Satan Is Expelled From Heaven

 

As we have been continuing our study into the Book of Revelation it is important to understand that this is for a 7 year duration period once the church is removed from the earth in Revelation 4:1. What we need to understand is that the final 3 1/2 years is known as the Great Tribulation period, one filled with atmospheric disturbances, wars, plagues and geological events. The believers we find scattered through these chapters are simply Tribulation Saints, ones that responded to the message in faith after the rapture of the church. Church Age Saints or Believers have been in heaven up to this point.

From Revelation 12 to Revelation 19, the Bible takes the reader into the microscopic details of the events we see coming to the earth during the final 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation period. As we studied in previous posts we learned that the nation of Israel and the Jewish remnant will flee to the wildness and we have deciphered that this is located in Jordan, and we believe it will be in the city of Petra. During the Tribulation period, the Antichrist will have Jordan as their enemy and thus he will not be able to touch them.

Daniel 11:41 ~ "He (the Antichrist) will also invade the Beautiful Land (Jerusalem). Many countries will fall, but Edom, Moab and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered from his hand."

Right now the European Union has been stockpiling food supplies and resources in Jordan in an undisclosed location but reportedly not far from Petra in the event of a global war that would impact Europe or the Middle East. It is slated to contain enough food for 2 million people. If you attempt to search for this, you will not find any information on the Internet but those who are involved in the process can't comment on what is happening or where the supply location is. This would be perfect to align up with Revelation 12:6 ~"The woman (Israel) fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days (or 3 1/2 years)." This means that Jordan will supply the food to enable this to happen. 

Revelation 12:7-12 ~ "And there was a war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down - that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury because he knows that his time is short."

This details the eviction of Satan out of his access from heaven. Remember that this is a detailed look at what is going on during the Tribulation period in a behind the scenes kind of way. This is during those final 3 1/2 years known as the Great Tribulation.

Matthew 24:21 ~ "For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now - and never to be equaled again."

Fighting the battle, wins us the victory. There is a victory that can only come from war despite how we may feel. No one wants war, but if you want to stop your enemies from attacking you on your own soil, you have to attach them on their own soil. You can't wait for them to get here. We all want peace, but in order to achieve it, sometimes war is necessary. Think about what happened if the US had opted to stay out of the war when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor or when Germany invaded Europe. The world would be a drastically different place.

Behind earthly wars, there are first spiritual powers at play. The Bible tells us there are nations that are stirred up by demonic and heavenly warfare. Salvation is the absolute victory and purpose of God and Satan wants to do anything he can to prevent that from happening.

We know in reading the Bible that there are 3 levels or types of heaven. We have the (1) heaven which consists of ground zero to where our atmosphere ends and space begins. Then the (2) heaven is from all the space and beyond to include all the planets and stars, suns and galaxies as far as it exists. The (3) heaven is the very abode of God. When we read that there was a war in heaven, this is all three heavens rolled into one.

During the Tribulation Period, Satan is expelled from heaven and the Throne Room of God where he has been accusing believers since the creation. Why does God even allow him access? Satan likes to pick fights, he's been doing it all along and even through the Tribulation period because he knows his time is limited. We see in our study today that a war is breaking out in heaven between Michael and his angels and Lucifer (Satan) and his angels.

This is an incredible sight to fathom because when we consider angels, they are not the cute chubby cheek cherubs. Whenever they have appeared throughout the Bible, people are afraid when they show up, and are often sick for days. Here we see Michael versus Satan. Jesus does not have an equal opponent. This is a battle in the spiritual realm of heaven and one we will look at in greater detail tomorrow.

An Act of War Has Been Declared Upon Us!

 

As we begin Chapter 12 into our study of Revelation, we can clearly see a new stage is being set. A war is being waged in heaven and that will manifest itself on earth. There is an epic battle between Satan and God's plan. It deals with the nation of Israel, the birth of the Messiah, His resurrection and ascension into heaven, it deals with Satan and his antics that he is going to perpetrate upon the world. Chapter 12 opens as if two book ends spanning several millennia, and where this study shifts in the scene is this is God's view of what is going on behind the scenes as it were spiritually as we have been previously studying the ministry, judgment and wrath of God during the Tribulation period up to this point. God is pulling back at this point to show us the spiritual battle that is taking place in the spiritual realm that manifests itself in the physical realm. This is God's view and His perspective on the events that have been unfolding and are unfolding.

There is a war ongoing against the Word of God, against His Son Jesus Christ, the ministry of Jesus and it is just getting more hostile to those willing to take a stand for Jesus in the world today. There are two very different wars, the one on earth and the one in heaven throughout Revelation 12. We can never know the literal interpretation of Revelation without first understanding the Old Testament. We can't begin to understand the signs, symbols, types, visions, and wonders because they are first represented in the Old Testament. What is in the Old concealed, is in the New revealed!

Revelation 12:1-6 ~ " A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days." 

We have an enemy that wages war and is always planning surprise attacks against us even at this very hour. There are satanic powers that exist and are at work according to the Bible, and he is the personification and manifestation of evil, and according to the Bible, he was the first one to sin and fall from heaven and has his own collation of demonic allies comprised of demons and fallen angels. They are plotting against our demise as Christians and as a church. Even though the offices of Homeland Security, CIA and FBI have announced that the enemy is among us, they believe that there are strong cells of terrorists operating even within our own borders and states. They have for years been making their way up from Central America and Mexico with gang member ties specifically to the drug cartels of Al Qaeda and other terrorists groups.

However when you consider the church, the enemy has been among us for quite some times when you consider things on the spiritual level. The enemy has been in our midst even on September 10, 2001 obviously but in the spiritual sense the enemy has always been with us. The enemy has always been attacking us. Revelation 12, tells us about the specific attacks of Satan against God, against God's interests, the things that surround God's mission and His will, against God's nation Israel, His chosen people, the church and all of us that stand together believing and doing the work of God and to bring about God's will upon the earth. As Christians, we need to understand that we are always under attack.

Satan's first plan of attack is to get people to not believe in him. This is exactly what he did to Eve in the Garden of Eden. He begins to sow seeds of doubt in her mind. He begins to interpret God's Word into his own persuasions, didn't he say, "Well don't you know why God doesn't want you to touch the fruit of the tree of good and evil? It's because he knows that the day that you touch it and eat of it, you will be just like Him. You will become a God." This doctrine of heresy has never left the planet since that fateful day in the garden. There are doctrines throughout the world that you can become a god or gods. Satan's job is to infiltrate and he does it by surprise attack.

If you look at three specific cases on US soil including the 1990 bombing of the World Trade Center, were these not surprise attacks? Was not September 11th a surprise attack? Was not December 7, 1941, a surprise attack? Apparently God is trying to teach America in the physical sense. This just shows us how vulnerable we are to surprise attacks because often times America is asleep at the wheel. We will not have massive church attendance or massive prayer meetings, or turn stadiums into prayer vigils until some surprise attack happens again. The government has even been warning us that more surprise attacks are coming, which should not make them surprise attacks if you are ready. Satan is launching surprise attacks against you and I all the time and he is doing it even now. It can't be a surprise attack however if we are on guard, watching and waiting. If we know the strategy that Satan has against us, we should not be caught off guard.

