The Time of the End

The title of today's study, The Time of the End. The time of the end. Now, I invite you to open your Bibles, and let's turn to Revelation 6. Revelation 6. And we're going to begin in verse 1. This is where we'll begin today. Revelation 6, verse 1. These words in Revelation penned by the Apostle John many, many years ago. And as he penned them, he was now describing what is in great detail the dramatic, the sobering, the climatic sequence of events which will occur leading up to the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So as we turn our attention onto these sobering events, our desire, our purpose, is that God would work in our hearts so that we would be uncompromising in our desire to be prepared, spiritually prepared, for these events to come. They are coming. And we might say this is the conclusion. This is the conclusion of a society now, at this point in the future, which has evolved into a moral perversity, a moral decay, a wholesale rejection of God in his way. And what we find remarkably, that we have a society which has accepted Satan the devil in his way rather than God's way. And we'll see today that throughout it all, though, God is gracious. He continually gives men and women the opportunity to repent, to turn up to the very end. But God's patience will not tarry forever. And so God urges us today, particularly God's people, those whom he's called to himself to solidify, to renew our relationship with him. He calls us to act urgently in proclaiming the return of his son, Jesus Christ. We will stand one day up, and before God it will be Judgment Day. And we'll have to answer. We'll have to give an answer to our response, whether good or bad. So as we turn our attention on to the upcoming day of trumpets, this day of trumpets, we do take a look at end-time prophecy here. We're going to take a broad overview of the exact final events leading up to the return of Jesus Christ. And here they are. Revelation 6 is the beginning of the end, if you will. And let me just set our foundation before we begin reading here. This will help us, I believe. End-time events, the book of Revelation here, it is going to be covered, we're going to read today, by seven seals. Okay? Seven seals. So you can picture in your mind an opening of a scroll, and wax seals were typically placed across the opening of the scroll. Only the proper individual person could open them. Only in the presence of witnesses, the seal could be broken. And we read earlier in Revelation that there was only one who qualified to break these seals as the Lamb of God. Jesus Christ Himself. And with each seal that's broken, a new end-time judgment is poured out upon the earth. Seven final seals. We also find, then, the seventh seal is broken up into seven trumpets.

That seventh seal with the seven trumpets is also known as the Day of the Lord. It's the Day of Trumpets. The Day of the Lord. There's a third seven. The seventh seal with its seven trumpets, the seventh trumpet is actually broken up into seven last plagues, or bowls, bowls which are poured out. So three sevens. Seven seals. The seventh seal has seven trumpets. The seventh trumpet is divided into seven plagues. This is going to be our overview today. So let's get to it. The first of the seven seals, the first seal here, is false religion. That's the first seal that is broken here. Revelation 6, verse 1 and 2, the apostle John writes, Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures, saying with a loud voice like thunder, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a white horse. And he who said on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

We're going to see in a companion verse that this is, in fact, false religion. Many may assume at this time that the one riding on this white horse is Jesus Christ himself, but it is not. It is a deception. It's a false Christ. It's an anti-Christ here. And this is the first seal that's opened. This is where evil begins, an anti-Christ. This is where mayhem begins, devastation, destruction. This is an individual not inspired by God, but by the devil himself. And he will teach and proclaim and eventually inspire armies to rise up against the true white horse rider, which is Jesus Christ himself. First seal, false religion. An anti-Christ comes onto the scene. Scripture reveals he's going to be a very charismatic and persuasive individual. This false prophet will align himself with a beast power, which is going to be an end-time governmental power that's going to be evil.

This false Christ, this anti-Christ, will be able to do miracles, seemingly great things, but behind these things are evil and destruction. And if it were possible, he would deceive the very elect. And so as a result of this false religion, we have then even the very elect at risk of being deceived. That's you and I. So what do we want to watch for? I want you to be thinking about, as these seals are being broken before us today, as we're reviewing these, be thinking about how are we seeing these things today? How are we seeing precursors today? What's going to be a mark? What's going to be a marker for this false religion? I'll tell you, it is a lawless love. That's what's going to be put forth. It's going to be a counterfeit love, because at its base, it's going to be lawless. I just want to show you this. Keep your marker here in Revelation. Just turn for a minute to 2 Thessalonians 2. When you're thinking about how are we seeing this false, this antichrist today, how will we see this more and more? Well, here it is. This is what we're going to see. This is what you look for with this first seal. 2 Thessalonians 2. Let's just begin at verse 1. The Apostle Paul writes, Now brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, so we're talking about in things and the gathering together to Him, we ask you not to be shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us as though the day of Christ has come. Let no one deceive you by any means, for that day when Christ comes will not come unless the falling away comes first. And the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. False Christ! Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time? For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his own mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power signs, lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, the truth, that they might be saved. And for that reason, God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie, that they may be condemned, who do not believe the truth, but that had pleasure in unrighteousness and in lawlessness, we could say.

