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The Final Seven Super Bowls Msg 415 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: In the 16th chapter of the book of Revelation, we
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  Speaker 1: have some of the most serious words recorded in all
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  Speaker 1: the book, for that matter, in all the scriptures. We
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  Speaker 1: reach the climax of our study these days. In the
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  Speaker 1: last section of the Revelation, we're going to be hearing
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  Speaker 1: and reading of some phenomenal scenes. In your worship folder,
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  Speaker 1: you will find not only an outline, but on the
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  Speaker 1: opposite side, a chart of the judgments that are yet future.
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  Speaker 1: And we will return to these next week, lest you
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  Speaker 1: think we've just raced over them today. We'll get sort
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  Speaker 1: of an overview today, and we'll look more in depth
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  Speaker 1: next time. Let me read several sections of Revelation 16
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  Speaker 1: before we pray together. Have this offering in the morning.
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  Speaker 1: Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying
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  Speaker 1: to the seven angels, go and pour out on the
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  Speaker 1: earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God. So
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  Speaker 1: the first angel went and poured out his bowl on
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  Speaker 1: the earth. It became a loathsome and malignant sore on
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  Speaker 1: the people who had the mark of the beast, who
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  Speaker 1: had worshipped his image. The second angel poured out his
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  Speaker 1: bowl into the sea. And it became blood like that
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  Speaker 1: of a dead man. And every living thing in the
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  Speaker 1: sea died. Then the third angel poured out his bowl
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  Speaker 1: into the rivers and the springs of waters. And they
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  Speaker 1: became blood. Verse 8. The fourth angel poured out his
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  Speaker 1: bowl upon the sun. And it was given life. It
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  Speaker 1: was given to it to scorch men with fire. Men
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  Speaker 1: were scorched with fierce heat and they blasphemed the name
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  Speaker 1: of God who has the power over these plagues and
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  Speaker 1: they did not repent so as to give him glory.
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  Speaker 1: Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the
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  Speaker 1: throne of the beast and his kingdom became darkened. and
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  Speaker 1: they gnawed their tongues because of pain. And they blasphemed
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  Speaker 1: the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores,
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  Speaker 1: and they did not repent of their deeds. The sixth
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  Speaker 1: angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates,
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  Speaker 1: and its water was dried up so that the way
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  Speaker 1: would be prepared for the king's Verse 16, And they
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  Speaker 1: gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is
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  Speaker 1: called Har-Magedon. Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl
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  Speaker 1: upon the air, and a loud voice came out of
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  Speaker 1: the temple from the throne, saying, It is done. And
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  Speaker 1: there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder.
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  Speaker 1: And there was a great earthquake. Such as there had
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  Speaker 1: not been since man came to be upon the earth.
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  Speaker 1: So great an earthquake was it. And so mighty. Verse 20.
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  Speaker 1: And every island fled away. And the mountains were not found.
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  Speaker 1: And huge hailstones. About 100 pounds each. came down from
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  Speaker 1: heaven upon men, and men blasphemed God because of the
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  Speaker 1: plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe.
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  Speaker 1: May we bow together? While others choose to blaspheme our Father,
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  Speaker 1: we Choose to worship. We worship you. We bow before you.
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  Speaker 1: We give you our songs of praise. Because you are
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  Speaker 1: worthy of worship. You are worthy of praise. There is
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  Speaker 1: none other like you. No other with such power and authority.
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  Speaker 1: No other with the right to rule over us. There
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  Speaker 1: is none other worthy of our adoration and eternal devotion.
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  Speaker 1: There is none other we are to praise or to revere.
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  Speaker 1: You alone, our great God. And your Son, Jesus, whom
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  Speaker 1: we heard today to be the sole authority over the
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  Speaker 1: heavens and For of him and through him and to
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  Speaker 1: him are all things. And for this reason, our Father,
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  Speaker 1: we willingly and joyfully bow before you as our great
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  Speaker 1: God and our sovereign master. We would submit to you
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  Speaker 1: under your mighty hand. And we would trust you with
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  Speaker 1: whatever may be the outcome of our lives, be it
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  Speaker 1: our choice or some other. We will say and we
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  Speaker 1: do say it is well with our souls. And with
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  Speaker 1: that in mind, our Father, we give out of the
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  Speaker 1: abundance of what you have entrusted to us. We do
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  Speaker 1: so joyfully and generously because you are worthy. of such gifts,
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  Speaker 1: worthy of worship and of praise. In the name of
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  Speaker 1: your Son, we pray and we give. And everyone said, Amen.
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  Speaker 1: It seems such a quiet and peaceful morning. It was
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  Speaker 1: just unusually warm that February 1st of 2003. Great time
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  Speaker 1: to wash both vehicles and sort of prepare since it
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  Speaker 1: was Saturday for my message the next morning. I love
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  Speaker 1: warm kind of February mornings where you can wash your
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  Speaker 1: car and think through what's coming the next day on Sunday.
