1 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:08,119 This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark 2 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:12,240 Wofford, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland, 3 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:16,400 County of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he 4 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:18,720 continues teaching through God's Word. 5 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:40,440 You can never anticipate or even think about things like this 6 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:42,920 unless you go to a movie and see some kind of science fiction 7 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:46,000 movie like Iron Man or something and you you sort of get a 8 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:50,280 picture through Hollywood of what cataclysmic events can be 9 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:52,240 like. The only thing I can sort of 10 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:57,800 compare this kind of destruction to is whenever we had to decide 11 00:00:57,800 --> 00:01:01,640 to drop the bomb, the atomic bomb and Hiroshima and the the 12 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:06,080 results of what happened to that country and to the people that 13 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:10,080 were exposed to the radiation. Just unbelievable. 14 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:14,080 One of the most devastating things I've ever seen is footage 15 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:17,840 from the detonation of the nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and 16 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:21,480 Nagasaki. The power that was unleashed 17 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:25,400 feels like it's from another world, and the devastation that 18 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:30,760 it caused is nearly unspeakable. Sadly, as we just heard from 19 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:34,720 Pastor Clark, there's coming a time when a similar event will 20 00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:39,240 happen again on Earth. This is directly related to the 21 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:43,400 End Times, the very last days as we know it here on Earth. 22 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:45,640 Now. Here's Pastor Clark in 23 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:49,520 Revelation Chapter 9 with today's edition of Living Waters 24 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:52,040 of Grace. I want to be an encouragement to 25 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:55,120 you guys in your daily life and all that you you struggle with 26 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:56,880 and deal with. But you know, when you're in 27 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:00,640 this book, it's right straight up with regarding what's going 28 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:04,240 to happen to the human race that doesn't know Jesus Christ. 29 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:08,280 And so I pray that as we study this, we're grateful that we're 30 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:11,280 not going to be here for this. But at the same time, we're 31 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:14,480 thinking about family members or neighbors or friends or Co 32 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:17,920 workers or relatives that need to hear about the gospel. 33 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:20,520 That's really what this is all about as we study this. 34 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:22,920 It just isn't like, wow, this is fascinating and it's 35 00:02:22,920 --> 00:02:25,600 interesting, but we don't want anybody to have to go through 36 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:29,080 this, right? That's got to be the key when we 37 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:32,400 study this. So it's not to intellectually 38 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:36,400 stimulate us, but it's to burden us for for people that need the 39 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:39,520 love of Jesus Christ. So as we're studying this now, 40 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:43,280 this is again the time period when the Antichrist is on the 41 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:45,560 face of the earth, rolling and reigning the earth. 42 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,160 The seven-year tribulation period is going to be the most 43 00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:52,720 horrendous time on the face of the Earth for the human race. 44 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:55,840 But the first 3 1/2 years of that period are going to be very 45 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:57,760 deceptive. Because right now, as I think 46 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:00,800 about the world economy and what's going on in the world, 47 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:05,960 and what is going to bring some degree of sanity to the 48 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:09,440 financial markets isn't legislation or printing more 49 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:11,880 money, that kind of stuff. It's going to be someone who's 50 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:13,520 going to rise on the scene, that's going to have an 51 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:17,920 incredible answer to bring the stability to the markets again 52 00:03:17,920 --> 00:03:21,240 so that the world can prosper almost like this. 53 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:27,200 This idea of Nirvana, like we finally found this society and 54 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:29,560 culture. It's going to be peaceful and 55 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:32,920 it's going to be perfect and it's going to be heaven on earth 56 00:03:32,920 --> 00:03:34,800 type of thing. And the only person that's going 57 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:37,600 to be able to do that temporarily is this person 58 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:40,000 Antichrist. He's going to come on the scene 59 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:44,200 with fascinating, charismatic communication skills. 60 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:48,440 He's going to have the ability to stabilize the tension that's 61 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:53,560 in the world because of political, geophysical stress on 62 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:56,080 the societies and the financial markets. 