Silence - Revelation 8:1-13

[0:00] All right, Revelation chapter 8. If you remember as we've been going through the book of Revelation,! There's a few on the back if someone wants any. If you don't have one, grab it on the way out.

[0:11] Or you can go back and grab one of these sheets to kind of give us an overview of what it looks like these seven years of tribulation. The tribulation time. The time of Jacob's trouble.

[0:22] God's judgment upon the Gentile nations. I would say his final judgment, but that's actually the end of the thousand years when Satan brings all the nations one more time against the Lord and he'll finally judge the nations.

[0:36] But this is the time of the Gentiles. This is the culmination, the ending of it. We've gone through the first six seals as the Lamb has opened the scroll. He's not opened the scroll.

[0:46] That'll be tonight. He's opened the seals, six of them. And then there was that pause in chapter 7. And we spent the last couple of studies really looking at the tribulation saints, looking at what they've gone, not what they've gone through, what they will go through.

[1:01] And then in light of that, you know, the life that we live and what we're going through, that if they can stand strong in that season, then how can we not in this season? We've looked at the heptatic structure, which is the sevens of Revelation.

[1:17] So we've done the, it follows the same pattern. We have the seven seals. And then before the seventh one is open, you see there's like a parentheses, that pause that I'm calling it. And then the last judgment is also the beginning of the next set.

[1:33] So tonight, as we are in chapter 8, we will open the seventh seal, which will then bring forth the trumpet judgments as well. So we saw how last time there was the 144,000, if you remember.

[1:50] And we said, well, who were they? Who are these 144,000? We said, they're not the church. They're specifically of the children of Israel. They have specific tribes. They pass through wrath, kept and preserved through wrath, were preserved from wrath.

[2:06] They're the beginning of a harvest. They're faithful. They should be eternally led. They should be eternally fed, eternally filled, and eternally consoled. And we saw how that, for us, our light affliction is but for a moment.

[2:21] But for a moment. Even as we read this, it seems so intense for these people that are going to go through this, but it's just a moment. I mean, seven years, and whatever they are living in that time for those seven years, and whatever tribulation they endure, it'll be terrible.

[2:37] No, we're not gonna, you know, there's no sugarcoating. It's not gonna be easy. It's not gonna be fun. But God is faithful. And in that moment, when they pass from this life into eternity, none of them are gonna say, well, I don't know if it was really worth it.

[2:50] Same for us. We saw how we're not to seek satisfaction in this life. That comfort, the comforter we've been talking about, comfort's reserved for a better place, but God doesn't leave us comfortless because he sent the Holy Spirit.

[3:04] Joel chapter two. Beginning in verse one says, blow you the trumpet in Zion and sound an alarm in my holy mountain, that all the habitations of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord comes, for it is nigh at hand.

[3:19] A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness. Blow the trumpet in Zion because the day of the Lord is at hand. That's what we're gonna see as they blow the trumpet.

[3:31] But before the trumpet is blown, there's a very interesting moment in heaven there is silence. So if we pick up here in chapter eight, in verse one, it says, and when he had opened the seventh seal, and so the lamb has opened the final seal.

[3:49] I mean, you think, like we've been going through this now for how many weeks, the seals, and there's this idea that like, well, he's opened the scroll, but he hasn't. The scroll's not open. He's just opening one seal after another, after another, gets to the sixth seal, and now he gets to the seventh one, and he opens it.

[4:06] It says, and there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. I think because at this point, the scroll is finally open. As that scroll is open, as the last seal breaks, all of heaven, in a sense, holds its collective breath.

[4:21] When he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. The seventh seal. We said before how heaven will be very loud, very brilliant, but very still.

[4:39] It's very loud. There's the creatures around the throne worshiping. There's the 24 elders worshiping, all the hosts of heaven worshiping. There's the throne and all that's coming out of the throne.

[4:52] It's very loud. It's very brilliant, but it's very still. It's not like, oh, it's going to be noise to our minds. It's very, very still. But at this point, all of heaven holds its collective breath as the last seal is loosed and the contents of the scroll are revealed.

[5:09] And as we go through this next section, kind of where we get down through verse four, I think that all takes place in silence. I think all that's happening here is just now in silence as they're watching this.

[5:24] You know, as we've said, the seventh seal, when it's loose, it's almost like it contains the next seven judgments, the trumpet judgments, but it has its own effect first before the trumpet is sounded.

[5:38] We're gonna be looking at prayer a little bit tonight. James 5.16 says, Prayer does a lot more than we ever think it does.

[5:51] Prayer reaches far beyond what we would ever imagine that its reach has. Verse two, And I saw the seven angels which stood before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.

[6:07] Who are these angels? I don't remember reading about the seven angels that stood before God. If you remember, we read back in chapter four, the four living creatures that stood before God. And they had the four faces and they had eyes under their wings and eyes before and without and all of that.

[6:21] We saw in Revelation chapter seven, where the four angels that held back the four corners or the four points of the earth, they held back the wind that it wouldn't blow.

[6:35] And then we saw in Revelation six, how you had the four living creatures that every time the first four seals were loose for each one, there's one of the creatures there for that.

