Second Woe of Deadly Plagues

Transcript

GR 1532
05/31/09
Second Woe of Deadly Plagues
Revelation 9:12-21
Gil Rugh

We're going to Revelation 9. We're in an awesome section of the Word of God when we're in the book of Revelation because we are in the culmination, the last of God's revelation to us. It closes the canon, God's inspired Word and it is a book that focuses on the culmination of God's plan when He'll bring all things to a conclusion. Chapter 9 reminds us that Satan is very active in his work in the world. That activity will grow and increase. He has been actively involved in the world since his fall and his power is great.

Come back to Job 1, an example of the activity of Satan. In a period of time that would probably take us back into the days of Abraham or earlier, in the time of what we call the patriarchs, the patriarchal period. And in Job 1 we have a scene in heaven where God is interacting with Satan. Satan still has access to heaven and he does to this day and he will until Revelation 12. So we'll talk about the time and what happens when he loses that access to heaven. He has lost his position in heaven but he still has his access. And in Job 1:6 we are told there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan also came among them. The angels, evidently fallen angels as well as unfallen angels assemble before God at certain times. And the Lord initiates a discussion with Satan regarding Job. And Satan says, Job is faithful to you, God, because you protect him from me. So in verse 12, the Lord said to Satan, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him. So Satan departed from the presence of God. What we want to note for us in connection with our study is the power that Satan has. He raises up hostile people to come and attack in various ways Job's servants to take his possessions and so on.

Then we're told down in verse 18, as this is reported back to Job what has happened, while he was still speaking another came and said, your sons and our daughters were eating and drinking wine in their older brother's house. And behold a great wind came from across the wilderness, struck the four corners of the house and it fell on the young people and they died. You see here that Satan has the power not only to influence armies in the world, he has the power over what we would call the forces of nature. Here he can cause a strong wind, tornado kind of wind if you will, to blow with such force that it destroys the house, collapses and kills the people within it. So you see something of the power of Satan as God gives him permission to exercise that power.

When you get to Job 2 the hedge is further removed from Job as the discussion goes on. And so God says to Satan, you can have increased power with Job, you've destroyed his wealth, killed all his children. Now you can touch his life but you can't take his life. And you'll note verse 7, Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And we're told down at the end of verse 13 that his pain was very great. So you see the power of Satan here to inflict physical misery upon a person. I mean, he can control armies of the world, he can control what we call the forces of nature, the wind, direct it and use it. He can bring physical illness, bodily affliction. He is a being of awesome power, his activity is seen in the gospels where he brings certain physical affliction to people. Until a demon is cast out, that person's affliction controls them.

Come to II Corinthians 4. We don't see Satan overtly working, at least in ways that we recognize clearly. Although Job's family didn't know it was the hand of Satan that brought the wind that blew the house down on his children, he couldn't see that it was Satan that brought the physical affliction. In II Corinthians 4 we are told that the battle that we have goes on. We sometimes think that it's different today, and we lose sight of the magnitude of the enemy and his power that we face. Verse 3, even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world, that's a reference to sunder his power and authority in the plan of God. He has blinded the minds of the unbelieving. You see the power of Satan to work in the minds of people so that you present the gospel, that he has blinded them to its truth so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. So we not only have their innate sinfulness at work, we have the power of Satan at work. So it is a battle that you are engaged in, that I am engaged in with the forces of evil.

Come over to II Corinthians 11:3, Paul says to the Corinthians, I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. So the same way Satan worked in the Garden of Eden to deceive Eve, so I am concerned that work continues on. Satan hasn't changed at all. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully. You understand you are opening yourself up and paying attention to satanic influence in doing this. That's the point. Satan is behind this deception.

Down in verse 13, for such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.

In Ephesians 6, familiar passages. Verse 10, be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. We get the idea the devil is in confusion, he has a well ordered plan of opposition to God and His people. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies. Therefore take up the full armor of God. You see that we're engaged in a battle with the forces of the devil.

We've looked at I Peter 4:8-11 where the devil goes about as a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. I John 4:4, greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. That is our victory as God's people. The Spirit of God dwells in us, He is greater and has greater power than the devil.