As Christians, we know that things are coming to the world, to nations, that frankly the CIA and the FBI ought to be interviewing us. They should talk to us about what is coming. The minute you mention what the Bible has to say about future events, they don't want to hear anything about it. An act of war has been declared against us. If we are walking in the Spirit, they won't come as a surprise. If we understand that Satan is against us, without us praying for our families, marriages and children, they are vulnerable. Satan has engineered things in this world to pull Christian families apart. He hates you and your entire family and has set out to destroy you more than anybody else on the block. Because your a Christian, he stays awake all night and day trying to figure out your demise. We don't need to panic, because if we are in the Spirit, warring in the Spirit, praying for our families, without our prayer coverage and interceding for them daily, naming by name and encouraging them with our own words, they are under attack daily.

We will see truths in the opening verses of this chapter that are eternal. We will see historical facts in these opening verses that have actually happened. As a foot soldier during WWI, J.R.R. Tolkien believed that behind each of the nations, there were powers both heavenly and demonically at work in the war. In the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien wrote his interpretations of the demonic powers and the powers of light behind the empires of the world. He saw these epic battles being spawned by spiritual activity. Satan is locked in an epic battle. He cannot get out of this battle. In Revelation 12, we see a war on earth with a war in heaven at the conclusion of this chapter. What we see happening in the spiritual realms in heaven, manifests itself in the physical realm on the earth. This is true in every aspect of life and what we are going through. They all have spiritual meanings behind them. The kingdoms of light and darkness are at war.

Satan is locked into an epic battle with a very specific enemy with us being some of those enemies. The battle he is in is with a chosen people. What John is seeing in verse 1 is a manifestation of truth given by symbols or signs. The Old King James says "wonders." You can make a note in your Bible that what you are reading here is conveyed in symbols and signs. John is saying, "I saw this sign..." What is it?

Revelation 12:1 ~ "A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head."

When it speaks of a woman, it doesn't speak of a physical woman, because the Greek interpretation calls for it to be a representation of something, not an actual woman. That is important!!!

Tolkien saw that the atrocities of war, that they were demonically inspired. The movies are pretty graphic to what we are dealing with in the spiritual realm. The powers that are invisible in the world around me. Tolkien was brilliant. Revelation 12 let's us into the spiritual realm and the movies gives you insight into what is really going on in the spiritual realm. You might just want to rewatch it while studying this section and see it with spiritual eyes.

The Way is Being Paved

If you know your Bible, then you know there is the Holy Trinity, which is comprised of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, but when the Tribulation begins, Satan will also attempt to create an unholy trinity which is comprised of Satan, the Antichrist and the False Prophet. The Antichrist or impostor Christ will rise out of a political theater and will come out of no where. You might say that isn't possible that someone can rise to such a place of prominence without anyone knowing anything about him, but consider our former president in the United States, Barack Obama. No one had heard of him 12 years ago, he has a limited political background and was immediately pushed to the forefront of the presidential campaign while people were still trying to figure out just where he came from and what his background was. This makes the rise of the Antichrist possible and without question it can and will happen in the future.

The False Prophet will be a religious leader that will take charge of the world's religions and combine them in a global one world religion that appeases most everyone except those that hold to the doctrines of the Bible as absolute.

So is the Antichrist alive today? Based on the world events we see happening around us everyday, it wouldn't surprise me if he was. He is not the image of what the world might imagine. He won't be grotesque in appearance or have a red tail or act in a demonic like manner, but quite the contrary will be charismatic, influential, brilliant and he will swoon the world with his words like Hitler did. He will be a great orator to draw people in by what he has to say. It will be deceptive, demonic and spiritual in nature and character and the world will fall for it. He will allow for a global world church. He will establish a cashless system which we have already have begun laying the groundwork for even now, and will establish a way to identify those who follow him and those that don't with the introduction of a mark.

We see how easily that would be to introduce with the rise of terrorism and drugs in the world, simply take away the cash and see how much that would limit what they could do. We have heard about the implementation of a national security card and the possibility of chip implants that would host information about the person that it is implanted in as a way of tracking them, maintaining their medical history and so much more. The world is aching for someone to fix what is rapidly happening in the world from the issues with global downfalls of the economy, the global pandemic of CoVid 19, and the rise of terrorists threats. It is telling us that man can not govern himself and we simply need to establish a global government to solve all of the world's problems in a nut shell.

The Bible has promised that the Antichrist will appear when Israel has troubles with her neighbors and we know that since Israel became a nation for the second time in history on May 14, 1948, that we have been moving forward in that direction but now it seems imperative just how much hatred there is for the nation of Israel, the rise of antisemitism and the persecution and hatred for Christians around the world and it is only growing.

Daniel 9:26 ~ "After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood; War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed."

The Antichrist will sign a 7 year peace treaty with the nation of Israel and her neighbors giving them what they have always wanted peace. The ability to worship in their Jewish way and allow them to rebuild their temple. It will only last 3 1/2 years however and then things will go south in a hurry. The Antichrist comes from a political means and with tremendous influences to impact the world on a global scale. The world will all fall under his spell.

Revelation 13:1-10 ~ "And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, an they also worshiped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?" The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast - all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. He who has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints."

We should not be concerned in trying to figure out just who the Antichrist is, because the church will be long gone before he comes onto the scene and rises up in the world. We learn about Revelation and the End Times because it strengthens our faith as believers and because of what Revelation 1:3 promises.

Revelation 1:3 ~ "Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near."

This is the only book in the Bible that offers a special blessing on the one who reads it and hears the words. A blessing comes to those who study it and thus the reason we are walking through it verse by verse, chapter by chapter. You can't understand the Book of Revelation however as we have learned without first reading and understanding the Old Testament. As we look into the description of the creature mentioned in this chapter, we have to remember where have we heard these words before and that would be in the book of Daniel. Daniel has described this creature and these events and identifies for us who it is.

We see the creature has animalistic characteristics of a leopard, lion and a bear and we will be breaking down what these means in the nature and character of the Antichrist. He will connive and weave his way into the world much like the serpent did in the Garden of Eden and as we know the whole world will believe it except those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

The way is being paved and the stage is being set, and if you truly know and understand your Bible, you know we have never been closer that we are right now in history. More tomorrow! 

Satan is a Gradualist

Satan knows that he can corrupt one person at a time. His plan is simple and effective.

1 John 4:4 ~ "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."

He works on one person at a time, gradually through the influence of power. This is why he seeks to seize the media, music, city and government offices, because he moves to corrupt those who have influence over others. This is the very reason Christians should be involved in every area of authority, military, politics, school boards, city and government offices to shine the light into the very dark places.

Revelation 12:3-4 ~ "Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads, and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born."

7 heads are kings, or in modern times prime ministers, presidents or representatives in leadership roles in their nations. The 10 horns are kingdoms, regions or domains. The world will be divided into 10 kingdoms or governments with 7 leaders of influence over them. The entire globe will be divided into 10 prominent regions with 7 global representatives. Think this is impossible to imagine. Look up the G-7 group. It is now comprised of 8 global nations because Russia was just added. It used to be just 7 groups. They meet once a year to  make decisions regarding economic and geopolitical aspects that impact the global communities. The principles are being put into place for this to happen on a larger scale.

Satan understands that if he can influence a leader in any office, he gains a foothold to influence more. Want a birds eye view of Satan's future and retirement plan?

Isaiah 14:9-12 ~ "The grave below is all astir to meet you at your coming; it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you - all those who were leaders in the world; it makes them rise from their thrones all those who were kings over the nations. They will all respond, they will say to you, "You also have become weak, as we are; you have become like us," All your pomp has been brought down to the grave, along with the noise of your harps; maggots are spread out beneath you and worms cover you. How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!"