But let's just finish out the chapter here. We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, beloved of the God, because from God since the beginning he chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit, the belief in the truth to which he called you by our gospel for the obtain of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, be steadfast and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or by epistle. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God the Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and the good hope by grace, comfort your hearts, establish you in every good word and work. So you see the theme there, and we can turn back to Revelation now, you see the theme there, lawlessness, lawlessness, lawlessness. What is being preached by the world's pulpits today? Lawlessness. The laws done away with, they say. Look at all these society determinations that they're making, the society laws that they're making. They're basing it not on God's law. They're basing it on how they feel, what feels good to men, what feels good to our hearts. We know our hearts are deceitful, so we have to depend on God's law in these things and worship Him in spirit and truth. Truth. So we're seeing this false religion come forth. Back in Revelation, the second seal, Revelation 6, verse 3 and 4. Revelation 6, verse 3 and 4. The second seal is that of war. War.

Verse 3, when He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, Come and see another horse, fiery red, went out, and it was granted to the one who set on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another, and there was given to Him a great sword. Let's stop there. So you'll notice these first four seals are the four horsemen of the apocalypse. It's been called. So these four horsemen are riding with each of the four seals. First, we had false religion, now war. First was the white false religion horse, now red here. War. It's going to intensify the second seal, the red horse of war. We will see the impact of war in terms of death with this horseman like none we've ever seen. Percentages of carnage will increase to unbelievable amounts. Great percentages of the population of mankind wiped from the earth.

How are we seeing this red horseman ride today? War. Well, we see it all over the place, don't we? You know, I have to prick my heart. When I read these news updates or hear it, I just pray that God would keep my heart sensitive. When I read of all these thousands of individuals dying in war, it's almost as if I'm just, I can be so callous to it because it's such a part of our experience. These are human lives that we're seeing destroyed by war. We have to stay sensitive to this. We have to know that this is the precursor of these events that are coming. And in many ways, they're upon us. The flame is being lit. Are we seeing this? Are we, is it stirring us to prepare? That's the ultimate goal of prophecy today. Third seal, staying here in chapter 6, verse 5 and 6, famine, famine. Here, the third seal, famine. Verse 5, when I opened the third seal, a third living creature said, come and see. So I looked and behold a black horse this time. So white, red, now black. And he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hands. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, a quart of wheat for a denarius and three quarts of barley for a denarius. And do not harm the oil and the wine. Stop there. We won't take the time to do it today in this study, but you might do a study of your own about the symbolism of those things there. But the effect of war, what's one of the effects of war? What are we seeing as even the war surrounding America right now? What's one of the effects we see? Shortages, right? Famine. Famine. This is what we're seeing. Why this will be widespread famine. The black horse. This will affect the climate, inability to grow crops, inability to get good water. This is all part of this third seal here. The horsemen of famine. How are we seeing this today? A visit to your grocery stores. You're seeing items that just aren't there anymore. We're seeing it today. And it just with a snap, it could happen overnight. Are we prepared? And you know, God wants us to be physically prepared and do our due diligence. Sure. Ultimately, though, where does our hope come from? We have to get close to God. We have to be spiritually prepared for these things. God will provide our physical needs. Ultimately, we need to be spiritually nourished and be spiritually storing up our storehouses, if you will.

Fourth seal. Death. Fourth seal. Death. This is an ugly color of a horse here. The fourth horse men of the apocalypse here in the fourth seal. Revelation 6, verse 7 and 8.

