The Day of the Lord

Well, we're here on the first day of the seventh month, the Feast of Trumpets. In the seventh month we have four holy days and we see the completion of God's plan. I know you probably discussed much of that this morning. But let me take you back to Sabbath when we talked about the time that was how life was going to be three and a half years before the return of Jesus Christ.

And you'll remember that we talked about world powers that would be on the earth at that time and what a different world it would be than the other day. The power that would be the Beast power is going to be anything but democratic. It's going to be very autocratic. It's going to require people to worship it. And if you don't worship it then you will find it's the economic ire directed at you and that you won't be able to buy or sell. It's a mighty power on earth.

And at the end there also is the power from the east. Three and a half years before Jesus Christ is not a good time in man's history. And by that time you'll recall the nations of Israel will have gone into captivity, America, Britain, a little nation of Israel over there. It'll be a time of great tribulation. And it'll be a horrific time. The Bible says, the Christ Himself says. There hasn't been a time like it and there won't be a time like it again. Today we're going to talk about one year. One year before the return of Jesus Christ. The world has gone through the great tribulation for a few years.

The seals have been opened. The four seals of the forest horsemen. The fifth seal of the great tribulation. The sixth seal, I don't know if you talked about that this morning, but let's turn back to Revelation 6 and just briefly recount it and bear with me if I do a few here in the beginning. If you repeat scriptures from what you may have already read. Back in Revelation 6 we find the sixth seal that's opened. And the seal that's opened there should be a big notice to mankind. They pretty much have gone through seals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. None of them have repented.

The world goes on. The sixth seal should begin to get their attention that God is about to do something on earth and the reign of man and the reign of Satan that certainly will be extant in the world through the beast power that's on the earth at that time is about to end. Let's pick it up in verse 12, Revelation 6, 12. I looked when he opened the sixth seal, and behold there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood.

The stars of heaven fell to the earth as a fig tree dropped its late figs when it was shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it was rolled up and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. I can't explain any of this by natural phenomena. I can't predict the dates on this. We see eclipses and things that go on in the skies, and people can predict and calculate with great accuracy when the next total eclipse will be, where it will be.

This isn't anything that anyone can predict. This is the hand of God that is working. Men will be, and men in the next verses we see, kind of know that it's something different than they've ever seen before, and there is a supernatural hand at work. The kings of the earth, verse 15, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of his wrath has come and who is able to stand?

Who is able to stand when God exacts his vengeance on a world that has rejected him from the beginning of time and that more and more as we live in our lives we see men rejecting God, turning from him, turning things upside down and going exactly the opposite of way in every single aspect of life than what God would have led. And so the sixth seal opens, and people don't even pay attention to that. They want to die, but none of them repent, none of them turn to God.

They're still not listening. Their hearts are so hardened that they just keep going on, maybe thinking that if they just outlast this, things will get back to the way they were before. And when we open chapter 7, we see the seventh. We see the seventh seal, the seven trumpets here that are going to be on the earth here at the end of time. Chapter 7, verse 1, it says, After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the sea, on the earth, or on any tree.

And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and sea, saying, Don't harm the earth, don't harm the sea, don't harm the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. God will protect His people from the horrible, horrible things that will happen to the earth as retribution for what they have done over the course of time.

Let's drop down to chapter 8, because I always enjoy reading chapter 8, and I always take pause when I read it, because something so monumental is going to happen. After six thousand years of man's reign, after six thousand years of this being Satan's world, the day of the Lord is about to begin.

And the seven seals about to open, and even heaven takes a pause, a deep breath. This is what we've been waiting for. This is the time now that's going to finish and complete God's plan so that the next phase can begin. Chapter 8, verse 1. When He opened the seven seals, there was silence in heaven for about a half an hour. Just take it in. This is what we've been waiting for, for the six thousand years of man has been on earth.

And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. And another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints ascended before God from the angel's hand.

Verse 5, the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, and an earthquake. So the seven angels, who had the seven trumpets, prepared themselves to sound. The long-awaited day of the Lord, the time right before the return of Jesus Christ. The day of the Lord is something that has been talked about from the Old Testament on.