Now when you come back to Revelation 9, what we're going to have in this seven-year period preceding the return of Christ to earth, we're going to have the greatest manifestation of satanic power and work that the world has ever seen. We're going to have greater display of demonic activity and demonic power than is ever seen before, and its impact upon the world will be devastating. That's what is going on in Revelation 9. Demonic forces are turned loose, certain demons are of such fierce nature that they are bound, they are restrained. Satan himself has limitations put on him, during this seven-year period some of those limitations will be removed and he will have greater freedom, even as God removed some of the restraint on Satan dealing with Job. So some of satan's restraints will be loosed so that his power in the world will be greater and that will always bring greater destruction to the world.

In Revelation 9 we had the loosing of some of these demonic forces that are bound, demons that have been bound. They are not free as Satan is to go to and fro on the face of the earth, as the book of Job tells us in the context where we just were, demons who are about doing the work of the devil. But there are demons who are bound. In chapter 9 verses 1-2, the bottomless pit is opened and out of the bottomless pit were unloosed a fierce force of demons who have the power to afflict awesome, awful pain on unbelievers in the world during that seven-year period for a period of five months, verse 5 tells us. They are given opportunity to cause great pain, but remember not to take a life. They were not permitted, verse 5, to kill anyone. God is sovereign and He allows the forces of Satan and the followers of Satan, demons, to do certain things within His purposes, but He is in ultimate authority. They are not permitted to kill, but the pain they can bring will be nothing like the world has experienced. Great suffering. People will wish they could die, we read in verse 6, but they won't be able to die. For five months this goes on as the demons bring this suffering on people.

We're reminded that the demons are well organized, even these demons coming out of the abyss, we're told in verse 11, they have a king over them, the angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and Apollyon is the name in Greek. Means the destroyer. This is a demonic being under the authority of Satan because Satan is not bound in the abyss. But there is order in the angelic realm and we have just touched on this.

Verse 12 told us the first woe is past, that fifth angel. There are seven trumpet judgments, the last three are called woes because of their severity. The first one was this demonic force from the abyss that will afflict awful pain on the unbelievers of the world. The first woe is past, two woes are coming after these things—the sixth trumpet and the seventh trumpet. So we come to verse 13, the sixth angel sounded, the trumpet is blown and the next judgment is to come.

The sixth angel sounded, I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God. Attention is once again draw to the golden altar. Turn back to chapter 8 verse 3, another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censor and much incense was given to him so that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar which was before the throne. The smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints went up before God out of the angel's hand. The angel took the censor, filled it with the fire of the altar, threw it to the earth, there followed the thunder and so on and judgment comes, indicating that these judgments are a result and a response to the prayers of God's people for justice, for vindication, for God's divine intervention.

You remember we looked back in this context to Luke 18:7-8. Now, Christ speaking, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night? And will He delay long over them? I tell you He will bring about justice for them quickly. However when the Son of Man comes will He find faith on the earth? So now you have those prayers that have ascended. During the seven-year period prayers have come up from God's people. Now it is time for God to answer those prayers. They haven't been wasted prayers, they haven't been unanswered prayers. They have been prayers that have been stored up to be answered at God's appointed time.

Back in Revelation 9. John hears the voice form this golden altar which is the altar of incense. Remember in the tabernacle and the temple just before the holy of holies, that's the altar that we are talking about. This is the altar, verse 13, which is before God. There it was before the presence of the Lord in the holy of holies, in the temple and tabernacle, and now in heaven that's where it is. So these prayers come before the Lord and it is His response that will bring judgment. It comes from a sovereign God, His love, His mercy has been and continues to be rejected. We'll be reminded of that at the end of the chapter. So the unbelieving world comes under His progressively more severe judgments.