When he opened, verse 7, when he opened the fourth seal, I heard a voice of the fourth living creature saying, Come and see. So I looked down and behold a pale horse. And the name of him that said on it was Death. And Hades, the grave, followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword, hunger, with death, and by the beast of the earth. A fourth of the earth there. A pale. This is a yellowish green. It's the color of death. It's the color of sickness here. The fourth horseman. And this death, this fourth horseman, is actually linked and associated with pestilence and disease. Keep your marker here. I want to show you some companion verses that will speak to the four that we've already gone through so far. It's found in Matthew 24. Let's turn there, if you will. Matthew 24, verse 7. What we find here, let's read verses 4 through 8. So Matthew 24, verses 4 through 8, we see the companion verses to Revelation. Everything that we've read so far where Jesus now is speaking about these things here. He's going to speak of the four horsemen. He's going to speak of the first four seals.

Here it is. Matthew 24, verse 4 through 8.

And Jesus answered and said to them, Take heed that no one deceives you. So this is the first seal mentioned by Jesus. False religion. For many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and many will deceive many. That's the first seal. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. There's the second seal. See that you're not troubled, for these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise up against nation, kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines. There's the third seal. And pestilences. There's the fourth. So there's death. Pestilences. Disease follows the famine. And earthquakes in various places. We're going to see that seal here in a minute. Earthquakes. The earth's shaking. All these are the beginning of sorrows, Jesus Christ says there. So you see here in Matthew, and I commend to your study Matthew later on. That'll be a good study as you prepare for trumpets, the day of trumpets. But you see here the parallel passages to Revelation. So in turning back to Revelation 6, we see four seals now completed. The four horsemen have ridden up to this point. And we read there in verse 8, now a fourth of the earth is died. A fourth of the earth. A fourth of the earth perishes.

Wholesale carnage.

Fifth seal. Fifth seal. This brings it to you and I, God's people. God's people. This is the fifth seal is great tribulation for God's people. Great tribulation. This fifth seal, looking at the companion verses, and this begins the three and a half years, the last three and a half years of tribulation. So with this fifth seal, we now begin into the last three and a half years before Christ returns. And great persecution is brought on God's people. Revelation 6 verse 9. When he opened the fifth seal, and I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. The word of God and the testimony they held. These are the saints. These are our spiritual brothers and sisters here, martyred over the years.

Continuing verse 10. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on earth? Let's stop there. So throughout Revelation, you have symbolic language. This is one of those cases. This is those past martyrs carrying the testimony of God. Our previous brothers and sisters symbolically crying out, How long? We know there's no memory in the grave. We know those sleep until Christ returns. So we have some symbolic language, and this is going to come forth here in a moment. There's a little bit to add to this in just a moment. I'll review with you. But here's the question. When are you going to enact vengeance? When are you going to avenge all these previous saints who died for your testimony? Verse 11. Verse 11. Look at this. When a white robe was given to each of them, and it was said to them that they should rest a little longer until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren would be killed as they were, was completed. So they rest to stay in the grave. Your name hasn't been called yet until the number of the fellow servants and their brethren. Who are those? Well, that's you and I. That's you and I. So we're looking at God's past martyrs. We're looking at the martyrs to come. Why do we need to be close to God? Why do we need it to have our spiritual storehouses full? We may be called upon to receive a measure of persecution.

Future martyrdom for God's people. Devastating trouble for the Church of God. We know, and maybe we'll get into this in the next study, there's absolute protection provided from God in the end time. It's true. But we also know that Scripture verifies that there will be some of God's people that live into and that remain to give testimony in the end time as well. Martyrs. We pray that God would be merciful to us. God be merciful to me. I don't know if I have the the knees, you know, the stableness of knees to handle something like that. So, you know, we pray for mercy. But I know, and I want, I personally want to prepare myself to be ready if God needs me in that role.

And you have the strength. I have the strength through God's Spirit to do so, to be there, to have steady knees if called upon. God will never leave us or forsake us. He'll never leave us or forsake us. And that's something to really plant in your heart when we're thinking about these things. We need a deeper faith. Be closer to God so that we will persevere. Sixth seal. Sixth seal. Heavenly signs. We heard Jesus Christ talk about earthquakes. Well, here we're going to get into that sixth seal here. Revelation 6 verse 12. Revelation 6 verse 12. John writes, continuing his vision, I looked and he opened the sixth seal, the Lamb of God, and behold there was a great earthquake. And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood, and stars of heaven fell to earth as a fig tree drops its late figs when it's 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.

It's quite an incredible seal being opened here. Calamities. None like ever that's been seen. Let's continue here. Verse 15 and 16. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich man... Where are we putting our confidence? The commanders, the mighty men, every slave, every free man hid themselves in the caves and the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, 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 was able to stand?