The heavens have been waiting for it. The prophets of the Old Testament knew it was coming and prophesied about it. They didn't know when. They didn't understand that there would be a second coming of Jesus Christ. But they looked for that day of the Lord as well. And they knew it was going to be what this day of trumpets pictures, a very tough time on mankind, opening with horrendous things, alarms, and sounds that go off, but ending, but ending in the return of Jesus Christ and the issuance of a new kingdom that will mark joy and peace for eternity for all of mankind.

Let's go back and look at a few Old Testament prophecies that talk about the day of the Lord. Back in Isaiah 13. Isaiah 13. We'll pick it up in verse 6. The prophet, under inspiration from God, writes, Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand. It will come as destruction from the Almighty. All hands will be limp. Every man's heart will melt, and they will be afraid.

Pains and sorrows will take hold of them. They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth. They will be amazed at one another. Their faces will be like flames. The prophet knew the day of the Lord. It's going to be a tough time on earth. It's going to come in really like a lion, but it's not going to end that way.

Going on in verse 9, Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate, and He will destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened and it's going forth, and the moon will not cause its light to shine. God says, I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity.

I will halt the arrogance of the proud, and I will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. And He goes on to recount what that day will be like. A time, a time that is so well-recounted and so well described in the book of Revelation. But the prophets of old knew what that time was going to be like.

Let's go a few chapters forward to Isaiah 30. Now, we perhaps get a hint of how long the Day of the Lord lasts here in Isaiah 30. Isaiah 34, I'm sorry. Isaiah 34 and verse 8. It is the Day of the Lord's vengeance. The year, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion. And so there it says, it's the Day of the Lord's vengeance, the time He exacts His vengeance on the earth, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

So, we commonly teach that the Day of the Lord lasts for a year, the year before Jesus Christ returns. Over in Ezekiel, Ezekiel 30, you'll remember Ezekiel prophesied to the nation of Israel, but it had already been taken captive at that time.

So, the words He spoke in much of Ezekiel were for the future nations of Israel at the end time. But over in Ezekiel 30, verse 3, He talks just a little about the Day of the Lord as well. He tells us something about it as well. At the very end of verse 2 of Ezekiel 30, it says, The time of the Gentiles will be during the Day of the Lord. We talked last Sabbath about how American Britain, who the world looks to today, will no longer be who the world looks to three and a half years before Jesus Christ.

It won't be who the world is looking to one year before Jesus Christ. It will be the time of the Gentiles, the beast power will be extant, the powers from the east, and the news from the east that we read about in Daniel 11. Those will be the powers on earth. We could turn over to Joel 2, but I have a feeling you spent some time in Joel 2 this morning, and you'll remember the descriptive words that are there in Joel 2 about the mighty armies that are coming.

Joel finishes with a thing, it's the Day of the Lord, who can endure it. The question for us is, who can endure it? Well, you and I should be able to endure it. This is our training time now, this is our preparation time now. If we're not doing anything with the Word of God now, we certainly won't endure it.

We certainly won't be protected from it, because now is the time that God has called His people to learn His way, to accept His way, to be led and to be purified by His Holy Spirit, to be training ourselves to trust in God and to rely on Him, and to learn to look to Him first, not to ourselves and what can we do to make things happen, not to our government that that's going to make things happen, not in any case look somewhere else, but always train ourselves to look to God first.

He is the one who delivers, He is the one who provides salvation, He is the one who heals, He is the one who will see us through. Now, while we learn to trust in Him and all the things that confront us in this life, in this life, the training that we have, we will endure it. We will endure it, because we have learned to follow Him and follow Him explicitly. Well, the Day of the Lord, no doubt, a terrible time.

A terrible time, and we'll spend a little bit of time in the seventh trumpet to see the things that God has and the meaning that's behind some of the things that happen with the seven bowls that are painted out. But God doesn't have the end of man in mind.

Do you remember? God's will is not that man dies. God's will is that man would live, that they would repent, that He could give them eternal life. He's not willing that any die. It's man's choice who rejects God. It's man's choice to reject their Creator. And as we will go through some of the things we'll see that despite everything that happens, men still reject God.

It's kind of a scary thing to see how hard-hearted people can be. It makes us realize when it talks in Ezekiel that when God says He will pour out His Spirit on all flesh. I guess it's Jeremiah. He says, I will give you a spirit of heart of flesh, no longer a heart of stone. We'll see hearts of stone among some of the people here as we go through the seventh. But let's go back and look at some of the hope that God has built into this holy day as well.

