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SERIES: THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WEEK 38

TITLE: THE FIFTH TRUMPET - THE FIRST WOE, PART I

TEXT: REVELATION 9:1-6

INTRODUCTION: (1) KEEPING A BALANCED UNDERSTANDING AND PERSPECTIVE OF THE REAL, BUT LIMITED POWER OF SATAN AND HIS DEMONS IS A CHALLENGE.

* FOR THERE ARE TWO EXTREMES IN CHRISTIANITY TODAY WHEN IT COMES TO THE SUBJECT OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE – OUR SPIRITUAL STRUGGLE AND BATTLE WE FACE AGAINST SATAN AND HIS UNHOLY ARMY.

** ONE EXTREME IS DENIAL OR DELUSION THAT LEAVES BELIEVERS OPEN FOR ATTACK.

*** AND THE OTHER EXTREME IS A PREOCCUPATION WITH DEMONS THAT GIVES TOO MUCH CREDIT AND TOO MUCH PRESS TO SATAN AND HIS ARMIES.

**** IN LIGHT OF THAT, C.S. LEWIS WROTE AND I QUOTE, “THERE ARE TWO EQUAL AND OPPOSITE ERRORS INTO WHICH OUR RACE CAN FALL ABOUT THE DEVIL. ONE IS TO DISBELIEVE IN THEIR EXISTENCE, THE OTHER IS TO BELIEVE, AND TO FEEL AN EXCESSIVE AND UNHEALTHY INTEREST IN THEM. THEY THEMSELVES ARE EQUALLY PLEASED BY BOTH ERRORS AND HAIL A MATERIALIST OR A MAGICIAN WITH THE SAME DELIGHT.” (END QUOTE)

(2) NOW WHAT LEWIS SAID IS TRUE. FOR ON ONE HAND, WE MAY PLACE TOO MUCH EMPHASIS ON THE DEMONIC, CLAIMING “THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT.”

* OR WE MAY SEE DEMONS BEHIND EVERY PAINFUL LIFE SITUATION.

** AND SADLY AS A RESULT OF WHAT IS CALLED THE “THIRD WAVE OF THE SPIRIT” SOME ARE FOCUSING MORE FREQUENTLY ON THE DEVIL, DEMON POSSESSION AND EXORCISM, TERRITORIAL SPIRITS, AND THE ISSUE OF BINDING SATAN AND BINDING DEMONS.

*** AND OFTEN THE TERMINOLOGY THAT IS USED IN THE DESCRIPTION OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE BEARS LITTLE RESEMBLANCE TO THE LANGUAGE OR TERMS OF THE N.T.

**** FOR EXAMPLE, SHOULD ANYONE ATTEMPT TO LIST 323 TYPES OF DEMONS OR SAY “A SPIRIT OF GREED” ENTERED CALIFORNIA DURING THE GOLD RUSH AND STILL LURKS AROUND SAN FRANCISCO?

(3) OR THAT WE MUST BIND SATAN AND SEND HIM BACK TO THE PIT?

* AND THAT DEMONS ARE BEHIND EVERY VICE AND PROBLEM. THE DEMON OF CIGARETTES AND ALCOHOL MUST BE CAST OUT WITH PEOPLE THAT HAVE THOSE PROBLEMS.

** AND THEN YOUR CAR DOESN’T RUN SO THE DEMON IN YOUR ENGINE MUST BE CAST OUT. HANDS SHOULD BE LAID ON YOUR CAR.

*** AND I REALIZE THAT ALL THESE THINGS SOUND GREAT TO A SOCIETY ENAMORED WITH STAR WARS, VIDEO GAMES AND MOVIES LIKE THE EXORCIST AND FRIDAY THE 13TH, ETC., BUT ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE THINGS LIKE GREED AND LUST COME OUT OF THE HUMAN HEART.

**** I DON’T NEED A DEMON AROUND ME TO BE GREEDY, OR TO YIELD TO LUST, ALL I HAVE TO DO IS YIELD TO THE FLESH AND THE LUSTS, THE DESIRES OF MY OWN HEART, READ JEREMIAH 17:9, JAMES 1:13-15 AND GALATIANS 5:16&17; 19-21.