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  Speaker 1: While I was in the middle of doing my truck,
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  Speaker 1: I heard this boom like that. And I immediately thought
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  Speaker 1: there has to have been a major accident. over on
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  Speaker 1: the intersection about two or three blocks from where we live,
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  Speaker 1: it was almost a concussion sound. I thought maybe a
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  Speaker 1: large truck or a couple of them had collided. I
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  Speaker 1: stopped and frowned and didn't hear any sirens for the
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  Speaker 1: next several minutes and thought, well, maybe it wasn't as
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  Speaker 1: bad as I thought or maybe it was farther away
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  Speaker 1: than I thought. I had no idea that a disaster
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  Speaker 1: had occurred miles above me as the space shuttle Columbia
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  Speaker 1: was disintegrating across North Texas. Remarkable, isn't it, that it
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  Speaker 1: can be so peaceful and calm where we are and
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  Speaker 1: we don't even know that disaster is approaching. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: it had started thousands of miles earlier before the impact
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  Speaker 1: could be heard or the sound of that disintegration could
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  Speaker 1: be heard above our heads. It sort of changed the
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  Speaker 1: whole direction of NASA and certainly changed the lives of
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  Speaker 1: seven families awaiting the arrival of their loved ones. What
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  Speaker 1: had been anticipated as the beginning of another great day
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  Speaker 1: for us turned out to be tragedy. The unfolding of
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  Speaker 1: a tragedy. It may have been a calm day when
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  Speaker 1: Jesus was with his own on the slopes of Mount Olive,
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  Speaker 1: the Mount of Olives. He talked to them about things
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  Speaker 1: that were yet future, and they may have wondered why
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  Speaker 1: in the world he was addressing this. Life was pretty sane.
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  Speaker 1: They were on their way to kingdom living, they thought.
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  Speaker 1: Surely it will be now, as it always has been,
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  Speaker 1: sort of peaceful, and Jesus will take over the throne
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  Speaker 1: he so rightly deserves to occupy. And he stopped them
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  Speaker 1: up short with words that were colorful, And they wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: forget them. He talked to them about a thief coming
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  Speaker 1: and not announcing his coming, of course, and catching people
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  Speaker 1: off guard. And as a result, of his being there
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  Speaker 1: these enormous cataclysmic changes would occur you wonder if it
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  Speaker 1: was a quiet afternoon in Corinth about the middle of
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  Speaker 1: the first century when a man named Paul picked up
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  Speaker 1: his stylus and began to write a letter to his
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  Speaker 1: friends up in Thessalonica And in the process of writing them,
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  Speaker 1: he reminded them that even though times look calm and
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  Speaker 1: peaceful and easygoing, quite the contrary may be on the horizon.
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  Speaker 1: He said to them, you yourselves know full well that
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  Speaker 1: the day of the Lord will come just like a
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  Speaker 1: thief in the night. While others are saying peace and safety,
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  Speaker 1: then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains
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  Speaker 1: upon a woman with a child. And they will not escape.
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  Speaker 1: Eugene Peterson has done a masterful job of paraphrasing that
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  Speaker 1: statement I just read to you. The master's coming cannot
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  Speaker 1: be posted on our calendars. He won't call ahead and
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  Speaker 1: make an appointment any more than a burglar would. It
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  Speaker 1: was 15 years after Paul wrote what he did that
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  Speaker 1: a man who had heard Jesus on the slopes of Olives,
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  Speaker 1: the Mount of Olives, wrote about the same thing and used, interestingly,
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  Speaker 1: the same word picture of a thief. Peter wrote in
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  Speaker 1: 2 Peter 3.10, the day of the Lord will come
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  Speaker 1: like a thief. Listen to this. in which the heavens
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  Speaker 1: will pass away with a roar, and the elements will
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  Speaker 1: be destroyed with intense, tremendous heat, and the earth and
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  Speaker 1: its works will be burned up. It will all be taken.
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  Speaker 1: What Jesus talked about, what Paul wrote about, and what
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  Speaker 1: Peter reminded his friends about, shortly before his martyrdom in Rome,
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  Speaker 1: John saw in an almost supernatural dress rehearsal in a
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  Speaker 1: book we know today as the Apocalypse. We know it
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  Speaker 1: as the Revelation. But it's the original term that means,
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  Speaker 1: or is translated, the Apocalypse, really transliterate. I checked Webster's
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  Speaker 1: for the meaning of apocalypse. I was amazed to find
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  Speaker 1: this definition. The expectation of an imminent cosmic cataclysm in
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  Speaker 1: which God destroys the ruling powers of evil and raises
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  Speaker 1: the righteous to life in a messianic kingdom. Like it
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  Speaker 1: came out of the classroom at Dallas Seminary. Except just
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  Speaker 1: before it, it refers to it as a myth. No myth.
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  Speaker 1: No lie. If it's a lie, it's the first time
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  Speaker 1: God's lied to us in his word. It's a blatant lie.
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  Speaker 1: And it ruins his character and, of course, fouls up
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  Speaker 1: everything if he suddenly decides to lie to us about
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  Speaker 1: all of this. So be careful. I know, I know,
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  Speaker 1: it's easy to get cynical because you're around cynical people.