If you want to know who the fiery red dragon is from Revelation 12, skip ahead.

Revelation 12:9 ~ "The great dragon was hurled down - that ancient serpent called the devil or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled down to the earth, and his angels with him."

This is the definition of just who the dragon is, not a descriptions but a symbol of his nature and character. As the church vacates its position in the world, demonic and evil influence steps in to fill the vacancy. Satan is desperately fighting for total control by attempting to overthrow the angelic realm.

Revelation 12:4a ~ "His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth." 

Notice that the verbs in this verse are all past tense. The stars are angels of heaven. Satan deceived a 1/3 of God's created angels. Be careful how easily we can be fooled into thinking we are all powerful when it comes to dealing with evil. The power comes from the Lord, not from us. Whenever we pray, our power is tapping into heaven.

Satan therefore, will come to tempt us with beautiful and wonderful things.

2 Peter 2:4 ~ "For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, byt sent them to heal, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment;"

Jude 6 ~ "And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home - these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day."

This is proof that angles have sinned in the past. Satan is conspiring to stop God's plan of victory. What is the devil up to here? Who is this child in Revelation 12:4? It is amazing because the Bible records in perfect detail the acts of war that Satan has launched against the coming of Jesus Christ into the world ever since the Garden of Eden.

Genesis 3:14-15 ~ "So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put an enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

Satan possessed the serpent, notice how God curses the snake to crawl on his belly for his act in this and it makes you wonder, that the snake did not always crawl on its belly before this time. The word "enmity" is defined as warfare and the woman mentioned here is Eve but through further interpretation is is also a build up of the lineage of Christ. Eve>Israel>Mary>Son of God, Jesus Christ. It began against Eve, then moved on to the nation of Israel, then onto Mary and her Son, Jesus Christ. It was a plot to do anything and everything to destroy the royal seed. The virgin birth is prophesied in this verse. The announcement is being made that it will be in the DNA of the woman, not the man that will destroy evil once and for all.

The Passion of the Christ, clearly depicts Genesis 3:15 when Jesus moves to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane when we see the serpent coming to Jesus as Satan in disguise! Satan's plan for total control to conspire to stop God's plan of victory continued with the murder of Abel by his brother Cain, then again through Noah and his generation. The Bible says that Noah was perfect in all his ways, it doesn't mean he was sinless, but he was genetically not polluted. The attacks of the Patriarch Abraham, the plans to destroy the children of Jacob; the attempts to slay the Hebrew (male) children in the land of Egypt; the off and on evils of Israel's kings; Esther and the plan to kill all the Jews: numerous plans to annihilate Israel; the killing of the male Hebrew children of Israel by King Herod; when Satan tempted Jesus to sin; and then we have the brutality and horrors of Jesus' final days on earth. You can imagine how please Satan must have felt when Jesus died. He probably thought he won that victory after all. But then Sunday came.

Luke 10:17 ~ "The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name."

When you pray, Satan is upset. That is why prayer is so hard. Whenever you pray, your mind wanders and you get tired or distractions come. This is the same reason witnessing is so difficult. It's like a fire fight. Satan always counters when we attack. We are fighting from a position of victory. We lost battles but we win the war.

Preaching, teaching, evangelism and mission work are Satan's targets, these are the very areas we must advance in! The prophetic players that Satan will attack in the End Times and Last Days, (1) the church, (2) the nation of Israel, (3) political kingdoms, and (4) ethnicities. The more we know about our enemy, the greater damage we can inflict.

Remember this is NOT a recovery mission, it is a rescue mission. We need to be focused on saving the lost and praying daily for those in areas of influence, even those that we question their motives. They need all the prayer we can muster.   

Let Us Put the Blame of Evil Things Happening in The World Where It Belongs!

Did you know that the Book of Revelation references all the books of the Bible over any other book in the Bible? You will never understand the Book of Revelation without having knowledge of the Old Testament. When Christians tell you that they don't understand the Book of Revelation, they are announcing to you that they have never read the Old Testament or have an understanding of what they have read in regards to studying the Old Testament. What is concealed in the Old is revealed in the New!

Revelation 11:18 ~ "The nations were angry and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great - and for destroying those who destroy the earth."

This is a portion of Psalm 2 which is fulfilled by the time we get to Revelation 11:18 and was written over 3000 years ago.

Psalm 2:1-3 ~ "Why do the nations conspire and the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One. "Let us break their chains," they say, "and throw off their fetters." 

This part of the prophecy has already been fulfilled when they crucified and mocked Jesus, and continues even to this day against Christians and those that speak the truth found in God's Word.

Psalm 2:4-9 ~ "The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath saying, "I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill." I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery."  

This portion of prophecy is coming and will be fulfilled during the Tribulation period when the wrath of God is unleashed upon a Christ-rejecting world and when Jesus returns to earth in the Second Coming to establish His kingdom once and for all.

We have just finished studying from Revelation 10:1 to Revelation 11:14 what is known as a parenthetical pause in the chronological events in the story to provide some much need information to the reader of the book and from Revelation 11:15-19 we continue in the events of the Tribulation Period with John again.

Revelation 11:15-19 ~ "The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven which said: "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever." And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great - and for destroying those who destroy the earth." Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of the covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm"

This portion of scripture introduces us to the coming kingdom of Christ. We are living in the time of the church age believers right now.

Acts 1:9-11 ~ "After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seem him go into heaven."

They watched Jesus ascend into the glory of heaven and we told to go forth and preach the Word of the gospel into the whole world. On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came and the church was born. Jesus said that He would be coming back and coming again. We wait for Jesus to return just as the Bible predicts because if He doesn't, He wasn't the Messiah and the faith we have in Him is nothing. But we know that Jesus has fulfilled all the Bible prophecy's up to this point regarding His birth, His death and His resurrection. Sandwiched between His first coming, that is His birth as a baby in Bethlehem to His Second Coming in Revelation 19 as King and Redeemer coming with the saints and the church with Him to earth. In between this time is the Church Age, that is what you and I are a part of and at some point in that time frame, that age will end, and from the day of Pentecost to the Rapture, the church will conclude.

There will be no church in the Tribulation period. There will be the Tribulation saints or the believers who are born again during that Tribulation period. If you are a Christian right now, you will not experience the events we have been studying about that will happen in the Tribulation period. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior even while reading this post, God has promised to deliver you from the wrath that has yet to come. The words "wrath to come" does not mean hell. The "wrath to come" is the Tribulation period, when God pours out His judgment and vengeance upon the earth. Today you want to make sure you are a Christian and that you know God personally! Make sure your relationship with God is not a religious position where you think just because you attend church on Sunday and that is it for the rest of the week. You might be able to say that you know God, but can you say with boldness that God knows You?

We are going to look at three major points of why we need to know Jesus today. When Christ comes, the Lord will reign on earth. God will reign on earth.

Revelation 11:15 ~ "The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven which said: "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever."

Man's attempt to reign as president, as ruler, as king, is coming to an end. Yes, God has established earthly governments in fact in Romans 13, it states the governments in power have been established by God. That is true, whether you believe in that government or not. As Christians, we get a citizenship change or a passport change, as Paul taught in Philippians that our citizenship is now in heaven.