63 00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:59,280 He's going to have incredible ideas and he's going to be able 64 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:02,320 to have the ability to bring people together in meetings 65 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:03,920 where everything's going to make sense. 66 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:07,040 And I'll tell you, if we were ever close to a time like that, 67 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:09,560 we are so close now. I mean, the experts, the 68 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:13,600 financial, monetary experts that we all look to show us what to 69 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:15,160 do and how we get through these things. 70 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:18,360 They don't know what to do. All they can think about is this 71 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:22,320 artificially having these bailouts that are just temporal. 72 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:25,840 The all they're doing is pushing the cataclysmic events of 73 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:28,840 financial meltdown into the future, right? 74 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:33,160 If it isn't what we're going to face individually, our kids or 75 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:36,080 our grandkids are definitely going to have to face these 76 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:38,480 problems. So the first 3 1/2 years are 77 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:41,240 going to be pretty mesmerizing for people on the earth. 78 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:43,560 They're not going to be thinking about deception. 79 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:45,400 They're just going to be thinking, Wow, life's better 80 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:48,960 than it's ever been, make them more money, things are great, 81 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:51,960 you know, the world's at peace. This is wonderful. 82 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:55,240 But then God's judgments will begin to start to be poured out, 83 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:59,040 especially right after the first period of this tribulation. 84 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:03,040 So we're going to look at these verses step by step here. 85 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:07,600 This is sort of bring some kind of sense to what is going to be 86 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:09,920 occurring. Now, we went through the seven 87 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:14,080 seals previous to this study, the first signs of God's 88 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:17,840 impending judgment, but they're getting increasingly more 89 00:05:17,840 --> 00:05:20,640 intense and difficult as we move through this book. 90 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:24,920 Now we're in this time of these trumpet judgments, 7 of them, 91 00:05:25,280 --> 00:05:29,200 and then we'll move into the bowls of wrath, which are also 92 00:05:29,280 --> 00:05:33,280 numbered in numbered in sevens. But in this first one, we see 93 00:05:33,280 --> 00:05:35,240 the first Angel sounds as trumpet. 94 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:39,360 It's a warning and hail and fire follow, mingled with blood. 95 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:42,520 And they were thrown to the earth and a third of the trees 96 00:05:42,840 --> 00:05:45,840 were burned up and all the green grass was burned up. 97 00:05:46,280 --> 00:05:49,280 So when this first judgment comes, this picture like today's 98 00:05:49,280 --> 00:05:52,600 a beautiful day out there, the scenery, the trees, the green 99 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:55,200 grass. This take, Greensburg, if you 100 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:57,320 may, not the whole world, it will be the whole world. 101 00:05:57,320 --> 00:05:59,600 But this take where we live, where it would affect us if we 102 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:02,760 were here for such a time that there would be such a horrendous 103 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:05,880 outpouring from heaven of of some kind of cataclysmic 104 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:12,400 apocalyptic event that 1/3 of everything out there is burnt. 105 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:17,920 The trees, the grass, any kind of vegetation, herbs, flowers, 106 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:21,440 they're destroyed by this first judgment. 107 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:25,200 And it echoes what it said in Joel chapter 2, verse 31. 108 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:28,600 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon into blood 109 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:31,040 before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. 110 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:35,080 It reminds us of the the plagues in Egypt when God was dealing 111 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:37,320 with Pharaoh. Remember, anybody watch the 10 112 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:40,120 Commandments? Remember that even if you're not 113 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:42,880 a believer here today, I'm sure you probably saw that movie. 114 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:45,680 It's incredible. The special effects are amazing. 115 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:47,320 You think those special effects are good? 116 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:49,960 Hollywood wait to see God's special effects. 117 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:53,080 It won't come any. I mean, they're so far beyond 118 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:55,680 what a human being could even fathom or come up with. 119 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:59,200 But the the plagues in Egypt, the hail, when it came out, the 120 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:03,880 7th plague destroyed every herb of the field and broke every 121 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:05,800 tree of the field. Now that was just a temporal 122 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:07,720 thing. Things were restored eventually 123 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:10,160 and brought back to a semblance of order. 