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  Speaker 1: It's part of the 21st century. I know. Just be
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  Speaker 1: careful what you just discount in order to get along
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  Speaker 1: with the majority. When it comes to the book, you
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  Speaker 1: better believe it. Because we do, we've decided to make
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  Speaker 1: a study of it and we've gotten to the 16th
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  Speaker 1: chapter of the Revelation and Now we got a fish
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  Speaker 1: or cut bait. It's no more. Isn't that going to
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  Speaker 1: be an interesting time? Or my, my, look at that.
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  Speaker 1: We're talking thief in the night kind of suddenness. And
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  Speaker 1: we're talking conflagration like nothing ever seen before. But let
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  Speaker 1: me reassure you, if you know the Lord Jesus, hear
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  Speaker 1: me well. You and I will be taken up from
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  Speaker 1: this earth prior to all of these events. You and
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  Speaker 1: I will know the presence of the Lord and the
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  Speaker 1: joy of reunion with our now dead believing friends, partners,
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  Speaker 1: family members, forefathers, mothers. We'll be with the Lord and
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  Speaker 1: forever enjoying his presence, but this earth will continue to
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  Speaker 1: roll its course for a period of years during which
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  Speaker 1: time all hell breaks loose. On your outline, you will
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  Speaker 1: see on the other side a chart that sort of
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  Speaker 1: unfolds the judgments. The seal judgments come first in the
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  Speaker 1: chapters 6 through 8, 5 of Revelation, followed by the
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  Speaker 1: trumpet judgments, chapters 8, 6 through 9, 21. And then
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  Speaker 1: now we've come to the bold judgments. judgments. Couldn't pass
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  Speaker 1: it up. Seven super bowls. I mean, it had to be.
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  Speaker 1: It's ordained. But these are judgment bowls and these aren't
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  Speaker 1: like big mixing bowls. These aren't like enormous building size containers.
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  Speaker 1: These are little shallow saucer bowls, the term means. And
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  Speaker 1: it's the idea of splashing them out. And each avenging
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  Speaker 1: angel who carries another of the seven judgments carries with
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  Speaker 1: him this bowl containing a different kind of judgment. Each
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  Speaker 1: one of them is unique. Each one of them going
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  Speaker 1: to a different destination, which we're going to point out
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  Speaker 1: in just a second. First, a couple of comments that
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  Speaker 1: may help set the stage. There won't be one judgment,
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  Speaker 1: there will be many. Giving ample opportunity for repentance. Some
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  Speaker 1: people have the idea there will be one final judgment
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  Speaker 1: and then whoosh, everything changes and we Step into the kingdom. Nope.
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  Speaker 1: There will be 21 of them. Three sets of seven. And.
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  Speaker 1: Some of them cross over. And some of them are at.
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  Speaker 1: Near the if not the same times. But nevertheless they
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  Speaker 1: are revealed as. 21 of them. And we're in the
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  Speaker 1: last seven here. Except for the very last few. Which
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  Speaker 1: we'll talk about in a moment. People are given an opportunity.
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  Speaker 1: An opportunity to repent. I mean. What better reason? Life's
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  Speaker 1: coming apart at the seams. God means business. You're only temporal.
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  Speaker 1: Your soul is eternal. You're going to give an account
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  Speaker 1: for that. Turn to the Lord Jesus. Turn to him.
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  Speaker 1: Don't be a fool. So it's ample opportunity for repentance.
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  Speaker 1: Many will trust Christ during this future time. Most won't.
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  Speaker 1: So they will be the objects of this severe time.
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  Speaker 1: Second thought, second comment. The judgments will not become less
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  Speaker 1: intense but more. Culminating at Armageddon. You've all read about,
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  Speaker 1: you've heard about, you've maybe even fantasized. Armageddon, it is
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  Speaker 1: named in this chapter and we'll spend a little more
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  Speaker 1: time next time in the details of it. But for today,
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  Speaker 1: let's try to work our way through these seven Super
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  Speaker 1: judgment bowls that are poured out. Got your pencil handy?
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  Speaker 1: Let me show you a couple of things, three things,
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  Speaker 1: four things, seven things you can mark. Verse 2. So
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  Speaker 1: the first angel went and poured out his bowl on
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  Speaker 1: the earth. Mark that. First one's on the earth. Verse 3.
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  Speaker 1: Into the sea. Mark that. Different from the first. Second
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  Speaker 1: judgment is poured out into the sea. Third judgment. Verse 4,
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  Speaker 1: into the rivers and the stream are the springs of water.
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  Speaker 1: So the sea in verse 3 are the salt bodies
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  Speaker 1: of water and the fresh bodies of water, verse 4
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  Speaker 1: through 7. Verse 8, upon the sun, the fourth avenging
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  Speaker 1: angel pours out his judgment. Verse 10, on the throne
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  Speaker 1: of the beast, the fifth judgment is poured out. On
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  Speaker 1: the throne and his kingdom. Number six is in verse 12.
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  Speaker 1: Where the Euphrates is the object. And so it's the
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  Speaker 1: great river. This judgment is poured out on. And number seven.
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  Speaker 1: It's in the air. The atmosphere. That's in verse 17.