Heavenly signs here. Great tribulation has come now. We're in this last three and a half year period here. You know, where are you going to put your confidence? Riches, prominence, you know, that's not where our riches are. There's only one Savior, and he's the only one we can go to. And this is the side we need to be on. We have an opportunity to preach this truth, to prepare ourselves. I am glad this is coming to an end. When I see the debauchery, and we only see a part of it. God sees all of the carnites that's happening right now. It needs to come to an end. It needs to come to an end. And we have the privilege to be a part of participating in the bringing about of the great salvation. God's will is that none perish. Ultimately, God's going to offer his will is that he offers eternal life to everyone. That's his will. We can be a part, have people turn now. Turn now. Repent now. Seventh seal. We now come to chapter 8. We know the seventh seal has seven trumpets. This is the day of the Lord. This is the day of trumpets here. Seven trumpets are now about to sound with the opening of this seventh seal here. We confirm that this is going to take place over one year. Scripture confirms that. We know the three and a half years has already began. This is the last year before Christ returns. We believe Scripture confirms that. If you would like one reference to confirm that, you can keep your marker here. We can turn over to Isaiah 34 verse 8, just as a quick reference here or for your notes, and I'll read it to you. Isaiah 34 verse 8. This final day of the Lord taking place over the time of a year, the last year before Christ's return. Isaiah is one place to refine this reference of the seventh seal as a year. Isaiah 34 verse 8, here it is, for it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion. So a day is like a year to God. So we believe this final seventh seal, these final seven trumpets, will sound over the period of a year, the final year before Christ returns. Going back to Revelation 8 verse 1, here it is.

When he opened the seventh seal, silence in heaven for about half an hour. Think about that. So here, after all this calamity, silence, silence, now in heaven. The whole of heaven, the whole of righteous angels, silent. We're getting close at this point. The anticipation is upon us. The anticipation for the salvation of mankind, the history of mankind now coming to an end. And there's silence.

Verse 2, and I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to each of them were given seven trumpets. But notice verse 3 through 5.

Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar, which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints ascended before God from the angel's hand. And the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. Let's stop there. You know, we saw the symbolic crying out of the saints, crying out their prayers. How long, O Lord? Well, we'll look at what we're being told here. How many times have you prayed, Your kingdom come, Father? And perhaps you've prayed that prayer with tears running from your face, wanting His appearing, Your kingdom come, Father? Well, these scriptures, verse 3 and 4 here, speak of the time in when those prayers are going to be answered, answered to their fulfillment, through their fullness. God has not forgotten our prayers. Thy kingdom come. Put an end to this evil rule. Put an end to Satan's rule, who has his claws in these men and women that you desire to be your sons and daughters. I pray for the time that Satan's grip will be released from these men and women, who know not what they do. Many of them. Know not what they do. Our prayer is for them. Our heart is for them. We're humbled that we can have release from that grip in this lifetime as an opportunity to be a saint of God. We have that opportunity.

Seventh seal here. This is trumpet number one. We'll go through these fairly quickly.

God is answering these prayers. He's been storing them up. He has not forgotten your prayers. Seventh seal, trumpet number one. Revelation 8 verse 7. Revelation 8 verse 7. The first angel sounded. And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood. They were thrown to the earth. A third of the trees were burned up, and all the grass was burned up. So what we're going to see in these final trumpets is there's measures. It's not totality. We see a third. We're going to see measures. Be thinking to yourself, why is God working in measures, even up to the end here? Why not just one final trumpet? Well, we're going to get to that answer in just a moment. A third here. And you'll see here as we begin to read these mingled with blood, these trumpets. You're going to see there's similarities to the liberation out of Egypt and the plagues. Trumpet number two. Revelation 8 verse 8 and 9. Then the second angel sounded. Something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died. And a third of the ships were destroyed. So measures here. Is this a meteor coming from heaven here? Is this nuclear warfare? You know, you would have had just now dead fish. The stench will be incredible here. Unable to breathe. Third trumpet here. Revelation 8 verse 10 and 11. Revelation 8 verse 10. Then a third angel sounded with the trumpet. A great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch. And it fell on a third of the rivers and of the springs of water. And the name of the star is wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood. And many men died from the water because it was made bitter. Think of the Nile was turned to blood in the exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt. So we're seeing similarities here. Heavenly body crashing into earth here. Trumpet number four. Revelation 8 verse 12. Fourth trumpet sounded the trumpet. And a third, verse 12, a third of the sun was struck. A third of the moon. A third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine. And likewise, the night. So you might think of the ninth plague here of Egypt. The sun and the moon were darkened there in Egypt. Continuing here. Revelation 8 verse 13. And I looked and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Whoa, whoa, whoa, to the inhabitants of earth. Because of the remaining blast of trumpets, of these three angels, are about to sound. So the last three trumpets, five, six, and seven, are also categorized as woes. A woe is an exclamation point. It is, ultimately, it's the sadness over sin. Whenever you hear Christ speaking in woes, it's such a sadness, a heart over sin here. And so we begin now the fifth trumpet here. And we're going to see why there's sadness. And we're going to see why God's working in measures here, in percentages. Revelation 9 verse, the fifth trumpet here, Revelation 9, beginning in verse 1. Then the fifth trumpet sounded. And I saw a star falling from heaven to the earth.