124 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:16,320 But these judgments, they're in, in the sense of the degree of 125 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:19,840 intensity, they're just the beginning stage of what's going 126 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:23,000 to happen. It's only 1/3 of the world 127 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,120 that's going to be impacted by this judgment, but eventually as 128 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:29,240 we get into the judgments that will come later on, it won't 129 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:32,240 just be part of the world, it's going to be the entire world 130 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:35,880 that's impacted by this. In verse 8 it says then the 131 00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:38,600 second Angel sounds and something like a great mountain 132 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:41,880 burns with fire was thrown into the sea, and the third of the 133 00:07:41,880 --> 00:07:44,600 sea became blood, and the third of the living creatures in the 134 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:47,200 sea died. And the third of the ships were 135 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:50,120 destroyed. And the third Angel sounded. 136 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:52,880 And a great star fell from heaven burning like a torch. 137 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:56,560 And it fell on 1/3 of the rivers and on the springs of water, the 138 00:07:56,560 --> 00:08:00,280 name of the stars Wormwood. 1/3 of the waters became Wormwood. 139 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:04,040 And many men died from the water because it was made bitter. 140 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:08,640 So now we see not only the vegetation, but the waters are 141 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:12,160 being destroyed. We see that they're being turned 142 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:14,280 to blood. And when God allows these 143 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:17,880 judgments to come from heaven and the waters are turned to 144 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:21,680 blood, all the fish are going to die that are exposed to these 145 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:26,440 waters that are being judged. All the lobster that you like, 146 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:31,800 the flounder and all the shrimp and the scallops that we all 147 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:37,159 love to eat, that we feed on that provide sustenance and and 148 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:41,400 food and nourishment for the masses of civilization of people 149 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:44,840 are going to be destroyed and it's going to cause cataclysmic 150 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:48,360 events for the food to supply and the water is going to be 151 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:50,920 undrinkable. It's interesting, not only the 152 00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:55,040 ocean water, but in verse 9, the waters of the rivers and our 153 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,800 water, it doesn't come out of the air, only the sky. 154 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:02,080 It comes from the streams, what's already settled and 155 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:04,240 stable. And we use different filtering 156 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:07,320 systems to use that water to make it possible to drink. 157 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:10,800 But it's going to be so bad, the water is going to be 158 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:13,000 undrinkable. Now, when you read about this 159 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:17,600 mountain, this is a fascinating concept that it isn't this 160 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:19,800 mountain that's going to be uprooted and thrown into the 161 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:23,120 water as it causes problem. But some of the commentators 162 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:25,880 believe it's going to be a meteorite shower. 163 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:30,280 And already at different times and civilization, there's been 164 00:09:30,560 --> 00:09:32,560 meteors that have come from heaven and have caused 165 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:35,120 destruction and disaster where they've landed. 166 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:39,240 But in this case, this is specific being sent from heaven 167 00:09:39,560 --> 00:09:45,000 to 'cause this problem in the drinking water and not only the 168 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:50,640 fish, but the maritime commerce, 1/3 of the ships will be 169 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:55,200 destroyed during this judgment and the approximation. 170 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:59,560 I have some numbers here that are interesting that right now 171 00:09:59,560 --> 00:10:03,840 there's probably an estimate in the waters of around 60,000 172 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:07,600 ships that are out there cruising the waterways, doing 173 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:10,760 business, supplying different countries with different 174 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:13,040 products. Well, 1/3 of them are going to 175 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:16,200 be destroyed. That's about 20,000 ships. 176 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:21,720 Over a half a million people will die in that battle from 177 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:26,040 this judgment from heaven and the death of these people and 178 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:28,880 the explosion of these ships and these bodies. 179 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:31,360 Again, the blood will be everywhere. 