When we tell the world that the end is near, they will not believe that. Because it implies the end of man and the beginning of Christ in the world. The Bible makes it clear. We are running low on angels now. We are down to the seventh angel and he is the last one. There were seven of them, and this is the last one to blow his trumpet. From Revelation 12 to 19, we will cover a brief period of time, in those long section of Scriptures. The attempt of man to reign is nearly over.

Genesis 6:3 ~ "Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years."

That word was given to Noah and his generation and when Noah proclaimed those words it was exactly 120 years until the flood came. You might not believe the flood happened, but God and history says it has happened. Archaeology says it happened. A great flood happened and turned our world upside down. The word strive or contend in Hebrew means to sail a straight course. God will not always sail a straight course into man's heart. He will not always be speaking to you directly and trying to convince you to come to know Him.

Right now Jesus is enthroned in heaven and He supervises all that is going on in the earth. However there are things going on in the earth that He does not approve of. The time for judgment has not yet come. All of the evil that we see and experience and look at, think of all the horrible events taking place in the world today, we need to put blame where blame is due. That blame is due primarily on man's neck.

James 4:1 ~ "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight."

It all begins in the heart. How is it that someone would pepetrate evil against someone else? It comes from the heart. The Bible also tells us that Satan is the god of this age. Little "g". He is not God. He is the upsurper of authority of this age. You want to know why Satan has so much destructive power in the world? It's because man keeps leaving the door open. There are people wondering why their marriages are falling apart and when they back up and realize that they were flirting with someone else who wasn't their husband or wife all this time and now they can see why their marriage is falling apart. There are those who are wondering why their kids are rebelling within their family and they look back and say, "Well we didn't want to ram God down their throats, we wanted them to make their own choices." So they grew up not knowing God and haven't learned anything from the Bible on how to act. When a man leaves his home or family unattended, it goes to mischief. This earth has gone to mischief.

If there is an earthquake today or someone gets murdered today, we can't blame God, this is a world where the evil thereof needs to be directed toward Satan. Jesus says I have come to give you life, and that more abundantly. But the thief, (not a thief but "THE" thief) has come to rob, kill and destroy. Which refers to Satan. Satan loves when you are having a bad day. We know man's reign is about to end and the Lord's reign is about to come upon the earth.

Notice that the camera angle has changed and we are seeing through John's eyes what is happening in heaven. This is what He hears.

Revelation 11:15 ~ "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever."

Some versions of the Bible have dropped the "s" on the word 'kingdoms' and it simply says kingdom. That is an unfortunate translation. If you go back to the Old King James Version, it is as how I have written this portion of Scripture of the Bible. There are a lot of kingdoms in this world. Notice how they will all become the kingdom, dropping the "s". When Jesus comes in His Second Coming, He is going to establish His rule. But some things have to happen first before He returns.

The first was laughable when people read it until it came to pass on May 14, 1948 when Israel became a nation in one day. Now people have zipped their lips. The Bible said before Jesus came back, Israel would have to become a nation again. That happened on May 14, 1948. Not only that the Bible said that God would call all His people back home that had been scattered across the world and bring them back to Israel in unbelief. Not believing in God. When you look at the nation of Israel is is predominately secular and an unbelief in God.

If you keep on going, there will be an unification of Europe. That the European Empire would be resurrected and that is happening today. It is called the E.U. or the U.S.E. the United States of Europe. All these things are coming together. If that is not enough and there are more than 300 scriptures that have already been fulfilled in the most amazing detail that need to take place before the Second Coming of Christ, and in Revelation 13, there will come a time in technology that man will issue a decree to those belonging to the One World Government, of a One World Religion, of a One World Church (which is not really a church at all), will have to pledge alliegance to a European ruler and to a global church and receive a number on their right hand or forehead.

If anyone has ever been to Buckingham Palace in England, there are massive pillars that are out in front of the palace, one for example will be labeled New Zealand, one will be labeled Australia, or India and all of these pillar will label a kingdom, where the crown of England presided over, so one crown sat over the kingdoms where it had authority, so on a very human small scale, think of that and you will be able to better understand that portion of Scripture. Under the crown of Christ, remember He is King of Kings, Lord of Lords, His kingdom will swallow up all the other kingdoms. A singular kingdom will consume plural kingdoms. Human kingdoms even though they have been presided over by God, the human kingdoms will be swallowed up by Christ. 

What is Hell Really Going To Be Like?

Today we get into some of the symbols we discover in Revelation 9 today. These are manifestations of demonic powers that John is trying to describe while watching in the realm of the Spirit and we need to keep that in mind. During that time, people will not be seeing these freakish monsters walking down the street like in some bad movie. However, invisibly in the spirit realm this portion of scripture tells us that men are going to be tormented on earth by these demons that attack that sting, bite and inflict pain. Men are going to have such pain that it will be unquenchable for five months by virtue of these demonic powers. Remember that they have been given authority not to kill the mortals but to inflict pain upon them. The Bible says it will be like when a scorpion strikes a man, and sometimes you have to flick them off, because that hook-like needle in their tail gets stuck in the skin. You then get a fiery burn from the sting before the poison follows with their chemicals to debilitate a person. This is really going to happen.

You might be able to pick up some modern day translation and people are simply going to say that its all symbolic and so is the pain. John is saying, it is like when a scorpion stings somebody. He is trying to describe a real event using human things we can understand and relate to. Revelation 9 alone has more symbols than in any other chapter in the Bible. Remember John is trying to describe what he says and he is saying to himself, "How do I tell people what I am seeing? What's that like? It's like this!" But the pain and horror of it all is very real.

To truly suffer, is to suffer without God's grace. Remember what is coming to the earth is for those that have rejected Jesus and God's offer of salvation. We don't have to be here when that happens.

Revelation 9:5-6 ~ " They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man. During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them."

Ever been stung before? By a bee, a scorpion, spider or even bitten by a poisonous snake? Imagine being stung or bitten repeatedly for five months? Or even for those of you that fear getting a shot at the doctors? Imagine getting a shot around the clock for five months? One of the things about suffering is the hope that in the morning you might feel better. When you suffer all night long and you long for the morning, when you will feel better? Oh Lord bring mercy in the morning. There is hope in the morning! Not here, it lasts every single minute of the day for five months. These people are tormented by this demonic manifestation of things that operate in a swarm like locusts but they sting like scorpions. Whenever you read the word "as" or "like" it means it is not what it is saying, it is symbolizing or trying to explain something worse than what is being depicted. They are worse than locusts and scorpions.

Revelation 9:7-10 ~ "The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. Their hair was like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. They had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months."

The Bible talks about Hell, but have you ever really thought about it. What is means to be sent to hell? This is such a painful and terrible experience. That men and women will succeed at suicide, but will not be able to die. It's horrible to imagine that! Death "can be" a release to the tormented. "Just let me die!" But this is just a precursor to hell itself. It goes by a variety of names if you compile scriptures. If it makes you uncomfortable, there is a reason for it. The nature of hell is (1) never being able to die, (2) forever falling, (3) total darkness, (4) continues burning, (5) treading water in the lake of fire, (6) worm-like things that bite, (7) unquenchable thirst, (8) constant weeping, (9) breaking of teeth, (10) timeless, and (11) alone, absolutely. You will see no one from life. You are forever alive while dying. You will suffer a second death, a physical decay and a spiritual dying.