(4) AND ALTHOUGH SATAN AND HIS ARMY ORGANIZES TEMPTATION IN A SENSE AND USES OUR FLESHLY DESIRES ALONG WITH THE FALLEN WORLD SYSTEM TO TEMPT US, THE BOTTOM LINE IS, HE CANNOT MAKE US SIN.

* AND A PREOCCUPATION AND GIVING SATAN AND DEMONS TOO MUCH CREDIT IS ONE EXTREME.

** BUT THE OTHER EXTREME AND THIS WILL EVENTUALLY LEAD INTO OUR STUDY OF REVELATION 9:1-6 TODAY IS, DENIAL OR DELUSION WHEN IT COMES TO THE REALITY OF SATAN AND DEMONS AND WHAT THEY ARE ALLOWED TO DO.

*** THERE IS IGNORANCE OR DENIAL OF THE SPIRITUAL WARFARE, THE SPIRITUAL STRUGGLE THAT RAGES BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL BETWEEN GOD AND SATAN.

**** BECAUSE OF THAT, ONE OF SATAN’S MOST EFFECTIVE STRATEGIES, AND THEREFORE ONE OF THE BELIEVER’S GREATEST DANGERS, IS THE DELUSION THAT NO SERIOUSLY THREATENING CONFLICT BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL IS REALLY RAGING IN THE INVISIBLE AND SUPERNATURAL REALM.

(5) BUT THAT SORT OF THINKING NOT ONLY IS NAÏVE AND DANGEROUS, BUT INEVITABLY LEADS TO LETHARGY, INDIFFERENCE, SPIRITUAL STAGNATION AND DECEPTIVE.

* WE ARE IN A SPIRITUAL WARFARE AND THE BATTLE IS FIERY HOT, IT IS RAGING, IT IS NUCLEAR IN IT’S CAPACITY TO CAUSE DAMAGE.

** THE WAR BETWEEN GOD AND SATAN HAS NOT DIMINISHED BUT INTENSIFIED AND WILL INTENSIFY TO A WHITE HOT DEGREE DURING THE TRIBULATION.

*** FOR THE ONE WHO SITS ON THE THRONE WILL GIVE SATAN A KEY TO UNLOCK THE PIT OF THE ABYSS WHERE SOME DEMONS ARE INCARCERATED AND PUNISHED AT THIS TIME.

**** AND THEY WILL BE RELEASED UNDER THE 5TH TRUMPET JUDGMENT IN THE TRIBULATION AND GOD ALMIGHTY WILL GIVE THE POWER TO TORMENT UNSAVED PEOPLE FOR 5 MONTHS.

(6) AND WHAT HAS BEEN INVISIBLE WARFARE DURING THE CHURCH AGE BECOMES VISIBLE IN THE TRIBULATION WITH GOD GRANTING DEMONS POWER TO INFLICT UNSAVED PEOPLE.

* AND BELOVED, ALL OF THIS STARTS TO ROLL OUT UNDER THE FIFTH TRUMPET AND THE FIRST WOE, WHICH IS THE TITLE OF OUR MESSAGE TODAY.

** AND IN REVELATION 9:1-6 WE WILL LOOK AT PART I OF THIS 5TH TRUMPET JUDGMENT WHICH COMMUNICATES THE IMPACT OF THESE DEMONS AND LORD WILLING NEXT SUNDAY IN PART II, WE’LL LOOK AT THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THESE DEMONS IN VV. 7-12.

*** AND TODAY IN OUR STUDY OF REVELATION 9:1-6, THE FIFTH TRUMPET – THE FIRST WOE, WE’LL LOOK AT TWO THINGS, NO. 1 THE PIT OUT OF WHICH THESE DEMONS COME, VV. 1&2; AND NO. 2 THE PLAGUE THEY CAUSE, VV. 3-6.

**** AND WITH THAT SHORT OUTLINE IN MIND, LET’S JUMP INTO OUR STUDY TODAY BY LOOKING AT REVELATION 9:1 WHERE WE’LL START TO SEE OUR FIRST POINT, THE PIT. LOOK AT REVELATION 9:1 PLEASE.