180 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:36,080 This is something that in your wildest dreams or your thoughts 181 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:38,440 could. You can never anticipate or even 182 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:40,960 think about things like this unless you go to a movie and see 183 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:44,240 some kind of science fiction movie like Iron Man or something 184 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:47,240 and you sort of get a picture through Hollywood of what 185 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:51,240 cataclysmic events can be like. The only thing I consider 186 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:56,720 compare this kind of destruction to is whenever we had to decide 187 00:10:56,720 --> 00:11:00,520 to drop the bomb, the atomic bomb in Hiroshima and the the 188 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:04,840 results of what happened to that country and to the people that 189 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:10,520 were exposed to the radiation. This unbelievable and so we see 190 00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:14,480 these judgments occurring and in verse 10 it says the third Angel 191 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:17,720 sounds and a great star falls from heaven burning like a torch 192 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:20,440 and it fell on 1/3 of the rivers and on the springs of the 193 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:23,720 weather in the name of the stars Wormwood, 1/3 of the waters 194 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:27,640 became Wormwood and many men died from the water because it 195 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:31,120 was bitter again like the Egyptian plague. 196 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:37,160 You can make some comparisons to God's authority and his ability 197 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:41,640 to judge when he judged Pharaoh and the people of Egypt because 198 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:45,120 of their hard heartedness and their hatred toward the children 199 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:47,600 of Israel. And we again, we see this great 200 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:51,880 star, it's believed again, possibly a meteor, maybe some 201 00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:56,360 kind of space vehicle descending, loaded up with all 202 00:11:56,360 --> 00:12:01,920 kind of biological and chemical potential destructive elements 203 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:04,360 of warfare. Some people say it could be some 204 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:09,640 kind of a parachuted illuminated bomb that's sent up from a rogue 205 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:11,440 nation. But what it's going to do, 206 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:14,440 again, it's going to supply, destroy about 1/3 of the water 207 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:16,080 supply. It'll make it undrinkable. 208 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:20,600 And when you compare this to what is discussed in Revelation 209 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:23,960 16, that again, this is only 1/3 of the earth. 210 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:27,920 And Revelation 16 will make it clear that it'll be the entire 211 00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:30,960 earth when the third bowl of wrath ruins the drinking water 212 00:12:30,960 --> 00:12:36,080 everywhere and people can't drink at all now, in spite of 213 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:39,240 all these things happening. And just like in Egypt, whenever 214 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:42,760 these things were going on, these plagues, the people for 215 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:46,680 the most part, as we read in Exodus, didn't repent. 216 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:49,920 They actually became harder and hated God more. 217 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:52,680 You would think that if things like this begin to occur, that 218 00:12:52,680 --> 00:12:56,480 people would look up and ask God for help or his mercy, which he 219 00:12:56,480 --> 00:13:00,240 will still supply to the human race if they call upon him, 220 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:02,720 He'll still save people during that tribulation. 221 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:05,880 But people's hearts are so hard and wicked that they'll reach up 222 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:09,600 their hand and and curse God. They curse God. 223 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:12,560 Now when things are great, right, something doesn't go 224 00:13:12,560 --> 00:13:14,080 their way. And the human race has a 225 00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:18,080 tendency to blame God for every issue that happens in life. 226 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:21,680 And we also have that tendency. We have a trial or something go 227 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:24,520 happen in our life and the first thing we usually say, God, why 228 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:26,520 me? Why did this have to happen to 229 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:28,520 me? Why am I going through this 230 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:31,920 instead of all the times that God blesses us and does so many 231 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:34,920 wonderful things and then we stop and say, God this thank you 232 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:37,880 for how good you are to me. Thank you for the the simple 233 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:41,280 things I take for granted. I mean, even as Christians, 234 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:42,800 right? We're hard hearted. 235 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:47,040 We take so much for granted from God's mercy and his grace. 236 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:50,000 But you take a group of people that are living on the earth at 237 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:52,600 this time that are God's enemies, that are already hard, 238 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:56,520 that become more embittered and more hard no matter what God 239 00:13:56,520 --> 00:13:58,560 does. And he gives them the test. 1/3 240 00:13:58,560 --> 00:14:01,880 right now, not the whole earth. 