Open your Bibles to the Book of Revelation chapter 16.
We got part way through it on Sunday and we find ourselves in
this journey, which we will get through fairly reasonably
quickly over the next few weeks. In the midst of the seven ball
judgements, 7 seals, Jesus broke the seven seals on the scroll.
Then they'll they'll 7 trumpets. Now we're part way through the
seven ball judgements in the Book of Revelation in the
period. Now, this part of the Revela
tribulation is often called the Great Tribulation.
Now we examine the first four bold judgments, as I said Sunday
morning, and their cataclysmic impact upon the earth and those
living on the earth through this period.
And with the judgement specifically falling,
especially, we noted upon those who had taken the mark of the
beast that said we'd worship His image, and we're living in
accordance to the Antichrist Kingdom.
And they had rebelled totally against God by taking the mark,
by worshipping the image. They had deliberately made the
choice to reject the gospel and the forgiveness of God and the
work of Calvary. Verse 10.
Then the 5th Angel poured out his ball on the throne of the
beast and his Kingdom became full of darkness.
I find this ironic. And they gnawed their tongues
because of the pain. Again we read they blasphemed
the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores.
Their sores remember incurable and did not repent of their
deeds. That meant that they were doing
things that they needed to repent of.
The 5th bold judgement, the Antichrist Kingdom.
God says Kingdom of darkness. Yep.
OK then that's what it truly shall be, a Kingdom of complete
darkness. Such was the darkness that it
terrified people. They could not see.
Their hand in front of their face will not be able to see.
And this brought this terror upon them and they blasphemed
God through this period because they in this period, all the
other bold judgments will remember they're cumulative.
They still have the sores. They were still in agony, the
Bible tells us, and there was nothing to drink.
The Bible tells us that God is light and what does Satan do?
Second Corinthians tells us that Satan masquerades, pretends to
come as an Angel of light, but really he is the Prince of
darkness. In John chapter 8 verse 12,
Jesus spoke to the people again saying I am the light of the
world. He who follows me shall not walk
in darkness, but have the light of life.
So those who follow the Antichrist during the great
Tribulation period, you're not going to walk in the light,
you're going to walk in darkness.
Pretty difficult to walk in the darkness.
In John chapter 3 verse 19, and this is the condemnation that
the light has come into the world.
Jesus men loved darkness rather than the light.
So God says that's what you love instead of me.
OK I'll give it to you because their deeds were evil and it
says remember we read they did not repent of their deeds, they
blasphemy God. The 6th ball is prepared and
poured out. Verse 12.
Then the 6th Angel poured out his ball on the great river
Euphrates. You remember the river Euphrates
as mentioned in the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 2, when
the the main rivers there and it's water was dried up.
You'll also remember Babylon, the city of Babylon, Great
Babylon comes and was built through with the river Euphrates
flowing through it, and it's water was dried up so that the
way of the kings from the East we introduced to a new group
might be prepared. So notice this is an action, a
judgement that is allowing something else to occur that
will happen later. So it's setting the plan, making
the pieces fall into place for the kings of the East.
Not just yet, but a few chapters later and I saw three unclean
spirits, demonic beings like frogs coming out of the mouth of
the dragon, Satan, out of the mouth of the beast, out of the
mouth of the false prophet, Satan, the Antichrist, the false
prophet, What are they? The unholy Trinity?
See, Satan is copying everything that God has done.
He is the Antichrist in place of, for they are spirits of
demons. Don't have to work out.
You know what they are. They're not frogs.
They perform signs. And I'm deeply worried again as
I hear we have people passing through certain churches at the
moment bringing their prophecies and their their, their, their
signs and their wonders. And I go, when will people
actually wake up and sit in front of those people with their
Bibles? But the answer is people who sit
in front of such people don't open their Bibles because they
are forever learning and never coming to the knowledge of they
are seeking after such things. And you know what the devil's
going to give you exactly what you have in place of the truth.