I. THE PIT, (READ V. 1)

A. NOW THE TRUMPET BLAST OF THE FIFTH ANGEL PRESENTS JOHN WITH AN UNFORGETTABLE SIGHT – “A STAR WHICH HAD FALLEN TO THE EARTH.”

* AND THE VERB “FALLEN” TRANSLATED THAT WAY IN THE NAS, NKJV, NIV AND ESV IS TRANSLATED FALL IN THE KJV.

** BUT FALLEN MORE ACCURATELY TRANSLATES THE VERB WHICH IS A PERFECT ACTIVE PARTICIPLE IN THE GREEK WHICH THE PERFECT TENSE SIGNIFIES A COMPLETED ACTION, SOMETHING COMPLETED IN THE PAST, ONCE AND FOR ALL NOT NEEDING TO BE REPEATED.

*** AND THE PERFECT TENSE COMBINED WITH THE MOOD AS A PARTICIPLE GIVES FALLEN ITS PROPER IDEA AND WEIGHT.

**** TELLING US WHEN JOHN SEES THE STAR, IT HAS ALREADY FALLEN TO THE EARTH; AND JOHN DOES NOT SEE ITS ACTUAL FALL.

1. IN OTHER WORDS, WHEN HE SEES IT, THE STAR IS ALREADY DOWN, NOT ON IT’S WAY DOWN, THE STAR HAD FALLEN BEFORE AND IS SEEN BY JOHN AS FALLEN.

* NOW THAT WILL BECOME IMPORTANT AS I ATTEMPT TO UNPACK THIS VERSE, SO FILE IT IN YOUR MEMORY CHIP.

** NOW IF YOU RECALL, FALLING STARS HAVE OCCURRED UNDER THE SIXTH SEAL IN REVELATION 6:13 AND A FALLING STAR HAS BEEN DESCRIBED UNDER THE THIRD TRUMPET IN REVELATION 8:10; AND BOTH OF THESE HAPPENINGS ARE BEST EXPLAINED AS LITERAL ASTRONOMICAL EVENTS AND JOHN SAW THESE STARS ACTUALLY COME DOWN TO THE EARTH.

*** BUT JOHN DID NOT SEE THIS STAR ACTUALLY FALL, IT HAD ALREADY FALLEN AND THIS STAR IS NOT AN ACTUAL PHYSICAL STAR, A MATERIAL STAR BUT A SYMBOLIC STAR.

**** FOR THIS STAR IS A PERSON. AND WE KNOW THAT BECAUSE THIS STAR IS A HIM, AND THE KEY OF THE BOTTOMLESS PIT IS GIVEN TO HIM.

2. THE LAT PART OF V. 1 SAYS: “THE KEY OF THE BOTTOMLESS PIT WAS GIVE TO HIM.”

* NOW YOU DON’T GIVE A KEY TO A ROCK, A MASS OF MATERIAL FROM THE HEAVENS, AN INANIMATE PIECE OF CELESTIAL MATTER AND THIS STAR IS IDENTIFIED AS HIM, A PERSON WITH LIFE, A BEING, SOMEONE THAT EXISTS.

** NOW THE QUESTION COMES UP IMMEDIATELY, WHO IS THIS PERSON?

*** WELL, IN MY STUDY THERE IS ONLY ONE ANSWER, SATAN!

**** ONLY ONE PERSON FITS THE PICTURE AND HE IS IDENTIFIED IN SCRIPTURE AS THE “FALLEN ONE.”

3. FOR ISAIAH SPEAKS OF THIS FALLEN STAR IN ISAIAH 14:12 WHERE HE SAYS: “HOW ART THOU FALLEN FROM HEAVEN, O STAR OF THE MORNING, SON OF THE DAWN, YOU HAVE BEEN CUT DOWN TO THE EARTH, YOU WHO HAVE WEAKENED THE NATIONS.”

* AND OUR LORD JESUS SPOKE OF THIS SAME ONE WHEN HE SAID IN LUKE 10:18, “I BEHELD SATAN AS LIGHTENING FALL FROM HEAVEN.”

