attempt to escape the severe realities of the tribulation period number four sexual immorality is a prominent sin this is from the Greek word porneia we get our English word pornography pornographic porn from this word you think standards are low now weights of the tribulation period wait until the restraints are moved up is gonna be down downs gonna be up rights gonna be wrong and rungs gonna be right finally there's thievery this often follows in the wake of any kind of tragedy you know whenever there's a hurricane or an earthquake or a natural disaster often the National Guard has called in not always to distribute food and water but really to arrest looters people who will exploit this situation and go to a home that's been damaged and tried to steal what they can or break in the stores etc all this will happen in the Tribulation Period now you would think well all of this wickedness happening that people would turn to God not so verse 20 and 21 the rest of mankind who are not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands that they should not worship demons they did not repent their hearts got harder and harder here's a modern paraphrase of revelation 9 22 21 the remaining men and women who weren't killed by these weapons went on their merry way they didn't change their way of life they didn't quit worshipping demons they didn't quit centering their lives around lumps of gold and silver and brass and hunks of stone and wood they can't see or hear or move there wasn't a sign of a change of heart they plunged right on in their murderous occult promiscuous and thieving ways that's right mines us of barrel we saw all those miracles and we read and Pharaoh hardened his heart it got harder and harder as we close down I want us to just look briefly at Revelation chapter 10 there's an interesting picture here of a mighty angel with a little book a mysterious little book you ever seen a really large man walking a very small dog probably his wife's dog taking it out for a little walk sometimes it looks like they're walking a rat you're a little thing I look at the guy and think what's wrong with no but you know come on have a little respect let's put it in your pocket or something I don't know so here's a mighty angel with a little book and the angel says to John ask that angel to give you the book John says okay revelation 10 verse 9 and he said to me taking eat it and it won't make your stomach bitter but it will be a sweetest honey in your mouth so I took the little book out of the Angels hand and I ate it and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth but when I eaten it my stomach became bitter and he said to me you must prophesy again about many peoples nations tongues and kings have you ever eaten something that was sweet going down but it made you sick let me restate the question have you ever eaten eight Krispy Kreme doughnuts in one sitting I have I got a little carried away I haven't been to Krispy Kreme in so long but the sign was lit up which means the donuts are fresh and hot and I walked in there with these glazed doughnuts just coming down this little conveyor about just glistening you know just and there they're a little smaller than a full sized donut so I bought a dozen I got some cold milk mandatory and first one second I eat a bum and one city it was they were great going down oh yeah yeah and you're gonna buzzin on this yeah and then I might even a seder huh what have I done I think it's kicking it's kicking here put your hand here you could feel a kid it's like alien you know how many got that joke alien do you forget it okay but tub but it was pleasant going down but then bitter and this little book is the same well what does this represent well this message that we believe it's sweet to us but it's bitter to others you see this is the Word of God to us right and we eat it like food job said I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food Jesus said man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God so for us to have a Bible study it's like a feast oh yeah Bible study love it for someone else misery torment they don't like it it's a lot like cologne some love it some hate it Paul said in second Corinthians - six - somewhere the scent Mel of death to others the fragrance of life you know it something hear the gospel oh they say I love that I believe it I want Jesus others say not only do I not like it I hate it and I hate you for saying it and I oppose you that's how people react to the gospel and you know it's like a person wearing cologne you know the one that has it on they think it smells so great it just don't word to you that like there were a lot of cologne something to think about less is more some people it's like I don't know what they do but it's like they reek of Cologne I don't know but you know they're drinking it you know I don't know all I know is if they hug you you smell like them for two days smells good to them so what is a aroma - one is a stench - another so this book it's sweet in its bitter we could say it's bitter sweet well these are for shock of what is to come in the Great Tribulation what do we need to do we need to take the message of this little book and we need to give it to people and if they love it or if they hate it that's really up to them but our job is to get it out to as many as we can but if we're not a believer we need to think carefully about verse 20 it says they did not repent do you need to repent of any sin I talked about sins of the Tribulation Period I wonder if you're doing some of those sins right now worshiping another god immorality drugs stealing are these an area of your life or an issue in your life right now is there something you need to repent of here's the problem as long as I continue in a sin my heart can get harder and harder to God where I get to a point of no return yes there is a point of no return where your heart is irreparably hardened listen God will not violate the free will of mankind he gives you a choice it's interesting going back to the story of Pharaoh we read that Pharaoh hardened his heart Pharaoh hardened his heart Pharaoh hardened his heart then all of a sudden we read God hardened Pharaoh's heart what well God hardened I think you know God says okay what do you want to do I don't want it what do you want to do I don't want it what do you want I don't want it okay you don't have to have it God strengthened Pharaoh and the decision he had already made that would be a good translation of God hardened Pharaoh's heart it would be God strengthened it's not that God wanted Pharaoh to reject it but God will respect the decision you make so God says you want to believe yes you want to believe yes I'm gonna strengthen you in your belief you want to reject it yeah are you sure yeah are you certain yeah I'll strengthen you in your rejection you make your choice and then your choice makes you do you need to repent of a sin right now if so do it say well you know maybe next week yeah maybe but what if you went into eternity before next week what if this were your last week on earth or what if the Lord were to come back and we were caught up to meet him in heaven and you were left to face this tribulation period we've been reading about you don't want that to happen so if you need to get right with God there's an opportunity to do it as we all pray together let's all bow our heads if you would father I pray for any person here watching listening if they need you Jesus help them to come to you we pray well their heads are bowed and we're praying how many of you would say today Greg I need to get right with God I need a repent of my sin I need to ask Christ to come into my life and forgive me now pray for me if that's your desire if you want to believe in Jesus today if you want to be ready for his return if you want to go to heaven when you die would you lift your hand up right now wherever you're sitting and I'd like to pray for you lift your hand up and I'll pray for you today god bless you lipped about God Bless You God bless you there in the back up in the balcony raise your hand up if you want to make this commitment to Jesus god bless you and the overflow area out here in the courtyard and the amphitheater at harvest orange county harvest orange crest I can't see you guys doesn't matter God sees you raise your hand as well if you need to make this commitment or recommitment to Jesus raise your hand up there might be some of you that have fallen away from the Lord and need to come back to him again raise your hand if you would please let me pray for you god bless you god bless all of you now I'm going to ask you that of razor again if you would please stand to your feet and I'm gonna lead you in a prayer of commitment just stand up your the raise your hand even if you did not but you want to make this commitment or recommitment to Jesus stand to your feet wherever you are stand up god bless all of you that are standing stand up right now and I'll lead you in this prayer god bless you anybody else stand now one final moment if you want to stand stand now god bless all of you standing anybody else stand all right now you that are standing I want you to pray this prayer out loud after me and this is a prayer of turning from your sin in committing your life to Jesus again pray this out loud after me Lord Jesus I know I'm a sinner but you died on the cross for my sin and paid the price for every wrong I have ever done I turn from that sin now and I choose to follow you Jesus from this moment forward thank you for loving me and calling me and forgiving me in Jesus name I pray amen you

Channel: Pastor Greg Laurie

Views: 26,055

Rating: 4.7624702 out of 5

Keywords: harvest greg laurie, church, revelation, end times, prophecy, live, Christ, ready, prayer, angel, vision, John, demon, temptation, idol, fragrance of life, persecution, gospel, cologne

Id: 0RMGJsjREf8

Length: 51min 57sec (3117 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 22 2012