Certainly there's alarms of war. Certainly there's alarms of gathering, but there are trumpets, trumpets of gladness as well. Let's go back and look at a couple of scriptures we looked at last Sabbath. Back in Daniel 12. Daniel 12, verse 1. You'll remember that Daniel talks about the time, times, and half a time of the great tribulation, a time that has never been and will never be again. Here in chapter 12, verse 1, we'll read the first three verses.

It says, at that time, the time of the end, Michael will stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people, and there will be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. But then there's the hope. Daniel, at that time your people will be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book, and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars, forever and ever. Now, there's a lot that this day pictures. Tumpets, resurrection, the return of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the first fruits, those who have maintained and retained faithfulness to God throughout their lives, who die in the Holy Spirit, who God will raise up and who will then serve in the positions that God has been preparing us for as we live these lives. Those are the wise. Those are the wise who fear God, who have learned to put the wisdom of this world out and to continually put in the wisdom that comes from the Word of God, the wonder-standing that comes from living His commandments and living His way of life and seeing the beauty of them, so that we're able to teach others in the coming millennium that God's way really is the right way.

It really is good. How can we teach that if we're not practicing it in our lives now, if we don't see the benefits of it now, if we don't see the changes in it now? At the Feast of Trumpets, there will be a resurrection of the first fruits. Let's go a few books forward to Obadiah. We talked a little bit in Obadiah on Sabbath.

And at the time of the end of one of the three world powers, the king of the south, the Bible indicates, will be eradicated by the king of the north for what they did to their brother Jacob in the day of his demise, in the day of his trouble. So let's drop down to Obadiah's leading elders chapter, verse 15. We read this verse on Sabbath.

Let's read it again. The day of the Lord upon all the nations is near. Obadiah writes, As you have done, it will be done to you. Your reprisal shall return upon your own head. Edom, you did this, and it's going to be visited upon you. And we'll see in that last trumpet what the Biles, God, will visit upon those offenders the things that they have done to offend the people of God.

Verse 16, For as you drank on my holy mountain, so shall all the nations drink continually. Yes, they shall drink and swallow, and they will be as though they had never been. There's the terrible part, but in verse 17 we see the hope that God has in everything that He does. But on Mount Zion there will be deliverance, and there will be holiness. The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. Verse 21, Saviors shall come to Mount Zion to judge the mountains of Esau, and the kingdom shall be the Lord's.

You will go through these things. The world will go through these things, but Jesus Christ will return. But the first fruits will be resurrected. But there is a time coming that will bring peace and joy to all the world. And you and I have a chance. God has called us to have the chance to be part of that. It's dependent on how we live our lives today.

How we live our lives today. So as we talk about the seventh Trump, before we get into that, we know that one of the things that happens at the seventh Trump we talked about is the resurrection of the first fruits. Let's go back to 1 Corinthians 15, or forward to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15. We'll pick it up in verse 51. Very familiar verses. Verses that give us all hope. We even, I'm sure we all have many of these verses memorized.

1 Corinthians 15, 51, Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. We won't all die. Some of us will be alive. Or someone will be alive when Jesus Christ returns. But we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.

For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. Those that have died in Christ, the first fruits the Bible calls them, will be resurrected at the time of the seventh trump. They will be resurrected to work under Christ, to become kings and priests in the millennium, working with those who live on over into the millennium. You can never lose sight of the fact that that's why we're alive now. That's what God has prepared for us now.

We go about our daily lives. We do our jobs. We do our schools. We do our neighborhood things. We do the activities of daily living. They're all important, and we should do them all very well, to the best of our ability, with complete integrity. But we should never lose sight of the fact that what God really is working in us is that He is preparing us to be kings and priests. And if we don't keep that in the forefront of our mind, if we're not making choices along the way, and when choices come and we have to choose, will I do this or will I do that, we'd better be choosing.

If we want to be there in that first resurrection and when the southern trumpet sounds, we'd better be choosing God and thinking about it and at least pausing and saying, I need to do what God says. And deny self, deny family, deny comfort, whatever it is, to choose what God said and to follow what He said.

That's the people that He is looking for. Back in 1 Thessalonians, Paul writes a similar verse and adds a little bit to it about the resurrection. That will occur at the last trump, 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 13. He writes, I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep. I want you to know about those who have died.