** AND LONG AGO SATAN WAS CAST OUT OF HEAVEN FOR HIS REBELLION AND SIN OF PRIDE, AND HE WAS CAST TO THE EARTH AND IS NOW THE GOD OF THIS WORLD, II CORINTHIANS 4:3&4.

*** BEYOND THAT ANGELS ARE CALLED STARS IN JOB 38:7, AND SATAN IS A FALLEN CHERUB, A FALLEN ANGEL, A FALLEN STAR.

**** SO THIS APPEARS TO BE SATAN, ONE OF OUR ENEMIES.

4. NOW A KEY IS GIVEN TO HIM, AND A KEY GIVES SOMEONE THE ABILITY TO UNLOCK A DOOR.

* TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY, SATAN MUST BE GIVEN THIS KEY, HE DOESN’T HAVE THE AUTHORITY OR POWER TO OPEN THE BOTTOMLESS PIT.

** THE LORD WHO HAS ALL AUTHORITY MUST GIVE HIM HIS POWER TO DO WHAT HE IS DOING.

*** AND BELIEVER, PLEASE REMEMBER SATAN IS POWERFUL, BUT NOT ALL POWERFUL, HE IS MIGHTY BUT NOT ALL MIGHTY, AND WE ARE REMINDED IN

I JOHN 4:4 (READ IT).

**** AND BELOVED, BE REMINDED SATAN IS OUR ENEMY AND IS POWERFUL, BUT A DEFEATED FOE.

5. WELL, HE IS GIVEN THIS KEY TO THE BOTTOMLESS PIT WHICH LIT. MEANS THE PIT OF THE ABYSS, THE SHAFT OF THE ABYSS.

* AND THE GREEK WORD TRANSLATED “BOTTOMLESS” HERE IS USED 7 TIMES IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION AND MAKES REFERENCE TO THE ABODE OF INCARCERATED DEMONS.

** AND SATAN HIMSELF WILL BE HELD PRISONER THERE DURING THE MILLENNIUM, CHAINED AND LOCKED UP WITH OTHER DEMONIC PRISONERS IN REVELATION 20:1&3.

*** AND THEN HE WILL BE CAST INTO THE LAKE OF FIRE IN REVELATION 20:10 WHERE HE WILL SPEND ETERNITY.

**** AND THIS PIT OF THE ABYSS IN MY UNDERSTANDING IS SEPARATE FROM THE FINAL LAKE OF FIRE AND IS THE PLACE WHERE SOME DEMONS ARE INCARCERATED TODAY.

6. FOR NOT ALL DEMONS ARE UNBOUND, MANY ARE FREE TO DO SATAN’S BIDDING, ULTIMATELY GOD’S BIDDING AS THE SOVEREIGN ONE.

* BUT THERE ARE SOME DEMONS IMPRISONED IN THE ABYSS WHO WERE INVOLVED IN A HEINOUS ACT BEYOND THEIR FALL THAT BROUGHT FURTHER JUDGMENT.

** FOR II PETER 2:4 SAYS: “FOR IF GOD DID NOT SPARE ANGELS WHEN THEY SINNED, BUT CAST THEM INTO HELL AND COMMITTED THEM TO PITS OF DARKNESS, RESERVED FOR JUDGMENT.”

*** AND THEN LUKE 8:31 TALKS ABOUT THIS PLACE IN REFERENCE TO DEMONS WHO FEARED BANISHMENT TO THIS PLACE.

**** FOR LUKE 8:30&31 SAYS:

V. 30 – AND JESUS ASKED HIM, “WHAT IS YOUR NAME?” AND HE SAID, “LEGION”; FOR MANY DEMONS HAD ENTERED HIM.

V. 31 – THEY WERE IMPLORING HIM NOT TO COMMAND THEM TO GO AWAY INTO THE ABYSS.

7. AND THEN JUDE VV. 6&7 SAYS:

V. 6 – AND ANGELS WHO DID NOT KEEP THEIR OWN DOMAIN, BUT ABANDONED THEIR PROPER ABODE, HE HAS KEPT IN ETERNAL BONDS UNDER DARKNESS FOR THE JUDGMENT OF THE GREAT DAY,

V. 7 – JUST AS SODOM AND GOMORRAH AND THE CITIES AROUND THEM, SINCE THEY IN THE SAME WAY AS THESE INDULGED IN GROSS IMMORALITY AND WENT AFTER STRANGE FLESH, ARE EXHIBITED AS AN EXAMPLE IN UNDERGOING THE PUNISHMENT OF ETERNAL FIRE.