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  Speaker 1: Upon the air. Quite a scene here. As time passes.
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  Speaker 1: There is a building. Of God's. Patience. As it finally
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  Speaker 1: runs its course. And then he is unleashing. His righteous. Justice.
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  Speaker 1: Upon unbelieving humanity. It's called his wrath. And if your
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  Speaker 1: God is only a God of love, you've gotten shortchanged.
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  Speaker 1: It isn't the God of the Bible. The real God
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  Speaker 1: of the scriptures is a God of love and goodness
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  Speaker 1: and grace and long-suffering and gentleness. He's also a God
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  Speaker 1: of justice, a God of wrath, a God who plays
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  Speaker 1: no favorites. The only difference, the line of demarcation comes
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  Speaker 1: at the cross. If you know the Lord Jesus, you're
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  Speaker 1: in the family of God. If you do not, you
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  Speaker 1: are not in the family of God, no matter how
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  Speaker 1: religious or sincere or kind or moral or gracious or
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  Speaker 1: mature you may have become. Without Christ, you're not in
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  Speaker 1: the family of God. And when you get to chapter 16,
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  Speaker 1: you see some of the results of that, ultimately. Now,
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  Speaker 1: let's look at the first. John says, I heard a
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  Speaker 1: loud voice from the temple saying, saying to the seven angels,
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  Speaker 1: go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls
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  Speaker 1: of the wrath of God. Summary statement now to be
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  Speaker 1: explained in the next 20 verses. These seven angels are
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  Speaker 1: sent from the temple and John witnesses it as the
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  Speaker 1: first angel arrives with his saucer-like bowl to pour it out.
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  Speaker 1: First angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth.
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  Speaker 1: And what happened? It became, the it is a judgment itself,
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  Speaker 1: the judgment resulted in a loathsome and malignant sore on
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  Speaker 1: the people who had the mark of the beast who
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  Speaker 1: worshipped his image. Now, right about now, some are going, whoa,
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  Speaker 1: wait a minute. What are you talking about? Well, over
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  Speaker 1: in chapter 13, these people are described as following this
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  Speaker 1: beast-like individual, who is otherwise known as Antichrist, and they
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  Speaker 1: are given a mark on their hand and or their forehead,
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  Speaker 1: and it will be like a credit card, maybe a tattoo,
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  Speaker 1: maybe a laser mark, nobody knows for sure, but it's
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  Speaker 1: called a mark, and it's the mark of the beast,
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  Speaker 1: just as it would be for us, the credit card
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  Speaker 1: of the company. This is the mark of the authority,
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  Speaker 1: the one who is in charge of Of the economy
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  Speaker 1: of the world at that time. So this particular first judgment.
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  Speaker 1: Is targeted like a divine smart bomb. If you will
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  Speaker 1: allow me. Upon those who are bearing the mark. So
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  Speaker 1: those who are believers. And are paying a dreadful price
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  Speaker 1: for it. Many of them their lives. Will not be
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  Speaker 1: touched by the first judgment. But these people will. And
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  Speaker 1: what will it be? A loathsome and malignant sore. On
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  Speaker 1: those who have the mark. The Greek word translated sore.
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  Speaker 1: Is the English word from which we. Is the Latin term.
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  Speaker 1: Is the counterpart of the Latin term. From which we
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  Speaker 1: get our word ulcer. These are skin ulcers that erupt.
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  Speaker 1: As an inflamed oozing painful sore. It's used of the
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  Speaker 1: Egyptians when the plague happened to them. It's used of
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  Speaker 1: Job also. When his body is covered with these skin ulcers,
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  Speaker 1: it's used of Lazarus, who is the beggar and pleading
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  Speaker 1: for relief, who is marked by these sores. John Phillips,
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  Speaker 1: a fine work on Revelation titled Exploring Revelation, describes it.
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  Speaker 1: What happens first is most fitting. Men had been well-worn.
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  Speaker 1: what would happen if they accepted the slave brand of
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  Speaker 1: the beast, that ceaseless torment would be theirs and that
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  Speaker 1: they would not be able to rest day or night.
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  Speaker 1: Who can rest when tormented by a great, festering, painful sore? There,
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  Speaker 1: on the right hand, a horrible, putrefying, incurable cancer. There,
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  Speaker 1: on the face, a loathsome, disfiguring, agonizing blot. humanity will
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  Speaker 1: become horrible to look upon, and the pains will never end.
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  Speaker 1: Reminds me, these are cumulative judgments. One doesn't start and
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  Speaker 1: stop before the next one begins. They continue. One continues
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  Speaker 1: on through two. One and two continue through three. One
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  Speaker 1: through four continue through five, and all seven reach their
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  Speaker 1: peak at the seventh. So that's the first. The second
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  Speaker 1: judgment is in verse 3. The second angel poured out
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  Speaker 1: his bowl into the sea, and it became blood like
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  Speaker 1: that of a dead man, and every living thing in
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  Speaker 1: the sea died. Not merely blood, but blood like in
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  Speaker 1: a dead person. A rotting and putrefying image comes to mind.