William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army said he was given a vision of hell that forever changed his life. He saw an ocean of flame, and there were men and women doing their best to tread water in a ocean of flame, and their mouths were just above the water as they were trying to breathe, constantly trying to tread water, and neither one of them were trying to rescue the other or hurt the other, for they were not aware of the presence of the other. A lake of fire that puts out no light.

By the way, hell was created long before man was ever created and before Adam and Eve ever sinned. It was created for Satan and his punishment. Not for you. It was created to punish Satan, but for those that reject Jesus. You might argue that that is coercion, but let me ask you this, are you getting younger or older? You are older today than you were yesterday, that is a physical law. You are getting older. Can't change it. Doctor's are working on it. Good luck! You will still die. You might die good looking, but you're going to die. It's a law you can't change.

Matthew 25:41 ~ "Then he will say to those in his left, "Depart from me; you who are cused, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."

When hell meets earth, demons will manifest themselves on earth, and no earthly power can save it. Do you remember when Jesus left his disciples alone for the day?

Matthew 17:21 ~ "But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."

Ephesians 6:11-18 ~ "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all of the saints."

No earthly power will be effective. No "Voo-Doo Garlic-Flavored Holy Water" will matter. No positive thinking, Tony Roberts, "Let's Make a Deal" act will work. When hell meets the earth, Satan himself will command the events and his anger will be vented on humanity.

Revelation 9:11-12 ~ "They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon. The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come." 

These "locusts" are demonic and they have a king.

Proverbs 30:27 ~ "The locusts have no king, yet they all advance in ranks."  

Revelation 9:11 ~ "They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon."

Abaddon and Apollyon mean destroyer of worlds. Satan is Abaddon and he is Apollyon. The destroyer of peoples lives, of peoples and nations. Satan hates you completely. Satan will be the devil that he is.

Revelation 9:12 ~ " The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come." 

No wonder why Jesus said in Matthew 24:21 ~ " For then their will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor shall ever be." Satan has a "no deposit," and "no return" stamped on him. He is terrified of hell. He will be tormented forever there. He cannot be redeemed. He cannot repent of his sin. There's no warranty with angels. When they sin, they are expelled from heaven forever, never to return. But remember Satan is a defeated foe for a Christian. It is past tense by the way.

You have a choice. You can accept Jesus and know life, or you can choose to not accept Jesus or any other form of god and you will have no life. Eternal judgment await Satan and his demons and angels and also those who reject Christ. There is no other way.

Put your faith in Jesus. Trust Him. Receive Him. If you haven't done this today, what are you waiting for?

Jesus says that you have to be born again. Our flesh may attempt to get in the way, but it is a defeated foe. There is freedom in having a relationship in Christ. You might think you are free because you have the choice to do whatever you want, but that isn't freedom. True freedom can only be found when you realize you have the freedom not to do those things anymore. God is the only one who can give you that freedom and power if your life and you can tell when it's Him doing those things in your life. Do you want that kind of freedom? Simply say this prayer"

Jesus come into my heart. Wash my sins away by your precious blood. I confess today that I am a sinner, and I want to be Your child. I want to be made new. I want my life not repaired but renewed. Lord, I want to start my life all over again. I believe what the Bible says, that You died on the cross, and rose again to save me. I give You my life from this time on. You take control. In Jesus Name ~ AMEN!!!

Taking A Look at the Real Enemy in Our Lives!

A lot of Christians today want to criticize God when you consider that Satan was a perfectly created being. Many would argue why did God create Satan if He knew he was just going to rebel and lead the world into sin. The Bible says that God created him in perfection by going to Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 where it describes who Lucifer was. That was his original name, the bright and morning star, Lucifer. He led the angelic host in worship to God. The Bible says he was the most beautiful created of all God's creations. So what happened.

The same thing that happens to you and I when we refuse to submit to God. The Bible tells us that he got puffed up with pride. See a lot of people want to blame God for making a bad guy. He didn't make a bad guy, He made an angel and even us humans with the ability to choose. Angels can't worship the Lord without having a free will. Just like we can not worship God without a free will either. Therefore, Satan exercised his own judgment and decided he wanted things differently for himself. He wanted what God had. The Bible says he sinned and therefore he fell. That's our battle today, to either worship God or worship ourselves. It's one or the other. So be careful.

Let's look ahead at Revelation 12:7-9 ~ "And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down - that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him."

Michael is always in a fight when he shows up in the Bible. He is there with his soldier, or angels. The Bible says that Satan will fall from heaven. The Bible says that he is coming to earth I believe that in Revelation 9 and 12, those are parenthetical inserts, of the teachings and very event mentioned in Revelation 12 is mentioned again in chapter 9. It is describing the very persona of who Satan is and where he came from.

Isaiah 14:6-17 ~ "He who struck the peoples in wrath with unceasing blows, the ruled the nations in anger with unrelenting persecution. The whole earth is at rest and quiet; they break forth into singing. The cypresses rejoice at you, the cedars of Lebanon, saying, "Since you were laid low, no wood cutter comes up against us" Sheol beneath is stirred up to meet you when you come; it rouses the shades to greet you, all who were leaders of the earth; it raises from their thrones all who were kings of the nations. All of them will answer and say to you; "You too have become as weak as we! You have become like us! Your pomp is brought down to Sheol, the sound of your harps; maggots are laid as a bed beneath you, and worms are your covers. "How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the face reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit. Those who see you will stare at you and ponder over you; "Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook the kingdoms, who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities, who did not let his prisoners go home?"

Ezekiel 28:13-19 ~ "You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardis, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, til unrighteousness was found in you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. You heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you. By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries; so I brought fire out from your midst; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you. All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever."

This is the plight of Satan found in the Bible.

Revelation 12:12 ~ "Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short."

The great Tribulation period of the coming down of Satan to the earth in all of his violence, as the last days will consummate.  (1) There are some of you that believe that Satan is not as powerful as you think he is. You blow him off and make light of him. (2) Some of you believe that Satan is too powerful and you've given him too much credit, and (3) then some of you don't know what you believe about Satan. You don't think he exists at all. Be careful.

The truth is he is a real localized entity of hell. He is real and he is not as powerful as some of you give him power for having and then again, he is not as weak as some of you think he is.

1 Peter 5:6-9 ~ "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings."

If you are having a problem in life and you think that your child is the problem, if you think your parents or husband are the problem, whatever might be the outward problem, its not so much a problem, give up and stop being the one who has to win the fight. You claim to be a Christian, you have to go out on top, you have to win and you have to have the last word.Wake up! You are not fighting your husband or your wife. There is a demonic world behind them. Satan knows not to send some overt blatant temptation into your life. Satan attacks Christians with other Christians. How does he attack families? With family members. Be wise and know where your fight is coming from. Know that there is a spiritual warfare behind it. Understand that and fight for your home! I'm tired of people giving up!

Wives are giving up! Husbands are giving up! Everyone is giving up! They fail to realize that they need to be walking in the Spirit and in faith. Knowing that your enemy is seeking to devour you. You might be that person that he is seeking to devour in your life. Its an important thing and we are missing this as a church. He is a wicked, very evil foe.

1 John 2:15-17 ~ "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does - comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."

This is where all the problems start. Satan even said that he wanted to be like God. It is the pride of life. He wanted what God had. Here is what you can do:

Resist him by building up your faith by launching out and doing impossible things for God. It gives God all the glory. God will do it through you.