* NOW MY POINT FROM ALL THESE VERSES IS, THERE ARE DEMONS IN THIS PIT OF THE ABYSS THAT ARE EXTRA VILE AND PERVERTED THAT HAVE BEEN IMPRISONED AND NOT FREE TO MOVE ABOUT.

** BUT THEY ARE GOING TO BE RELEASED DURING THE TRIBULATION. AND THE PLACE WHERE THESE DEMONS ARE RIGHT NOW WILL BE OPENED. LOOK AT V. 2 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 2. NOW AFTER SATAN RECEIVED THE KEY TO THE ABYSS, HE OPENS IT.

* AND WHEN THE ABYSS IS OPENED SMOKE STARTS POURING OUT TO THE DEGREE THAT IT WOULD REMIND ONE OF SMOKE COMING OUT OF A GREAT FURNACE.

** AND OVER THE YEARS, I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SEE SOME GREAT FURNACES, ONE AT THE OLD REPUBLIC STEEL LOCATION IN THEIR MELT SHOP AND THE NEWER TIMKEN STEEL PLANT.

*** AND MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF SMOKE ARE PRODUCED IN MELTING SCRAP IRON AND MAKING STEEL AND ADDING CERTAIN INGREDIENTS.

**** AND NOW THE SMOKE GOES THROUGH SCRUBBERS AND POLLUTION DEVICES THAT CLEAN THE AIR.

1. BUT WHEN I WAS A BOY, AND BEFORE THEY USED THESE HUGE SCRUBBERS AND AIR CLEANING DEVICES, YOU COULD LOOK OVER TOWARDS TRUMP ROAD WHERE THERE WAS A BLAST FURNACE AND OVER TO 5TH STREET AND SEE LARGE AMOUNTS OF BLACK AND RED SMOKE POURING OUT OF THESE PLACES.

* I MEAN IT WAS QUITE A SIGHT AND JUST POURING ALL KINDS OF WASTE AND SMOKE INTO THE AIR.

** WELL, THE SMOKE OF THE PIT, WILL BE SO THICK THAT IT WILL DARKEN THE AIR AND SHADE THE SUN, WHICH AT THIS POINT WILL PROBABLY BE RESTORED TO FULL STRENGTH AFTER THE 4TH TRUMPET JUDGMENT.

*** SO THE SMOKE OF THE PIT WILL BE GREAT BECAUSE OF THE EVERLASTING FIRE THAT IS GOING IN IT.

**** NOW A SHORT RECAP OF VV. 1&2.

2. NO. 1 THE REGION FROM WHICH THE ERUPTION COMES IS THE ABYSS.

* NO. 2 THE AGENT OF THE RELEASE – A FALLEN STAR IS SATAN.

** NO. 3 THE NECESSITY FOR DIVINE PERMISSION IS GIVEN, THE KEY IS GIVEN TO SATAN.

*** AND NO. 4 THE SMOKE FROM THE PIT DARKENS THE SUN AND THE AIR.

**** NOW DEMONS WILL BE RELEASED OUT OF THEIR PIT BEGINNING IN V. 3, AND THEY WILL BRING A PLAGUE TO THE EARTH, WHICH IS OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, THE PLAGUE. AND WE’LL START TO SEE THIS IN V. 3. LOOK AT V. 3 PLEASE.

II. THE PLAGUE, (READ V. 3)

A. NOW OUT OF THIS DARK SMOKE JOHN SEES A NEW TERROR EMERGE.

* VILE DEMONS, TAKING ON A VISIBLE FORM RESEMBLING LOCUSTS, SWARM OUT OF THE PIT TO PLAGUE THE EARTH.