Here begins the intervention. And to him was given the key to the bottomless pit.

And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth, and to them was given power as scorpions of the earth have power.

You know, we're needing intervention here greatly. It's about to come.

If you look at, for your notes, Joel 1. We won't turn there, but Joel 1. It speaks of an infestation, a tremendous infestation. And Joel was using that to remind people of the end of the age. There's a great army coming up against God. That's what we're seeing here. A great army of locusts. And, you know, John is grasping at the words of the day to try to describe what's being seen. You know, is this the rise of helicopters and machinery, these locusts coming in?

Let's drop down to verse 11, staying here with the fifth trumpet, chapter 9, verse 11. So this is still the fifth trumpet. And they had a king over them and an angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew was Abaddon, but in the Greek it was Apollyon. That's the destroyer. This is a picture of Satan here. So we know who's behind this army. Moving to the sixth trumpet. Sixth trumpet, Revelation 9, verse 13 and 14. It is just ramping up to an end here.

Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice of the four horns of the golden altar, which is before God, saying to the sixth angel who had this trumpet, released the four angels who are bound in the great river Euphrates.

So you see this reference to Euphrates here from the perspective of the Holy Land. East of the Euphrates, we have nations like India, China, Russia. That could be one power block in the end. That could be one power block in the end.

From the perspective of the Holy Land, in the opposite direction, you have Europe and Asia. So you have these armies collectively coming together around Jerusalem. You'll notice there's no mention of a western block here. At this time, we'll know that scripture seems to indicate that America will have fallen into slavery at this time.

You have these other great power blocks coming into this last battle.

Let's turn our attention on to this last trumpet here, the seventh trumpet of the seventh seal. With that, we will move past chapter 10. Let's move to Revelation 11, verse 14. We pick up the last trumpet of the seventh seal in Revelation 11, verse 14. We have an inset chapter there.

Revelation 11, verse 14, the second woe has passed. So that's the sixth trumpet. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

Revelation 11, 15. Then the seventh angel sounded. And here is the great day of intervention. This is the day we're ultimately looking forward to.

Christ breaks in in His return.

Then the seventh angel sounded. There was a loud voice from heaven saying, The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. So no longer Satan the devil is having his temporary reign here. Verse 16, And the twenty-four elders who set before God on their thrones fell on their faces, worshiped God, saying, We give thanks, O Lord God, Almighty, the one who is, and who was, and who is to come, because you have taken your great power and reigned.

Now, remarkably, we ought not think that the world is peaceably going to accept Jesus Christ at His return. In fact, they turn to fight against Jesus Christ. Verse 18, verse 18. It's not over yet. Verse 18, The nations were angry, and your wrath has come. In the time of the dead, and they shall be judged, and that you should reward your servants, the prophets, and the saints, and those who fear your name, small and great, and you should destroy those who destroy the earth. And the temple of God was opened in heaven. Verse 19, And the ark of His covenant was seen in His people, and there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, earthquakes, and great hell. So this is the time of the first resurrection here. The calling up of the firstfruits, the gathering here, the calling up as the armies gather around Jerusalem here. And what do we read in verse 18? The nations were angry, still angry, still at war. And so the beginning here, Revelation 16 verse 1, we, as we mentioned, the seventh trumpet is now broken up into seven last plagues or bowls. So here we have the seventh trumpet, the seven last plagues of the seventh trumpet here. For time's sake, we're going to go through these and just mention them very briefly. My new King James Bible is broken up in a helpful way. The seven plagues here of the seventh trumpet. Chapter 16 verse 2, the first bowl, loath them sores. Chapter 16 verse 3, the second bowl, the sea turns to blood.