I don't want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. Always sorrow whenever someone dies. But the difference is we have hope. We know that whether it be in the first resurrection or the second resurrection, they will live again. They will live again. For if we believe, verse 14, that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. Those firstfruits, those who died in the Spirit, those who responded with the call of God, repented, truly repented, were baptized, received the Holy Spirit, and let the Holy Spirit lead them.

They will. God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means proceed those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord.

He paints the picture of what's going to happen at that last trump this day that we are celebrating and observing today. That has such a range of emotions and such a range of activities going on between the warfare and the punishments from God, and also the hope that's built into this day and the days of gladness that it talks about back in Numbers 10.1-10 when it speaks of the purposes for the sounding of the trumpet. Let's go back to Revelation. Let's go back to Revelation and see the seventh trump.

I know that you spoke about the first six trumpets this morning, so let's go over to chapter 10. I'm going to read through most of the verses in chapter 10. There are just some things you read that you don't even need to add to. What God inspired John to write here is so descriptive. I also have a few comments along the way, but I'll pretty much read what's here in chapter 10. Chapter 10, I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud.

And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. He had a little book open in his hand, and he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. And he cried with a loud voice as when a lion roars. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. Now, when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven saying to – this is John writing – me – seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered and do not write them.

Now, if you go online, you will find where some people speculate what those seven thunders were. Don't believe them. No one knows. There's a reason that God said, don't write them down. Now, there will come a time when we know – I don't know if it will be before Jesus Christ returns or after He returns, but at some point in time we'll know what those seven thunders uttered, but we don't know today.

It's one of the things that God has reserved for Himself to reveal whenever He chooses. Verse 5, The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land, raised up his hand to heaven, and swore by him who lived forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer. The world has been through six trumpets. You remember a third of the grass was burned up, a third of the waters turned to blood, a third of mankind was killed.

They didn't pay attention. They didn't repent. They didn't turn to God. God was giving out the warning signs. He was sounding the trumpets loud and clear. The world wasn't listening. They kept on going. And now it says, there won't be any delay. Let's finish the job. The world isn't listening. Mankind isn't listening. Now it's time for the job to be done. Matthew 7, in the days of the founding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished as he declared to his servants the prophets.

The mystery of God, the reason that he created the earth in the first place, the reason that he created mankind, you and I know it, the world has no idea why they're there. Years ago, Mr. Armstrong would talk about why were you born, and people didn't have any clue. If you go out and ask on that on the street corners today, why were you born, people won't have any idea.

They don't know what the purpose of mankind is. We know. We have a booklet by us. They can find out if they would read the booklet. But you and I know. But the mystery of God will be revealed in that time. Why he created the earth, what he's doing, what his plans are. And this seventh, this Feast of Trumpets, is one of the turning points where this world ends and God, or Jesus Christ comes, and the kingdom comes. And the world, as we know it today, is over.

The end of this age comes at this time. Chapter 8, or verse 8, Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again, and said, Go, take that little book which is open in the hands of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.

So I went and said to him, Give me the little book. And he said to me, Take and eat it. It'll make your stomach bitter, but it'll be sweet as honey in your mouth. And John takes it, and that's exactly what happens. When he eats the book, he thinks, How sweet is this? Jesus Christ will return. The world will be at perfect peace, perfect joy, plenty for everyone, no sorrow, no torment, no war. Perfect world to live in. It's as sweet as honey, but nobody digested it. When he realized what it is, it was like, Ah, it is so bitter.

To get to that point is really tough to digest. What's going to go on in the world? What's going to go on in the Great Tribulation? What's going to go on in the Day of the Lord? What's going to go on in the Seventh Trumpet? It's hard to digest. It's terrible things that are going to happen. But what comes out of it is something so good. You and I can't even imagine yet how it will be when all the world worships God. All the world follows His principles. All the world lives by His ways.

To see that happen and to be able to be part of it is something we should only be thankful for and we should be absolutely submissive and surrender ourselves to God for, just letting Him prepare us in however He wants to. John takes the book and it's bitter. He says in verse 11, You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.

In chapter 11, the Seventh Trump is about to blow with the seven vials or the seven bowls that are part of it. In chapter 11 it tells us about the two witnesses, the Gentiles. The Gentiles have control of the world for the three and a half years before the return of Jesus Christ.