** AND THESE WERE NOT ORDINARY LOCUSTS, BUT DEMONS, WHO LIKE LOCUSTS, BRING SWARMING DESTRUCTION.

*** NOW THERE ARE SEVERAL THINGS IN OUR TEXT AND FOLLOWING THAT SHOW US THESE LOCUSTS ARE DEMONS.

**** NO. 1 THEIR ORIGIN. THEY COME OUT OF THE PIT, FROM THE FIRES OF THE ABYSS AND NORMAL INSECT LOCUSTS COULD NOT SURVIVE IN THE SMOKE AND FIRE OF THE PIT OF THE ABYSS. THEY COULD NOT BREED AND MULTIPLY IN A PLACE LIKE THIS.

1. NO. 2 POWER IS GIVEN TO THESE LOCUSTS TO STING LIKE A SCORPION. THEY WERE GIVEN POWER AS THE SCORPIONS, AND THEIR POWER IS TO STING IN V. 5.

* NO. 3 THEY DO NOT EAT THE FOOD OF REAL LOCUSTS. FOR REAL LOCUSTS BY THEIR SHEER NUMBERS AND HUGE APPETITES CAN DEVOUR EVERY GREEN THING IN A WHOLE LANDSCAPE WITHIN MINUTES.

** WE WILL SEE IN V. 4, THEY ARE NOT PERMITTED TO HURT OR DAMAGE WHAT THEY WOULD NORMALLY EAT.

*** AND NO. 4, WE WILL SEE NEXT WEEK IN OUR STUDY THAT THESE LOCUSTS HAVE A KING. AND PROVERBS 30:27 SAYS: “THE LOCUSTS HAVE NO KING.”

2. BUT THESE LOCUSTS DO, THE ANGEL OF THE ABYSS WHICH IS NAMED IN V. 11, WHICH WE WILL TALK ABOUT LORD WILLING NEXT WEEK.

* AND MY POINT IS, THESE ARE NOT NATURAL INSECT LOCUSTS.

** BUT DESCRIBING THEM IN THE FORM OF LOCUSTS SYMBOLIZES THEIR UNCOUNTABLE NUMBERS AND MASSIVE DESTRUCTIVE CAPABILITIES.

*** I MEAN THE DESTRUCTIVE POWER OF LOCUSTS IS NOTED IN SEVERAL O.T. PASSAGES AND EVEN THE 8TH PLAGUE IN EGYPT WHERE GOD SENT A PLAGUE OF LOCUSTS TO DEVOUR THE LAND OF EGYPT IN EXODUS 10:1-20.

**** AND THESE LOCUS-DEMONS WILL SWARM AND HAVE POWER TO INFLICT GREAT PAIN. AND THOSE WHO WILL RECEIVE THIS GREAT PAIN ARE IDENTIFIED IN V. 4. LOOK AT V. 4 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 4. NOW STRICT LIMITATIONS WERE PLACED ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THIS DEMONIC HOST.

* FOR THEY ARE TOLD (NO DOUBT BY OUR SOVEREIGN GOD WHO CONTROLS EVERYTHING FOR HIS PURPOSES) THAT THERE WERE LIMITS OR RESTRICTIONS.

** FOR GOD DID NOT ALLOW THEM TO HURT THE GRASS OF THE EARTH, NOR ANY GREEN THING OR TREE, WHICH AGAIN SHOWS US THEY WERE NOT REAL INSECT LOCUSTS.

*** ALSO WE SEE THE GRASS IS STARTING TO GROW BACK SINCE THE FIRST TRUMPET JUDGMENT.

**** BUT THESE DEMON’S BUSINESS IS NOT WITH VEGETATION, BUT WITH PEOPLE.

1. AND NOT ALL PEOPLE, ONLY PEOPLE WHO DID NOT HAVE THE SEAL OF GOD ON THEIR FOREHEADS.

* AND I WOULD TAKE THAT TO MEAN, THAT CHRISTIANS ARE PROTECTED FROM THE AFFLICTION THAT THESE DEMONS CAUSE.