[6:46] It's like, well, who are these people? Who are these angels? Maybe they're all tied together. And we said last week how, or last time, maybe the four living creatures did have something to do with the four angels that were holding back the four winds.

[6:59] And then there was also the four horsemen. And I think they do all tie together, but I don't think that the angels and the four living creatures are the same because you're never going to see here where the living creatures, the four living creatures are considered to be angels.

[7:16] Revelation seven, where it said all the angels stood round about the throne and about the elders and the four beasts and then fell down in worship. That's all the angels. Revelation seven, 11 stood around the throne and around the four beasts, the four living creatures.

[7:31] So they're not the same. And then you have these, now these seven, well, who are they and where did they come from? And verse three, another angel then comes and he stood at the altar having a golden censer.

[7:47] And so if you remember, we looked before at that altar, but now we have this other angel. Who are all these angels? I mean, is it just like God's like, yeah, you all look the same. You're all shiny and all the pictures, they all look the same.

[7:57] I don't think so. Another angel. Just as God knows each one of us, we each have an individual calling and purpose.

[8:08] It's no different for his angelic creation. Hebrews 1, 14 tells us that our angels, not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.

[8:23] So God has a purpose for his angels is for them to minister. Angels are sent to minister to the heirs of salvation. Well, the church has left the earth now. You still have heirs of salvation in the sense of these tribulation saints, but we see the angels doing so much more as we are given this glimpse into the throne room.

[8:41] We see the angels also minister in worship. They have a part in judgment. We see they have a part in prayer. Not that they themselves are praying, but they have a part in that.

[8:53] And they also minister in heaven. God's ministers, well, first they have to do what? They have to receive from God. This angel here, this other angel came and stood at the altar having a golden censer and there was given unto him incense.

[9:11] They have to receive it. To be a minister, to be a servant of God, you have to first receive something from him. And they have a purpose by God. It wasn't random.

[9:22] It wasn't just, you know, something they needed to do in their spare time. It was with a purpose. We're here with a purpose. I hope you're here with a purpose. It's not just like, well, I didn't really have anything going on tonight and I haven't seen people in a while and you know, I know they got good coffee afterwards, so I'm gonna go.

[9:38] What's your purpose? More importantly, what's God's purpose and why he's called you here? God's ministers serve in God's timing as well. God very specifically had a timing.

[9:52] I figured this angel here in verse two, this seven, in verse three, this another angel. I love how it just says another angel. You know, we're gonna get to heaven and we're gonna be like, you're another angel? Yeah, hi, my name's Mr. Another.

[10:04] You know, that's the guy. That's the one. Are we just another servant? We're just another minister? I'm just another Christian? I'm just another believer?

[10:14] I'm just another American Christian? No, God has a purpose. God has timing. God has something for us to receive so that we can then go and minister and serve in the same way these angels are.

[10:28] The idea is get involved in ministry. Get involved in being a minister. I don't mean in like, okay, we're all gonna go and we're gonna, you know, serve in full-time ministry. You know, guys, go be pastors. And no, not saying that.

[10:41] Saying that, be involved in what God's involved in. God's involved in serving and ministry to his people, to the lost. Because heaven's gonna be full of it. Heaven is gonna be full of ministry.

[10:53] It's not like, well, I don't feel like it today so I'm gonna go and play pickleball over here while y'all are ministering. No, heaven's gonna be full of it.

[11:06] 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 5 says, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything is of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God. Who am I to, I'm just another.

[11:18] How can I say that I'm gonna be a minister? Oh, who's also made us, God has made us ministers of the New Testament, of the New Covenant. Not of the letter, but the spirit for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.

[11:31] That's why we wanna be led by the spirit. That's why we wanna be filled with the spirit. That's why we wanna have a spirit-filled life, walk, and body. Right? We don't wanna come here and do things according to letter. Well, this is how we've always done it, this is how we always do it, and this is how we're always gonna do it.

[11:44] We wanna be open to what the Lord wants to do. And the scripture says, Jesus says that new wine cannot be put into an old wineskin. It constrains it. It's because it's gonna burst. As the new wine essentially expands or grows, the old wineskin can't contain it.

[11:58] It'll go, hey, I gotta do something new. He also then says in that section, he says, neither do men like new wine at first. It's new. They want the old stuff.

[12:09] I have no experience with wine, but I understand the concept and that principle. Hey, this is what I'm used to. Now something new has come. It's gonna take a little time. And so, another angel came and stood at the altar, and we've looked at this altar.

[12:25] Who's underneath the altar? Remember? All of those souls that are resting, that are waiting there. Another angel came, stood at the altar, and he had a golden censer.

[12:38] Like, you know, what they would burn incense in, golden. And there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar, which was before the throne.

[12:51] 2 Corinthians 2.15 says, for we are unto God, a sweet savor of Christ, and them that are saved, and in them that perishing. It goes on to say, we are a savor of life unto life, unto them that are saved, and death unto death, them that are perishing.

[13:05] But we are sweet, unto God a sweet savor of Christ. God looks down and goes, ah! Even at our stinkiest, even at our worst, God looks down and says, ah, you've been washed in the blood.

[13:19] Ha! You belong to my son. I consider you completely sufficient to be a minister of the New Testament. Notice here that incense is added with the prayers of the saints.