It tells us there in the first few verses of Genesis 11, And the world is not at peace under Satan's domain. He may want to have one beast power, but we know there's conflict. We know the king of the north conquers the king of the south. We know that news from the east bothers him and we know there's an end time battle. That the king of the north and the people from the north and east may think they are going to battle for each other for world supremacy.

That's not the reason Satan is gathering them there. But it's not a world of peace. The church-state union that is the beast power will want to broadcast its message. Worship the beast. Bow down to it. Yield yourself to it. Accept the mark of the beast. And if you don't accept the mark of the beast, awful things will happen to you.

Death being the worst. But if you don't accept the mark of the beast, you'll have economic problems. You won't be able to buy and sell. Your life will be miserable as the beast power tries to get everyone to do what they want it to do. But it's not the only message going out in the world. The message of God is going out as well. The two witnesses are on earth. The Gentiles have control of the world for forty-two months. In verse 3 it says that the two witnesses will be prophesying for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. They will be speaking the truth of God. They will be making it clear that the kingdom that is the north is not the kingdom of God.

Do not follow that way. Do not follow the mark of the beast. Do not accept it. Understand that God is returning. Understand this. Understand the Bible. And it will be loud and clear. And we live in an age where all the world will see it just as the Bible says here. All the world will be able to see what the two witnesses are saying, and their eyes will be fixed on them.

Because the beast power is going to do everything it can to destroy those two witnesses. They will send out armies. They will send out people. Send out snipers. They'll have their weapons of every type of destruction there. And you know what? They're not going to be able to kill them. They're not going to be able to silence them until God is ready for them to be silenced.

Let's pick it up here in verse 5 of chapter 11. If anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. These have power to shut heaven so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy.

And they have power over waters to turn them to blood and to strike the earth with all plagues as often as they desire. You don't think that ABC, CB, or they won't be there. The BBC? No, not even BBC. Whatever it is in Europe. They're going to be covering this, right? This is sensational stuff. This is news. This is like what? Someone is challenging the beast power.

They're out there. They have people trying to kill them. And these people can fall down whatever they want from heaven to contest what the beast power is saying. It's going to be magnetic world news. People are going to be glued to the Internet. They're going to be watching their news to see what goes on here.

The Word of God will go out. They will have no doubt that they have heard it. Many will still choose the Word of the beast. And as we see, there will come a time after the 1,260 days that they prophesy that God will allow them to be killed.

When they finish, verse 7, their testimony, the beast that it sends out of the bottomless pit will make more against them, overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And the people rejoice. Those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three and a half days and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves.

They've watched this for three and a half years. They want to see those dead bodies. They want to see the Word of God silenced. Satan wants to see the Word of God silenced from the earth, and for three and a half days it will be silenced.

But the Word of God never dies. The Word of God never goes away. And they will, and it's here in verse 7, how they're having parties and rejoicing over the fact that they're dead. In verse 11, after three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered those two witnesses, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. Can you imagine, following this story on the Internet, seeing the people rejoicing, partying, reveling, that these two are dead, and then with all cameras turned on them, they're alive.

They stand up. Tremendous witness of the power of God. And the world fears, and they hear a voice. They heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, Come up! And they ascended to heaven in the cloud, and their enemies saw them. Just like the disciples saw Christ ascend into heaven, the people gathered around will see them ascend into heaven. In that same hour there was a great earthquake. A tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake, seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is passed.

The sixth trumpet is done. The two witnesses are resurrected at the end of the sixth trumpet, and then the seventh trumpet sounds. Then the seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.

Let's go forward to Revelation 15 and talk about that seventh trumpet, the seven vials that will then be poured out on the earth when God completes His vengeance on the people of this earth who have rejected Him. Chapter 15, verse 1, I saw another sign in heaven, John writes, great and marvelous. Seven angels, having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete. This is it. This finishes the story before Jesus Christ returns. And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have victory over the beast, over His image, and over His mark, and over the number of His names standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God.

As the seventh angel is about to sound, they sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, O King of the Saints. Who shall not fear you, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations shall come and worship before you, for your judgments have been manifested.

A sight that John saw that inspired him, and he heard the song they were singing, a song of majesty and of reverence to God. And then, in chapter 16, we see the seven bowls of the seventh trumpet begin to be issued. Chapter 16, verse 1, I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth. So the first went, and poured his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image.