Verse 14, one saying, this voice from the altar. Evidently the same angel that we had in chapter 8 verses 3-5 associated with the golden altar. One saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, release the four angels who are bound at the great River Euphrates. So the angel who was blowing the sixth trumpet now is told to loose four angels who were bound. That would indicate they are demonic beings, unfallen angels are not found to be bound in scripture. There is no reason to bind them. These are demonic beings, bound. In other words, they have not been free. I take it they are today bound at the River Euphrates. This is the eastern border of the land ultimately that will belong to Israel. It's where Babylon is, there along the Euphrates. And we'll see Babylon come to the fore as we get over to chapters 17-18. These four angels are bound at the River Euphrates. They'll have a similar role as verse 11, the angel of the abyss, Apollyon, the destroyer, at leading the demonic forces under the sixth trumpet judgment. Now here you have four angels who are bound at the great River Euphrates.

Why are they bound there? We are not told. It's from here that many of Israel's enemies came because we're in the region not only of Babylon on the Euphrates, but you move further east from the Euphrates and you come to the Tigris River and you're in the region also of the Assyrians. And Ninevah and the other great enemy of Israel. And they are enemies as they move from the east. Here they are bound at the River Euphrates. We'll see a similar situation when we get to chapter 16 verse 12 where the drying up of the Euphrates River prepares the way for the kings of the east. But that's later because we have to move through the rest of the trumpets and then into the bowl judgments. Then we'll see the Euphrates come to the fore as well.

Go back to Zechariah 5. Fascinating section we'll talk more in detail about when we get to Babylon and the situation there in Revelation 17-18. Here you have a picture, verse 5, the angel who was speaking with me. How often angels are used in communicating between God and man, that's true with John in the book of Revelation and here it is true with Zechariah. The angel who was speaking to me said, lift up your eyes, see what's going forth. Verse 6, what is it? This is the ephah going forth. And you have a bushel, an ephah is one bushel, and here you have like the holder when you hold a bushel. And it has a lead cover. And they lifted up the lead cover and there was a woman sitting inside the ephah. He said, this is wickedness. He threw her down in the middle of the ephah, put the lead weight on its opening, verse 8. Then there were two women coming out with the wind in their wings, they had wings like the wings of a stork. Verse 9, they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heavens. So it is flying. I said to the angel who was speaking to me, where are they taking the ephah which holds the woman which is wickedness? Verse 11, he said to me, to build a temple for her in the land of Shinar, going to the realm of Babylon. And when it is prepared she will be set there on her own pedestal, be the center of wickedness in coming days. We'll see that when we come to Revelation 17-18.

That's where we are when we go to the Euphrates. And you get out a Bible map and you look where Babylon is, you'll see Euphrates just on the western side, running by Babylon. And then further to the east you'll see the Tigris River.

Back in Revelation 9. We're not told a lot of information. These demons, how long have they been here? They've been here since the rebellion of the angels against God? Bound here, not free to go anywhere, restrained like the angels in the abyss earlier in chapter 9 were? Evidently. Now we're told, they are bound at the great River Euphrates. And the four angels who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year were released. And we see the sovereign plan of God here. I mean, they've been bound here, I take it ever since the rebellion of the angels certain demonic beings have been bound, restrained. They have been bound at the River Euphrates. And the way it is put here, for the hour. And the definite article “the” is with the first of these time periods here, the hour, which indicates it is for the hour in the day in the month in the year. So specifying right down to that very hour in the very day in the very month in the very year. That's what God's plan has been. They were prepared for that. God's total control. We live in a world that is out of control, things have happened in the world and our country in the last year that I wouldn't have thought could happen like that, that quickly. And nothing is out of control in the world. Here these angels are there and in the exact hour on the exact day in the exact month in the exact year they will be released. Everything is exactly on schedule. When they are released it will be the time that God has ordained for their release.

Why they are released is a fearsome reality. So that they might kill a third of mankind. The previous beings were released in the first part of the chapter under the previous trumpet, the fifth trumpet, for the purpose of tormenting men on the earth, chapter 9 verse 5. But they weren't permitted to kill them. These demons are released for the purpose of killing a third of mankind. Back up to chapter 6 verse 8, under the fourth seal authority was given them over a fourth of the earth to kill. Under the fourth seal a fourth of the earth killed, now a third of the earth killed. These two judgments, the fourth seal and the sixth trumpet, half of the earth's population killed. Can you imagine that? We're talking in billions now of people dying in these two judgments. I mean all the other seals and trumpets going on and here you have under two particular judgments, the fourth seal and the sixth trumpet, you have the earth's population destroyed. You add to that the other judgments that have taken place. You've never seen anything that even compares since the days of Noah and the flood that destroyed all but the family of Noah. There has been nothing like this to compare to it in human history.