In place of the truth. And so the demonic beings
performing signs, miracles, which go out to the kings of the
earth, another group of people. So we have these kings from the
East and now these other kings, other countries, nations are
involved of the whole world to gather them is the preparation
to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
So God is moving here, all the bits and pieces.
I'm going to dry out the River Euphrates to prepare for we know
what's coming, the great battle, the mighty river.
River Euphrates, 2800 kilometres in length.
The Euphrates River passes through four countries, through
Turkey, Syria, Iraq and the waters of the Persian Gulf.
The river originates in Turkey, flows SE through Syria and Iraq,
and joins up with the Tigris in Iraq to form the shut Al Arab
which empties into the Persian Gulf.
This mighty river at this time, under this bold judgement, the
6th bold judgement completely dries up.
How it happens, I don't care. I'm not interested in people go
well, Was it so? So do we have a volcano or was
there an earth? I don't know.
I don't care, the Bible says. It dries up, God dries it up,
it's gone and it creates a super highway to the Middle East
heading to Israel. When this happens, God draws
into battle kings from the East. It says as well as other kings
of the world anti Semitism that you and I are seeing at this
moment. You and I should be the most
excited people in Christendom. We are on the verge of the
rapture because we are on the verge of the tribulation.
Euphrates up to this time has been a natural boundary in the
Middle East. It forms a barrier of separation
for the Holy Land. It is through this pathway, now
dried up, that a massive military March will occur to
pursue and attack who? Israel.
Why? Anti Semitism and a desire by
look who's God's allowing this to happen?
But who's organising this? The beast.
Remember the unholy Trinity, these these spirits, these other
three demonic spirits, all from these and it's driven because
this this, you know, and it breaks your heart because I just
wish that anti semitism would back away.
But here's the sad and you know, when we were in Hawaii, I spent
a couple of nights really troubled seeking the Lord up and
down, up and down. And I wanted to pray about
certain things. And one of them was like God, I,
I, I am broken. I, I, I struggle as I read about
Israel. I really do, you know, and my
heart goes out for the nation of Israel and I know so does yours.
But here's, here's the reality. It's not going to change.
It's not going to get any better.
It's only going to get worse. And that's what I've got to come
to the realisation is OK, this is what's actually going to
occur. So I've got to realise this
doesn't mean I stop praying for them.
It doesn't mean I stop loving them, but it means I've got to
adjust how I'm praying and what I'm praying and and continue and
do what God wants us to do. And so anti Semitism is just
going to grow and grow and be more and more inflamed with this
absolute demonic desire to destroy the Jewish people.
These armies are going to this little nation.
Why? To annihilate them Because Satan
wants God's chosen people removed.
It started way back, doesn't it? Through the Old Testament,
that's carried on through to seize their land, annihilate the
Jews, seize their land, and now the other thing.
And there's this whole change of mining that's going on around
the world. And Trump's done it with
Ukraine. He's signed a a deal there.
We see it now in Israel. There's something going on in
Israel and it's even happening. I was talking to Reece now Alcoa
here. There's a whole new thing about
rare earth minerals and the rare earth minerals, according to
Reese, he's telling explain a bit today.
Are these minerals that are used for what?
You know what military weapons you've got to have these rare
earth minerals for all the new military weapons which every
nation in the world now bar Australia, we're still at 3%.
Every nation in the world bar Australia has increased, they're
spending on their military might and and China holds the largest
amount of this rare earth at the moment.
That's why Trump was very keen to get that agreement with
Ukraine. Smart men.
And so it's to destroy the Jewish people, to seize their
land, all the natural rich resources besides the rare
minerals that they have natural gas.