Never would have said in Obadiah, What you've done will be visited on you. And what the beast power has done, what they want is everyone to accept the mark of the beast. God says, Don't take the mark of the beast. We talked about it just in chapter 15.

Those who have the victory over the beast, who don't accept that mark, who have their faith in God, who continue to look to him, and don't worry about, Can God see me through? But absolutely no, God can see me through this, even though it looks physically tough and demanding. Those who have the victory over the beast and the victory over the mark of the beast, that beast power, what happens to them? God puts his mark on them, and it's a foul and loathsome sore.

A horrible, a horrible plague, I'm sure, on the people of the earth at that time, who worshipped the beast, who worshipped his image, who accepted the mark of the beast. Not just a little pimple, not just a little boil, but I think something so, so disgusting that they will know, they will know, and they will understand where that came from, when all of them, all of them had that come on them.

Verse 3, The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man, and every living creature in the sea died. Not a third of the sea anymore, all of the sea, everything. Remember back in Revelation 17, too, actually, it's a chapter ahead of where we are, when it's talking about the beast power, it says, he was drunk with the blood of the saints, drunk with the blood of the saints.

In return for that attitude, God will give the beast blood to drink. All his water will turn to blood. Not just a third, like in the first six trumpets, but all of it. The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. All the water became blood. Not just a part, it's all there. And I heard the angel of the water saying, You are righteous, O Lord, the one who is and was and who is to be, because You've judged these things. They have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink, for it is their just due.

It's exactly what they deserve. That's exactly what should have happened to them. God, who says to us, You will reap what You sow. Now, what we sow in this life, we will reap. God will not be mocked. We may think we're getting by with things, by whatever we do. God will not be mocked. What we sow, we will reap. Just like the people here of the beast power and the people of the earth who wanted the blood of the saints, then God gave them blood to drink.

Verse 7, I heard another from the altar, saying, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments. And then the fourth angel poured out his bowl unto sun, and power was given him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat. And they blasted him the name of God who has power over these plagues. They didn't repent and give him glory. Even after all of this, even after seeing the two witnesses resurrected, after seeing them ascend into heaven, after seeing or receiving the foul and loathsome sore, after seeing all the water become blood, and then being scorched with heat, what do they do?

How hard-hearted are they? That even then they don't repent. They don't acknowledge God. Instead, they blaspheme Him. It's not God. He doesn't have the power to do that. It must be something else that's going on. Who knows what they say? But it's absolutely ridiculous when you put yourself in the place of these people. If that happened to any of us, would we be as hard-hearted as them?

Could there be trumpets that God is giving to us? Sounds, maybe not blaring loud trumpets like these first four bowls, but silent or very still trumpets. Do we listen to those trumpets? Do we make the changes that need to happen with those trumpets? And as they get louder, do we just condition ourselves? I'll ignore that one, too. I'm just going to keep on going the way I have.

God wants us to listen. He wants us to change. And when He gives us something to change, He doesn't want us to blaspheme and say, I can just keep going. We're not here to condition ourselves, to ignore the trumpets. We're here to listen to the trumpets and to make the changes and to repent and not become hard-hearted like these people. It's inconceivable that they would be so hard-hearted that they would even blaspheme God and refuse to repent after all they have done. No wonder God keeps sending things their way.

No wonder He has to do with that with us sometimes, to wake us up and say, when are you going to get the message? Turn to Me with all your heart. Put away the way that you've lived. Go back and understand and put it into practice and don't just play games with me. Do what I have called you to do. These people here weren't getting the message.

Verse 10, the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness. They gnawed their tongues because of the pain. How fitting that Satan's kingdom would be plagued with darkness since he is the prince of darkness. That kingdom never brought light to the world. That beast's power never brought light. It brought total darkness. It brought autocracy. It brought paganism. It brought false worship. It brought making people listen and worship the beast. No wonder God broiled them in darkness, so dark that they gnawed their tongue in pain, because it is the kingdom of darkness.

Jesus Christ will be a kingdom of light, a kingdom where people will be able to live and breathe and do and become what God has wanted them to, and a kingdom that isn't about autocracy, but people making the choices to follow God because they know that's the right way, and because they understand it and they can see the benefits of it, and because they listen to God and respond to the Spirit that He will put in them.