Resist him by building up your faith by obeying what God says instead of what you feel.

Resist him by building up your faith by applying the Bible daily to your own life. Are you reading your Bible daily?

Resist him by building up your faith, by being here, right now, doing this study with me! Do you know the Bible builds into the believer a blessing for going to church, not watching it on the internet or listening to the tapes? No matter how advanced technology is, God will not allow it replace the fellowship with His people. That is a serious issue today, most people would rather sit at home and watch church, then get up and participate in church. If your sick or having a broken leg, that is another issue.

Hebrews 10:25 ~ "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of ding, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching."  

It goes on to say that many will fall away because of their lack of commitment.

Romans 10:17 ~ "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." 

There are a few things to remember about Satan. He has great power, he has great dominion and great influence but... all of which God has allowed. He is not eternal. He is not all-powerful. He is not all-knowing. He is not all present, meaning he can't be everywhere all at once. He is limited to one location at a time. He is localized. You might ask well how can I be tempted all the time? Demons, the flesh and living in this world. He is not God, he just wants to be.

We don't need Satan and his demons to get us off track, did you know that? We are so able to do that perfectly fine on our own. We are well able to get into trouble all on our own without the devil's help. Satan is a liar.

John 8:41-44 ~ "You are doing the things you own father does. We are not illegitimate children, they protested. "The only Father we have is God himself." Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

So when we lie, we are acting like Satan. You are either from the Father, God, or the father, Satan, the devil of this world. Jesus claims it is black and white. You might not want to hear it, but it is the truth. You're either of God or you're not. Jesus says if you are not of God, then you are of the devil. You might find that offensive but it is the truth.

John 10:10-11 ~ "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." 

We need to start giving credit where credit is due and stop blaming God for all the wrongs in this world. We know God allows things to happen, but remember when you walk out from underneath the covering of God, you are on your own. If you are not a Christian, you are living each day by the grace of God. If your struggling in your life, come back underneath God's umbrella. Come back to God.

God has come to give life, and remember that Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy. Man yielded to Satan and thus he is the prince of the world for now. When we look at the war, the mayhem, starving, the violence, the hate that is out there. It comes from the demonic spirit that comes from Satan's doctrine. We need to stop blaming God. Even those who don't believe in God are quick to blame God. Atheists are always quick to tip their hand and blame God, but don't they believe He doesn't exist. You are admitting that He actually does exist.

Hell Does Not Have to Be Your Future!!!

If you are not a Christian, the message and study we are covering today is not one you want to hear. Whenever the subject of Hell is mentioned, no one really wants to hear about it, but it is the very reason for the death of Jesus, to keep us out of hell. When we refer to hell on earth, it is God's righteous wrath that He is delivering to a Christ-rejecting world. When you consider it, who wants to talk about hell? Answer: Nobody. Yet Jesus did more than anybody! Who really wants to meditate on the wrath of God? Again really nobody, but its part of God's awesome nature and character.

Did you notice how quickly we got through Chapter 8 in Revelation, this chapter along with others that remain in the book are written as one continuous event like 8 and 9 are. There were not supposed to be separations in them, not will there be when the actual events begin to happen. Make no mistake, we didn't rush through Chapter 8 because we were in a hurry to get through the difficult parts of scripture, but because it is structured that way as is Chapter 9. Each chapter from here on out is getting worse as the judgments from God are getting poured out upon the earth. There is no sugar coating it and that is perhaps why so many churches and pastors avoid teaching on the Book of Revelation.

The only person who this should not bother is the believer in Christ, because they know the stuff we are studying today, they do not have to be a part of. They will be gone and resting in heaven when this happens. If you aren't a believer in Christ, you too, by the time of this message, you too can chose to accept Christ and avoid what is coming. This does not have to be your future! It is your choice.

From here to the end of Chapter 19, we will see gross, dark, judgment being played out upon the earth. We don't mind this kind of gore when it's on the movie screen, but the thought of such things being real, the thought of suffering and judgment and hell, might be real is unsettling.

1 Thessalonians 1:10 ~ " and to wait for his Son from heaven, who he raised from the dead - Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath."

This means that Jesus Christ is coming for His church even before this great Tribulation period, and He has to deliver His church into heaven according to Scripture. He will deposit the church into heaven via the Rapture and then the Tribulation Period will begin. This will be the judgment of God brought to the earth. In fact, if you were to walk into any bookstore today, even a Christian one and ask for a book on Hell, they would be hard pressed to try and find you one. It's because it's not popular to talk about Hell. No one wants to talk about it.

As Christians, we can talk about Hell because it is what we will be missing. This is what Jesus has delivered us from and something we should give Him glory for. Yet it is unpopular to talk about Hell, especially by those who are afraid they are going to hell. They don't want to know about it because there is a sense of finality and a sense of fear. Just because you don't want to talk about Hell doesn't mean it doesn't exist. You develop an ostrich movement at that point, burying your head in the sand because you don't want to hear about it, but it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. It doesn't take away from the fact that it is real. God has declared it and he has warned us about it. There are over 600 New Testament warnings alone about hell! It is very real.

All the cults have a few things in common. (1) Jesus is not your God, Lord and Savior and (2) There is no Hell. Now if Satan is the founder of the cults and he is, isn't that a great bit of propaganda? There is no hell! If there is no hell and you die and go into an oblivion, then why did Satan spans cults in the first place? If there is no hell, according to the cults then why do I need to accept anything at all? It's so real that to avoid the logic simply doesn't make sense. Jesus said it is real! Are you willing to pit the wording of a cult against Jesus, who rose again from the dead? Are you willing to gamble your eternity that the cult leader is right and Jesus isn't? Are you willing to gamble with your foreverness, living in a hell, and gamble against the Bible. I hope not!

Revelation 9:1-12 ~ "The fifth angel sounded his trumpet and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. And out of the smoke locusts came down from the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not the harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man. During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them. The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of god, and their faces resembled human faces. Their hair was like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. They had tails and stings like scorpion, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon. The first woe is past; the other two woes are yet to come."

Is that not enough to freak you out? Some of Hollywood's finest directors could get ideas from this right? Notice the number of times the reference to the descriptions were prefaced with the words "like?" "Like locusts," "Like human hair" etc. Don't be confused by what all this means. They are not simply locusts with a bad attitude. Did you know that God controls the hands of the locust even today? That locusts generally follow the wind. God moves them from an area or to an area by the wind. The Bible says the locusts have no king but are directed by the wind. We know that when locusts swarm they can cover the sky and make it dark. There is no doubt about that. Sometimes they eat what they see and other times fly right over places they should eat. They are extremely unpredictable. This passage has nothing to do with earthly locusts despite all the commentaries you may have read about this before.

John is trying to describe the greatest plague to have devastated the world during his time and that was locusts. This is going to be similar but it is not the same. Then he goes on to talk about scorpions and again these are not the same as what we have here now. Their pain is worse than anything anyone here has ever had happen to them. When hell meets earth, a creature personality will come.

We are talking about Satan, himself. The Bible refers to Satan as being a he in the male gender, the son of the morning star. If you take a survey, most people will say the Bible is true but that there is no devil. Jesus, Himself, has said the devil is real and if you don't believe he is real, you have truly fallen for his propaganda. Let's get this out of the way right now as well. There is no place in the Bible that says he wears red, has horns and carries a pitchfork and pointed tail. The Bible does say what he is draped in, that he is extremely beautiful, powerful, he is a person, and he is a creature personality, meaning that he has been created.