[13:33] It's not to the saints. This is not praying to the saints or offering incense to the saints. It's added with the prayers of the saints. David would write in Psalm 141, verse 2, he says, let my prayer be set forth before you as incense, lifting up my hands as the evening sacrifice.

[13:53] You think, how do our prayers get to God? I mean, I know it says in Romans that the Holy Spirit interprets our groanings that cannot be uttered unto God. He interprets them. Well, and David says, let my prayers be set forth before you as incense.

[14:06] And look at the picture we get in heaven where God's like, that's exactly how I look at this. And so here's being offered at this altar. Prayer is presented in the presence of God by angelic hands.

[14:22] It's touched by fire upon the golden altar of heaven. How does prayer get offered to God? It's offered in his presence by angelic hands and it's touched by fire on the golden altar of heaven.

[14:35] Man, my prayers, where is the, they are. They're offered on that altar. Not one prayer will go unanswered or be counted as ineffective. None of these prayers, well, not that one.

[14:48] Just leave that one off over there. I mean, that was that kid asking for a bicycle. I'm not going to give him that. No. The Holy Spirit interprets our prayers. Prayer is precious. Something that's offered in a very precious, in a very potent, powerful way.

[15:07] Potent and powerful, very similar, but potent meaning not ineffective, not going to fall flat. Powerful meaning that it accomplishes what it needs to and it is pleasing to God.

[15:19] This is very precious. Heaven views our prayers as a precious commodity, not something to be taken lightly. This isn't just something that's a throwaway.

[15:31] I think sometimes we think of prayer like that. Think, well, you know, Lord, thank you, and I'm about to eat. Didn't pray. God, thank you for this food. You know, that's a precious commodity.

[15:43] I think we're going to be surprised someday when we arrive and find out that, man, I wasn't even sincere in that prayer. Look how the Lord took that and used it to accomplish. I'm usually surprised when God answers my prayers very directly, right?

[15:59] Katie and I just had something recently, this past weekend we were praying about and like the Lord brought it about in a way that was like, oh, wow, I didn't expect that.

[16:12] Sue and I have been praying about some things that the Lord just, he just kind of goes, boop, and there it is. Huh. I've had times with finances where it's like, Lord, would you just provide? And then you randomly find an account or with whatever or we get a check in the mail from the insurance company and they're like, oh, here's a hundred dollars, you know, refund.

[16:30] It's like, what? Who does that? You know, but it's just God going, hey, I'm just answering prayer. I'm answering prayer. It's precious to him. And the smoke of the incense, verse four, which came with the prayers of the saints, it ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.

[16:46] All of the following judgments that we are going to go through, these trumpet judgments, are viewed in light of prayer. That smoke, that incense is ascending up before God, before the throne.

[16:58] As he looks out, he's looking through that haze. He's looking through that incense. He's looking through those prayers. All of the following judgments are viewed in light of prayer.

[17:09] And the angel took this answer. He filled it with fire of the altar and he cast it into the earth. And there were voices and thunderings and lightnings and earthquakes.

[17:23] Those prayers came back to earth with a lot more power than it seemed like they left it. You know, like, Lord, did you answer this prayer? Boom! And here it comes back. And he cast it into the earth.

[17:35] King James means upon. He cast it upon the earth. These trumpet judgments will all be characterized by things that are going to come upon the earth. Very specifically being cast upon the earth as this prelude is happening.

[17:47] So this seventh seal, I believe all of this is happening in silence. This half hour space where the angel comes forward. The seven angels which stood before God and they were given seven trumpets. They come in silence.

[17:59] They receive those trumpets. And here comes this one angel with the censer. And he offers incense with the prayers and it goes up before God. I don't know, maybe the altar in heaven it crackled and burned.

[18:09] But everyone's standing there silent watching this. And then as the angel takes the censer and he casts it back into the earth. Heaven is going to trumpet forth now the reality of a God who judges.

[18:26] As the seventh seal is open and these seven trumpet judgments come, heaven is trumpeting forth. We see here thunderings and voices and lightnings and earthquakes. Psalm 19 verses one through four.

[18:40] The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork. Day unto day utters speech and night unto night shows knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.

[18:52] Their line has gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world. That's just, that's just the firmament that we see every day and night. The sun rising and setting. I told you guys this before.

[19:02] Morning, if like sometimes I'm out on a job site before dawn and it is the most amazing thing to me to just watch the world just become light. I mean, we've got, they've got like, you know, those big generator lights that are on the site trying to keep it lit up and then all of a sudden nobody flips a switch.

[19:21] The whole world lights up and completely invalidates those lights. Oh, turn these off. They're no use anymore. I don't know how you can not be part of that and think something really weird just happened.

[19:31] It went from dark to light. What caused that? How did that happen? God's glory. It just, it declares his glory. And at this time the heavens will be shouting forth with voices and thunderings and lightning.

[19:45] There's going to be another earthquake. We've already seen this earthquake that's rattled the world in the tribulation. But at this point we see it's the prayers of the saints that shake the whole earth because what's being cast back upon the earth it's that that censer filled with incense and the prayers of the saints being cast back into the earth.