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  Speaker 1: The entire population of marine life ends. Include in this
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  Speaker 1: middle picture the stench of multiple billions of marine life decaying,
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  Speaker 1: washing ashore in this catastrophe as the oceans around the
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  Speaker 1: world become thick, dark, coagulated swamps with blood-like fluid. Dr.
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  Speaker 1: Henry Morris writes, in this toxic ocean, nothing can survive.
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  Speaker 1: And soon, all the billions of fishes and marine mammals
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  Speaker 1: and marine reptiles and the innumerable varieties of marine invertebrates
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  Speaker 1: will perish, contaminating the seashores of the world. As God
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  Speaker 1: had created every living being in the waters, Genesis 1.21,
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  Speaker 1: so now every living being died in the sea. It's
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  Speaker 1: beyond our ability to grasp. Every time I look again
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  Speaker 1: into my National Geographic magazines and they go below the
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  Speaker 1: surface of the water and I see again forms of
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  Speaker 1: life I never knew existed, I'm reminded of just how many,
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: how many, multiples. Millions of species there are. All of it.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: Every living thing will die in the sea. So much
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: for a great day at the beach, huh? Verse 4
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: tells us of the third judgment down through verse 7.
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: Now it gets a little closer to home. We've got sores,
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: malignant sores on face and hands. We've got the sea
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: turned into this horrible swamp. Now we have the fresh
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: water becoming toxic. The third angel poured his bowl into
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: the rivers and springs of waters and they became blood.
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: I take it blood like the other. I heard the
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: angel of the water saying, watch closely, righteous are you
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: who are and who were a holy one because you
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: judge these things. Why would the angel say that? This
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: angel who has been an observer of life on this
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: earth over a period of history. Angels are timeless and ageless,
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: so he's been in existence throughout it, having been created
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: in eternity past before there ever was matter or earth.
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: Now says in spontaneous response, righteous are you, O holy one,
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: who are, who is, who were, who is God. Righteous
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: are you to do this judging. Look at the next verse.
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: Here's why. For they, meaning those people, those same individuals
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: now plagued, poured out the blood of saints and prophets,
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: and you have given them blood to drink. They deserved it.
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: That's not the word of some wild-eyed, fundamentalistic preacher. That's
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: the word of an observing angel who sees it all
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: and says it's right. It's deserved. These who have slain
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: the righteous, the graves of the martyrs, filling the landscape
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: in places, now, now get their just dessert. Notice the
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: response from heaven. The voice isn't identified, but we're told
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: where we read, I heard the altar saying, yes, yes.
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments.
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: That is always true. God takes no delight in it.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: Remember the line out of 2 Peter? He is not
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: wishing that any should perish, but that all should come
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: to repentance. It doesn't make the God of heaven sit
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: back and roar with laughter as though he is some
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: cruel despot swinging a club of brutality against humanity. That's
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: not the God of the scriptures. This is the true
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: and righteous sovereign Lord our God. Who has for centuries
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: patiently awaited the response of humanity to his offer of salvation.
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: Graciously offering it. Patiently with great long suffering. And now
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: the angel says it's right. It's time. Finally. Um, sometime
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: we parents go through moments like this, don't we? You know,
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: you can act like you don't, but I'm going to
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: confess for you. Uh, you sit on it and you
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: patiently hold back, you wait. And then one day when
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: your little one misbehaves, something goes off inside, just something.
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: it goes, that's the fuse. It's really burning now. And
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: suddenly you get the attention. I'm not going to go
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: any further with how you do it, but you get
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: the attention of your eight-year-old or your nine-year-old, and you say,
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: in effect, that is enough. And you know what? The
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: brothers and sisters who have kind of watched this, not
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: only are they grateful they're not the eight or nine
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: year old, they are thinking, you know what? That's right.
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: You have a sick sense of humor right now. It's
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: not meant to be funny. You've observed it all along
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: and you're thinking, how come he doesn't do something? I
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: was in a post office yesterday. I was busy with
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: people on the 31st of the month, you know, and
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: getting the last stuff in the deadline. And So everybody
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: was kind of on edge. And one lady had two
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: boys who were just maddening. And I watched as I
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: walked out, just as they were walking out. And she
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: was walking ahead of them like, I don't know that
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: they're even going to get in the same car with me.
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: And they were just picking, picking. And so one of
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: them says, he bit me. And I'm thinking... This is
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: going to be an interesting sight, so I'm standing watch.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: He says, bite him back. You know why? You know
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: what happened? Boom. It was right. So he did. It
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: was a great moment. I was so grateful we didn't
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: have little kids then. I just thought, that is so good.
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: God bless you, lady. Stay at it. It is right.
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: Imagine you've got now all the oceans ruined, you've got
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: the fresh water system and supply toxic, and you've got
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: your own body covered with these painful ulcers. And now
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: of all things, verse 8 introduces darkness. The fourth angel
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: poured out his bowl upon the sun. I don't know
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: how that's going to happen. No one knows. But instead
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: of Covering over the darkness comes later. This is a
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: scorching one. Instead of covering over the sun, as it
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: will later, this is releasing the rays so that there
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: is a scorching effect. Look at how it reads. It
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: was given to it, that's the sun, to scorch men
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: with fire. So the blisters, the sunburn, and the misery
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: that follows that scorching experience. Men were scorched. Now you'd think,
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: after the sores, after the water in the ocean, after
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: the supply of fresh water is ruined, after the fierce
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: heat from the sun, you'd think, you'd think the vast
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: majority of humanity would say, help, we are sorry, we repent.