You remember when we went to Caesarea one time, Yanni said,
see out there, they used to have all these boats coming in
because they had to import all their energy, you know, bring in
all they call they, they had no natural resources for power
found natural gas. Now they have off Caesarea there
they have the the gas fields and they, they, they, they set, they
set. Now the kings of the East is
literally in the Greek, the kings of the rising sun, where
we've heard that before, the kings of the rising sun, the
Orient, a huge military confederation, China and Japan,
who are natural enemies forming together, Pakistan, India, they
will be unaware. These nations, the kings of the
East, however, that it is God who was drawing them into this
last great battle in Ezekiel 3839, which this isn't this.
Remember, it was God who put the hook into the leader of the
confederacy. You will come down and attack
Israel. You know what we're going to do?
We're going to attack Israel and it's God doing this.
Satan's involved his unholy Trinity of himself, the
Antichrist and the false prophet will send unclean demonic
spirits frog like in the sense of their foulness because frogs
in the Bible member are unclean can't say that to a French
person but and being unclean to entice the world into this
conflict. So Satan's gathering everyone.
Hey you guys, let's join up. Let's take on this problem
people. They're causing all the
problems, which was the same mantra that Hitler used.
It's them in Egypt. This was the second plague on
the land detailed in Exodus chapter 8.
Remember the plague of frogs came out and then Pharaoh said,
oh, come and stop, stop, stop. And then all the frogs died and
then they were all rotten everywhere.
They were everywhere throughout the house.
These frog like demonic creatures were used deceiving
signs and wonders to draw these armies into Israel for battle.
Satan's motive? What is it?
Destroy Israel and the city of Jerusalem?
Why is that? Satan knows if he can achieve
those two things, One, Christ will have no Holy Land or people
to return to. That's why they're to be
annihilated. Yeah.
How how is it that all the nations that have attacked them,
even back to the days of Esther, right back.
Why was it that they just wouldn't, you know, suppress
them or cap every time the PLO came out, still is.
And Hezbollah, their their cry is to annihilate Israel,
eliminate them. It's just carried on throughout
the Bible and into today so that Christ will have no Holy Land or
people to return to. Secondly, and no holy city to
what? Establish the throne of David, a
throne that will be forever and ever where He'll rule and reign
for 1000 years. That's the aim of sight.
We now have this wonderful parenthesis.
However, verse 15, all of a sudden, behold, I'm coming as a
thief. Blessed is he who watches and
keeps his garments lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
Now those who believe that the church is to go through the
great tribulation, they go, ha ha, see this and they make much
of this verse. But Jesus Christ in the Bible is
not coming for his church. What?
As a thief? We're not going to go, Oh, Jesus
is here. Oh wow, I didn't know that and
you should have told me when did he start telling us John chapter
14 and before we're what are we what are we doing as as as the
truth. We're looking and waiting and
expecting each day you don't go well, I think I might be robbed
today I might be robbed today I might be robbed today about a
thief turns up me. Hey, we've been robbed turned up
when I wasn't expecting. It's important Jesus Christ is
not coming for his church as a thief.
Know that He returns for the church.
How? In Ephesians that tells us what
are we the church? We're his bride.
He's coming back as the bridegroom and what is the
bride? She's waiting.
Can't wait for the bridegroom to turn up.
He's returning for the church as the bridegroom since the church
is His bride. Get the language right, get the
text right, get the context right.
With the coming of a thief, there is a dread and a fear that
our possessions will be robbed and our goods destroyed.
But the Bible tells us we are not what of the night, nor of
the darkness. Therefore we have No Fear of the
Lord's return. You go, Oh man, Jesus, go.
Oh, scared. The death of Jesus coming.
No, we long, we expect, we pray. Come quickly.
Lord Jesus, how wonderful it is when God brings to us hope in
the midst of our troubles, right?
Slam smack in the midst of this. To the people who are getting
saved, people still getting saved in the tribulation period,
I'm coming. Hold on.
In the midst of our troubles. God does that, doesn't he?
In the midst of our fears, God turns up.