Third bowl, verse 4, water turns to blood. Fourth bowl, men are scorched. You see there? And I want you to notice, so I've been proposing this question, why is God working in percentages only? Why? Why not just have one final trumpet? Here it is. Look at Revelation 16 verse 8 and 9. Revelation 16 verse 8 and 9. And the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun. Power was given to him to scorch men with fire, and men were scorched with great heat. And they blasphemed the name of God, who has the power over these plagues. And they did not repent and give him glory. So repentance is still available to the very end, repentance to the one who has power over these plagues, and they still do not repent. Why is God working in percentages? Even up to the last end, he wants men and women to repent, to turn, to turn, come to him, come to me.

That's his desire. You know, Jesus Christ wept over the city because he knew even the Son of God walking here on earth. Men still rejected him. Still did not repent. Fifth bowl verse 10, darkness and pain. Let's read this. Verse 11, incredibly, they blasphemed the God of the heaven because of their pains and their sores and did not repent of their deeds. Human nature. Man, this is what we're dealing with here.

This is, you know, when God sends his Son and we celebrate that millennial thousand years, and God willing, we will be part of that millennial reign as first fruits. We will be preparing that thousand years for the human nature that we're going to be dealing with at the end of those thousand years. When God calls and brings back to life the Great Resurrection, the White Throne Judgment brings men and women back to life, and the Second Resurrection back to physical life, we are going to be have a part in training them and dealing with this human nature.

And we're going to be able to say we get it. We had that same resistance against God. In our hearts today, we don't want to bend to God. We don't want to repent. It's so difficult. And we're first fruits, and many of us have God's Spirit. And we still have difficulty. I'm the first to raise my hand. But this is the purpose of prophecy, is it is to stir us today. This is our day. If you're called today and you've repented and you've received God's Holy Spirit, this is your day. This is the time to repent and to learn these things, to overcome human nature.

Practice these things now so that we can teach men and women today, however long we have on this earth, and so that we can teach men and women at the Great White Throne Judgment and Second Resurrection. That's what it is. This is our desire today. Judgement's coming. Don't choose the devil over God. That's our proclamation. And so there we have it. It finishes here with verse 12. With verse 12 and verse 17. Verse 12, Euphrates has dried up there. That's the sixth bowl poured out. The seventh bowl. Verse 17. The earth is utterly shaken.

And if you look at verse 21, even with the seventh bowl from the seventh trumpet, from the seventh seal, verse 21, great hell fell from heaven, fell upon men. Each hellstone was about the weight of a talent. Even with all of that, men blasphemed God because of the of the plague of hell, since the plague was exceedingly great. You know, God wants men and women who choose Him. He does not want pre-programmed individuals. He wants men and women to choose His way. And unfortunately, in order for them to choose His way, they have to go through great things like this. And they're still digging in.

We're still digging today. I hope we're not given the indication ever that somehow we're elevated or better than other men and women. The only thing that elevates us is God in us, giving us the ability to overcome. But we're so strong willed today. I just really want to emphasize that today. If we're put into a humble position with regards to these things, and we've had our eyes opened, it'll put us in the proper posture to help others. We'll go with humility. We'll go in repentance ourselves.

We'll clean out ourselves so that we can be a pure vessel for God to proclaim His gospel to the world. So there you have it. Seven seals seven trumpets in the seventh seal. Seven bulls or plagues in the seventh trumpet of the seven seals. I'm encouraged by all of you. We could say we made it.

This is not an easy study by any means, by any stretch of the means, but it's a necessary one. And we may exclaim at an end of a study like this, oh that we, oh that man would turn back to their Creator. That's our explanation. These are sobering events, so we must be uncompromising our desires to prepare for them. We're not just doing it for ourselves.

We're doing it for our brothers and sisters here, and ultimately we're doing it for mankind. The judgment is coming. The picture we receive here with John is frankly quite devastating, but there will be an opportunity for men and women, every man and every woman, to repent from these ways. Turn from their lawlessness. Be moved by God's grace to follow His way.

Vital message to a decaying world. May we take these words of John today, and may God save us from our complacency. May God lead His people today, and guide us toward the hours of His Son's return, because these are the end time events.