Revelation 9:1-12 ~ "The fifth angel sounded his trumpet and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss."

Notice the word "fallen" in verse 1, that means passed tense, he had already fallen. This is referring to Satan. Satan will fall from heaven one final time. It will happen during the great Tribulation period. In verse 1 of Revelation 9, this is the first blast of the final three remaining trumpets which we have been warned about in the final verse of Revelation 8 that were coming. This is the first one of the final three that Revelation 8 warned us about. You need to keep this in mind that Satan is real and so are his demons. The Bible says that there are fallen angels and there are demons. There is different wording for both and they both have different powers. Demonic and heavenly angels appear and disappear at will. The New Testament warns us to watch out for strangers because by unknowing we can be speaking with and entertaining an angel as a human without knowing about it.

Satan and his fallen angels can appear and disappear at will. Demons need an idol, statues, animals to manifest their will, a person to possess, and there are no known words in which Satan can possess a person outside of Judas or the Son of Perdition, the Antichrist in Scripture.  Demons can enter and leave someone who are not filled or is not under the protection of the Holy Spirit, or own by the Holy Spirit in you. That should be something that scares you to get serious about Jesus if you are an unbeliever. If you are not a believer, there is a vacancy in your body. You have to crawl over the body of Christ to get into hell.

Why Is There Evil in the World?

When you think about it all the wealth and worldly goods you possess doesn't mean anything to anyone until we die. That is when it becomes valuable to those who are hoping that they might get some of what you acquired in your living trust or last will and testament. Those documents are worthless until you die and they become empowered by your death in order to make them valid. It's good to have, and means only something to you while you are still alive.

It's like that with the New Testament, it became empowered by Jesus the moment of his death and subsequent resurrection. When Jesus said, "It is finished," what did He mean? The moment He died, his death empowered the total fulfillment and totality of God's absolute Word. His Word would be nothing without His death. The moment He died, the Will was empowered and you and I are blessed. He fulfilled all the Old Testament prophecies and requirements. The mathematical odds 10 to the 26th power for just 8 prophecies being fulfilled to the letter as discovered by the University of Texas. That's 10 with 26 zeroes after that. That was only 8 prophecies being fulfilled. Jesus fulfilled over 600 of them. It comes down to an infinite number when you factor that in. He is God. How can you not believe that?!!

Most people don't believe in God, because they are angry at the way things are going, that there is evil in the world. It's not that they don't believe in God, they simply don't understand why things happen the way they do and why it feels at times that evil prevails because if they had it their way, they would certainly change things about the course of the way the world is going. This chapter in Revelation answers that age old question. You want to know why there is evil in the world? (1) Because this is not the world God intended. This world and the Garden of Eden was sold, so to speak, or relinquished to the hand of Satan the Bible tells us. Adam and Eve lived in perfection. They rebelled against God and in doing so, in their rebellion, Satan took possession of the earth. Satan has been in control of this world, did you know that? The Bible says, "He is the prince of the power of the air." Of the atmosphere of this world, Satan. The Bible calls Satan, the god of this age. Satan is in control! When there is a death, murder or robbery, or an illness or sickness that is claiming the lives of a child somewhere, who does that? It comes from the fall! You want to blame someone rather than criticize, than turn your righteous indignation against Satan. It's his fault.

What does this have to do with anything? It's all about redemption and this scroll is none other than the title deed to the earth. It is a will like that of a Roman will, sealed with seven seals. That authorized agent to open it had to meet all the requirements and demands to fulfill the things written that each seal unfurled. That's very important. By Himself, Jesus Christ is God's authorized agent. 
 
We have in historical museums, the wills of several Roman emperors each of them have been sealed seven times. The seven seals meaning, (1) indicated that the will had been completed by its author, (2) that the will could only be opened by an authorized agent, (3) that the will had specific "requirements of performance" that must be fulfilled, and (4) that the fulfillment of those performance, had to be done by someone who met those qualifications and/or by the author of the will himself (who would have already been dead, a little catch there.)

1 Corinthians 11:25 ~ "In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."

Jesus is now saying that I am in the process of buying back the world, from its fallen condition and I am going to do it in my blood. I will empower the redemption of this world by my blood. You might think this is boring and that you already know all of this. Well then you should be the most outrageous worshiper in any church because of that truth. He redeemed us, Jesus has done it if you are a believer in Him.

Hebrews 9:15-17 ~ "For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance - now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living."

Sounds like a lawyer wrote this huh? The scroll is a legal document, the seven seals are seven requirements... so then, for what reason, is our question...why? Some say it's the New Testament, others it is the will of God, still others, that it is the Counsel of God to man...the scroll is the Title Deed to Planet Earth. The unfolding of the seals takes up most of the Book of Revelation. The unfolding of that will, the scroll, written on the inside and on the back, of this one scroll. This means that all the requirements have been met, there is no room for anything further. It's complete, that is what is meant when it says it was written on inside and out. Been there, done that. There is a problem in all of this however, there is still someone who has to meet all the requirements.

Whatever is done here in order to get the world back to the possession of God, all of those requirements are complete, now it's time to enact it.

Revelation 11:15 ~ "The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven which said: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever."

Did you get that? "Now they have become." Didn't God make the world and all there is? Yes, but it was delivered by Adam into the hands of Satan. Not only did Jesus redeem us from our lost condition, but His redemptive powers go to this world and the cosmos. He's buying it back. According to John, from his vantage point, it's done. It's finished.

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 ~ "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."

Ephesians 2:2 ~ "In which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient."

If this is hard for you to understand maybe this might help. Remember when Jesus came to the earth in the form of a man and went into the wilderness for 40 days and who came and tempted Him? The Bible says that Satan came and tempted Him. Now Jesus has no sin nature. But the temptations were true none the less. They were real temptations. He had to resist them. He laid aside certain mechanics of his deity as God, all of His powers and all of His knowledge, but certainly within reach, He didn't pick them up in his humanity, it's called "Kenosis." He could of picked them up at anytime, but He didn't. He humbled Himself and Satan tempted Him, when Jesus became thirsty, He felt it like you or I would. He got tired, He had to contend with the same things you and I do. 

So when Satan came to tempt Jesus, one of those temptations was this...

Matthew 4:8-9 ~ "Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of he world and their splendor. "All of this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."

Was that a valid temptation? Yup! Did Jesus do it? Thank God, No! Did Satan have the power to tempt Jesus with that temptation? Yes, by the way, there is one coming who Satan will offer this deal one more time to. We don't know his name, but he goes by the title of the Antichrist. Satan is going to tell him if you bow down and worship me, all of these kingdoms will be yours. And he is going to do it. Pretty amazing! By Himself alone, He became the performance.

Revelation 5:2 ~And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?" 

Can you imagine the sound of this angels voice? He is referenced as mighty. There must have been silence in heaven when he posed this question. Angels looked at one another, redeemed hosts looked around, everyone looks at one another, John certainly observes the situation and there is a catastrophe in his heart. This redemption by Jesus means that He has done what no man can.


Revelation 5:3-4 ~ "But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside."