[20:06] God's judgment is being opened by prayer. Our prayers go far beyond the expectations that we would ever place upon them. I mean, would you think that your prayer you're just faithfully praying to God God will use that to turn that around and say I'm using this to judge a Christ-rejecting world that would stand against one of my children praying that would withhold from them when I'm seeking to fulfill that.

[20:31] 1 Thessalonians 5.17 says pray without ceasing. If I thought my prayers if I believed they were this effective boy, I'd pray a lot more. I'd be praying a whole lot more.

[20:46] Lord, are you going to throw some fire down on them now? No? Okay. But they are effective, right? They're effective to speak into a heart, to shake a heart, to send that voice.

[21:00] Verse 6, and the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. That means made a way. It's the same idea that the voice of the one in the wilderness crying, prepare you the way of the Lord. It's the same wording.

[21:11] The seven angels which had the seven trumpets made a way themselves to sound. The roles played in God's kingdom, they're never happenstance.

[21:26] Each is just as valuable and just as important as the next. Not one angel missed his timing or his cue. No matter how long the wait or how brief their moment.

[21:37] How long were these angels waiting? They take their, finally, I get to blow my trumpet. Everybody's going to hear me. Trumpet one. Okay, you're good. Thank you. Number two, let's go. That's it. I don't get to do it again.

[21:47] Just one, two, just maybe a second. No matter how long the wait or how brief, none will miss their cue or their timing. In Mark chapter one, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it is written in the prophets.

[22:07] That would be in Isaiah 40. Behold, I send my messenger before thy face which will prepare the way before you. the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare you the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

[22:21] John's voice was for a time and a purpose and eventually came to an end. And John, when he's in prison, said, you know, he sent his disciples to Jesus. He says, are you the one or do we look for another? I didn't expect my voice to be so short.

[22:35] Jesus said, go back and tell him. Tell him, all the, everything the prophets said about me is coming to pass because that voice doesn't ever end. Our voices, they may be for a moment.

[22:46] God gives us an opportunity to blow our trumpet, not to toot our own horn, to blow his trumpet for our calling, right? Our purpose, our timing. You know, we went to, I was 18 when I, after I graduated from high school, went to the Bible college, school of ministry, right?

[23:03] Two-year school and that's where my wife and then graduated and didn't go into ministry. You know, we raised our kids and we were involved in the church.

[23:15] People that I knew and have known of, it's like, you know, even now I meet guys and they're like, oh yeah, I've, you know, I'm 25 and I've had a church for 30 years.

[23:25] It's like, man, that's not fair, right? And it's like, Lord, I think sometimes could I have done something different? Did I, did I hold this up, Lord? Lord, was it my lack of faith?

[23:37] I mean, maybe we could have been doing this sooner but then I look at how God's timing and his purpose and his plan, I look at all of you, I look at where we're at now, I look at our friendships and what God's doing in this time in this area, look what he's done in my kids' lives, I wouldn't change anything, wouldn't change a thing, good and the bad.

[23:54] I see how it's led to God's purpose and God's timing and God's plan. None of us will miss our cue. Nobody's gonna miss God's timing.

[24:05] No matter how long the wait or how brief the moment, God is able to fulfill his timing, his purposes. The first angel sounded in verse 7 and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood.

[24:19] They were cast upon the earth. The hail and the fire mingled with blood being cast upon the earth. And the third part of the trees were burnt up and all the green grass was burnt up.

[24:30] So we have one third of trees and grass destroyed now in this first trumpet. If you remember in Revelation 7 verse 2 we read, 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 given to hurt the earth and the sea saying hurt not the earth neither the sea nor the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

[24:59] Now they've been sealed we saw the last time and now the God's judgment coming forth. I think as we've seen in Exodus that God judged the Egyptian gods and each one of them was over some aspect of nature.

[25:10] God is judging now the false gods of the world. As we go through this we're going to see each one of these in our day is a false god in this world. This world worships creation.

[25:25] They've chosen to worship earth and its ecology and so God will judge earth and its ecology. For man instead of seeing a marvelous designer behind a marvelous creation they choose instead to worship the creation.

[25:40] Why? Because they don't want to be accountable to the creator. I'll just stop short of that. Romans 1.25 tells us they've changed the truth of God into a lie and they've worshipped and served the creature more than the creator who is blessed forevermore.

[25:56] And so God's bringing judgment there to show them hey I'm lord of this as he did to the Egyptians. It's interesting none of God's judgments are done in secret. What is this jump it?

[26:06] I mean jump it. Trumpet judgment. It's a trumpet. You know it's not a kazoo judgment. It's not to be done in secret. It's being cast upon the earth.

[26:20] However God desires deliverance. He does not desire destruction. His heart is not to destroy. It's to deliver. Acts 17.30 says Peter or I'm sorry as Paul on Mars Hill in Athens says at the times of this ignorance God winked at man's ignorance but now he commands all men everywhere to repent because he's appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man who he has ordained.

[26:49] Wherefore he has given assurance unto all men and that he has raised him from the dead. God desires deliverance not destruction. There is a day where the world will be judged in righteousness but God much prefers that man would be judged righteous than that he would destroy him.