Look at Revelation 9:16. The number of the armies of the horsemen was 200 million. I heard the number of them. We've seen some large numbers—myriads of myriads, ten thousands of ten thousands, an innumerable host. But here we are told an exact number. John didn't count them but it is accurate because he was told how many there were. Evidently the angel tells him, this is the number—200 million is the size of this army. And the armies are in plural here, the number of the armies. Some have said there are four angels who are loosed and they each lead an army of 50 million. That would be the breakdown here, why the armies are plural as the four angels, demonic beings are plural. There is some discussion over whether this army is human or demonic because you see under some of these judgments how would John describe if he saw a tank or a helicopter or some of those things. So some would say these are human armies under demonic control. And that could be. We've seen in the Old Testament, we saw with Job that Satan has the power to unleash the force of human armies. So there is no problem he could do that.

It seems in the context we are probably talking more specifically about demonic beings. The description here is not like anything we've seen and it denotes their power and authority to bring this kind of destruction. I think it's an army of demons in probability. Look at their description. This is how I saw in the vision the horses and those who sat on them. The riders had breastplates the color of fire and hyacinth and of brimstone. And the heads of the horses like the heads of lions. And out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and brimstone. A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the fire, the smoke and the brimstone which proceeded out of their mouths. For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails. Their tails are like serpents and have heads and with them they do harm.

The word plagues here that is used in the description is the same word used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, to speak of the plagues of Egypt. And so we have God here operating as we noted with some of the plagues and their similarity, God bringing this kind of fierce destruction on a level far greater than afflicted just the nation of Egypt.

We know there are supernatural armies. One example, go back to II Kings, you will remember this when you read it if it doesn't automatically come to your mind. II Kings, and here you have the ministry of Elisha. Elisha is the successor to the prophet Elijah. In II Kings 2 Elijah was taken by a whirlwind to heaven. II Kings 2:11, as they were going along and talking, behold there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated between Elijah and Elisha. So the chariot and the horses of fire didn't come to take Elijah to heaven, so he didn't jump in the chariot and go. Because Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. But here you see in connection evidently with angelic activity this fiery chariot and horses coming. When you come to chapter 6 you have Elisha carrying on his ministry. And what has happened, there is a battle going on between Israel and the king of Aram, the Arameans. And what happens is Elisha, when the king of Aram makes a plan in attacking Israel and so on, Elisha tells the king of Israel where the Arameans will be staging their army, how they are going to attack. And also Israel has advance warning, frustrating the Arameans. The king of Aram says there has to be a spy in our midst who is telling the king of Israel all of our plans. And then one of the king of Aram's servants says, verse 12, no, my lord oh king, but Elisha the prophet who is in Israel tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom. You'd think this might make an impact, but in unregenerate people it doesn't make an impact. You'd think the king of Aram and this slave might be saying, if there is a God who is telling Elisha what I am doing, we're in trouble. But he decides we'll go capture Elisha.

So they find out where Elisha the prophet is and they surround the city. So when Elisha's servant gets up early in the morning, verse 15, he looks out and the army of the Arameans surrounds the city. And so he says to Elisha, verse 15, alas my master, what shall we do? Elisha says, what do you mean, what shall we do? There is no problem. Do not fear for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. I'm sure the servant's first reaction is one, two—my master has lost it. Then Elisha prayed and said, oh Lord, I pray open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened the servant's eyes and he saw. And behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. You know what? The army of the Arameans is surrounding the city and behind them surrounding the army of the Arameans is a heavenly army, an angelic army with fiery chariots and horses. These are unfallen angels of course. Elisha is able to see by the grace of God into the angelic world. What do I have to fear from the Arameans? They are nothing when they are surrounded by an army of fiery chariots, angelic army.

