Revelation 18
& 19
The
Fourth Angel’s Message
and the Second coming
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Begin Text:
Today, we begin in
Revelation 18.
Even though we
don’t hear much said about this
chapter, it is very interesting
chapter four two reasons:
First, when the events
of the sixth trumpet and the
consequences for rejecting the free
gift of eternal life are brought
together, Revelation 18 really
contrasts the boundless love of God
with the pervasive rebellion that is
found in every human heart.
In other words, when
you understand how free salvation is,
and how low God has set the threshold
for salvation, it is amazing that
anyone would reject God’s offer!
…
God’s final offer
of salvation is represented in
Revelation 18 as a powerful message
carried to Earth by an angel having
great authority.
The message in
Revelation 18 will be so torturous
that the wicked will not be able to
rest day or night while the message
is being proclaimed.
Revelation 14:11
“…There is no rest day
or night for those who worship
the beast and his image, or for
anyone who receives the mark of his
name.”
This is the last
message that the 144,000 will
deliver. It can be boiled down to a
single sentence: “Come
out of her [the prostitute] my
people….”
I call this message,
“the fourth angel’s
message” because it follows
the three messages already given by
the 144,000.
The second interesting
thing about this prophecy is its use
of parallel language from the Old
Testament.
Because parallel
language is used, some understanding
of “Plan A” is helpful. In
other words, there is an obvious
parallel between the fall of modern
Babylon and the fall of ancient
Jerusalem.
We will begin
today’s study; I hope you
remember from the previous study that
the great prostitute in Revelation 17
is Lucifer’s theocratic
government.
Of course,
Lucifer’s theocratic government
does not yet exist.
However, at the time
of the sixth trumpet, Lucifer will
declare himself “King of kings
and Lord of lords.” He will demand
the formation of the one-world
church/state and to achieve this
goal, he will kill a third of
mankind.
At that time he will
abolish all the religions and
governments of the world. This will
put everything and almost everyone on
Earth under his demonic control.
It is important that
we understand the identity and
establishment of the great prostitute
because the fourth angel’s
message is directed at those people who
are still in Babylon but they have
not yet committed the
unpardonable sin. They are on the
brink, but they haven’t
blasphemed the Holy Spirit by
rejecting His demand to surrender to
the authority of Jesus Christ.
You might be
wondering, how on Earth could a
sincere and honest person remain in
Babylon, still undecided about the
gospel of Jesus Christ when the sixth
trumpet occurs?
Well, honest and
sincere people will not be in
a state of indecision at the time of
the sixth trumpet.
The point here that
God loves sinners – those
people who are in rebellion. God
loves people who are not honest
and sincere because He knows that
they can be transformed into saints
by the indwelling power of the Holy
Spirit.
The Holy Spirit can
transform any rebellious heart if the
sinner doesn’t drive the Holy
Spirit away through defiant
rebellion.
Consider this:
There is a huge
difference between living by faith
and embracing truth….
And blessed is the person who
experiences both.
When a person lives by
faith, that person lives up to
what he believesto be right no
matter what. This is what
Daniel’s three friends did at
the fiery furnace test and their
experience reflects the Biblical
definition of faith!
On the other hand, embracing
truth is not to be confused with
living by faith.
A person can live by
faith and know very little truth!
God wants people to
know Truth because Truth produces a
higher quality of life than ignorance
can possibly offer.
For example, if your
dentist tells you that flossing your
teeth every day is important, and if
you embrace this truth, you will
experience a better state of dental
health than someone who doesn’t
know the truth about flossing.
The point here is that
truth sets us free of the
consequences that come through
ignorance.
Profound statement
coming:
Truth will set you
free.
Ignorance will set
you back.
This digression on the
difference between living by faith
and embracing truth is important in
this study because you need to know
that many people live by faith,
but they also live in ignorance.
The apostle Paul
discovered this phenomenon.
Acts 19:1 While
the apostles was at Corinth; Paul
took the road through the interior
and arrived at Ephesus. There he
found some disciples
Acts 19:2 and
asked them, “did you receive the
Holy Spirit when you believed?”
They answered, “No, we have not
even heard that there is a Holy
Spirit.”
Acts 19:3 So
Paul asked, “The what baptism
did you receive?”
“John’s baptism,” they
replied.
Acts 19:4 Paul
said, “John’s baptism was a
baptism of repentance. He told the
people to believe in the one coming
after him, that is, in Jesus.”
Acts 19:5 On
hearing this, they were baptized into
the name of the Lord Jesus.”
There are millions of
people who love God, who live by
faith, but they don’t know the
truth about God!
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