[27:09] If the creator who created this marvelous creation would not spare it for the sake of his creation us and who are we to elevate creation to a level that God doesn't.

[27:26] We're to steward it. We're to take care of it. He put Adam he said tend it keep it but we're not to lift it to a place that God doesn't. Also if the creator would not spare his own life on behalf of the souls of men he's not going to spare his creation right?

[27:44] He's going after men's hearts and here we see that man has shed blood. He shed blood for the sake of trees. How much blood has been shed for the sake of the grass and the trees?

[27:58] And so God now will shed man's blood because man owes a debt. But it's really amazing where did God shed his blood?

[28:10] On a tree. God shed his blood on a tree unfortunately man sheds his blood for trees. God is bringing an ecological disaster to this world on a scale unimagined and unrestrained and on a scale that cannot be dealt with by man completely outside of their hands and control.

[28:32] And the second angel sounded and as it were a great mountain so now we have the second trumpet burning with fire was cast into the sea and the third part of the sea became blood.

[28:44] The third of the sea becomes blood. Is it actually blood? I don't know. Or is it the result of whatever this mountain that's burning with fire falling in the sea brings this contamination?

[28:55] I don't know. But a third part of the sea becomes blood. An unnatural phenomena but a supernatural source. An unnatural phenomena but with a supernatural source.

[29:07] And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea and had life died. And the third part of the ships were destroyed. So an economic as well as an ecological disaster. Third part of the shipping destroyed.

[29:19] It's going to take a while for your Amazon packages to get here. And the third angel, the third trumpet now, he sounds, and there fell a great star from heaven.

[29:34] So see these things are coming upon the earth as this sensor is being poured out. Like I said, revelation is very much the view from heaven of God's judgment. We get snippets of earth's view.

[29:46] So this would be the view from earth. This would be man's view of what just took place in heaven, that these things are falling upon the earth. If these represent prayers, then a mountain falling into the sea was someone's really big prayer.

[30:01] But the third angel sounds, and there fell a great star from heaven, and it was burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters. the name of the star is called wormwood, and the third part of the waters became wormwood, and many men died of the waters because they were made bitter, and so one-third of the fresh water is destroyed.

[30:26] One-third of all the world's sources of fresh water will result in a whole lot of suffering and death. It's interesting, just food for thought, the wording here where it says that a great star from heaven burning means to consume with fire.

[30:46] A lamp means it has a source of fuel in itself. So something that fell from heaven like a star that was consumed with fire and had a source of fuel in itself. Almost sounds nuclear, right?

[30:58] Nuclear has a source of fuel in itself, the burning. You know when we get eventually into chapter 9 we're going to see that these demonic horde released from the pit and people say, well, maybe it's helicopters or drones or if God's calling it something spiritual, I'm sticking with that it's something spiritual.

[31:20] But the instruments of God's judgment many times that God brings upon man, he uses man as that instrument many times. God's judgment uses man. Tell us in Judges chapter 2, that's a lot, and they forsook the Lord and served Baal and Ashtaroth and the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about so they could not any longer stand before their enemies.

[31:51] Whithersoever they went, whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil. As the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn unto them, and they were greatly distressed.

[32:02] Nevertheless, the Lord raised up judges which delivered them out of the hands of those that spoiled them. The instruments of God's judgment upon man is very often man.

[32:12] God will use man. It is not outside of the realm of possibility that this is simply what God is allowing at this time. Remember, the restrainer is gone in the presence of the light of the world and the salt of the earth, the church, and the Holy Spirit, which brings conviction, will convict man of judgment, of righteousness, sin, judgment, and righteousness to come.

[32:34] That is not operating in the same way now. And the name of the star is called Wormwood. Wormwood means bitter, undrinkable, or a curse. And it says the third part of the waters became Wormwood.

[32:47] And so at this time, the source of life, the water, is contaminated with that which is bitter, that which is a curse. I love finding random scriptures tucked away.

[33:00] You know, sometimes a phrase will come to mind or you'll be looking up something as a cross reference. And Obadiah, when was the last time anyone, you know, anybody going through Obadiah currently? It's just one of those, like, yeah, I'm going to go through Obadiah this month.

[33:12] It says, for the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen. As that was done, it shall be done unto thee. Thy reward shall return upon thine own head. For as you have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually.

[33:25] Yea, they shall drink, they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been. The source of life has been contaminated with that which is bitter. Man will drink in bitterness.

[33:37] James chapter three in the New Testament talks about fountains of water. It says, does a fountain send forth at the same place sweet and bitter? Speaking of the tongue, how come the tongue blesses and curses? How can that be?

[33:48] It doesn't even happen in nature. But a Christ-rejecting world will be a very thirsty world. Jesus said in John chapter seven verse 37, he said, in the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.

[34:06] It's too late. The rapture has happened. The church is gone. It's not too late. It's not too late. A very thirsty world will hopefully look for a source that will be pure and clean.

[34:20] John 4 14, whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst. The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up unto everlasting life.

[34:32] Bitter men drink bitter water and die. But bitter men who drink eternal water live. And then those bitter men become better men.

[34:46] A bitter man who drinks bitter water, he dies. But any bitter man can drink eternal water and live. for the world at this time, their mindset is not going to be what ours is right now as we're reading this.