So you see here in the angelic world you have these kinds of pictures and description, things that go on. We just get this little window of all that is happening out there. So it's not surprising when you come to Revelation 9 that as we've seen in the first part of the chapter you have a demonic army unloosed, and then under the next trumpet, the sixth trumpet, you have another demonic army unleashed. And they will bring fierce suffering, destruction and death as they kill a third of mankind.

Remember we read in Ephesians 6 that we are not at war against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies. We need the full armor of God, the battle is real, demonic beings and demonic forces are real. So I take it we're probably talking about real demonic activities here and a host of demonic beings—200 million. You understand the devil can only be at one place at one time, so the number of his demonic followers has to be huge for him to carry out his will as he is able to throughout the world.

The colors here. Hyacinth can refer to any dark color. Brimstone has a light yellow color. So you have this picture here of fire, an awesome, fearful, frightening view of these forces. A third of mankind, verse 18, was killed by these three plagues, by the fire, the smoke, the brimstone which proceed out of their mouths. And this is where you have these three plagues, same word for plagues that we have for the plagues in Egypt in the Septuagint, the Greek translation there. And fire, smoke and brimstone are viewed here as each individual plague. Three different plagues because they are called three plagues. This isn't just one picture, but these three plagues inflicted by these demonic beings result in the destruction of a third of mankind. How does the world recover from this? We talk about pain inflicted with no cure under the previous judgment. Here you have billions of people dying. I mean, how does the world recover from this? We're not told how this is spread out. Are they inflicted upon a certain part of the world? Is this spread out throughout the world? We don't know because you realize by the time we get to the end of the seven years there will still be some normality going on. People will be marrying and giving in marriage and so on, we are told, right up until the end. And yet there is horrible destruction going on as well. Verse 19, as we saw the power of this is not in the riders particularly, but in the horses and the association of the demonic activity here.

What's the impact of all of this? Verse 20, the rest of mankind, the less than half that are still left, a quarter that died under the fourth seal, the third who died under the sixth trumpet, and then others who have died with all the other activity going on. What has been the impact of this? The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands. You ought to underline that, did not repent. It's repeated again in verse 21, they did not repent. You know God has given mercy and grace in times when judgment is greatly restrained. Here there is still opportunity. A third of mankind is killed under these three plagues, but verse 20 says the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and stone and wood which can neither see nor hear nor walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their sorceries, their immorality or their thefts. They don't repent of their false worship and they don't repent of their godless conduct. There is no repentance going on here.

You see how sinful sin is, the depravity of the human heart. We delude ourselves, we get the idea that they are good people, they just ............ They are vile, hardened sinners. When you get to the true condition of their heart, it is almost unbelievable. We shouldn't delude ourselves in the idea that we just have to get them to like us a little bit. We should be kind and thoughtful, but you understand this is a battle of much greater magnitude. We sometimes get taken back and think if they thought we were nicer, if they thought we were more giving, if they didn't see us as so rigid, if they didn't see us as so narrow, if they ................. You understand the problem they see us the way they see us because they are of their father, the devil. There is no working this out. That's why the call is repent. You don't find, you have to understand we are nice people, we are good people, we want to get along with you. There is no fellowship between light and darkness. Again I'm not saying we should be mean spirited, definitely not. But you understand the problem here. We are doing battle against the spiritual forces of this darkness, we are doing battle with people who are the servants and slaves of the god of this world. We are doing battle with people who are committed to opposition against our God, committed to the service of the devil. It says here they don't want to turn from their worship of demons and the expression of that in the false worship systems.

Come back to I Corinthians 10. Paul instructs the Corinthians, he's writing to the Corinthian church, he has to remind them. Because back in chapter 8 verse 1, concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge can make you arrogant, but love builds you up. Verse 4, concerning the things sacrificed to idols, we know there is no such thing as an idol in the world, there is no God but one. And even there are many so-called gods, and so on, yet for us there is one God. We know that's just a piece of wood, the parody in Jeremiah 10 of idol worship. You need to go back and reread that as he mocks it, like a scarecrow in a cucumber patch. They are nothing. But you understand there is something to it. There is only one God but there are spiritual forces involved in these false worship systems. So you come to chapter 10 verse 14, therefore my beloved, flee from idolatry. Why? It's just a piece of wood. There is no other God.