In verse 11, even after this darkness, they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they didn't repent of their deeds. They just kept doing the same thing in a much lesser way, the same thing that you and I could do. Just keep living the same way.

We'll just ignore this one and go on and say, it doesn't really matter to God. Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up so the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits, like frogs, coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, out of the mouth of the false prophet. They are spirits of demons performing signs which go out to the kings of the earth, to the whole world, to gather them to the battle of the great day of God Almighty.

And the beast power, and the kings of the east that make their way to the place called Armageddon. They'll think that they're going there to battle each other for world supremacy. Two powers left are going to go there and battle it out and see who's going to be the world ruler. That's not why Satan is gathering them there together. Satan is mustering all the power of earth at that time, all the weapons of mass destruction. Every conceivable scientific and technological thing will be there as they all try to position themselves to battle each other, but he's bringing them to battle God.

And he's bringing all the powers of earth with him. Two hundred million people, you've heard this morning in the sixth trumpet, will be gathered together there. Two hundred million people, that's two-thirds of America that will be gathered together there. Every conceivable weapon and things we probably haven't even conceived of yet will be there. And Satan will muster all that together because he wants to defeat Jesus Christ as he returns to earth. Satan just doesn't get it.

You're not going to defeat Jesus Christ. And when Jesus Christ returns, I'm getting a little ahead of myself, it will be as if those armies were nothing. All their weaponry, all of their scientific advancements, all those people it will be as if they're nothing. They won't even put up a little battle. He will just decimate them all. Satan has never learned. You cannot look to self. You cannot look to this world.

You must look to God. You must yield to him. The nations of the world never learned it. You look to God. You don't look to governments. You don't look to military. You don't look to the economies. You don't look to physicians who be your healers totally. You look to God. He is the one who can provide all these things. He has ultimate power, and there isn't a power in the world that is any match to him. They may do some things, and science and technology can be awesome things, but it is no match for God.

And you and I need to keep that in mind. There is no match for God. Well, we need to be delivered from trials. Well, we need to be delivered through the great tribulation. Well, we need to be delivered through health, financial, or whatever trials. We train ourselves to look to God first. He is the one who provides. He is the one who has the answers. He is the one who can heal all our diseases.

He is the one who gives us salvation. We can't earn it on our own. He gives us. But He expects us. He expects us to live that way of life if we really, really want that salvation. He expects us to repent and turn to Him. Because if we're not willing to do that, then how serious are we about salvation?

Jesus Christ, when He was on earth, He healed everyone that was brought to Him. Everyone! You think God can heal today? We look to God first. He is the one who heals. It doesn't mean we don't do anything else, but if we're not looking to God first in everything in our lives and using the trials that come in our lives, using the tests that come in our lives to train ourselves, look to God first.

First. Because it is Him who delivers. It is Him who does all these things. Not us. Not the medicines. Not the weapons. Not our bank books. Not our checking accounts and stock markets and 401 case. It's Him. And He expects us to learn to follow Him and look to Him totally. As the first resort to not as one of many. I digress. Let me get back here. I was going to turn. We were talking about the armies gathering here at the end of the age as part of the sixth bowl.

Let's turn back to Joel. Joel III this time. Joel has a very colorful description of this time when the armies gather. Joel III. Let's pick it up in verse nine. Proclaim this among the nations. Prepare for war. Wake up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near. Let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. The opposite of what will happen when Jesus Christ is here on earth. Let the weak say, I'm strong. Assemble and come, all you nations, and gather together all around. Cause your mighty ones to go down there, O Lord.

Let the nations, verse 12, be awakened and come to the valley of Jehoshaphat. For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down, for the winepress is full. The vast overflow, for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.

And as at seventh board, the sixth one is poured out, the armies gather to the valley of decision, the time when Jesus Christ will make the final decision. And as we read earlier, that this age, this age, this world of which Satan is God will be done. And it will be Jesus Christ who reigns, and His law, His Word will rule the earth. Now let's go back.

Let's go back to Revelation 16 again. Revelation 16. We read down to verse 14. Let's read, pick it up in verse 16. Not to ignore what Christ says here in verse 15 about watching, something we talked about last Sabbath as well. Verse 16, they gathered them together in the place called in Hebrew Armageddon. And the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. And a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven from the throne, saying, It's done.