[35:02] Like, well, this is, oh, okay, I understand what's going on. This is obvious. Their mindset, we're going to continue through revelation, we're going to see that their mindset of what they understand about the God who's doing this will result in harder hearts, result in a greater rejection, result in this thought that, like, well, what we need to do is we need to come together and fight against God.

[35:24] We shall bring down God. We shall destroy him. Now, in the midst of this, you have the 144,000 and you have the innumerable company that are underneath the altar that are worshiping God who have been slain for their faith.

[35:36] So the frustration at this time, as the Antichrist is rolling out his system and rolling through his system and bringing all these things into play, and yet, constantly, what does he find?

[35:46] There's another one. Another one I got. I'm wasting so many resources hunting down these Christians to take them out. I think he's going to be a very bitter man.

[36:00] But I also think they're going to stand out. I don't think it'll be that easy to hide. The world is going to be so dark and so wicked. As we are experiencing what we're going through in our world as we watch it, turn away from Christ.

[36:14] As we see these last days, leading to the end days, as we're in the last days, it's not as hard to stick out anymore. You don't have to have a shirt on anymore that says just pass him through.

[36:27] You don't have to have your Jesus hat on. You don't have to necessarily be handing out tracks all the time. Those are great things. That's fine. That's what God calls you to. But you just live faithfully as a light.

[36:37] You just let the Lord use you as salt, and it's going to have an effect. I've experienced that personally. I have found the Lord has used me to be a witness when I wasn't trying to be, didn't know I was, and I've had people come and talk to me, and I'm like, well, how did you even know I was a believer?

[36:53] We never even had that conversation. But at this time, as this wormwood, the third part of the waters became wormwood, and many men died of the waters because they were made bitter.

[37:06] But they had no other source. They had to keep drinking from the only source they had, and it was a source that just led to death, after death, after death. How many people would die because they drank the bitter water?

[37:17] They'd be so desperate because they'd be so thirsty. I have to drink something. Maybe it won't kill me. The world around us does that every day. Well, I know, I know wealth and riches destroy most people, but if I won the lottery, woo-hoo-hoo, it would make my life, right?

[37:35] I know, I know, I know, dabbling in that area, but I can handle it. It's not going to lead me to death. But we become so desperate for a source. We have a source, that's why we're here.

[37:48] We're not here without a purpose. I don't read this every day of my life without a purpose. Well, hopefully almost every day. I don't read it every day. I sometimes miss. But I seek the Lord.

[37:59] I walk by faith, seeking Him day by day and moment by moment because He's my source. Otherwise, I know myself. I'll go find another source. And it'll lead to death and bitterness and frustration.

[38:10] And the fourth angel now sounds. And the third part of the sun was smitten. And the third part of the moon.

[38:22] And the third part of the stars. So as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise. It doesn't just mean like, oh, it's a shorter day. But literally, a third of the light was destroyed.

[38:37] A third less light. More darkness. I don't know. I've never been to Alaska or any of those, you know, places where at certain times of the year it's dark all day. I think, man, that's terrible.

[38:50] But I think, there's light all day. That's got to be pretty rough too. But if you remember when we went through the plagues in Egypt, the darkness that God sent that plague, that was one that they could feel, that they could sense, that was something so much more than just visual.

[39:07] And I think, as the darkness of men's heart continues to increase, God is giving them a taste of the darkness that awaits them in eternity. If they don't respond to the light, it still shines.

[39:21] As God shortens the amount of light that's in the world at night and during the day. I didn't figure out what a third would be of day and night, how many more hours that would be of darkness.

[39:34] How disconcerting would that be though? It's two o'clock in the afternoon and it gets dark. It doesn't get light until whatever time in the morning. Third of the light is destroyed.

[39:47] Jesus said in Matthew 24, speaking of this, in verse 29, he says, immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.

[40:03] It's everything we're reading about right now that Jesus said would come. Jesus, when he begins his ministry, told in Matthew chapter 4, verse 16, speaking of as he begins to go forth and share the gospel of the kingdom, it says, the people which sat in darkness, they saw great light.

[40:24] And to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up. So as one-third of the day and one-third of the night is now dark and there's less light, what does that mean for the light?

[40:36] What does that do for you? Well, you value that light so much more. You hunger for that. You long for it to be light. And in those periods of darkness, it's that much easier to see where there is light.

[40:47] Acts 26, 18. Paul is rehearsing his calling, his ministry that he was given by the Lord, and it says that he was sent to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith, that is in me.

[41:10] That's the commission Jesus gave to Paul, to turn them from darkness to light. But what does that mean? It means you have to know you're in darkness.

[41:21] Jesus said, if the light that be in you is dark, then how great is your darkness? Like, if you think light is dark, what must dark be? Dark must be dark dark, right? You have to know you're in darkness before you'll turn to the light.

[41:35] If you don't think you're in darkness, you don't think you need the light, you're never going to seek it. And then Jesus spake again unto them in John 8, 12, saying, I am the light of the world.

[41:46] He that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. That light doesn't go out just because the world gets darker and darker and darker. The light is still there.