Well you have to come down, verse 19, what do I mean then, that if things sacrificed to idols is anything or that an idol is anything? No. But I say the things which the Gentiles sacrificed, they sacrificed to demons, not to God. I do not want you to become sharers of demons. You can't drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You can't partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Now understand you are right, it's just a piece of wood, they are worshiping nothing in one sense and yet they are worshiping something. They are worshiping the devil. That is true in every single false worship system, it is demoniacally inspired. That's it, that's why we can have nothing to do with it. That's Paul's concern for the church at Corinth, that's why he has to remind them in II Corinthians 11 where we talked about the work of the devil in deceiving believers. These are doctrines of demons, I Timothy 4:1, a warning that professing believers will give ear to doctrines of demons. What's a doctrine of demon? Well it's probably clearly recognized. No, Satan masquerades himself as an angel of light, II Corinthians 11. Don't be surprised that his servants, false teachers, do.

Do you see the battle going on? The depth of the battle. And that leads to immorality, murders, thefts. I was interested how when we have these lists of sins, the mixture God puts. He puts murder and immorality together with thefts in Revelation 19:21.

Back up to Romans 1. How often we come to Romans 1, we'll do a study of the book of Romans in the not too distant future. Verse 21, we have to pick up in the middle of the thought here. We are told that men and women are without excuse in the world because God has displayed His very character and nature in the creation. Enough revelation to condemn a person, not enough revelation in creation to save a person. Enough revelation there to reveal that they react negatively and with hostility to the true and living God, the revelation He has given of Himself. Even though they knew God, verse 21, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks. They became futile in their speculation, their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools; exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man, birds, four-footed animals, crawling creatures. They worship, but they won't worship the true and living God. They are responsible and accountable for that. This is an overt, clear rebellion on their part. Verse 18 says they suppress the truth, there is no excuse for not seeing it except their sin. And that is not an acceptable excuse. The result is the judgment of God, God gives them over to what they want. He doesn't cause them to sin, but He gives them over to pursue what they want in their rejection of Him.

The result is sinful behavior. That's why you see at the end of Revelation 9 their false worship and the worship of demons followed up with things like immorality, murders, thefts. It all goes together, it is all a manifestation of man's sinful rebellion against God. Their false worship and their ungodly activities.

So you come down to the list, it says God gave them over, God gave them over. And so as a result of their depraved mind they are filled, verse 29, with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil, envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossips. You see the mixture of gossiping put right here in the list with murder. Slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, disobedient to parents, untrustworthy, unmerciful. And although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they continue to do them and give hearty approval. You say, they don't know. They do know, they are accountable, it's their sinful rebellion. And that only antagonizes them the more. That's why there is such antagonism toward truth, biblical truth as it is presented. This is a spiritual battle going on. So we see where we are going in Revelation 9 now—the awesome wrath of God. But there is mercy in wrath. One-third of the earth dies. God commands all everywhere to repent but they will not repent, they have said no in this day of grace. We see it all around us as God's common grace is manifested, the day when His wrath is being poured out from heaven, man's heart is still hard and unwilling to bow. It is only God's grace intervening in that special way we call special grace that brings about the conversion of a sinner. We ought not to delude ourselves in any way. Let us keep in mind that we are doing battle against spiritual forces, and these spiritual forces will someday have greater liberty than they've ever had before. But the power of the gospel brings salvation to those who believe.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your Word. Lord, how comforted we are to know that everything is under your power, your control. Even as we look in this glimpse into the demonic world, there are demons bound even today until the appointed hour on the appointed day in the appointed month in the appointed year they will be loosed to carry out their awesome work of destruction and death inflicted upon men and women who have rejected your grace. We see a world hardened in sin, committed to the devil and his opposition against you, a holy God, a righteous God, a God who has extended love and mercy and kindness to those who are your enemies. And yet they continue to reject you. We thank you for the grace that reached out and touched our hearts and minds so that we might have our eyes opened to believe the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, the Savior of all who believe in Him. Use us today as strong, clear, bold testimonies for you, in the days of the week before us may we see these as days of opportunity to present to men, women and young people the message of your saving grace. We pray in Christ's name, amen.