It's done. This is it. It's time for the kingdoms of this world to become the kingdoms of Jesus Christ. It's time for this age to end. And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings, and there was a great earthquake. Such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth.

Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and great Babylon, that beast power, that the whole world marveled after. Who can make war with the beast? Who is as mighty as him? Who has the economic power that he has?

Great Babylon was remembered before God to give her the cup of the line of the fierceness of his wrath. That system will fall, and it will fall mightily, and it will fall completely. Every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hailstone about the weight of the talent. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great. Isn't that amazing?

Even after all that, they're still blaspheming God. Still will not turn to him. Still not listening to very, very, very, very loud trumpets that are blaring. Still ignoring him, and still going their own way, hoping, I guess, that all this will pass, and life will go back to the way it was before. But life from before isn't ever going to be that way again. Jesus Christ will return at this time with the world, with the armies gathered together, the armies gathered together with all their weapons trained on each other. It says in Matthew 24 that unless Christ returned, no one would be saved alive. They could wipe mankind off the face of the earth.

All the weapons that are out there, if they were used, there would be no men left.

But that isn't what Jesus Christ. That's not what His will is. That's not what God's plan is.

Satan's plan, he would very much like to see mankind wipe off the face of the earth. He would very much like to have those armies be able to detonate whatever they detonate and watch all of mankind disappear. Not going to be what happens. Jesus Christ returns, and He turns the tables, and they are defeated. Let's go over to Revelation 19.

Revelation 19.

Hold on just a second. Keep your finger there in Revelation 19. Let's go back to Matthew 24 for just a second. If you haven't been in Matthew 24 here, then you know that Jesus Christ and His Olivet prophecy, it parallels exactly what Daniel prophesied and what Revelation prophesied. So, let me just read verses 30 to 32 here before I go to Revelation 19. Matthew 24, verse 30.

It's Christ speaking. He says, Then the sign of man, after all these things happen, seals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 are opened. And then He says, after the tribulation of those days, things that we've been talking about, it says, Then the sign of man will appear in heaven, the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the cause of heaven with power and great glory. He will send His angels with the great sound of a trumpet, and there they will gather together, his elect, from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. He will return with the sound of a trumpet. And as we read in 1 Thessalonians 4, the resurrection of the first fruits has occurred during the seventh trump. Those in that resurrection will be with Him. Let's pick it up in Revelation 19 and verse 7.

Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. How did she make herself ready? The choices she made in this lifetime. Putting away garments of filth and putting on garments of white. Denying self and doing what God would have us do rather than choosing what we want to do. What might make us more comfortable? What makes sense to us as opposed to what God would have us do? Forgetting Proverbs 14 and 12, it says there is a way that seems right to a man, but the way they're in there over the ways of death. His wife has made herself ready. Won't be able to make herself ready without God's Spirit. For choices, choices along the way that you and I make. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright. For the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints, the things that they do, the things, the works that they do. Not doing it or in salvation, because salvation is freely given by God, but because of our faith and belief in Him, we do the things that He wants us to do. And He said to me, right, verse 9, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And He said to me, these are the true sayings of God. Verse 11, And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse. And he who sat on him was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.

His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses. Out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he should strike the nations. And he himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He himself tries to wine-craft with a fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, come and gather together for the supper of the great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses, and of all those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great. And there are the kings of the earth, the beast power and the others, all assembled there, and they train their weapons on Christ. And he decimates them, not even a battle. Everything they have is nothing compared to him. And the beast was captured and thrown into the lake of fire. Monumental. Monumental time in man's history, Jesus Christ, has conquered the kings of the earth assembled there. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, having defeated the two world powers that were left on earth at that time. And he will usher in a time that is exactly the opposite of what the beast power is and the power that we have now. His way will be the way of earth. And you and I can have a part in that. We can have a part in that. If, if in this life, we don't take it for granted, if in this life we are committed, if in this life we remember who we are, we remember the lesson of the Feast of Trumpets, and even the trumpets that go off in our lives that should turn us back to God. Something that the people of this world never got the message of. I sure hope we listen to God and we turn to him. There's so much more and in many ways this is the end of a story, but it's the beginning of so much more and there's so much work to be done. On Sabbath, on Sabbath we'll talk about some of that work.