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: Verse 9 says, And they blaspheme the name of God
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: who has the power over the plagues and they did
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: not repent so as to give him glory. You'll read
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: of that again and yet again. Don't ever doubt that
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: the human heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Don't ever
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: doubt that. Classic example, when at wit's end, in the
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: midst of the worst kind of trials, judgments, they are
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: still standing with clenched hands. Teeth and fists. As if
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: to say, how dare you do that? The fifth angel
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: comes now with his bowl of darkness against the throne
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: of the beast. And he comes after humanity with a
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: whole other take on this. Some are teaching this is
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: the actual throne or the room where he sat. I
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: think it's broader than that. Some say it has to
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: do with the city where he ruled, and it's brought
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: in that because the verse goes on to say his
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: kingdom became darkened. So the throne would be the area
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: over which he is serving as the authority of the earth.
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: And what does it say? It says they became darkened,
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: and they gnawed their tongues because of pain. Ma-o, M-A-O,
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: is the Greek verb. The only time it appears in
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: the New Testament is here. And it means to knead
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: as if you were making bread. It's the gnawing, the chewing.
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: It's an imperfect tense which suggests continuing action. It goes
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: on and on and on and on and on. Like
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: a person in dreadful misery and there's no medication to
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: relieve the pain. You begin to gnaw at your own tongue.
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: The darkness. Look at verse 11. And they blasphemed the
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: God of heaven because of their pains and their sores.
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: They did not repent of their deeds. How dark was it?
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: We've got a similar setting in Exodus chapter 9 or 10.
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: Go back in the Bible, second book of your Bible,
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: chapter 10. We'll find the plagues that happened under Moses'
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: leadership trying to get Pharaoh to release the Hebrews from bondage.
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: Remember the setting, many of you? Exodus 10 covers the
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: ninth plague. There were ten in all. Chapter 11 goes
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: to the last one. But look at chapter 9, I'm sorry,
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: chapter 10, verse 21. Exodus 10, 21. Then the Lord
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: said to Moses, stretch out your hand toward the sky,
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt.
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: even a darkness which may be felt. How dark is that?
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: There have been words so dark you could feel it.
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: We call it thick darkness as the next verse does.
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky and there
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: was thick darkness. In all the land of Egypt for
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: three days, they did not see one another, nor did
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: anyone rise from his place for three days. But all
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: the sons of Israel had light in their dwelling So
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: we have the Hebrews who still have torches and still
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: have their light available, but the Egyptians are in thick darkness.
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: There's an old drama called God's Trombone. I've mentioned it before.
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: And the narrator in the midst is describing how dark
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: it is. He says it's as dark as a thousand
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: midnights in a cypress swamp. The only time I've been
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: in a place that dark was in the deep bowels
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: of the Carlsbad Cavern. As a teenager, my dad had
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: taken us there as a family. And when it got dark,
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: my thought was, now's my chance. Either to shove my
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: sister over one of those things or... You know, I
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: couldn't see. I couldn't see. I did this. I put
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: my palm of my hand right to the point of
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: touching my nose. I could feel the heat of my hand.
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: It's felt darkness, thick darkness. But I couldn't see. My
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: fingers are the outline of my hand. It was that dark.
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: I couldn't tell where directions were. And the darkness falls
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: upon these people. It's maddening. It's not just a breakdown
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: of the electrical system. It is darkness day and night.
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: But that's not enough to break them. The sixth angel comes.
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: Now it gets complicated. That's why we need to come
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: back to this section because this needs further explanation. But
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: allow me to take a swipe at this so that
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: maybe it'll help clarify. Okay. The sixth angel poured out
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates. Now stop.
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: Because we don't live in the Middle East, we're not
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: familiar with our geography. I won't have you turn to
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: your maps. We won't take time for that right now,
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: though next time we will. You remember from Joshua when
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: the Lord gave the new leader, Joshua, at Moses' death,
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: the boundaries for the the Canaan, land of Canaan that
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: the Israelites would occupy. He gave them the eastern boundary
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: of the Euphrates River called the Great River, one of
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: the ancient rivers in all of time. It is the
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: easternmost boundary. When you move from east to west, you
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: move into toward the land of the Jews, as it
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: will be then. They're going to make their way into
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: the land of Israel. The kings are not identified, but
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: we read that the great river, the Euphrates, and its
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: water was dried up. Remember, there has been a melting
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: of the polar ice caps, so that has raised the
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: level of the oceans that has certainly created madness in
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: the streams and rivers. And the bridges by now are
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: being destroyed, the movement of all of this current and water.