1/3 It's a warning to turn to 241 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:04,440 me. And so many still will not turn 242 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:07,640 to him. The, the human race is proud, 243 00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:10,000 right? First of all, it denies that God 244 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:12,280 exists. I run into people all the time. 245 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:13,480 I don't believe it. There's a God. 246 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:16,920 There's no way, you know, we, this is evolution that this came 247 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:19,680 together. It's, this is what we have. 248 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:21,840 This is all we have and it's it's not going to get any 249 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:24,720 better. Human beings also think they're 250 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:27,000 in control. They can control the 251 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:30,640 circumstances of life. Our presidents, the leaders of 252 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:34,320 our nation, they somehow have this delusion that no matter 253 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:36,920 what they encounter, they can have a meeting and somehow, with 254 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:39,560 collective wisdom, figure out what to do in a crisis 255 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:45,240 situation. The world's destiny right now is 256 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:51,040 so hard hearted that they'll still refuse to acknowledge that 257 00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:53,760 there's a creator God that loves them and cares for them. 258 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:57,040 And believe me, right now, the goodness of God is what leads us 259 00:14:57,040 --> 00:14:59,920 to repentance. All these years since Christ 260 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:04,360 ascended after his crucifixion, His resurrection sense to the 261 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:08,760 heaven, to the Father and the angels that appear at the 262 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:11,880 ascension say to the world that's looking and seeing this 263 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:15,000 physical ascension of Christ, wondering where he's going, He's 264 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,560 being lifted up. They said, why are you looking 265 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:20,000 up into heaven? The same Jesus who's being taken 266 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:22,400 up from you shall descend and like manner. 267 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:25,440 And the disciples at the time were asking, was this a sign of 268 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:26,520 the end? Is this the end? 269 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:30,320 And Jesus says only the Father who's in heaven knows the time. 270 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:33,720 But what did he say? Go into all the world and preach 271 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:37,080 the gospel to every living creature, teaching them all 272 00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:40,560 things whatsoever I've commanded you, baptizing them in the name 273 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:42,440 of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 274 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:45,240 Lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age. 275 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:49,400 So his heart, all these years, over 2000 years, is that people 276 00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:52,640 like us who have come to know Christ, to know his grace, his 277 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:56,040 love, his mercy, his gentleness, his kindness, that we would have 278 00:15:56,040 --> 00:16:00,000 a desire and a willingness to tell a lost world about who he 279 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:02,480 is and why he came and why he died. 280 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:05,240 He doesn't want people to have to go through this. 281 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:09,200 But even when we tell people about who he is and what he's 282 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:12,200 done, there's something inherent in the human heart that wants to 283 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:16,000 push back the love of God and reject him. 284 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:20,080 And it's only the grace of God that humbles us and breaks us to 285 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:26,680 realize, Yeah, Jesus is who I need, and I need him to be my 286 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:29,560 Lord and Savior, to forgive me and my sin. 287 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:33,040 But most of the people during this tribulation will refuse to 288 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:35,880 acknowledge their sin and their need of Jesus. 289 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:40,360 Yet some will come to believe that's the marvel of God's 290 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:42,840 grace. But we're living in a time right 291 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:49,720 now where nuclear or biological weapons are so readily available 292 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:53,560 that it would be very, very simple to contaminate the water 293 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:57,240 supply someone from al Qaeda gets in our country. 294 00:16:57,240 --> 00:17:01,640 Just as they suppose these Pakistani guys up in this plan 295 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:04,960 to blow up this vehicle in Times Square and to cause chaos. 296 00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:11,079 Believe me, there is this influence in this world today to 297 00:17:11,079 --> 00:17:15,640 bring a lot of hurt and harm to the human race and it only takes 298 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:20,119 a couple people to be involved in this to cause cataclysmic 299 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:24,760 events back in the 60s. This is an interesting piece of 300 00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:27,599 information. I I found there was this Air 301 00:17:27,599 --> 00:17:29,680 Force pilot that was flying maneuvers. 302 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:33,680 Government had them testing some things regarding nerve gas and, 303 00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:39,120 and they were out there in the in the deserts of Nevada and he 304 00:17:39,120 --> 00:17:42,360 was told to hit this particular target and they were testing the 305 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:45,640 capability and power of this of nerve gas. 306 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:51,440 He had 320 gallons of nerve gas in this plane and as he was 307 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:56,240 flying to drop the amount of gas that they were told to drop and 308 00:17:56,240 --> 00:17:59,440 it was only about 5% of the total load. 309 00:18:00,360 --> 00:18:03,480 As he was flying to drop it, there was a slight shift in the 310 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:05,880 winds. The winds began to to blow off 311 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:08,280 course. And this is, this is staggering. 