[42:01] And then verse 13, as we wind down here, chapter 8, he says, and I beheld and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven. So the fourth trumpet gets blown, fourth angel goes off the scene, this all happens, and then John, they're happening in pretty quick succession.

[42:19] And then he notices something else in the midst of all this. He says, I beheld and heard, he saw and heard, an angel flying through the midst of heaven. Here's just another angel, an angel. But look what he was doing.

[42:36] He was proclaiming with a loud voice, woe, woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound.

[42:47] Sending forth this warning. Woe in the Greek means woe. Just means woe. It means a primary exclamation of grief.

[42:58] Not good. Just means woe. Really bad. Like, really, really bad. This is the only place in Scripture where we see the word woe linked three times like that.

[43:08] Woe, woe, woe. That fast. You'll see woe throughout Scripture in many other places. And even though this is the only time you see it in succession, one, two, three, kind of like how Jesus would say, truly, truly, I say unto you.

[43:20] Where you're saying, you know, here are the angels saying, woe, woe, woe. However, in Matthew 23, the Pharisees get eight woes. Not one right after another. They get a woe and an explanation and a woe.

[43:33] But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men. You neither go in yourselves. Neither suffer you them that are entering to go in. Why would the Pharisees shut up heaven?

[43:45] Because they want to keep it for themselves. You're not qualified, but we are. Jesus said, you're not even going in yourself. Woe to you. And they'll say, woe, seven more times. So as bad as this is, three woes, Pharisees got eight woes.

[43:59] Genesis 41, 32, as Joseph is rehearsing back to Pharaoh, the meaning of his dream. He says to Pharaoh, and for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice. So it was the seven healthy cows and then the unhealthy ones and the seven ears of wheat, healthy ones and unhealthy.

[44:16] He says it's because the thing's established by God. And God will shortly bring it to pass. For that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice. And you have three woes. Three woes for the next three trumpets.

[44:28] Why three woes? Because in the next three trumpets, it's not just going to be one third of the water and one third of the trees and one third of the sea.

[44:39] We're going to see one third of the earth's population will die in this. And it will also be judgments that they have yet to even imagine as the pit is opened and out of it comes.

[44:51] These, the demonic horde. But what does God do? They just spring it on them. But here it comes. No, God makes loudly known for all the world to hear and to behold.

[45:02] John says, I behold and heard. He says, hey, I want you to know what's coming. Repent. There's still time. Jesus, speaking of the people at the time that he was ministering to, in Matthew 13, 15, he said, this people's heart is whacked, whacked, whacked gross.

[45:17] King James, whacked hard. It's become very hard. Their ears are dull of hearing and their eyes, they, they've closed. John says, I behold and heard. Be held and heard.

[45:28] Why? Lest at any time they should see with their ears and hear with, see with their eyes and hear with their ears and should understand with their heart and should be converted, I should heal them. They don't want healing.

[45:39] Why don't they want healing? Why wouldn't anybody want to be healed? Because it means I have to face who I really am. I have to accept I'm in darkness, that I'm a sinner, that I'm broken, that I'm lost, and that I'm hurting.

[45:52] I don't want to accept that. And he says here, he heard an angel flying, woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the earth by reason of the voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound.

[46:06] The inhabitants of the earth. Inhabitors of the earth means to inhabit, to dwell, to settle. The settlers of the earth. God is attempting by any and all means to unsettle man from the earth as this angel is going throughout the heavens.

[46:24] What is that like to see and hear this angel going through the heavens? Woe, woe, woe. It would be very unsettling. But man needs to be unsettled from this earth.

[46:37] And so we see there are many threes as we've gone through this. And the threes that are remaining, there are three trumpets remaining, which will each have an angel. So three angels. There will be three woes and one threes, one third of all men, will die.

[46:51] God's judgments are very great. But what's greater? It's mercy. God has spared more than he has smitten. He judged one third, but that means he left two thirds.

[47:09] Psalm 108, verses three through four. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people. I will sing praises unto thee among the nations, for thy mercy is great above the heavens. Psalm 78, verse 39.

[47:25] For he remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes away and comes not again. God remembers that they're but flesh. He could have said, hey, two thirds, judge.

[47:36] Nine tenths. But God has spared more than he has smitten. So these impersonal forces of nature that man has taken for granted, just things, oh, these are just mother nature.

[47:47] They're so impersonal. It's just a, you know, weather patterns and things. In reality, they personally belong to a personal God. And God is showing man this and holding him accountable. God is speaking to all who would hear, but not all will listen.

[48:03] Psalm 29 tells us what the voice of the Lord is capable of doing. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars. Yea, the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire.

[48:13] The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness. The Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. God's voice is powerful. Speaking to this world is shaking this world. Remember when Elijah had just had that great victory on Mount Carmel.

[48:29] And then he gets that text message from Jezebel. You know, you're dead tomorrow. He's like, ah! And he just grabs an Uber and heads out into the desert. And then just running.

[48:40] And he gets to Mount Horib, the Mount of God, what we're looking at in Exodus, Mount Sinai. And he gets there and the Lord comes and speaks to him and pretty much says, what are you doing here?

[48:51] He says, go forth and stand upon the Mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by. And a great and strong wind rent the mountains and break in pieces the rocks before the Lord.