** FOR WE KNOW THAT THE 144,000 IN REVELATION 7:4 HAVE BEEN SEALED BY GOD. FOR REVELATION 7:4 SAYS: “AND I HEARD THE NUMBER OF THOSE WHO WERE SEALED, ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR THOUSAND SEALED FROM EVERY TRIBE OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL.”

*** NOW BEYOND THE 144,000, A MULTITUDE WHICH NO ONE COULD NUMBER WILL BE SAVED FROM ALL NATIONS IN REVELATION 7:9-17, WE ASSUME THROUGH THE WITNESS OF THE 144,000.

**** AND WE KNOW THAT IN THE CHURCH AGE NOW WHEN SOMEONE BELIEVES, THEY ARE SEALED BY GOD, BY GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT, READ EPHESIANS 1:13.

2. NOW AS WE GO BACK TO REVELATION 9:4, THIS SEAL MARKS BELIEVERS AS PERSONALLY BELONGING TO GOD AND AS SUCH PROTECTED FROM THE FORCES OF THE PIT.

* AND JUST AS GOD SHELTERED ISRAEL FROM SOME OF THE EFFECTS OF THE EGYPTIAN PLAGUES, SO ALSO GOD WILL PROTECT THOSE TRIBULATION SAINTS FROM THESE DEMONS.

** AND THE FOREHEAD IS TALKED ABOUT HERE, PROBABLY SUGGESTING THAT AS YOU LOOK AT A PERSON YOU SEE THEIR FOREHEAD, IT IS EASILY RECOGNIZED, SO THESE BELIEVERS WILL BE NUMBERED OFF FOR GOD AND DEMONS WILL RECOGNIZE BY LOOKING AT THEM THAT THEY ARE OFF LIMITS.

*** BUT GET THIS, EVEN WHAT THESE DEMONS CAN DO TO THE UNREGENERATE IS LIMITED, LOOK AT V. 5 PLEASE.

C. READ V. 5. NOW THESE DEMONS ARE NOT PERMITTED TO KILL ANYONE, WHICH FOR THE 3’D TIME IN THIS TEXT WE ARE REMINDED WHO IS IN CONTROL AND ON THE THRONE, OUR SOVEREIGN LORD.

* FOR IN V. 1 THE KEY IS GIVEN TO SATAN, HE DOESN’T HAVE THE POWER TO OPEN IT.

** AND IN V. 3, POWER WAS GIVEN TO THE DEMONS, POWER THAT GOD MUST GIVE THEM.

*** AND HERE THESE DEMONS ARE NOT PERMITTED TO KILL ANYONE. GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL, NOT THE DEMONS AND NOT SATAN.

**** NOW ALTHOUGH THESE DEMONS ARE NOT PERMITTED TO KILL UNSAVED PEOPLE, WHICH BY THE WAY IS ANOTHER ARGUMENT THAT THESE LOCUSTS ARE DEMONS, FOR LOCUSTS DO NOT KILL PEOPLE DIRECTLY, THEY EAT VEGETATION, AND ALSO SCORPION’S STINGS DO NOT NORMALLY KILL, THEY INFLICT A LOT OF PAIN.

1. AND THAT’S WHAT THESE DEMONS ARE PERMITTED TO DO, TO TORMENT UNSAVED PEOPLE FOR 5 MONTHS, WITH THE WAY A SCORPION STING CAUSES GREAT PAIN.

* AND TWO THINGS CAN BE NOTED HERE.

** NO. 1 5 MONTHS IS A LITERAL TIME PERIOD HERE, FOR INSECT LOCUSTS HAVE A NORMAL LIFE SPAN OF 5 MONTHS, USUALLY FROM MAY TO SEPTEMBER.

*** NO. 2 THE WORD TORMENT IS USED 3 TIMES HERE IN V. 5 AND LIT. MEANS TORTURED, GREAT PAIN, GREAT AFFLICTION, THE ACT OF TORMENTING.

**** THE PAIN THESE DEMONS CAUSE WILL BE EXCRUCIATING. IN FACT IT WILL BE SO BAD, THAT THE DESCRIPTION OF V. 6 IS GIVEN TO US. LOOK AT V. 6 PLEASE.