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: All of the mess that has come to the coastal
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: cities as a result of the dead sea life. Now
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: we have a river suddenly drying up. It's blood like
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: waters are now dried up. Someone said to me and
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: I haven't checked this out but I want to this
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: week that there is on this today that in Turkey
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: there is a switch that can be thrown that will
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: dry up the Euphrates. That makes for great preaching. May
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: not be true but It may be. I'm going to
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: do a little research on that to see if it
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: is true. But the point being, we don't need a switch.
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: We've got the Lord God who puts it all together.
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: I'm at times weary of all these human explanations that
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: this can happen because of that. And we still call
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: it a miracle. If you can explain it, it isn't
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: a miracle. These are supernatural events that defy explanation. How
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: do you blot out the sun? How do you change
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: the rays of the sun so that there's a scorching
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: effect rather than a warm and the benefits of energy
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: from the sun? It's supernatural. It's inexplainable. It's the work
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: of the creator who is in charge. He is the
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: stage manager, if you will. He is the director of
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: these events yet future, and he is calling the shots.
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: So the desire is to move these armies that seem
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: to be coming back to defend the beast whose authority
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: is now being shaken because of the events that have transpired.
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: These kings are moving from the east across the now
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: dried up river Euphrates. Verse 13, watch closely. I saw
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: coming out of the mouth of the dragon. You know
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: that's Satan. He's identified as the dragon earlier in the book.
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: And out of the mouth of the beast... and out
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: of the mouth of a false prophet. So we have
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: the power behind the throne. We have the economic power.
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: We have the religious power. We have three demons, three
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: unclean spirits that come out of them like frogs. I
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: don't know why they're like frogs. I don't know the
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: significance of that, and we'll keep thinking on that to
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: see if it But what is important is what they are.
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: They are, verse 14, the spirits of demons. What are
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: they doing? Well, they're doing what demons do. They are
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: performing miracles which go out to the kings of the
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: whole world to gather them together for the war of
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: the great day of God, the Almighty. Next verse. In
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: the 16th verses, they gathered together to the place which
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: Hebrew calls Har-Magedon, Armageddon. One fine expositor describes it this way.
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: God's drying up of the Euphrates is not an act
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: of kindness toward the kings from the east, but one
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: of judgment. They and their armies are entering a deadly trap.
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: The evaporation of the Euphrates will lead them to their doom.
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: just as the parting of the Red Sea led to
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: the destruction of the Egyptian army. Why they will make
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: the daunting journey that will take them to their doom
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: through the drought, scorching heat, darkness, and their painful sores
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: is stated in verses 13 and 14. You see what
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: we have just read. Whatever the human motives of this
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: invasion force, whether political rebellion or rabid anti-Semitism, the real
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: reason behind their advance toward Palestine soon becomes evident in
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: a grotesque vision like something out of a horror movie.
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: John saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon,
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: out of the mouth of the beast, out of the
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: mouth of the prophet, three unclean spirits. This graphic, revolting,
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: and disgusting illustration pictures the slimy, cold-blooded vileness of the
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: demons who seduced the kings from the east and into
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: making the difficult journey to their doom at Armageddon under
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: their deluding influence. We will get there next time, but
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: don't think of Armageddon as going on and on and
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: on and on for weeks and weeks. It's actually a
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: rather sudden and decisive victory. It's a slaughter of humanity.
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: As the Son of Man returns, we're going to read
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: of it in chapter 19, and he comes, as it were,
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: with a sword in his mouth, meaning he comes with
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: full strength authority and power and will wipe out those
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: who have risen up against him. Anyone who rises up
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: against God loses, and the battle is usually not very long.
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: Now the seventh bowl, verse 17, is poured out upon
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: the air. This one now affects the entire universe. A
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: loud voice came out from the temple from the throne saying, Gegonen,
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: the Greek says. It's a tense of a verb that
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: means it's an action that has happened, but it will
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: have long-lasting results. Same thing is at the cross, where
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: Jesus states, Tetelestai, as he hangs, and it is translated,
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: it is finished. Same tense. It's a pronounced, it's an
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: event that has happened with continuing results. Here it is done.
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: It is done. There will be no more of something
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: like this. This is done. And please observe the unfolding
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: of this seventh. It is horrendous. There were flashes of
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and there was
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: a great earthquake such as there had not been since
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: man came to be upon the earth. So great an
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: earthquake was it and so mighty. Now, you know, if
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: it's that great, there will be a change in the
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: topography of the earth. The whole terrestrial landscape will go
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: through a remarkable change. We read in verse 20, every
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: island fled away and the mountains were not found. And
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: on top of that, there are huge hailstones. A hundred
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: pounds each came down from heaven upon mankind. Do you
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: know that the largest hailstone ever recorded weighed two pounds? Now,
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: I know if you're from West Texas, you've told people
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: they're 20 pounds, but two pounds is the largest on record.
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: These will be 50 times that size. Someone has done
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: the mathematics and found that a stone that large, that's
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: a hailstone, holds about 12 gallons of water, each one.
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: The earthquake will be off the Richter scale. The gentle
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: rolling topography of the world as originally created will be restored.