[49:02] But the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind and earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire. But the Lord was not in a fire. And after the fire, what?

[49:15] Still, small voice. It goes right back to the beginning. All of heaven was silent for the half hour. Heaven's very still. It's not a place that rocks our world if we're willing to let go of this world.

[49:28] This world's going to be rocked. It's going to be shaken. It's going to be unsettled. And if that unsettles you, praise the Lord for it. If your world is being rocked and unsettled, praise God. He's got a better one for you. Whether any choose to listen or not, God's word will still be accomplished and nothing will ever stop that.

[49:46] Isaiah 55, 11, we all know this one. So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please. And it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I send it.

[49:57] That's fantastic news. Because I can link myself with God's word. I can be one of those that comes under the promises and blessings of God's word. If I walk according to it by faith, I get to become those that I can read that and say, well, God's word's going to accomplish exactly what it's supposed to in my life.

[50:17] You know, in Psalm 30, verse 5, we read, for his anger endures but a moment. In his favor is life. Weeping may endure for a night, no matter how long that night lasts, but joy comes in the morning.

[50:35] In Scripture, when Jesus is talking, or even Isaiah or the prophets, when they're talking about this day of judgment, it seems like it's just a moment that is so fast.

[50:48] Look at, in Matthew 24, turn to Matthew 24 real quick. At the end, well, middle, I guess.

[51:08] Yeah, middle-ish. Matthew 24, picking up verse 29. Jesus says that immediately after the tribulation of those days, we read this, shall the sun be darkened, the moon shall not give her light, the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.

[51:26] It's seven years of this, it's so intense. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, power and great glory.

[51:38] God's judgment is a moment. His mercy is eternal. Jesus just says, yes, this is going to happen, and right afterwards is this. Turn to Isaiah 61.

[51:50] This is the last place we'll turn to. I saved all the turning right at the end, kind of wake you up, get the blood moving in your fingers. Verse one.

[52:09] The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

[52:27] Boom, and Jesus stopped. And he put down the scroll, handed the scroll back to the ruler of the synagogue, and he sat down. Acceptably the year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees.

[52:51] Righteousness. One third of the trees be destroyed. Jesus who hung on a tree. And one day that the righteous would be called trees of righteousness. The planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

[53:03] Look how fast that is. From heaven's perspective. Acceptable year of the Lord, the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn. And then it goes right into God's comfort.

[53:14] How fast that is. And then verse 4, Isaiah 61, verse 4, is one of the foundational scriptures that God gave me for planting the church. They shall build the old wastes.

[53:26] They shall raise up former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. It's one of the scriptures God gave me, planting the church. And little did I know, told afterwards, that we're like the fourth Calvary Chapel, Charlotte.

[53:41] It's like, wow. We really are raising up. But God's judgment is in just a moment where his mercy is eternal. One last thought.

[53:53] You know, I think at this time, if you were alive in the tribulation, we wouldn't be meeting for church. But I think we would be meeting. I think if you found somebody else who is a believer, I think you would risk everything.

[54:07] I think there'd be such a desperation to be together, to have fellowship, that you found someone. To be going through the scriptures and going, this is written for us right now. But it says, this generation shall not pass away who see this sign, who see these signs, the abomination of desolation.

[54:24] We know Jesus is coming three and a half-ish years later. No man knows the day or the hour, but it's three and a half-ish years from now. You know, I don't know if we're going to make it. Well, let's encourage one another. I think they would be desperate for that.

[54:35] I don't think they'd be hiding out in their homes, watching old YouTube videos of Carver Chapel Charlotte. I think they'd want to be together. You know, Hebrews tells us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together and all the more as we see the day approaching.

[54:52] Why? Because we need this. Because without this, man, I would be, I'd be trying to get settled into something I shouldn't be settled in. I would be focusing on the things of this world instead of the effect my life is having on eternity.

[55:11] And I probably wouldn't have nearly as much that can be offered on that altar of incense. Man, I hope some of mine will be there, some of my prayers. I hope that when whatever is cast back into the earth, not to judge the world, but hopefully to cause a man or a woman to repent, I hope that that is an effect that we as a body can have now and then whatever God always sees fit in the future.

[55:37] Father, we thank you so much, Lord. You're so good to us, Lord. You have given us more than we could ever deserve, Lord. You've given us your life. You've given us your presence. You've given us your spirit. You've given us this beautiful thing called your word.

[55:50] Lord, you've given us each other. Lord, we don't have to do this alone. And not only do we not have to, we're commanded not to. We're told in Ephesians 4 that growth and maturity and fullness happens in the body.

[56:05] Does that negate my devotional life? Absolutely not. But I can guarantee this. If I have a healthy devotional life with Jesus, I'm going to have a healthy relationship to his body. Lord, I pray that you would stir up, Lord, your people in these last days.

[56:18] I thank you for it, my brothers and sisters that are here tonight, Lord. Lord, we want to see more, Lord. We want to see more come to fellowship with us. We want to see more come to Christ. We want to see more turn now, Lord, to the light before the day gets even darker.

[56:32] Thank you, Jesus, for shedding your blood on a tree so that we could have life. We love you and thank you. And in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[56:43] Amen. Amen.