312 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:11,880 And he, he, he was about 20 to 30 miles off the target with 313 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:18,240 this and this a little amount of it settled on 1000 thousands of 314 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:23,120 grazing sheep. It killed 6400 of them instantly 315 00:18:23,320 --> 00:18:28,120 like that. So what would it take, right for 316 00:18:28,120 --> 00:18:31,760 a terrorist to cause a lot of catastrophe? 317 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:36,080 And the catastrophes we're talking about here are mixed in 318 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:40,200 the sense of those who are sent directly and sense of heavenly 319 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:44,720 miraculous events that will cause chaos. 320 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:48,200 But also during this time, things are going to be also 321 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:53,640 targeted by demonic human beings who are are in cahoots with the 322 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:58,360 evil one, moving up toward the eventual destruction, trying to 323 00:18:58,360 --> 00:19:01,800 destroy the earth in the last days before Christ returns. 324 00:19:02,160 --> 00:19:06,160 But these catastrophic biological weapons of mass 325 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:12,120 destruction already exist. Iran, who knows where they are 326 00:19:12,120 --> 00:19:14,160 right now. We know their intentions is to 327 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:16,680 try to destroy the nation of Israel. 328 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:19,400 I don't know about you. Every day I get up, I got to do 329 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:21,160 my job like you work, all that stuff. 330 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:26,800 But I look at the headlines of the news, and someday we're 331 00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:28,840 going to begin to read some things that we're not going to 332 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:34,680 imagine are potentially capable of happening in our own time. 333 00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:40,000 Who would have ever thought on September 10th, that day we got 334 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:44,360 up, that our country would face what we faced on September 11th, 335 00:19:44,360 --> 00:19:46,800 right? It's still. 336 00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:50,160 You look back all these years and you see the events of that 337 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:54,720 World Trade Tower falling, and it's almost like that it really 338 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:56,360 happened. I mean, I can't believe that 339 00:19:56,360 --> 00:20:00,600 this happened, but it did happen and only took a few people with 340 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:06,440 incredible planning to destroy those towers and to try to 341 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:11,200 destroy our financial markets and all those lives that were 342 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:14,280 lost during that time. In verse 12 it says the 4th 343 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:17,520 Angel sounded and the third of the sun was struck, 1/3 of the 344 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:20,440 moon, 1/3 of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened, 345 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:23,440 1/3 of the day did not shine, and likewise the night. 346 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:26,360 And I looked and I heard an Angel flying through the midst 347 00:20:26,360 --> 00:20:29,520 of heaven saying with a loud voice, woe, woe, woe to the 348 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:32,200 inhabitants of the earth because of the remaining blasts of the 349 00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:36,120 trumpets of the three angels who are about the sound. 350 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:41,200 You think about Egypt again when we go back to God's dealing 351 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:45,720 through Moses with Pharaoh. And there was three day period 352 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:50,080 of complete darkness in the 9th plague in Exodus 10. 353 00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:55,280 But what's being described here is an unnatural darkness, and 354 00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:57,120 it's one of the signs of the end of the days. 355 00:20:57,120 --> 00:21:01,080 And Mark 13, it describes the sun being darkened and the moon 356 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:04,280 shall not give light. The darkening of the sun and the 357 00:21:04,280 --> 00:21:08,760 moon and the stars portrays A cosmic catastrophe. 358 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:12,080 We think of what happened during the crucifixion in Luke 359 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:15,600 30/23/44. Now it was about the 6th hour, 360 00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:18,880 that's 12 noon. And there was darkness over all 361 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:23,080 the earth until the 9th hour 3:00 that's the time of Christ 362 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:26,080 crucifixion. The sun was darkened and the 363 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:28,040 veil in the temple was torn in 2. 364 00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:35,720 So we see this judgment of God that if you could imagine today, 365 00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:38,600 you know, I don't know, we get sunrise is, I don't know, 366 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:41,360 probably what, around 6 O clock or something. 367 00:21:41,360 --> 00:21:45,000 And we still have some daylight up to around 9 O clock. 368 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:49,560 Now days are getting longer that you cut that by 2/3 and you only 369 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:53,280 have 1/3 of the day that's emitting light from sunshine. 370 00:21:54,280 --> 00:21:58,440 What that will do to the crops and the food ecosystem, food 371 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:01,800 markets, it's just again going to be catastrophic. 