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: No more will there be great inaccessible, uninhabitable mountain ranges
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: or deserts or ice caps. The physical environment of the
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: millennium will be in large measure a restoration of the
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: pre-flood environment. Though it will be a great benefit to
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: the world's future inhabitants, these terrestrial convulsions will be incredibly
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: fearful to its present inhabitants. Did you know that every
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: number on the Richter scale is 32 times larger than
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: the previous number? For a moment, bear with me. While
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: the earthquakes measured by the Richter scale usually range between
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: 1 and 9, the scale has no upper limit. Each
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: number represents an increase of 32 times the released energy
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: of the previous number, which is why we don't see
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: many higher numbers. If the book of Revelation is to
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: be believed, however, this final earthquake will set a new
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: record as the earth shudders like never before. One writer
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: put it eloquently here, then, is the final global earthquake
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: that undoes planet Earth. His fierce wrath is unfolded and
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: placed on display, and you will read again in verse 21,
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: people blaspheme God because of the plague of the hail,
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: because its plague was extremely severe. You know, I kept
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: thinking as I was working through this, not that easy
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: a message to prepare, I kept thinking, in this next
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: line we're going to read, I'm going to read that
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: they gave in. In this next verse, they're going to say,
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: I surrender. That's enough. Not so. As a matter of fact,
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: I did not take the time now, but I will
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: next time to describe. There's a point where God gives
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: him over. just as he gave them over in Romans
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: 1 to a degrading lifestyle and depraved mind. God gives
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: them over at this point. There's no further opportunity for repentance.
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: It's too far. You've heard of a bridge too far.
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: This is a heart too hard. The good news is
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: that we're not there yet. The good news is all
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: of this is yet future. But before you get smug
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: and complacent and think life will just rock along as
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: you watch the Super Bowl, And to wait for your
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: team to win, you need to remember the meter is running.
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: Remember his analogy? Like a thief in the night. Which
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: brings me to two simple, brief, closing remarks. First, escaping
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: reality is impossible. Escaping reality is impossible. You may love fantasy.
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: You may read this science fiction stuff. You may prefer reality.
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: That kind of film, you may enjoy it. It may
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: even participate in that kind of life. But there is
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: a reality etched with black ink on white pieces of
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: paper called the Bible that you will not be able
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: to escape. It's real. It's true. It's coming. Just as
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: there would come like a thief in the night, the
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: text goes on to say, and they will not escape.
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: So my second comment, postponing repentance is regrettable. You never
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: know when it's your last opportunity. That's not meant to
• 51:50
  Speaker 1: manipulate anybody. It's a fact. For somebody, this next minute
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: will be their last. Not necessarily somebody here, but somebody
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: somewhere will breathe his last. Not all of them will
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: be up in years. Some will be younger. Some will
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: be in their mid-teens. Some will be young adults. Postponing
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: repentance is regrettable. The Lord graciously gives you the opportunity
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: to turn to him, and in full compassion, he awaits
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: for you to reach back. I invite you to do that.
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: Let's bow our heads, please. Just for a few moments,
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: the hour is late. Would you call to mind someone
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: you know who just simply does not know Christ? Someone
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: you know. Maybe someone you work with or someone you
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: have fun with, socialize with. Somebody who lives next door.
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: Perhaps a fellow worker at the shop or at the office.
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: Pray that you might have the opportunity. Just at the
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: right moment to say the right word concerning the Savior.
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: Offer them the gift. Would you seriously consider that individual
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: to be one that you would take with you to
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: see the Passion? Or perhaps buy the ticket for him
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: or her and the mate? Or perhaps go with them?
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: Serious stuff, folks. We don't have forever. Most of us
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: have less time in front of us on this earth
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: than behind us. We're not kidding anybody. We're not going
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: to miss death. Statistics are pretty firm. One in one dies.
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: If you've never met the Lord Jesus personally, this may
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: be your last opportunity to do so. I invite you
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: to come to him today. As you pray for your friend,
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: I'm going to close in prayer. We're back to that thought,
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: our Father, that it is well with our soul. We're
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: grateful that it is. But it isn't well In the
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: soul of our friend. Who's without the Savior. That troubles us.
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: That concerns us enough to make us restless. I pray
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: that you would free us from any fear. Or reluctance.
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: To speak a word in season. Gratiously and tactfully. Yet. Courageously.
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: Open the conversation and talk about Christ. There is no
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: escaping of these events for those who will be left
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: on this earth and our hearts shudder to think that
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: some of our own friends may be among them. Maybe
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: someone here listening. I pray, our Father, that if that's true,
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: that you will create a restlessness and an uneasiness, even
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: a sleepless That results in that individual. Turning to Christ.
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: Thank you for your sovereign hand over us. Remind us
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: in such tumultuous scenes as these. That our God is
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases. May we
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: be reminded that we are the clay. You are the potter.
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: We are the sheep. You are the shepherd. You have
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: the right to rule over us, and may that rulership
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: be pleasing to you as we submit to the hand
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: of the sculptor who does his work within us and
• 56:26
  Speaker 1: through us. In the blessed name of Jesus, King of kings,
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: Lord of lords, we pray. Everyone said. Amen.