No one was worthy to take the scroll and look at it. John is weeping because there isn't anyone to be found who could open it. People might say they have a problem with that statement because they believe there are no tears in heaven. Wait that is coming. As John is viewing this in both heaven and the need upon the earth for this deliverance, Why is he weeping? Because no one was found worthy to redeem man and the world out of its lost condition, no one can do it, there is no salvation any other way. No one has cried like this, over the lost soul of someone. Then John realizes that salvation can only be found in God alone. No one is worthy. Listen to the answer. Redemption in Jesus Christ, is that He has meet all the requirements by being faithful to the commitment to save.

Revelation 5:5-7 ~ "Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals." Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne."

The elder commanded him to stop crying. Not in a harsh way. It's strong but tender. God calls us His children because we are not supposed to worry. Much like a little child. They live for the here and now. They are supposed to worry about things. The elder turns to John and tells him, "Stop it, it's not over yet." It's not over until the fat angel is going to sing, and he's going to sing! Read Genesis 49: 1-11. Write that in your Bible next to Revelation 5:5! This is what this elder is referring John to!  Shiloh is one of Jesus' names! 

This is referring to the Tribulation period where it describes Jesus robe in Genesis 49:11 and His judgement found in Isaiah 61-63. Who is worthy? Jesus! The Lion of the tribe of Judah. How in the world can Jesus who the Lion of the tribe of Judah, be the Root of David, when David was born before Jesus? If you have kids, you are the root of your children! In other words, they came from you. You are a branch and they might be a leaf. You are a branch, because if you are alive today, you had a mom and a dad. That make them further up the trunk. But your grandfather is further down the trunk until somewhere in that genealogy you get back down to the dirt and the roots. How can Jesus who was born 2000 years ago be the root of David when David is older than Jesus? The answer is that David is not older than Jesus! Jesus has always existed! The Bible tells us this and the Scriptures challenge us with this.

Matthew 1:1 ~ "A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." 

Matthew 9:27 ~ "As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!"

Jesus came forth from David's lions, from David's DNA, but watch what happens.

Matthew 22:41-46 ~ "While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, "What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?"  "The son of David," they replied. He said to them, "How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him Lord? For he says, 'The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.' "If then David calls him 'Lord,' how can he be his son?" No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions."

The Father is always greater than the son, unless the Son is God from all time and eternity and came into this world. The Bible tells us that Jesus pre-existed. He is the eternal one. He draped Himself with human skin. That is why He is THE Root of David. David ain't got no roots without Jesus. He has no lineage without Jesus like Abraham. He declared Himself to be God. They couldn't handle the truth and thus the reason why the teachers of law wanted to stone him.

More to follow tomorrow!!! Hope you'll join me!

Why Are Some Sins Harder to Get Rid of Than Others?

Face it, we ALL struggle with sin. Even non-believers struggle with sin in their life, but it seems none more so than a believer in Jesus. Some people think when they accept Christ into their life, all that temptation and sin simply goes away. We walk around in a carefree existence waiting until God comes or we die. That is such a far cry from what the life of a believer is especially when you accept Jesus into your heart.

In fact, once you do that, you just created a target for the enemy who wasn't worried about you when you weren't a follower of Christ. You were doing just fine on your own. Now that you became saved through your acceptance of Jesus, it seems like an all out assault was just unleashed upon you. In fact, in some ways it has.

But that simply means you made the right decision, because now you are on target hopefully to share this with others and lead more people to follow Jesus and the enemy, Satan wants to do everything he can to prevent that from happening. So the spiritual battle begins in the life of the believer. Now you will be tempted in every way imaginable. He is quite clever too because he knows where we struggle, because he and his minions have been watching you up to this point and knows where your weakness is.

Just like in war, you don't attack your adversary where they are strong, you find their weak spots and begin to slowly work on that, hoping to gain an entrance. When we first became believers in Jesus, God did an immediate work in our lives. We may not recognize it yet, but it has happened. Perhaps you were someone who used foul language as part of your day to day speech and now you don't. In fact, just hearing it now, really bothers you. For you, that is your immediate work from God. For others who struggle with addiction like drugs or alcohol, those addictions are now suddenly gone, or perhaps some who struggle with sexual sin, those desires are now removed.

God touches some of our sinful natures right away and takes away others in time, kinda like peeling back the layers of an onion, to get at what is underneath.

God works on us a little at a time, and those that he finally gets to many years later, are deeply seeded things in our lives like motives. God is always at work in the life of a believer, refining them, tearing us apart and rebuilding us as though cleaning house.

Sin, pride and puffed up Pharisees hardly lead anyone to Jesus. We can be a lot like that. We don't share Jesus with anyone. Our joy and liberation in Christ however needs to be shared. Some Christians are so beaten down and defeated, they can't share the Jesus they've been struggling with with others. They're miserable and don't feel worthy.

Romans 8:1 (NIV) ~ "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

1 Thessalonians 5:22 (NIV) ~ "Avoid every kind of evil."

The word avoid simply means abstain, barracade, fence off. It means to imploy a means of self control. Simply put it means Don't buy the book. Don't watch the movie, Don't go to that place. Everything that suggest evil. All things are under the control of sin and evil. Stay away from them. Don't even go near them, look at them or entertain thoughts of what it must be like.

Trust me, the devil will do all he can to help you with some of those things you struggle with. It might be pop up ads on the sidebar of a website you're visiting, it might be the co-worker at your job, who needs a friend to talk to about her/his relationship; it might be going out with friends to getaway from things and suddenly you find yourself where you don't belong. RUN! Get out, get away!

In all situations where a believer is tempted, there is always a way out. Stop trying to make excuses for rationalizing why you are there. You don't have reason for it. Don't even try to use the excuse that you're hoping to win people for Jesus by being there. Let someone else who doesn't have a weakness talk to that person if that is where God wants them to hear about Him. God will never put you in a place of utter weakness to see how you hold up under the pressure of sin. There are plenty of people in the body of Jesus who aren't weak in the same areas that we are, God will use them, or He will create opportunities outside your temptations for you to have that discussion with someone.

It is interesting when believers fall and you can easily go back and see the subtle signs the enemy has used to bring them to their knees but they failed to yield to the warning signs.

Remember God is not done with you until you are no longer breathing anymore. Our sinful natures are still at work and will be until He calls us home. Be aware of those times when you are struggling with something you had thought was long buried in your life. God is simply cleaning your home out one area at a time. I personally don't think we could handle it if he cleaned it all at once. God is so gracious and merciful like that.

Psalm 51:12-13 (NIV) Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners will turn back to you."

Interesting that this was written just after David sinned with Bathsheba and his own sins were pointed out to him. David knew that he needed God's help to clean up his own sinful life. He need the joy of the salvation of God and a willing Spirit for his heart to be changed, and David knew exactly where to go to find help. Not the world, but through his faith in God.

Romans 6:11 (NIV) ~ "In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."

Believers in Jesus, we need to remember that sin has no power in our lives anymore. The power of sin died in your life when you accepted Jesus. The NEW you needs to tell the OLD you where to go.

Colossians 3:1-3 (NIV) ~ " Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God."

Psalm 100:1-5 (NIV) ~"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations."

When is the last day you realized how great God is that you wanted shout, holding nothing back in adoration and praise? What is your attitude about heading out to church?

We might just want to get our attitudes in line with God again, repent of our sins even unconfessed, unknown sin, that might be holding us back from that perfect fellowship with Him. God is simply standing by and waiting for you to get right with Him and come on back home. He's got great things in mind for you, but we need our willing spirit to fall in line with His. Only then will we begin to spiritually grow for Jesus and set out to do the things He has in store that only we can fulfill.