You say I'm here. The second coming of Jesus
Christ will be, however, a massive surprise to so many who
are not looking for his coming, not expecting, and he's going to
come as a thief, but not to those who are watching and
ready. Matthew 24.
Jesus here is encouraging those who have made a commitment to
Him in those difficult days of tribulation to remain strong in
their faith. Jesus will come as a thief only
to those who are unsaved and not looking for or expecting him,
but not so to those who are looking and watching for Him.
Verse 16. And they gather them together to
the place called an Hebrew Armageddon.
Now this is telling us what's going to happen.
So the river Euphrates dried up. This is what's going to happen.
Not yet. Chapter 19.
The only reference in Scripture to Armageddon is here.
It comes from 2 Hebrew words ha and Megiddo.
Armageddon means mountain of destruction or mountain or hill
of slaughter. Now those of you who have been
with us to Israel, how do we view the valley of Megiddo?
We go up on what? Mount Carmel.
Mount Carmel, where Elijah took on the prophets of Baal.
And as we look out, what do we look out on this great vast
valley? Megiddo.
The ancient city of Megiddo is 96 KS north of Jerusalem and
overlooks the valley of Megiddo. He was at that valley that
Barack, not Barack Obama either, but Barack or Barack really was.
Deborah, remember, defeated the Canaanites Judges 4.
Gideon defeated the Midianites in this location Judges 7.
He was in this location, sadly, where King Saul made his death
one Samuel 31. King Josiah also died at the
hands of Pharaoh here in battle. 2 Kings chapter 23.
In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte made his way to this location and as
he looked out across Megiddo, he called this location.
This is the greatest natural battlefield on earth that I've
ever seen. According to verse 16, the final
great world battle will be fought in Ha Megiddo.
It will be a place of great slaughter, which is also another
meaning of the name butchered. But the drying up of the
Euphrates, which leads to this great gathering of the world's
armies to this location, is setting the stage for the
physical enablement of those forces from the east and the
other kings to March and bring their tanks and whatever else to
this location. It's setting them the stage.
Verse 17. Then the 7th Angel poured out
his bowl into the air. Notice that's interesting one
the other's been upon the earth and places like the oceans, the
springs. This one's into the air and a
loud voice. Ah, another loud voice.
Why is a loud voice getting our attention?
This is important came out where of the temple of heaven from the
throne saying it's done, it's done.
There were noises and thunderings and lightnings.
I'll stop there. The 6th plague is not this
battle. That comes later in Revelation
19, the 7th ball Judgement. This ball is poured out into the
air and another loud voice cries out.
It is done. The greatest earthquake, it
says, and there was a great earthquake.
Such a mighty and great earthquake.
Now note this read in your Bibles.
Read it with me. Such a great as had not occurred
since men were on the earth. So there's never been a greater
earthquake like this one that's going to occur in the
Tribulation period. No greater.
Now the great city that's Jerusalem was divided in three
parts. And the cities of the nations,
New York, London, Sydney, you name it, all cities, Tokyo, all
the cities around the world that are around Babylon that's
rebuilt perhaps where the Antichrist is.
Collapse. The 7th bowl Judgement.
It's done. The first bowl poured out upon
the earth. Second ball poured out on the
oceans. The third ball poured out on the
rivers and the springs. The 4th ball poured out with the
scorching sun. The fifth ball poured out on the
throne and the Kingdom of the Antichrist.
The 6th ball poured out on the Euphrates River.
The 7th ball poured out into the air.
Why the air? Let us remember that Satan is
described in the Bible in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 2, as
what he is called the Prince of the power of the year, the
Spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.
From the throne, from the temple, from the very temple and
the altar comes these words. It's done.
When Jesus finished his work on
Calvary, he cried out. It's finished.
God's final bold judgement has fallen adverse.
And there were great noises, thunderings and lightnings.
There was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great
earthquake as has not occurred since men were on the earth.
This earthquake will not be able to be measured its magnitude on
the Richter scale. There'll be no, no measurement.