D. READ V. 6. NOW SO INTENSE WILL BE THE TORTURE AND TORMENT ON UNBELIEVERS THAT IN THOSE DAYS (FIVE MONTHS) PEOPLE WILL SEEK DEATH AND LONG TO DIE AND DEATH WILL FLEE FROM THEM.

* IN OTHER WORDS UNSAVED PEOPLE DRIVEN MAD BY WHAT THESE DEMONS WILL DO, DRIVEN MAD BY THE VILENESS AND FILTH OF THIS DEMON INFESTATION, WILL SEEK RELIEF FROM THIS TORMENT BY SEEKING DEATH, BY CRAVING DEATH, BY WANTING TO DIE.

** AND THEY WILL “LONG” TO DIE, TO DESIRE IN A STRONG WAY LIKE LUSTING OR COVETING AFTER SOMETHING AND DEATH WILL FLEE FORM THEM.

*** BELOVED FOR 5 MONTHS, DEATH WILL TAKE A HOLIDAY. THERE WILL BE NO ESCAPE FROM THE AGONY INFLICTED BY THE DEMONS, NO ESCAPE FROM DIVINE JUDGMENT, FOR THESE DEMONS ARE DOING THE WORK OF GOD IN A SENSE HERE, DOING WHAT HE PERMITS AND EMPOWERS THEM TO DO.

**** SO IN ESSENCE, ALL ATTEMPTS AT SUICIDE WILL FAIL, DEATH WILL BE ELUSIVE. OH, WHAT A TERRIBLE TIME TO BE ALIVE.

IN WRAP UP: (1) PEOPLE IN OUR WORLD TODAY ARE BEING CONDITIONED FOR THIS.

* FOR CERTAINLY WE SEE THE GROWTH OF MOVIES, TV PROGRAMS AND BOOKS WITH DEMONIC THEMES.

** PLUS THE GROWTH OF THE OCCULT AND FALSE RELIGION WHICH HAS AS ITS SOURCE THE ENEMY, ALL THESE THINGS ARE CONDITIONING PEOPLE ONE DAY FOR A DEMONIC OUTBREAK ON THE EARTH.

*** AND BELIEVER, I DO NOT BELIEVE WE WILL BE HERE THEN, THAT WE WILL BE CAUGHT UP TO BE WITH THE LORD BEFORE THIS TIME.

**** YET NOW, TODAY ON OCTOBER 8TH, 2006, WE MUST REALIZE THAT THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS NOT A PLAYGROUND, BUT A BATTLEGROUND.

(2) AND WE MUST BE REMINDED TO APPLY EPHESIANS 6:10-13 (READ THEM).

* AND BELOVED WE NEED TO BE REMINDED THAT THERE ARE PRECIOUS BIBLICAL REMINDERS AGAINST SATAN’S SCHEMES, II CORINTHIANS 2:11 – “SO THAT NO ADVANTAGE WOULD BE TAKEN OF US BY SATAN, FOR WE ARE NOT IGNORANT OF HIS SCHEMES.”

** AND BELOVED WE HAVE THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, THE WORD TO DO BATTLE AND PRAYING ALWAYS.

*** AND WE ARE TOLD IN JAMES 4:7&8 THIS: (READ IT).

**** AND BEYOND THAT WE HAVE THE WARNING IN

I PETER 5:8 TO BE SOBER AND ALERT (READ IT).

(3) AND BOTTOM LINE TODAY IN APPLICATION, WE MUST WALK AND BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT OR WE WILL GIVE OVER TO THE TEMPTATION OF THE WORLD, THE FLESH AND THE DEVIL.

* AND OH THE PAIN OF GIVING OVER TO TEMPTATION WHICH IS SIN, THE PAIN OF HURTING OUR SAVIOR AND THE PAIN IT CAUSES OTHERS AND THE PAIN OF BEING MISERABLE AND DEPRESSED OVER OUR SIN.

** BELOVED, LET US NOT GIVE SATAN AN OPPORTUNITY, AN OPEN DOOR, EPHESIANS 4:27, BUT LET US WALK IN THE SPIRIT AND NOT FULFILL THE DESIRES OF THE FLESH. READ GALATIANS 5:16.