372 00:22:02,120 --> 00:22:05,440 And again, this is the the power of God trying to get the 373 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:08,160 attention of the hard hearted human race. 374 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:12,680 We see the 1st 4 seals that we studied a few weeks ago. 375 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:16,040 They were identified by horses, meaning the swiftness of the 376 00:22:16,360 --> 00:22:19,960 judgments of God moving upon the earth during this time of 377 00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:22,480 tribulation. These judgments that we just 378 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:26,600 studied, the first four are clear enough and the indication 379 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:29,560 of God's desire to get the attention of the human race, but 380 00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:34,200 the next three are going to be even worse than the first four. 381 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:38,480 And they're called woes, meaning intense severity. 382 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:45,000 Now as time moves on in this particular book we're studying, 383 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:48,520 as I said, things will get even more horrendous. 384 00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:51,200 And Chapter 9, we're just going to go through a few verses here 385 00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:53,200 this morning. We'll pick it up again next 386 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:55,760 week, but already read the verses. 387 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:58,640 But there's going to be the star that falls from heaven. 388 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:03,400 And this, this individual is a person that is going to be given 389 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:07,000 a key to the bottomless pit. Now, what happens to everybody 390 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:10,040 who dies right now? If you're a believer, the Bible 391 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:12,840 says to be absent in the bodies, to be present with the Lord. 392 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:17,000 So our soul goes to be with Christ in his present, but our 393 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:20,520 body is laid in the grave until the final resurrection, when 394 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:23,040 Christ will actually raise those bodies out of the graves and 395 00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:25,160 will be given new bodies in the heaven. 396 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,960 That's the final resurrection. But those who without Christ 397 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:33,120 will go into the place of holding until that final 398 00:23:33,120 --> 00:23:36,880 judgment. And it's the element of hell, 399 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:40,440 but not to the degree of what will be experienced at the final 400 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:43,760 judgment when the Bible says that whoever's name is not 401 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:47,360 found, and in God's Lamb book of life, that book that holds the 402 00:23:47,360 --> 00:23:50,760 names of all those who belong to him, whoever doesn't have their 403 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:54,280 name in that book will be cast into that final judgement, which 404 00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:58,800 is the lake of fire. Thanks for being with us today 405 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:01,960 here on Living Waters of Grace. We are in the Book of 406 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:06,080 Revelation, and we find it fascinating how influential and 407 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:09,120 involved the angels are in this book. 408 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:13,640 They bring about whatever it is that God has instructed them to 409 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:17,000 do, but it's through their actions that much of the 410 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:20,920 judgements come on the earth. The angels are in submission to 411 00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:25,000 God as their authority, but He utilizes them in unique ways 412 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:28,440 throughout this book. Like angels have a specific 413 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:32,160 purpose from God, you have a unique purpose and plan too. 414 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:36,360 God wants to use you in your life as a testimony to others 415 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:39,840 and to bring others who are currently lost into the fold of 416 00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:42,520 God. God would love more than 417 00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:45,960 anything for all who are willing to come to Him for salvation, 418 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:50,480 but he wants it to be their choice, not a forced situation. 419 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:55,320 This is the way God works, not forcing himself on anyone, but 420 00:24:55,320 --> 00:24:59,520 giving each person free will. If you're interested in learning 421 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:03,440 about this choice that's free and that it's a gift, go to 422 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:08,560 calvarychapelonline.com and click on the About Us tab and 423 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,240 then find the link for what we believe. 424 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:14,960 We'd love to be a help and a resource for you as you walk 425 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:18,040 through what it means to be a follower of Jesus. 426 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:22,040 If you find the contact tab on our website, you can get in 427 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:24,760 touch with us or submit a prayer request. 428 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:28,640 We'd love to hear from you. That's all for today's edition 429 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:32,560 and Revelation, but there's much more that Pastor Clark plans to 430 00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:36,000 share with us from this culminating book of the Bible. 431 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:39,160 Stay tuned for that and make sure to mention this radio 432 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:42,760 program to others. Invite them to tune into Grace 433 00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:50,040 FM 91.7 FM and they can stream worldwide at Grace Radio dot FM. 434 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:53,320 This has been living waters of grace.