Now cast your mind back Boxing Day, December 26th, 2004 when a
magnitude 9 quake struck and more than 230,000 people lost
their lives. Remember viewing the map of
Arche and the tidal waves that came in just once?
There was a pole pulp and it's nothing just took them gone.
This earthquake is worldwide. That's terrifying.
Terrifying. Whole islands will disappear.
Yeah. Hawaii, Bali, you name it.
Islands. Don't worry about climate
change. They're gone.
Whole islands disappear. The entire topography of the
world as you and I know it, will be radically changed.
The holy city of Jerusalem, the Bible tells us, will be split
into 3 sections. Now we've walked through those
tunnels. I don't like walking in those
tunnels that much because they're kind of like this.
And I'm going there. Ever An earthquake occurred here
and it goes. It's just going to go.
I'll be a ham sandwich. Whilst the other great cities of
the world the Bible tells us will be destroyed, including the
rebuilt Babylon, the headquarters of the Antichrist
is that it? Verse 21 and great hail from
heaven. Notice the wording from heaven
fell upon doesn't say what the earth doesn't.
Notice this, it says fell upon men.
That's specific. Great hail fell from heaven upon
men each hailstone. Now we get a description of the
individual hailstones about the weight of a talent.
What happened? Men blasphemed God because of
the plague of the hail. Since that plague was
exceedingly great. I can't imagine the tsunamis and
the waves and the absolute sheer terror.
The world is just gone. God's gone.
What is? And then this hailstorm.
Those who escape death from the massive worldwide earthquake
will not escape this event of massive hailstones falling at
speed, plummeting from heaven with individual hail, we're told
here, weighing more than one talent, OR in today's
measurements, more than 45 kilos each.
Actually blocks of ice, 45 kilos at speed and just drive you
straight, drive you straight plummeting, slamming upon men.
It was the 7th plague that fell upon Egypt.
It was similar but sadly notice after all this men blasphemy
God, it tells you why does God put that in there?
Why don't we read that? Because God's trying to show no
matter what I've done, no matter what I do, I'm just revealing to
you. And we, we, you know, people
say, oh, brotherhood of man, no, there's a little bit of good in
everyone. Now the Bible says there's no
good in anyone. We're all sinned.
We're all falling short of the glory of God.
And God has offered us mercy, grace, that which we don't
deserve. And throughout this time, people
will be accepting it, but many, the majority rejecting it.
Tonight I want to ask you because I want to ask you once
again, it's so important. Where do you stand?
Where do you stand in all this? You go, oh, this is just a lot
of nonsense. I don't believe any of this is
the foundation you have placed your soul on.
Unshakeable. It says in the book of Hebrews
that God will shake everything that can be shaken.
What can't be shaken? I tell you what can be shaken in
your house, your finances, your health?
You know this building, the ground on which we stand, the
oceans, the mountains, everything but your faith in
God, faith in Jesus Christ, because it can't be shaken.
You know why? Because the wise man has built
his house upon a solid foundation.
He's heard the Word and he's abided.
And then you plant your feet upon the rock, a rock that can't
be moved. There is no more important
decision in your life today than those listening as to whether
you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour.
You must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ had a man ring me
through this week. He left a message on our phone.
He said, oh Pastor Keith, you know you don't know me Da da da.
I want to get married and and I also, you know, would like to be
baptised. And I rang back Sunday afternoon
and he got he lives up north somewhere.
Anyway, at the end of the day, he says I'm not one of the born
again Christians. I said that actually to be a
Christian you have to be born again.
You must be born again. Oh, I guess you're right.
Then I said no, I'm all right. That's what Jesus said to be a
Christian, you must be born again, must be born.
I want to ask you tonight, are you safe?
Because during this period of the Tribulation period,
everything that the world thinks is solid and sound and a place
to park my soul, God's going to go.
I'm going to show you there's only one place safe and it's in
my hands.